Bodybuilder Victor Martinez details the best ways to avoid lumps of scar tissue under the skin caused by repeat steroid injections
While steroids and other PEDs are not required for competitive bodybuilding, it is often used by many pro athletes in order to achieve super-human-sized muscle. Most often, these kinds of substances require injections. Over time, these injections can cause lumps of scar tissue that are unpleasant visually. This is particularly a problem for bodybuilders – whose goal is to sculpt a perfect physique. So how can this be avoided? In the latest episode of the Generation Iron Podcast, Victor Martinez gives advice on how to avoid scar tissue caused by steroid injections.
Disclaimer: Generation Iron team are not medical professionals and are not advising for or against the use of any performance enhancing drugs, rather stating the facts surrounding these substances.
This week’s episode of the Generation Iron Podcast is packed with a wide range of interesting topics. Luckily, host Victor Martinez has the bodybuilding life experience to provide some truly powerful insight for questions that can be sometimes hard to find legitimate answers.
During this discussion, Victor Martinez and the GI crew discuss TRT and how it may or may not affect having children. They also discuss gluten-free diets and how it may affect building muscle; and how many calories should a pro bodybuilder (Men’s Open) eat daily for best results.
In addition to these topics, they also discuss an often overlooked side effect caused by anabolic steroid use – scar tissue. If you’ve ever seen a bodybuilder with a bulbous lump on their elbow, shoulders, lats, or glutes – you’re likely looking at someone with scar tissue under their skin from site injections.
This can be not only unpleasant personally but also affect how the judges score your physique if the scar tissue alters your overall look on that body part. Victor Martinez shares some personal tips on how to prevent this from happening before it is too late. Let’s jump into it.
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Steroid injections, scar tissue, and how to prevent it
When a bodybuilder decides to use steroids or other forms of injectable PEDs, they are often done in cycles. This is both for health and for preparing the optimal physique by the time the athlete steps on stage. Despite often being done in cycles – the use of anabolic steroids often involves repeated injections for many years throughout a bodybuilder’s career.
Over time, repeat injections into the same site will cause lumps of fat or scar tissue to form. This is called Lipohypertrophy. Once this scar tissue develops, it can be costly and time consuming to remove them. So preventing their development before they ever form is best practice in the bodybuilding world. But how is this done?
Victor Martinez shares a vital tip that will prolong the development of scar tissue and perhaps prevent it altogether. It might seem like a simple solution but it can go a long way in preventing Lipohypertrophy.
Victor Martinez explains that while using steroids, it is important to inject into different areas throughout your cycle. He describes it as being a circle. You start in one part of your body then work in a circle around key areas for injections. Once you go through the full circle – you start over again.
This prevents having too many injections in a row at one body part or area. It’s the repeated use and damage caused that never fully heals – which eventually turns into scar tissue. By spreading out across a wider range of injection sites, this reduces or can even prevent scar tissue from forming.
It should also be noted that Victor Martinez and the hosts of the Generation Iron Podcast are not medical professionals. GI does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs and is only providing this information for entertainment purposes only.
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How many calories do pro bodybuilders eat daily?
Victor Martinez also goes into detail about the daily calorie intake of Men’s Open pro bodybuilders. This can vary depending on a few factors. Bodybuilders eat different calorie amounts in the off season vs the contest prep season, for example. Also each individual is genetically different and carries weight differently. So the exact amount is always specific to your body.
However, when speaking in general for the average pro bodybuilder, Victor Martinez says about 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day will suffice. As the contest prep stage comes in – a bodybuilder will then typically slowly cut down calories based on how their body looks each week. During this stage it’s common for carbs to be cut out to reduce calories.
In today’s world of viral headlines, it’s not uncommon to see videos are articles claiming a big name pro bodybuilder can eat upwards of 8,000 or even 10,000 calories in a day. Victor Martinez warns against using those numbers as a standard. Martinez emphasizes that most bodybuilders do not eat upwards of 8,000 calories every day. They may eat that much on a specific day – but not regularly.
“If they [bodybuilders] are eating 10,000 clean calories every day, let’s see it. Let’s see it… Because it’s kind of hard.”
– Victor Martinez
Victor Martinez goes on to say that serious pro bodybuilders will want to eat clean while building muscle. So he finds it hard to believe that even the biggest bodybuilders can eat upwards of 8k or 10k calories for clean foods. It’s just unpleasant and hard to do.
Wrap Up
Victor Martinez goes into far more detail about calorie intake and how to avoid scar tissue from steroid injections. He also touches upon other topics such as TRT while trying to have kids and how a gluten-free diet may affect your bodybuilding gains. You can watch the full discussion in the latest Generation Iron Podcast above.
Don’t forget to check back every Tuesday for new episodes only on the Generation Iron Fitness Network or wherever you download podcasts!
