[Tonus]

The guy with the 27" arms is Gregg Valentino.  His cartoonishly large arms are a result of both steroids and injected oils like Synthol.  Such oils are injected into the muscle and they force the muscle to expand, thus creating the illusion of really large muscles.  They do not add to muscle mass or strength.  Do a Google search on "Synthol" and you'll see plenty of images of Valentino as well as others who have used such oils to such an extreme degree that their arms and pecs look as if someone has stuffed air bags into them.  Notice as well, that Valentino's arms (like those of other Synthol users) do not 'unflex' when they're relaxed.  Due to the excess of intramuscular oil, the muscles retain their shape regardless of whether they're flexed or not.

If you notice, his right bicep has an odd dent in it.  It seems as if he injured a blood vessel when injecting synthetic oils into the bicep, which led to an infection and a huge abscess.  After trying to drain it himself with a large syringe (not the smartest person in the world) he finally sought medical help.  If I'm recalling correctly, a doctor had to cut away part of the bicep to remove the infected tissue, hence the massive scar on the muscle and the strange divot that is now evident.  There was a rumor that bodybuilder Milos Sarcev nearly killed himself when he hit a vein while injecting a synthetic oil into his triceps.

For this, as well as his brash and over-the-top style, and his openness about steroids, he is widely loathed in bodybuilding circles.  One way to turn many a bodybuilder's mood foul is to mention the name Gregg Valentino.

Within the context of this thread it's on-topic, so I'll let you live.  😉  8)

Hehe, thanks.  ;D

[Tonus]

Ah, that clears it up, thanks.

Does that mean no more pictures for the sake of corroboration? 🙁

[Tonus]

Amber (DeLuca?)

Is that who it is?  My first impression was Yaxeni Oriquen.  I guess we'll need to see more photos to know for sure… 🙂

[Tonus]

I commented on his dA page, I think it's great.  I know how much of a pain in the neck it can be to get everything to line up on drawings of this type, but he seems to have pulled it off very well.

As for ideas, I'd say have someone draw a femuscle version of DaVinci's Vitruvian Man.  I'd be interested in seeing someone pull that off.

[Tonus]

I just tried and am getting the following, same as this morning:

Network Timeout

The server at 65.42.128.210 is taking too long to respond.

The requested site did not respond to a connection request and the browser has stopped waiting for a reply.

Optimum Online (Cablevision's broadband) in NYC.

[Tonus]

This is a drawing of Hemisphere's character Evelynn Runeflame.  I saw Mr. Zero's take on it and liked it so much that I wanted to take a shot at drawing the character as well.  I probably should've taken more time on it, but have lots of stuff that I want to complete in the next couple of weeks.  I may revisit the character at a later time to get a more carefully constructed drawing done.

Thanks to Hemisphere for letting me draw the character.

[Tonus]

[font=tahoma]I haven't even bought a stitch of fabric,[/font]

I approve of this costume idea. 😉

[Tonus]

Jed and Gene turned out to be a great choice for the final fight, as they both created amazing pieces.  And that was with a tight deadline!

[Tonus]

PS- sorry if I'm long-winded about this.  I've been fascinated by the subject for several years, and it's aggravating to think that after four or five years of reading everything I can find, there's just so little useful information on the subject, and even fewer people willing to have an open and reasonable discourse about it.  So when I see a good opportunity I unload all over it. 😮

[Tonus]

Interesting information about Sherry Smith and her firefighting job.  In other words, she has potentially risked even more than I thought?

Yep.  As I said, it depends on local laws or union contracts, but I would be more surprised to hear that she was allowed back.  This is, of course, assuming that she is convicted or agrees to a plea deal with prosecutors.

Just a note with respect to the science of steroids – I recently complete research in the laboratory of a muscle physiologist.  One day, the topic of conversation turned to steroids, and he assured me that the reseaerch literature (proper, peer-reviwed work by well-respected researchers at top research establishments) showed that steroids when overused do cause potentially severe liver and heart damage.  So, even if there is still doubt amongst politicians, BBers and the general population, there seems little doubt amongst those who research this sort of thing.

I admit to hearing mostly bits and pieces and being too poorly informed.  There are apparently very few studies, particularly of the long-term effects of steroid use.  But some side effects are already known, or there is strong evidence for them.  Damage to the liver can occur when taking steroids orally (in pill form) because under those circumstances it is the liver that helps disseminate the steroid into the bloodstream.  This is, as I understand it, why steroids are primarily injected or rubbed on the skin– the damage to the liver can be quite severe, up to and including liver failure.  I don't recall if I'd heard of potential dangers to the heart.  I know that steroids can increase the levels of bad cholesterol while decreasing the levels of good cholesterol.  While this may seem like a non-issue to a bodybuilder, it is not– they can still suffer from arterial blockage and the risks that come with it.

There are some other effects, like acne, that apparently are common when large amounts of steroids are taken.  I was surprised to learn that the claims of "roid rage," or heightened aggression, may not be linked directly to steroids.  Unless I am mistaken, there are no studies making a clear link.  It could very well be that roid rage is simply a result of the types of personalities that are drawn to use PEDs (highly aggressive and competitive types).  Put 40 pounds of muscle on an otherwise cautious guy, and he may begin to feel as if he need not be so cautious.  It's also a great excuse for someone to use to cover for violent behavior.  But I would point out that there is also not enough proof against the idea.

The lack of well-publicized research on steroids combines with another factor to make for a very muddled situation– there are many anti-steroid and anti-PED groups that use propaganda and unverified claims to give the impression that steroids are lethal and extremely dangerous (one example being to display lists of people "killed" by steroids; the lists are nearly always full of names whose deaths had nothing to do with steroids, such as NFL player Lyle Alzado).  The problem with this point of view is that there is plenty of evidence that PEDs do exactly what their name implies- they enhance performance.  The sports figures that are constantly being criticized for steroid use are usually the top names in their respective sports, people who have garnered a lot of fame and ridiculous amounts of money.  If you're an 18 or 19 year-old who has a chance to try out for a college sports program with an eye towards a pro career, do you trust the website that tells you that steroids are a dead end, or do you look at Alex Rodriguez, who admitted to steroid use and who is set to make something like $500-750 million before his career ends?

What we need is to push for more studies and publicize them for better or worse.  Also, to point out that there ARE dangers to steroid/PED use, particularly for young men and women.  Third, major sports bodies HAVE to tackle the problem directly and forcefully.  I am afraid that the last one will be the least likely, and so long as athletes can make millions of dollars and sports bodies try to look the other way, the temptation to cheat will be too great for young people.

[Author]

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