FAQ：The ‘before and after’ effect

大家好!
对不起我的中文字是不太好. 所以 我写英文.
I have never written a post before, but I try to read and understand many of your posts. I also read that you requested that I should write something, and I thought I would try. Although I have been exercising for a long time and have been actively lifting weights for 7 years now, I only became more interested in reading about nutrition and training throughout the last years.
One thing which always struck me as very irritating are the advertisements online, in magazines, and on TV, which show the ‘before and after pictures’ of people who performed certain exercises or took some supplement to change their body dramatically. Although it may be true that these exercise routines and supplements may in fact have been used by these individuals, the pictures are often extremely misleading. Check out the pictures I took of myself…both pictures were taken on the same day!
I only actually thought about this honestly after having watched the movie ‘bigger, faster, stronger’ – a movie about steroid use in the US – where it was shown how ‘before and after pictures’ are often taken on the same day. The after-picture is heavily edited with Photoshop, such as ‘fake’ abdominals, or tighter legs, arms, sides etc. Generally spray-tan is used to make the so-called muscles more visible and to make the person look a lot healthier.
Although this may not be entirely new news to you, I just thought it would be interesting to see a real ‘before and after picture’ which was taken on the same day. I am not that familiar with Photoshop so all I really did in terms of editing was the darkening of my skin tone;)
I will make sure to post something a bit more tailored to the men out there, which may add a little perspective. Although I know my genes are different from those of Chinese men, I still hope to add bit of a different point of view or at least attempt to be more objective rather than ‘sell you’ something. In the end it is all about what works best for you as an individual. On that note, have a wonderful week and train hard. I know I will:)

马如