(posted this on another board, starting an identical thread here to get a good discussion going)
Probably the most analyzed yet least understood myth/mystery in bodybuilding is the gut that pro bodybuilders as well as some amateurs develop. As you all know, hundreds of pages have been dedicated to the discussion of this issue with no firm outcome. Let's make just one more attempt at uncovering the truth by looking at all possible alternatives.
Which tissues can possibly grow to result in the huge distended abdomens we see on stage today? Here all the possibilities.
Subcutaneous Fat
Well obviously this is not the cause. This fat would be right beneath the skin and above the abdominal muscles. Since the abs are so clearly visible in those who have large guts (or I should say "visible even when the athlete has clearly visible abs"), subcutaneous fat is not the cause of the problem.
Internal Organ Growth
This is the most frequently proposed reason. However, I am not sure if this is truly the primary cause. What organ can possibly grow so much that -despite the lack of subcutaneous fat- it would push the entire abdominal wall forward by more than an inch, sometimes way more than inch? Looking at an anatomical chart, it appears that the organs right under the famous distention are primarily the large and small intestines. Now just eyeballing the pictures of these pros and the anatomy charts, I would guess that the intestines would have to AT LEAST DOUBLE IN SIZE to cause such a distention (this is an estimate based on the fact that intestines make up only some of the size of the midsection. Just like the fact that you biceps would have to way more than double for your upper arm size to go up by 70-80% if your triceps and bone/skin stay the same size).
My question to you is, has such an increase in intestine size even been documented in anyone -not just bodybuilders but any patient- without killing the individual? Is such a thing even possible merely due to drug use? Some say that insulin and growth hormone cause this sort of increase in the size of internal organs, but neither diabetics nor acromegaly patients have this sort of internal organ growth. Besides, how would you not suffer severe symptoms when your intestines double in size?
Some have also suggested that it is the growth of the liver that causes the gut to stick out, but again, is it realistic for the liver to grow so large without sending the person into the hospital for an extended period? Some of the pros walk around with a huge gut for years and years yet only suffer relatively minor health issues (as in still being able to eat 5-6,000 calories and training while also doing very severe weight cuts)
If not these, what other organs can possibly grow so much?
Visceral Fat
This is, I believe, is the primary reason for the distended guts. If we keep in mind that the biochemistry of visceral and subcutaneous fat are very different, and also observe that some people such as alcoholics have relatively skinny physiques with distended stomachs, this is the most realistic possibility. Of course, bodybuilders are an extreme case in that they have very very low fat under their skin yet -if this theory is true- quite a bit of fat in their abdominal cavity, but it is the best possibility IMO. The fact that some of them also have pretty fat faces -compared to the rest of their bodies- also makes one think of cortisol causing all this, together with insulin.
Ascites
The final possibility is fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity. I think this is called Ascites, but I may be wrong. I find this to be a more plausible hypothesis than organ growth but still not very likely due to several reasons. The biggest issue here is the existence of the distended stomachs even during contest time. Obviously, these guys are pretty dry in contest time yet the stomachs don't budge much if at all, while they are losing all the water under the skin. I can accept the idea that the pharmacology of fat under the skin is very different from "gut fat" and that the fat inside the gut can remain while the subcutaneous fat is burned up. However, it sounds quite unlikely that the water accumulated inside the stomach would remain while the water under the skin is excreted during contest prep. Also consider that the medical treatment for ascites is diuretics, and it sounds likely that any such "abdominal water" would be lost when taking the diuretics that these guys are taking before the competition. So I do not think that the pregnant stomachs are made up mostly of water.
All in all, the only reasonable hypothesis IMO is visceral fat accumulation around the internal organs.
Please share your views on this and tell me where my thinking is wrong. Once we establish what the true cause is, the better informed members here can hopefully propose new solutions...
Thanks for your time
Sub
