Here's a good article explaining what Tim and I have been talking about...
"I remember the physiques of the past, Arnold, Bob Birdsong, Franco Columbo, Bob Paris and Frank Zane achieved this dynamic look. Darin Lannaghan, Bill Davey and Stan McQuay have produced this look in modern day bodybuilding though they may never be seen at the Arnold Classic Competition.
So What's Changed?
In mid 80's, Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and Insulin became popular drugs with professional bodybuilders. The net result, with these top level competitors, is the "Roid Gut". Now days, we have bodybuilders sporting a 40-46" waists. I am guessing, of course, since no competitor would dare share the mammoth size of their waistlines. If they did, I would bet they would shave the number down an inch or two. Unfortunately, the Roid Gut has a repulsive appearance contrary to the original intent of the sport. When Jay Cutler in his early years hit national prominence, his youthful physique still had the small waist. Today, Jay's waist is absolutely gross. Sure he may weighs 270+ lbs, but also he sports a waist line of a sumo wrestler. Most of the top bodybuilders, Ronnie Coleman, Dorian Yates and Craig Titus, all exhibit this similar phenomenon. These competitors are simply meeting the expectation of what the judges are condoning and encouraging by accepting this look at as the "champion" physique.
I am writing this article to discourage the use of these drugs. They are sucking the lifeblood out of the Sport, destroying the potential aesthetics of the physique, and taking the bodybuilding back to the freak show era of the past. THIS SHOULD NOT BE!
HGH, "Huge Gut Hormone?"
Okay so what does HGH do to the body? In a normal person, HGH is produced by the body and causes the normal body growth process. The HGH drug was originally developed for children that exhibited stunted growth and were found to have a low production of this hormone. Doctors would administer HGH in small amounts to stimulate a normal growth pattern.
In a few people, HGH production is overactive (from birth) it can also create person of gigantic proportions. Andre the Giant had this condition. Robert Wadlow was another and he grew to be 7'11". He had many health problems and died at a very early age.
If HGH is administered to an adult, muscle growth restarts. HGH is very different than steroids. HGH causes production of new cells. Steroids cause only the enlargement of existing cells. The new cell growth seems to target only with the soft tissues and rarely skeletal system. Unfortunately, not only are the muscles cells multiplying but so are the internal muscles like the intestines and heart. Furthermore, organs, like the liver, kidneys and pancreas are growing too. When the growth of these internal muscles and organs occur in a fixed chest cavity, there is only one direction for this extra mass to go and that is out the abdominal area. Starting to get the picture?
Insulin's Additive Affect
Now what is insulin's affect on the body? Insulin is a super steroid that funnels the nutrients and sugar into muscle. When combined with hard workouts, recovery is very quick. Properly taken, it drives cell growth better than any other steroid. However if you screw up in taking insulin at the wrong time or dosage, you can throw yourself into insulin shock and die. Also long term use can make you a diabetic, a condition that shortens life. When Insulin is combined with HGH, the muscles are set to make significant gains.
The downside of insulin is that it is also active in creating the storage of fat in the body in the event of starvation. These fat deposits are stored internally to body and not on the exterior muscles. This is wonderful for the bodybuilder's appearance but not for this health. These fat deposits called visceral fat are found around the internal organs of the liver, pancreas, heart and kidneys. Couple this additional weight with growth of the internal muscles and organs and you have enough extra mass to create a really protruding Roid Gut."
http://ezinearticles.com/?Bodybuilding-and-Steriods---Roid-Gut-the-End-of-the-Aesthetic-Physique&id=138050Another article -
"o what is GH useful for? Well first of all its effects on reducing body-fat have been well-documented. Daily doses of 3 to 6 IU injected subcutaneous have actually been shown to spot reduce body-fat mass and have, at least for some athletes, proven invaluable in contest preparation time. This dose, for short periods of time, may be somewhat affordable to a truly dedicated athlete. But one can still wonder if it is really worth it. GH has also been shown to elicit extremely positive effects on erythropoeisis3, the manufacture of red blood cells. The administration of GH in older athletes with a strong decline in GH levels has shown a severe improvement in endurance. Since levels of GH decline by half every decade, a person of 60 has roughly 15-20% of the GH he had at age twenty. So HGH is especially beneficial to older athletes regarding the effects on endurance. But just how effective superdosing HGH in younger top athletes is, no one really knows. It would be virtually undetectable as well, so no doubt this has been experimented with.
Now in regards to muscle mass, I've yet to see anything prove the contrary of what the studies I provided claimed. I've not seen HGH increase muscle mass at all. Then again, I've never seen anyone use 10-12 IU per day the way some top level professionals do. Some claim that HGH can cause hyperplasia rather than hypertrophy. Hypertrophy is the growth of muscle cells, hyperplasia is the division and thus multiplication of cells. The theory goes that this does not increase size immediately, but in due time, due to the increase in the amount of cells, when they all do hypertrophy under the influence of steroids and insulin, the result will be much greater. Of course one side-effects of HGH is that it seems to increase the size of everything, including bones (which gives very ugly protrusions in people who have no growth left in them) and intestines (which explains the incredible increase in gut size of professional bodybuilders, despite low body-fat percentages). Now these side-effects alone would allow for several pounds increase. Stack that with 3 grams per week of testosterone and an equal dose of other steroids, some insulin, lots of rest and 8000 calorie diets, and I really don't see how much the HGH contributed in creating the muscle-weight these athletes have. I mean amateur and recreational users top 260 pounds, fairly lean using 1 gram of test and 1 gram of other drugs per week, maybe some insulin. It seems to me at least that HGH is a royal waste of money. Even if it did contribute 3 or 4 pounds, is it worth a habit of 150 dollars per day? Not in my book. "
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/cathuman.htm
