Is permanent gut distention possible?

[The Survivor]

I was planning on competing a month ago but cant seem to rid myself of distention problem. When I first noticed it 4 yrs ago, my top dose was no more than 4 IU's/day 5 on 2 off. Now with the blue tops I'm peaked at 5 iu's. I have dropped a lot of weight in the last 7 months and the gut has without doubt gone down, fat wise and distention has been reduced.

Now I dropped out due to distention issue. I'm beginning to think my abs will always look like this. From what I have heard, such moderate dosages of GH should not cause this condition. Is is possible to be permanently like this? Or should I have given it more time and better training/diet strategies? Maybe I should have hit the cardio more and stricter diet although I was down to 10% and my abs were showing despite the distention. Would doing vacuums help? Maybe wearing a mid-section girdle?

Any help on this would be appreciated as I'm frustrated as hell....thanks!

 

[Presser]

I always thought it was permamnent bro

 

[The Survivor]

I always thought it was permamnent bro

Maybe your right but the pros manage to bring thiers down at least to presentable levels. Whats encouraging is that there was a definite reduction. Is possible that I will need to tap into the viscreal fat to reduce further. Like I said my abs were showing no problem. I thought distention started at upwords of 7 IU's

 

[Eat'n Big]

To my understanding it is in fact permanent

 

[Eat'n Big]

I thought distention started at upwords of 7 IU's

each person is different bro, you should know this, that effects vary on individuals. But like your stressing, in most cases of users ext.
You peaked at 5, and 7 is not so far away.

 

[The Survivor]

each person is different bro, you should know this, that effects vary on individuals. But like your stressing, in most cases of users ext.
You peaked at 5, and 7 is not so far away.

Oh Yea I know, but when I first noticed in back 4 yrs ago I was at 4, yes still close but not that close. Anyway I still ned to minimize it or I cant compete. Maybe I should just say the hell with it, get ripped going down to 5% and compete anyways. Whats the worst that could happen? Just getting to 5% BF will help considerably I think

 

[Presser]

Oh Yea I know, but when I first noticed in back 4 yrs ago I was at 4, yes still close but not that close. Anyway I still ned to minimize it or I cant compete. Maybe I should just say the hell with it, get ripped going down to 5% and compete anyways. Whats the worst that could happen? Just getting to 5% BF will help considerably I think

give it a shot bro, whats the worse that could happen ya know

 

[formernpc]

Can you post some pics? How bad is it brother? Maybe it's not as bad as you think...?

 

[swole27]

Can you post some pics? How bad is it brother? Maybe it's not as bad as you think...?

yeah can you post some pics bro?

 

[dreww]

Bigger shoulders and upper body might be another avenue to take. IMO bodybuilding is about appearances and visual distortion. Can't make stomach smaller? Make everything else bigger around it

 

[tropo]

Oh Yea I know, but when I first noticed in back 4 yrs ago I was at 4, yes still close but not that close. Anyway I still ned to minimize it or I cant compete. Maybe I should just say the hell with it, get ripped going down to 5% and compete anyways. Whats the worst that could happen? Just getting to 5% BF will help considerably I think

Maybe this will help you. I'm 52 and suffer from a big gut. I'm not competing, but certainly I'm keen on keeping my physique in good condition and this has been bumming me out for years now.

I used GH for a short while last year, but not now. I don't think my problem is related to GH use.

Here's what you may find interesting: Last year I was reading around 11% bodyfat using pinch calipers in 9 positions. I then jumped into a weighing tank (hydrostatic bodyfat measurement) and found out I was 16.9% bodyfat. I also went out and did a DEXXA composition scan and that read 15.9%.

Like you, even if I show some ab definition I have a big gut. Mine measures just over 40" sucked in first thing in the morning. I can push it out to nearly 45". It has to be visceral fat as my true bodyfat measurement is about 6% more than a subcutaneous pinch test shows. I was told that a 6% variance between the two tests is quite common. I'm thinking that our age has something to do with how we accumulate visceral fat as we're the same age.

 

[big in vegas]

Maybe this will help you. I'm 52 and suffer from a big gut. I'm not competing, but certainly I'm keen on keeping my physique in good condition and this has been bumming me out for years now.

I used GH for a short while last year, but not now. I don't think my problem is related to GH use.

Here's what you may find interesting: Last year I was reading around 11% bodyfat using a pinch calipers in 9 positions. I then jumped into a weighing tank (hydrostatic bodyfat measurement) and found out I was 16.9% bodyfat. I also went out and did a DEXXA composition scan and that read 15.9%.

Like you, even if I show some ab definition I have a big gut. Mine measures just over 40" sucked in first thing in the morning. I can push it out to nearly 45". It has to be visceral fat as my true bodyfat measurement is about 6% more than a subcutaneous pinch test. I was told that a 6% variance between the two tests is quite common. I'm thinking that our age has something to do with how we accumulate visceral fat as we're the same age.

Good information bro

 

[The Survivor]

Maybe this will help you. I'm 52 and suffer from a big gut. I'm not competing, but certainly I'm keen on keeping my physique in good condition and this has been bumming me out for years now.

I used GH for a short while last year, but not now. I don't think my problem is related to GH use.

Here's what you may find interesting: Last year I was reading around 11% bodyfat using a pinch calipers in 9 positions. I then jumped into a weighing tank (hydrostatic bodyfat measurement) and found out I was 16.9% bodyfat. I also went out and did a DEXXA composition scan and that read 15.9%.

Like you, even if I show some ab definition I have a big gut. Mine measures just over 40" sucked in first thing in the morning. I can push it out to nearly 45". It has to be visceral fat as my true bodyfat measurement is about 6% more than a subcutaneous pinch test. I was told that a 6% variance between the two tests is quite common. I'm thinking that our age has something to do with how we accumulate visceral fat as we're the same age.

So your saying it may not be the abs growing, it may be the inner or visceral fat? Thats making the abs stick out? Good theory....I guess I could do same hydostatic test and see what the difference is.....so I assume you rid yourself of vis fat the same way as subq fat right? I know its tougher to hit that area

 

[saudades]

I think I have the same thing going on. I have virtually no fat on the outside subcutaneously yet my stomach sticks out when I relax. I know it isn't from HGH. I've been trying to lose it, but it's been very stubborn.

 

[The Dude]

Mine gets quite distended in the offseason, but always shrinks to comparable levels when I get ready to step onstage.

 

[big in vegas]

I think a lot of it is that you're core will develop muscles that push everything out and that obviously doesn't help anything. Take powerlifters for example, although a lot of them have big guts, they are solid because there's a ton of muscle underneath hiding and they push into the belt on squats and deads a lot. Plus they'll push their guts out on bench so that it's a shorter ROM to "touch"

 

[tropo]

I think a lot of it is that you're core will develop muscles that push everything out and that obviously doesn't help anything. Take powerlifters for example, although a lot of them have big guts, they are solid because there's a ton of muscle underneath hiding and they push into the belt on squats and deads a lot. Plus they'll push their guts out on bench so that it's a shorter ROM to "touch"

Yes, I think a certain amount of my abdominal volume could be internal core muscles developing. The last 3 years I've done a lot more dead lifting, bent over rows and squats and I don't use a belt so I rely on keeping my core tight internally to keep my back strong. Back in the days when my gut was a lot smaller I used a belt, but my back is a lot stronger these days.

I took 5 months off lifting this year and I lost a few inches on my gut. Perhaps the muscles shrank because I wasn't on a diet.

 

[tropo]

So your saying it may not be the abs growing, it may be the inner or visceral fat? Thats making the abs stick out? Good theory....I guess I could do same hydostatic test and see what the difference is.....so I assume you rid yourself of vis fat the same way as subq fat right? I know its tougher to hit that area

It's definitely not the abs muscles getting bigger.

Yes, I assume that visceral fat will be reduced along with subcutaneous fat, but perhaps far more slowly. Perhaps the interior gut will be the last bastion of fat. I haven't been on a strict diet to try it out, but I'm starting to reduce calories now to see what will happen.

I hope we can come up with some useful information on this most perplexing problem. I've searched the Internet in vain for answers.

 

[Jpotch]

Its most likely more than just visceral fat you're seeing. Like some bros already said everyone is different. GH if taken in too high of doses will cause your tissues to thicken considerably. So you can lose the fat but the thicker intestinal walls are there to stay. Inside the chest cavity you dont notice the thicker heart walls because of your ribs. Unfortunatly the abdominal wall doesnt hide thick intestines.

 

[tropo]

Its most likely more than just visceral fat you're seeing. Like some bros already said everyone is different. GH if taken in too high of doses will cause your tissues to thicken considerably. So you can lose the fat but the thicker intestinal walls are there to stay. Inside the chest cavity you dont notice the thicker heart walls because of your ribs. Unfortunatly the abdominal wall doesnt hide thick intestines.

Thanks for your input, but I think I can safely take GH out of the equation. I only used it for a few months and the maximum dose I ever used was 4 IU per day and that was only for a month. The rest of the time I took 2 IU per day.

Perhaps testosterone supplementation caused a massive increase in my core muscle size. This is not hard to believe considering my other body parts grew considerably too. Add visceral fat to the equation and we have instant gut.

There's a 6% discrepancy between a caliper pinch test and accurate hydrostatic weighing. The DEXXA scan shows most of my fat is in the torso.