For anyone thats ever bulked up, did you experience any negative health effects during the process? For instance, I hear a lot of people that go on GOMAD end up with their digestion going to hell. I'd rather not go through something like that. Any experiences?
If you bulk slowly, and don't get too fat, then you'll be just fine. A gallon of milk per day isn't for everyone, and extrapolating the health effects of bulking in general based on how some people handle an extreme amount of milk isn't wise.
I went from 11 stone to 18 stone in 2 years, with the help of roids etc. The only ill effect I had was the pressure to my joints because I was pushing heavy weights quicker than they could keep up. Other than that, did me no harm.
Whereas other athletes tend to have a longer life span than average, strength athletes tend to have an average lifespan despite a lifetime of exercise. So, no it's not exactly healthy to build weight too quickly.
One of the pro fighters in the gym I trained at a few years ago did a similar thing (went from about 12 - 16 stone). He said when he was at his heaviest (through the help of roids he got there fast), he felt like his lungs weren't the right size for his new body mass. So he constantly felt like he was gassing fast. Even if he trained a lot of cardio, gassing seemed to be a big issue until he dropped to a better weight (about 14 stone). - He was doing "the correct" cardio too, not just a ten minute jog and a few berpees. Did you have a similar problem? I'm interested because I know some guys who've got huge and had no real cardio issues, but he said he struggled badly
Nah, if anything the heavy weight training helped with my lung capacity. Doing very heavy weights for a good few reps and sets got the heart rate pumping hard and breathing heavy. But it was all good, in no way did i feel my lungs were out of proportion to my size, it actually helped relieve my asthma too.
That's interesting, I've seen that a few times with guys who just get big, but their cardio is matched while they are on the gear. I wonder what went wrong with this guy. When he dropped down (and stayed on the gear) his cardio was awesome. Maybe a psychological thing, or maybe he just beasted guys too much and relied on his new found strength instead of using the technique
Something else I found (again relating to joints) is that one time I was behind the neck shoulder pressing 100kg on the smith machine and my left shoulder gave up and sounded like it popped. Again it wasn't the muscle that was the issue it was the tendons and ligaments which could not cope with the extreme difference in weight training.
