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Is Nick Bare Natty? (Does He Take Steroids?)

There’s no doubt that Nick Bare has achieved some great success from flexing his impressive physique on YouTube. And that kind of success always draws attention from people who immediately say it’s all down to steroids.

While anabolic steroid use is widespread in the bodybuilding and fitness industry, I find that making such claims without any substantial research is unfair to the guy.

That’s why I’ve spent the last few days going through his YouTube and social media accounts to see if there’s any truth to the claims that his physique isn’t natural.

Here’s what I found.

Is Nick Bare Natty?

There’s no conclusive evidence to suggest that Nick Bare has taken steroids.

In a recent interview with Power Project, Nick was asked if he uses steroids to maintain muscle mass after running 100 mile ultra-marathons.

To which he replied: “No. I think part of it is genetics…”

If you don’t believe Nick, then there are a few features of his physique which suggest that he is indeed natty.

Let’s take a look at these in more detail.

Reasons Why Nick Bare Looks Natty

Reasonable Body Fat Levels

Nick Bare
Source: Instagram.com/nickbarefitness

One of the easiest ways to catch out a fake natty is to see how their body fat levels change when they bulk.

No matter how gifted your genetics are and how much you train, bulking up whilst maintaining a sub 10% body fat is nearly impossible.

The fact that Nick seems to hover around a 12-15% body fat level after a bulk suggests that he doesn’t take steroids.

He would be much leaner if he did.

Proportional Shoulders

One of the most common signs of steroid use are oversized shoulders. This is because the deltoids and traps in the upper back have a large number of androgen receptors.

As a result, you often see steroid users with shoulders which are out-of-proportion, and Nick’s shoulders appear to be proportional to the rest of his body.

No Evidence of Acne

In developing teenagers, acne is often caused by fluctuating hormones, like testosterone. And the same thing can happen to people who take anabolic steroids.

With steroid use, the skin change is quite sudden and noticeable and not easily hidden, especially if you’re an influencer who’s on camera a lot of the time.

It doesn’t look like Nick Bare suffers from skin problems, suggesting that he doesn’t take steroids.

Minimal Vascularity

Most bodybuilders desire popping veins. They’re a solid indicator of how much muscle and how little fat you have.

But certain types of steroids will produce those vascular veins even if you’re not working out.

Looking at Nick’s Instagram profile, you can see that he only really has veins popping out his biceps and forearms, which suggests that he’s natural.

Natural Shaped Pectorals

Ironically, anabolic steroids which increase testosterone and growth hormone have also been linked to men developing enlarged breast tissue.

It’s important to clarify that enlarged breast tissue and ripped pecs aren’t the same thing – here, we’re talking about soft breast tissue in the form of fat.

Looking at photos of Nick from over the years, there’s no evidence that he’s suffered from gyno or enlarged breast tissue.

Lack of HGH Gut

Source: Instagram.com/nickbarefitness

Human growth hormone (HGH) is often used as part of a steroid cycle. One of the side effects of this is that organs can swell up, and that pushes out the so-called HGH gut.

Looking at many different photos of Nick over the years, there’s no evidence that he suffers from HGH gut, which suggests that he doesn’t take HGH.

No Sign Of Hair Loss

One of the most common problems with PEDs is that they may increase facial hair while decreasing head hair. Many steroid users hide this with a tightly cut hairstyle.

Looking through Nick’s Instagram, it’s clear to see that his head hair is still well intact and there’s no signs of baldness/hair loss.

This is another reason that suggests he’s natty.

Is It Possible To Bulk Up Like Nick Bare Naturally?

In my opinion, it’s possible to achieve a physique like Nick Bare naturally.

While it will take a lot of time, patience, and persistence, it’s certainly achievable.

It’s clear that Nick eats a clean diet and trains consistently, so with the help of natural supplements and some good genetics, there’s no reason why he couldn’t have achieved his physique without steroid use.

Conclusion: Is Nick Bare Natural?

In summary:

  • Nick Bare has never admitted to taking steroids and denied steroid use when asked if it helps him maintain muscle after doing ultra-marathons.
  • Looking at the totality of evidence, his physique appears natural, so I believe his claims.
  • Despite his claims and his natural appearing physique, Nick has never actually posted any drug test results to prove his claim.

That’s all for Nick Bare, but is Alex Hormozi natty? Or does Mal O’Brien take steroids?

Thanks for reading!

Sources

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10664066/

Cody Holland

Tuesday 4th of April 2023

Hey Rob, thanks for the great and in-depth post about Nick Bare and especially for going into the science of it all! I was a fan of Nick and his videos for a while after falling off (not for any reason in particular but just moved on to different accounts I like to follow). While we can’t know for sure if he is natty or not I think I don’t think he is. If you look at his posts from when he did Ranger school (which is very taxing physically) to what he does now (which is also very taxing physically) his build is completely different. He went from very lean and minimal musculature to now having a muscular build most men would desire, including myself. For an athlete who does the amount of running he does I find it hard to believe he isn’t using some form of PED as we know that this much aerobic exercise leads to muscle atrophy (see sources). Now, he does have better access to supplements to circumvent this atrophy that he didn’t in the Army so that could be a rebuttal. But to be this muscular and be running marathons is absurd. I’d guess no other people he runs these marathons against are as muscular as him and to say he’s just that genetically blessed isn’t something I’d bet on. Additionally, Nick has his own supplement line. No one wants to buy supplements from someone who isn’t muscular and well-built. He needs to look good for his business and I think PEDs is a way he does this. Great article, love your content! https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27398668/ https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/steroids-other-appearance-performance-enhancing-drugs-apeds/what-are-side-effects-anabolic-steroid-misuse