Gregg Valentino (born August 5, 1960 in Bronx, New York) is a controversial Italian-American bodybuilder who is thought to have had the largest arms in the world. He resides in Yorktown, New York. As a young man, Valentino was an active bodybuilder, but was never satisfied with his size. After twenty three years of natural training he turned to anabolic steroids such as testosterone propionate, Boldenone and occasionally testosterone enanthate[1] to enhance his muscle mass, and soon gave up professional bodybuilding altogether, instead making his goal to simply get as large as possible. Some analysts have argued he likely suffers from muscle dysmorphia. Valentino was featured in "The Man Whose Arms Exploded", a TLC documentary highlighting the use and abuse of steroids. In the documentary he recalls his misuse of steroids, namely not taking precautions necessary to prevent infection. Consequently he eventually came down with a very serious infection of his right biceps. After failed attempts to drain the hematoma himself, using the same needles he used to inject his steroids, and "filling two glasses with blood and pus" he sought emergency medical treatment. Ultimately his arm was saved, at the cost of a significant reduction in the size and shape of the biceps. Valentino has admitted to being a drug dealer. He was eventually arrested and imprisoned for a year. Many bodybuilding observers have argued Valentino likely heavily abused Synthol (which he sells on his website [2]) in addition to steroids, as his biceps often appear soft and balloon-like in photographs, a symptom of muscles that have been injected with oil. The TLC special controversially did not address this matter, though Valentino himself has denied the charge in interviews with t-nation.com and bodybuilding.com [3].
References
- ^ http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=211hate
- ^ http://www.greggvalentino.net/index.cfm?pageID=6
- ^ http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/greggvalentino.htm
