r/AbsoluteUnits • u/ChattingToChat • 13h ago
of a belly
Martins Licis left, Rauno Heinla right
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u/Lucky_Wombat_8118 13h ago
The rule of never asking if a person is pregnant still holds.
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u/ajs423 12h ago edited 10h ago
For those curious, this is a side effect of HGH and Insulin abuse, designed to increase appetite and add muscle tissue/repair damage quickly. Both compounds also cause water retention and visceral fat development.
Both of these were top strongmen and World's Strongest Man competitors. It more or less comes with the territory in untested sports, especially where the main objective is to move a ton of weight.
Open class bodybuilders get it too and it has become normalized in the division, even though a ton of people hate it.
Edit: It's called "Palumboism" if you want to Google it more. It's not just normal bloating, but a lasting change in anatomy due to exogenous hormone abuse.
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u/4llu532n4m3srt4k3n 10h ago
I thought they said human growth hormone also causes the digestive tract, which is also essentially muscle tissue, to grow
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u/Cookie_Nation 5h ago
From what I've heard this was a hypothesis as to the mechanism behind palumboism, but was proven to be a very small part of the process, visceral fat is the real issue. I might be completely off though, fact check me if anyone is curious.
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u/Advanced-Bid-7760 42m ago
Yeah it’s probably mostly visceral fat and full intestines. You see people that do not abuse PEDs that develop a similar kinda of gut, and it’s usually tied to general overconsumption. Strongmen have to eat an egregious amount of food, and a lot of the time it’s not very high quality food because they have to get the calories in.
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u/Junkie_Joe 7h ago
I worked so hard with years of eating to get this gut. These guys come along and just abuse HGH. Sickening.
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u/Tonyclap 7h ago
I can imagine doing all the work that goes into getting a great physique and all the strength you get from training only to end up looking pregnant lmao
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u/eduardgustavolaser 7h ago
They are pushing their bellies out on purpose here, they don't look like that under normal cirmunstances. I'm like half their weight and can also look pregnant when pushing my belly out, despite low-ish bodyfat and never. using PEDs. That's not to say that their PED intake isn't creating a problem, but it's less so compared to bodybuilders.
Which is the second point, very few outliers aside (Pudzianowski, Kordiyaka), strongmen just aren't concerned with how they look. Being heavier and having fat is rarely a disadvantage for their sport
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u/Wagwan-piff-ting42 4h ago edited 4h ago
This is wrong for everyone reading this, first of all strongmen rarely ever use insulin, they generally have no need to and you’ll only really see it in bodybuilding, GH does not grow your intestinal tract, people get this idea because it is used to treat short bowel syndrome, when people read that they go “oh it grows their bowels to normal size” no the reason GH is used for that is because it increases nutrient partitioning so the patient can absorb their food contents correctly. Palumboism also know as acromegaly is the presence of extremely high IGF1 for long periods of time, it tends to make your limbs shrink in size not length and make all your flat bones grow. It can cause the abdominal wall the split which is what give that very separated turtle shell look in the abs.
Now the reason we see the distended gut is not really to do with GH at all it’s to do with estrogen, before you step on stage many bodybuilders crush their estrogen if you do that you will produce zero bile so when they carb up to fill out all of that food sits in the stomach and intestines and you can’t break it down not to mention being dehydrated to get dry, plus adding in oral steroids which cause a lot of gastric distress leading to a perfect storm of distended guts.
You don’t see this In classic or any other division it’s only open and it’s nothing to do with GH and slin because in reality they all take the same drugs in similar dosages the size aspect is genetics, the biggest difference is food intake and the amount of carbs you need to fill out as an open pro is significantly higher than someone in classic .
In regards to the photo it’s two strongmen who are fat in an offseason pushing their stomachs out probably bloated from a preworkout meal for a photo.
So in short the big distended guts come from no estrogen, a bunch of anadrol and winstrol and too many carbs before stepping on stage. This wasn’t aimed at the guy I’m replying to but the amount of disinformation about any of this stuff in this post iv seen is crazy. Also to the people with ibs in this thread look into using TUDCA/ ox bile it can improve the lubrication of your intestinal track and reduce symptoms
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u/Nervous-Rhubarb-9224 8h ago
Whenever I see a gut like that its usually accompanied with peritoneal ascites. Is that also a concern with this condition?
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u/GreenMirage 10h ago
What about people who had this body type prior to HGH or insulin was developed? What could cause it there?
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u/piketpagi 2h ago
What is inside those belly? Fats? Is there any CT scan of those kind of body? It looks firm, unlike beer belly who are still soft
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u/Careless_Historian28 13h ago
HGH can do it.
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u/milk4all 13h ago
This is how we invented steroids. You have to drill a 1/8” hole into a belly like this and tap it.
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u/WARxxPIGG 13h ago
Nah not liver. Probably steroids. They swell the organs and cause your abdomen to push out. I'm guessing that's what's going on, Roid Gut. But it could be other stuff as well. I don't take roids and my gut seems hella out sometimes. But I have diverticulosis so I duno. Hope they are healthy and it's not serious
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u/JimKellyCuntry 13h ago
Hgh
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u/SpudsRacer 11h ago
I had to scroll done this far for the correct answer. Look at the bodybuilder culture today compared to Arnold's day when thin waists were the look. HGH doesn't just grow muscle, it grows the internal organs to the point they are pushing the abdomen out. Everything grows including your skull. They take steroids as well, but those don't grow muscle, they just allow exceptional recovery time from exercise.
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u/DzireCML 11h ago
Steroids don't grow muscle? 🤯
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u/Bonerpopper 9h ago
That guy is wrong btw, "steroids" are a broad class. The ones most people are talking about when it comes to body builders are anabolic steroids, which are mostly synthetic forms of testosterone. IE they absolutely build muscle.
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u/SpudsRacer 7h ago
After researching it, you're right and I'm wrong. Anabolic steroids promote muscle growth specifically and helps with recovery as well. I apologize.
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u/TarnishedWizeFinger 13h ago
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u/Upbeat_Dudeness 12h ago
I wonder if this lady still brags 20 years later: “Randy’s belly poked me on set back in the day”
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u/SlowMissiles 12h ago
Left guy is Martins Licis he a World Strongmen competitor so duh it's a lot of steroids
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u/beattysgirl 12h ago
Rauno is no slouch either 💪
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u/SlowMissiles 12h ago
I could imagine he also a strongman just didn't know his name :P
my dumbass just saw the picture say the names lol16
u/dropoffear 13h ago
My grandpa’s gut looks like this the drinks beer every day and they said it’s excess fluids in the abdomen called ascites and if it where to be drained it would just come back and it would be hard to adjust to the fluid change.
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u/NotForPlural 12h ago
This is not just ascites, this is caused by excessive intestinal volume. Ascites is caused by liver damage, usually from alcoholism.
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u/StanknBeans 12h ago
It would come back even if he quit or it would come back because he still drinks?
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u/ijustwanttoaskaq123 13h ago
Is there... a way to push them back?
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u/Kahazzarran 13h ago
No, they enlarge thanks to HGH. They're pushing out because they no longer fit right in the body cavity. Stopping gear will help, but enlarged organs are a lifelong consequence of abusing HGH.
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u/o5mfiHTNsH748KVq 12h ago
Damn. What’s worse is these two dudes didn’t even get that big. Like at all relative to their guts.
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u/cmwills29 10h ago
It's exaggerated to be be funny, Google them to know what they look like normally. And they absolutely did get big, they are some of the strongest men in the world (the guy on left won Worlds Strongest Man competition in 2019)
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u/Investigator_Lumpy 13h ago
Corset?
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u/Lazy-Map-3638 12h ago
Corsets just push organs around, won’t actually affect the size of them after HGH
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u/TheVeganPork 12h ago
The context behind this photo is they where also playing it up, they both distended their guts as much as they could as part of the joke.
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u/Relative_Yesterday70 12h ago
I believe these body builders started using insulin for more muscle gains and this is a side effect. I’ve heard.
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u/Dependent-Bridge-709 11h ago
Is it really a thing that bodybuilders inject insulin??? I have type 1 diabetes and inject insulin every time I eat or if my blood sugar is high.
Just surprised, but I guess bodybuilders do all kinds of crazy shit. You can go into a coma or even die within hours iof taking take a huge dose of insulin 😓
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u/PoptartFitness27 11h ago
That’s where rice 6 times a day became common, avoiding a diabetic coma
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u/ColeProtoco1 12h ago
There are so many ways your gut can distend. I’ve got issues digesting certain carbs. Garlic? Onion? Preggo. It’s ridiculous. Why does eating vegetables fuck me up?!?! (I know why just venting).
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u/RazorJ 11h ago
I don’t do steroids either but did every stomach exercise maxed out 3x a week.
But, I drank about a 1/5 to a liter of Jameson at night and ate steak and salt like crazy. My stomach wasn’t this big, but in the same ballpark.
I think it was a combo of fatty liver, fat cells around my organs, and a lot of inflammation. It was hard as a fucking rock though.
I quit all alcohol and only eat red meat once a month is all. I eat mostly salmon, chicken, and a lot of plant protein. It took 5 years but my blood tests are all in the right numbers but I’m not as big and strong no matter what I do now.
Personally I don’t like not being as strong but I feel healthier and the doc says it probably added a few years to my life.
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u/G8oraid 13h ago
Is that liver damage / fluid?
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u/Professional_Ad8872 13h ago
HGH causes not only muscles to grow, but also your guts, so you have a ton of guts that makes your belly stick out
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u/Lorddoctorjava 12h ago
I look just like that but I'm told I have to go to the gym...
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u/EcstaticStock499 12h ago
That awkward moment when you compliment someone about how fat they are but it turns out they’re just pregnant 😔
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u/jakecamron42 12h ago
guy on the right stomach shaped like a ball is having a boy. guy in the left, it's a girl. congrats
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u/mattricide 13h ago
Theyre power bellies
You may not like it but this is what peak performance looks like
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u/signofthecrow1 13h ago
Why do I look like this and I’ve never done any crazy steroids… why?? I also don’t drink beer or have a crazy diet.
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u/notmtfirstu 12h ago
Gutmaxxing is cool now? Fuck yeah! I'm headed to wendys to get a large frosty rn!
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u/Individual_Math5157 11h ago
I need to change up my online activities… I almost thought this was some 🌽.
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u/Snck_Pck 9h ago
Martin (left) has an amazing YouTube channel where he travels to all different cultures around the world and trains with them in their own sports / strength training etc.
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u/InternalServerErr500 9h ago
I've got an outie
you've got an innie,
let's roid and lift
till neither looks skinny.
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u/Mnudge 13h ago