Gym Candy

The book Gym Candy, by Carl Deuker is based on a sophmore football player Mick, who has very big dreams. His father was a major football runningback and made it all the way to the NFL. Mick feels very pressured by his dad's accomplishments and wants to live up to them as his own runningback. He starts working out at a gym called Popeye's with a personal trainer, Peter. Mick is very talented but doesn't have the power or strength he wants to make him stand out greatly from his teammates. As he works out with Peter besides the weight room at school, Peter asks him if he wants to do steroids if he's really serious about getting bigger. Mick denies the request at first but as he comes to a wall and quits getting stronger he gives into Peter's request. As Mick goes on an on using steroids he gets massive. However, during the summer, he was very embarrassed when he hung out with his friends. They went swimming and Mick's acne was so bad and nipples so diformed that his freinds could notice. He decided the steroids were worth the gains but quit when the season came. Instead, Peter introduced him to another type of steroid, XTR. This drug was used to boost power for a short period of time. It also had bad effects such as: stronger roid rage, and bad depression. Mick used it in his games and one game got suspended for cheap shotting a guy. He said to himself he'd quit, but that was a lie because he took it again on their last game against a rival team. His best freind Drew, caught him taking the XTR and after the game threatened to tell the coach. Mick pulled a gun on him but couldn't kill him so he pointed it at himself. He missed, and had to go in a psych ward for a month to get clean.
The two main points that stand out as a learning item from this book are the kind of pressure there can be put on someone and also what steroids can do to you and your mind. The main pressure on Mick was his dad's accomplishments. He looked up to him so much he wanted to do anything to meet him so he had to cheat. Another, is his personal trainer who was the main influence on Mick in a bad time. Peter says, "Mick, you do the D-bol and you keep lifting weights and eating right- you do all those things and you will definately be stronger by August" (Deuker 161). Having that much pressure on an athlete to succeed can easily make him give in to peer pressure and take the drugs.
As seen in this book steroids can take a massive toll on your body and your mind. Countless times in the book Mick could feel the depression and rage taking over him and he had to do all he could to fight it off. He went off on the guy on the other football team and even a guy in his school hallway. Also, Mick was constantly concerned with his body. He couldn't have social life with his friends in the summer because his acne and nipples were so bad. Lastly, the steroids pushed him all the way over the edge; he tried to commit suicide. The worste possible thing he could have done he tried it because he couldn't handle the pressure. I never thought just a little at a time steroids could push someone that far over the edge.




Deuker, Carl. Gym Candy. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007.