Muscles without toil? Methods you'd better not try!

Since time immemorial, people have wanted everything now and preferably without much effort. In this article, we'll look at the dangerous but also ridiculous ways some people try to achieve a muscular physique without working hard in the gym.

Article Content:

• Synthol or muscles full of oil
• Implants wherever you order
• "Miracle" pills for muscle growth
• Machines that do the workout for you

1) Synthol or muscles full of oil

Synthol was originally used as a posing oil, it is a mixture of three ingredients - 85% oil (usually medium chain triglycerides), 7.5% lidocaine and 7.5% benzyl alcohol. Later, a crazy idea was conceived to try injecting it directly into the muscles to increase their volume. Some bodybuilders used it more to fine-tune their overall form, using it to slightly increase the volume of lagging areas. Flex Wheeler or Rich Piana, for example, have admitted to using synthol. On the other side there are some really extreme cases from Brazil, which leave us in our wits. Individuals such as Romario Alves and Valdir Segato can no longer be considered to be in shape. They have become synthol-addicted monsters who make you feel that their bodies must explode at any moment (unfortunately, for some of them this has actually happened, see the picture below).

There are a number of serious risks associated with the intramuscular administration of synthol - abscesses, nerve impingement, and in the worst cases the substance can be injected into a vein or artery, which can then reach the heart or lungs, with fatal consequences.

2) Implants anywhere you order

Most people think of the term "implants" as artificial female breasts. But plastic surgeons have long been able to sculpt a plethora of muscles with implants, and many times they are so skilled that you can't tell at first glance. The most commonly used implants are of the chest, calves, buttocks, abdominals, biceps and deltoids. Clinics that perform this can be found in the Czech Republic, but the real boom is abroad.

Even this method of exterior modification is not without risks such as implant rupture, capsule formation (the connective tissue sheath that forms around the implant becomes excessively thick and starts to deform the implant), and it is also impossible to predict how the implants will behave in the body after a long period of time. In the picture you can see how the not-so-good implants look on the racers.

3) "Miracle" pills for muscle growth

Probably most of us who buy some supplements from time to time have had an advertisement pop up for a miracle product that will cause massive muscle mass gains, shocking everyone around. I'm randomly adding a headline to one of the "miracles" I came across that amused me greatly.

"Already thousands of men - in just 1 month and with almost no effort - have gained up to 10 kg of muscle and gained an athletic, muscular body! Bodybuilders looked on in horror at the men using the new method. They had never seen anything like it in their lives!"

It really isn't realistic to gain 10 kg of muscle in a month, it would be fine for many, but we have to accept that this is not how the human body works. Medicine is always moving forward and maybe in the distant future we will see something like this, who knows, anyway today you can't get any pills that work like this.

As for the risks associated with taking such preparations, at best they will do nothing to you, at worst your body may react negatively or hypersensitively to some of the substances contained. But this is more or less true of any dietary supplements, you should look at the ingredients of all of them and take into account your state of health and possible contraindications with the medication you are taking. Many times you won't even read the ingredients on the website, if you do, these products contain, for example, tribulus terrestris, the amount of which people with high blood pressure and diabetes should watch out for.

Also, d-aspartic acid, which is not suitable for individuals with elevated thyroid activity and elevated dihydrotestosterone or estrogen levels. Generally natural testosterone stimulants are not of much value in younger individuals (under 30 years of age) in whom testosterone production functions without problem. We have discussed this topic in more detail in this video.

4) Devices that do the work for you

Finally, something a little funny. Who among us hasn't seen the ads for all sorts of bands and machines that you put on and exercise for you? Some vendors go even further and show videos of how the muscles work and grow on their own after you put the device on, while you sit on the couch and watch TV. If only it worked that simply, muscles need much more than vibrations to grow. And it doesn't change the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo promotes it and claims that you will then have a "six pack" like him.

Are there any risks? Apart from the fact that buying these gadgets will make your wallet lose weight, probably not. At most, the vibrations will give you a stomach ache.

Bottom line.

All of the above methods are either unaesthetic, dangerous to your health, or completely unnecessary. It is important to remember that although we live in accelerated times, not everything needs to be accelerated at any cost and gaining muscle mass is a long run.

In this article, we have focused on the controversial and ridiculous methods of achieving a muscular physique without toil. If you're curious about the crazy weight-loss products some marketers recommend, check out our article 10 useless things you don't need to be healthy or thin today, in which we took a closer look at "miracle" weight-loss shakes, corsets, detoxes and more.

Image and information sources: t-nation.com - 1,2, bodybuilding.com, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed, Romario Alves, generationiron.com, muscleandstrength.com, medium.com