--- title: "To Get Swole, Teens Are Pumping Themselves Full of Drugs Meant for Fattening Cows for the Slaughterhouse" description: "Young men are increasingly turning to anabolic steroid drugs as a dangerous cheat code for building muscles fast." date: "2026-04-11" modified: "2026-04-11" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/health-medicine/steroids-teens-looksmaxxing" categories: - "Brain" - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Mental Health" - "RX and Medicine" --- # To Get Swole, Teens Are Pumping Themselves Full of Drugs Meant for Fattening Cows for the Slaughterhouse ![A black and white cow stands on a yellow background with a red circle behind it. In the foreground, a muscular blue-tinted arm is flexed, and a syringe is positioned near the arm's bicep. The image combines elements of livestock and vaccination or injection.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images* In previous years, looks-conscious teens might have splurged on glamour shots at the mall, or fine-tuned their selfies with digital filters. In today's hyper-competitive landscape of bodily optimization known as "looksmaxing," some young men are going straight for the hard stuff. One particularly alarming intervention: trenbolone, or "tren," a veterinary-grade anabolic steroid used to [fatten up cows]() destined for the slaughterhouse. One of those teens is Zaid Laila, a 16-year-old whose tren habit resulted in massive gains in muscle mass and fat loss, [*CBS* reported](). In an interview over his use of steroids, the Dallas teen characterized the drug as a shortcut to get the kind of chiseled physique that plays well on social media. "Why wait 10 years," he asked *CBS*, "when I could do it in less than a year." Sure enough, Laila's look has dramatically transformed over just 10 months of tren use, which the teen documented extensively on his Instagram page, *CBS* footage shows. Unlike steroid abusers of a previous generation, Laila isn't shy about how he got his dream body, fanning out syringes of cow drugs like dollar bills for his Insta reels. It took a "lot of steroids and a lot of working out," he told the outlet. Of course, the risks of abusing anabolic steroids are immense, and teens like Laila — who are likely experiencing the kind of [extreme body dysmorphia]() fueled by the rise of the looksmaxxing subculture — know it, they just don't care. For example, tren puts [tremendous strain]() on the heart, raising the likelihood of heart attacks, blood clots, strokes, and arterial damage. That's not stopping Laila, though. "If I have a heart attack at 30, I have a heart attack," he told *CBS*. "I'm still going to do \[steroids\]. I know what can come with it." **More on drugs:** *[Scientists Just Found Something Rather Grim That Happens When You Stop Taking GLP-1s]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()