Old school mass monsters and blood sugar readings.

[Simon90]

Blood sugars are something I monitor very closely. And more and more people seem to be doing so also. With a lot of people saying once your insulin sensitivity worsens and blood glucose levels get too high, the off season is done. I've noticed this myself last year, when my sugars started to creep up the wheels started to fall off. Digestion down the pan, bodyfat accumulating at a higher rate etc.

Now I got to thinking about the old guys, nasser, markus rhul, Greg kovacs, Ronnie etc the real big fookers, surely they were not monitoring blood sugars?

And I don't believe for one second they were waking up with fasting sugars in range, and post prandial readings back down in range. But maybe that's the sceptic in me lol. They cared about getting to 300lbs plus, not metabolic health, or health in general.

Then again, they are the genetic elite so nutrient partitoning, pancreatic outputnetc could be above and beyond us mere mortals.

Interested to hear you guys thoughts on it?

 

[CorgisOnTren]

Not many thoughts beyond I’m grateful we have the resources now to better monitor our health now. Hell, we can even do labwork from our couch these days.

 

[luki7788]

Bro, do you believe in Santa Claus? lol

Seriously, look at the bodybuilders from the turn of the '90s and '10s. How many of them are diabetics today? How many have other serious health problems? Ronny Rockel, do you think he would have become diabetic if he'd watched his blood sugar, etc.? lol

Listen Palumbo – he was puking up his egg shakes, so he made another one and forced himself to drink it – everyone was forcing themselves to eat... You had zero appetite and were vomiting on food while taking 200mg of Anadrol a day? Back then, they said it was normal and that's how it should be – you have to force yourself to eat. Listen to the old bodybuilders, they say about "force feeding" all the time.

I didn't expect a question like that from anyone, but you... Bro..

 

[madcap71]

I highly doubt bodybuilders in the 90s/00s were tracking their blood glucose. Especially given how soft some would allow themselves to get in the "off-season"

 

[traininsane11]

The less I think or concern myself with what others think/do/did and focus on myself the happier I become

I get what you’re asking but you know the answer and that’s no they didn’t but I’m sure if they’d of had the info we had now they would of and I also get you’re wondering if it’s necessary or overkill and I think it can be both depending on how you utilise it…same with anything I suppose

 

[dantes]

I actually think “Palumboism” is really just type 2 diabetes. Now I am not saying all gut distension is blood sugar related as generally it probably isn’t in the case of a bodybuilder. With Palumbo though he had a trademark diabetic look, large extended gut likely from high visceral fat, shrinking limbs and an inability to fill out and load the muscle with glycogen. He likely had very high inflammation as well. Basically he was built like a beetle

When you look at Palumbos diet it was extremely high in carbs and fat and he fed around the clock. He also did short workouts with little to no cardio

 

[plane]

They didnt give a shit in the off season

 

[Alzadosghost]

Those guys were not doing bloodwork either. None of them were. Despite hearing them all
Say they did. I believe that about as much as I believe Ronnie got all his ass from a doctor. They are all full of shit

 

[PissedPajamas]

Blood sugars are something I monitor very closely. And more and more people seem to be doing so also. With a lot of people saying once your insulin sensitivity worsens and blood glucose levels get too high, the off season is done. I've noticed this myself last year, when my sugars started to creep up the wheels started to fall off. Digestion down the pan, bodyfat accumulating at a higher rate etc.

Now I got to thinking about the old guys, nasser, markus rhul, Greg kovacs, Ronnie etc the real big fookers, surely they were not monitoring blood sugars?

And I don't believe for one second they were waking up with fasting sugars in range, and post prandial readings back down in range. But maybe that's the sceptic in me lol. They cared about getting to 300lbs plus, not metabolic health, or health in general.

Then again, they are the genetic elite so nutrient partitoning, pancreatic outputnetc could be above and beyond us mere mortals.

Interested to hear you guys thoughts on it?

You only hear about the success stories bro. I’m sure there were way more guys going diabetic and fucking up their internals than not. With all the tools at our availability now the longevity in the sport has increased

 

[TheOtherOne55]

@Simon90 Buddy, i thought about this all the time lol especially the past couple offseasons where ive realllly paid attention to this shit.
But yeah, i've thought to myself, "well there was no fuckin way Palumbo or Titus or Kovacs had anyyy idea where the fuck their insulin sensitivity was. They just ate, and when they were stuffed, they ate some more."

But I agree with you that some of these guys, regardless of how shitty their insulin sensitivty got STILL were able to grow and put on slabs of muscle IN SPITE of all their metabolic problems. Just shows you how genetically blessed some guys are/were. I also think back to my first couple years breaking into the 300s and i was an idiot. I was supplementing my real food meals with like gummy bears and FF candy lol. I would also have white rice + pie filling (old school Chad Nichols meals) to make sure i got the carbs down. I probably spent those offseasons with my blood sugar above 200+ all year. Its a miracle i didnt become a diabetic after a couple years of that lol.

 

[kadafi2]

Bodybuilders used to compete more often than they do today, so by probably unconsciously alternating periods of caloric surplus and deficit, they both improved and damaged their insulin sensitivity.

Markus Ruhl was/is probably the most genetically resistant; he's still huge and leads a happy life. Dexter Jackson is also unfairly overlooked; he may have been smaller, but he's one of the longest-living bodybuilders in history (I mean, in terms of his years on stage). Kevin Levrone skipped the gym for a while, which also helped him maintain his health.

Today, despite access to knowledge and research, unfortunately, we often hear about the death of a competitor. But this is probably more due to the pressure to achieve results at all costs.

 

[qbkilla]

The distended gut talk reminded me of Derrick Anthony dead at 32. I believe some speculated g4p/hiv, but it was also said kidney failure? Anyone know what led to his death? I think his face was all puffed up for a while.

 

[specter]

The distended gut talk reminded me of Derrick Anthony dead at 32. I believe some speculated g4p/hiv, but it was also said kidney failure? Anyone know what led to his death? I think his face was all puffed up for a while.

That was kidney failure 100%
reason massive amounts of roids, no bloodpressure meds, rec drugs, oil shit shot i all kinds of body parts, shitty diet.