A teenage bodybuilder must take extreme measures to sculpt the perfect body as he pursues his ultimate goal of winning his first bodybuilding competition.
Video / Loading Docs
Most teenagers Hayden Kendrick’s age are hanging out at skate parks, catching up with mates on social media, or spending hours gaming on their computers.
But the 18-year-old from Hillsborough has a different set of priorities.
The recent Auckland Grammar graduate, who studies personal training and works as a retail assistant, is an amateur bodybuilder who’s focused on getting big and getting cut.
Kendrick spends his spare time doing bench presses, squats, deadlifts and endless muscle-building exercises to hone his impressive physique.
He says the perfect body is a constantly moving goal.
“My dream body was basically just like an athletic build. [However] you achieve that body and then you think, ‘Oh, okay, maybe my dream body would be slightly bigger’. It’s sort of a never-ending cycle.”
Kendrick is part of a growing movement of fitness-obsessed young people driven to body sculpting by social media. According to multiple studies, social media apps such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have led to an increase in physical insecurity and a desire to develop bigger and more muscular bodies.
He first became interested in the muscle-building sport in high school when a cousin gave him a spare bench press. He joined the gym and started watching YouTube fitness influencers like David Laid and it has spiralled into what could now be considered an obsession as he takes extreme measures to sculpt a flawless body.
At night, when everyone’s sleeping, Kendrick is “basically force feeding” himself to build the necessary calorie count to develop maximum muscle mass so he will be competitive in his chosen sport.
He has to consume around 4500 calories each day while bulking, which he achieves through eating protein-heavy meals, while training hard at the gym to develop his chest, shoulders and back.
His journey towards physical perfection captured the curiosity of 30-year-old filmmaker Harry Wynn, whose short documentary Shred is being released today by Loading Docs in partnership with the Herald.
Shred follows Kendrick’s novice bodybuilding journey as he prepares for his first competition - the IFBB Professional League New Zealand Champs in Auckland.
Bodybuilders Henry Lin (left) and Hayden Kendrick. Photo / Supplied
The film questions whether the “perfect body” that Kendrick is working so hard to achieve is an attainable goal, or whether social media has him chasing an impossible ideal of masculinity.
As a millennial growing up on Instagram, director Wynn wondered how younger males were handling the increasing pressures social media brings, propelling him to embark on the documentary project.
Male fitness influencers – such as Canadian Jeff Nippard, a natural pro-body builder who has more than 3.43 million YouTube subscribers, and Ulisses, a personal coach and bodybuilder with more than 8.8m Instagram followers - connect directly into people’s homes in a way that was once strictly for gym-lovers.
“While researching the film, I found hundreds of Kiwi users showing off their physiques on TikTok,” Wynn said.
“My social media feed was slowly invaded by videos of young bodybuilders working out and sharing tips on what their followers can do to make similar gains.
“Scrolling through my feed, the idealised male physique subconsciously made me feel more critical of my own body. I had a moment of realisation as to why teenagers might fall into this sport.”
Ultimately Hayden Kendrick feels it’s good to be unsatisfied. Photo / Supplied
Wynn believes his father’s generation didn’t have to contend with the level of physical insecurity that millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha are now exposed to.
“The algorithm on TikTok is designed to keep users as engaged in the app as possible,” Wynn said.
“They do this by feeding users more extreme videos of their field of interest. When you feel insecure about your body, seeing videos of guys transforming before you elicits a feeling of jealousy and feeds into your insecurities.”
Wynn recalls Kendrick’s body being “ripped” at the bodybuilding competition.
“He looked phenomenal, but he was starving and irritable. I was surprised how aware he was that it was a never-ending quest.”
Kendrick agrees that social media is one of the biggest factors facing an 18-year-old mentally.
“You’ve got all these perfect-like celebrities that are getting pushed to your homepage and then your subconscious mind will look at them, sort of think about yourself… your potential to feel just self-conscious about your own body when all these perfect edited bodies are being pushed to you.”
Kendrick now wants to work towards competing against guys in the bigger divisions, the Arnold Schwarzenegger-like competitors.
He says feeling unsatisfied about his build helps motivate him to stay in the gym.
“It’s very addictive, you can very easily dedicate your life to the sport.”
