Over the past few years, social media feeds have been flooded with reels of young influencers — mostly men — focused on improving their appearance. Known as “looksmaxxing,” the range of techniques used varies from “softer,” noninvasive approaches like exercise, improved diet and skin care regimens, to more intense interventions like cosmetic surgeries and hair transplants.
To score high on what’s become known as the PSL scale, some have turned to steroids, peptides and other substances to enhance their physique. Terms like “subhuman,” “normie” and “Chad,” now commonly used by young people in conversation, are used by many looksmaxxers to rank people based on physical attractiveness.
With its origins in online “incel,” or involuntarily celibate, forums, looksmaxxing has entered popular culture, with Braden Peters, a 20-year-old influencer better known as Clavicular, posting videos on TikTok and Instagram that have earned millions of views.
Pipe Dream interviewed an anonymous student who, along with a strict diet and intense exercise, began using certain treatments last August to improve his physical appearance and self-image. He said social media adds pressure on young people to bulk and try other methods of improving their appearance.
“Some people do it naturally, but a lot of people are using these performance-enhancing drugs and stuff like that,” he told Pipe Dream in an interview. “On social media, everything is so fabricated and all fake and more and more people are taking these things and I just don’t want to get left behind.”
The student started taking peptides in the summer, beginning with CJC-1295, which stimulates the production of human growth hormone from the pituitary gland. This peptide’s specific formulation requires one or two injections daily.
Along with CJC-1295, doses of ipamorelin, which mimics a chemical that stimulates the release of growth hormone, are also commonly taken.
Rania Khan, a junior majoring in integrative neuroscience, is the manager of Binghamton University’s Metabolic and Exercise Physiology Laboratory and works under the supervision of Daniel Miller, a lecturer in the health and wellness studies.
In a statement to Pipe Dream, Khan explained that while peptides “may seem like a shortcut to improve appearance or performance,” they can have negative side effects and can “shift the body further away from balance.”
For tanner skin, the student also reported using Melanotan II, a synthetic peptide hormone that triggers the cells responsible for skin pigmentation to increase melanin production.
Some dermatologists have warned that using this peptide might cause skin cancer and come with unwanted side effects, including changes to neurological and sexual functioning. The drug is neither approved nor regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In October, the student started a 12-week course of selective androgen receptor modulators, also known as SARMS, a group of unapproved drugs that might increase bone density and muscle mass.
Some case studies have shown that the use of Ostarine, the SARM originally used by the student, can lead to suppressed testosterone levels in humans.
After January, the student stopped taking Ostarine due to lower testosterone and switched to testolone, also known by its development code RAD140. He expressed some concern over the side effects of the drug, which may include possible liver damage.
“I would rather endure the risks and everything to get to where I want to be because it’s more painful to feel average and not good in your body,” he said.
Khan told Pipe Dream the effects of SARMS were mostly studied in older adults with disease-related muscle loss and not in younger people without this muscle loss.
After the testolone cycle is complete, the student plans on taking different peptides to help restore testosterone production.
Along with peptide usage, the student said he tracks his macronutrient goals, particularly carbohydrates and proteins, and his intake of potassium and sodium.
The student told Pipe Dream that people should not consider taking drugs for performance enhancement unless they are knowledgeable and keep close track of their hormone levels.
While acknowledging that many students have a desire to look better, Khan urged people to consider the potential long-term consequences of using peptides and other drugs for this purpose.
“You have to decide if you are optimizing for now or for the long term,” Khan wrote. “What feels like a shortcut today can create a cascade of new problems later, especially when layered on top of already stressful habits like poor diet, high caffeine intake, and lack of sleep. We are already seeing chronic conditions like metabolic dysfunction and cardiovascular strain show up earlier in younger populations. Adding unregulated hormonal manipulation into that mix only compounds the issue.”