The Newcastle Herald reported in January concerns in the Hunter fitness industry about steroid abuse.

But trainer Marc Hingston, from Howzat Cooks Hill, said steroid use appeared to be starting earlier this year.

He estimated that the number of steroid users at his gym had risen from about 5per cent of people who used the weight training facilities 18 months ago to between 25 and 30per cent.

‘‘I know that others [fitness centres] are having big problems but I don’t know whether or not they are willing to talk about it, because it’s such a competitive industry,’’ Mr Hingston said.

Hamilton resident Ben Hodges, who lifts weights at Howzat as part of his fitness regime, is anti-steroids but says it is not hard to pick out the people who use them.

‘‘A lot of the young kids these days are definitely hitting the steroids and trying to get massive really quickly,’’ he said.

‘‘They are just doing it in all the wrong ways and before their bodies are fully developed; it doesn’t make sense.’’

Other gym owners and managers said they discouraged steroid users from attending their gyms by removing large weights and Olympic bars from their weight rooms.

Hunter New England Health drug and alcohol clinical services manager Bill Robertson said many young men were after a quick fix but were often uneducated about the side effects of illicit steroid use.

‘‘I think it’s perhaps done without necessarily thinking it through and without having someone explain to them what the potential harms are,’’ Mr Robertson said.