Thousands of men are living with an extreme body image disorder known as bigorexia. Experts estimate one-in-ten men training in gyms in the UK may have the condition. It’s been compared to anorexia in reverse - where men become obsessed with putting on muscle. It can lead to depression, steroid abuse and in extreme cases, death.
Newsbeat meets men living with the condition and those who have had their lives turned upside down because of it.
Frank Zane looked like a very muscular human. The others look more like animals as far as I’m concerned. It’s all due to the abuse of insulin and HGH/IGF-1 we have seen in the last decade. HGH can literally make your organs grow, resulting in the huge stomachs of modern pros. Rich Piana actually said his HGH use led to his belly button tearing because his intestines grew so much (he did 10 years of 20iu/ed.)
The difference came in the ’90s when they started using human growth hormone and insulin. This is also why so many of them have died or have symptoms of palumboism.
Edit: Actually the guy in the video is pretty clueless about what causes it. Lee Priest and other pros have come out and said that the insulin users they know have these symptoms. The only real debate is whether it’s insulin alone or insulin + HGH combo that causes it.
It’s interesting to hear that bullying influenced at least one of the participants in that documentary. I’d be curious to know how many “big” guys at the gym were actually a lot smaller growing up. I was beat up/bullied in middle school a lot (like a lot of people), but it wasn’t until I got knocked out a couple of times in my late teens/early 20’s that I started weightlifting.
As a side note, if a friend ever introduces you to someone by saying, “hey UnbearableBear, this is my coke guy”, and your friend never actually says their name….that dude is shady and probably going to hit you. Or if you meet someone who has a tattoo of them peeing on a police officer, maybe don’t bring your snarky witticisms to the conversation cause look out he’s punching you.
I never learned how to fight or defend myself, but I understood that evolution not only favors the poisonous snake, but also the pussysnake that LOOKS like the poisonous snake. I’m the pussysnake. Of course over time there have been side-benefits (getting rid of acne, eating healthier, being less invisible to people you find pretty), but my main goal of avoiding my natural predators (drunk white males) has definitely been achieved. I’m also almost 30, so if I was getting concussions from strangers on the reg and I’m not a professional football player I’m definitely doing something wrong.
I know I think a little too much about exercise and feel guiltier than I should when I miss a session, but there are worse problems to have in this world I guess. Like having weak traps.
