Gregg Valentino: "I'm an idiot"

UPDATE 8/5/2010: Gregg Valentino responded to this post in a recent interview you can listen to exclusively on my blog here The Gregg Valentino Interview: I never took Synthol!


Gregg Valentino, the bodybuilding world's favorite jackass, decided that he needed to go on TLC and make even more of a jackass of himself. In a show fittingly titled "The Man Whose Arms Exploded" we take a ride through the Synthol man's world of steroids, drug dealing, and a home made how to video on how to suck the puss out of your own idiotically induced abscess.

In another poorly made shocumentary on steroids, The Learning Channel decides to ask the stupidest person to ever lift a weight what happens when you decide to go on a steroid/Synthol binge.

"I had tons of you know, needles, you know, syringes - needles, you know, the whole bit. And I'm over there reusing needles, dropping the damn thing on the floor, blowing it off, and wiping it off, and then ya stick that in ya and ya get infections, ya know. And that's what happened, you know, I got an infection [...] I had a hematoma in my arm and I'm draining the blood" -- Gregg Valentino

Gee, I wonder why a person would get an infection that way? At no time during the documentary do we hear Gregg admit to his rampant use of Synthol and whatever other chemicals or implants he put into his arms. Synthol is a catch-all term for a type of oil that people or companies make into a sterile solution that users inject into areas to cause it to expand. It's generally made from easily available MCT oil that's (hopefully) sterilized and cooked down and then sold as a very expensive muscle rubbing oil that people then take and inject into their bodies. Most people consider this to be stupid. Even steroid users consider using Synthol "cheating" and almost no one admits to using it. The effects generally wear off after the oil permeates throughout the body and the user has to continue to reinject it to expand that muscle. Most everyone has know that Valentino used Synthol when they take the first look at his arms. His attempts to look completely freakish with his grotesque biceps and red contact lenses garnered him some legitimate attention in bodybuilding and fitness magazines, where he wrote mostly incoherent articles in all capital letters.

So, mostly for shock value, we see Gregg's home made video of him draining blood and puss out of his abscessed bicep and the viewer is lead to believe that this is what does and will most likely end up happening to most steroid users. This is the equivalent of having a show about the dangers of cars and then showing the results of putting a mentally retarded child behind the wheel of a Corvette. But what's the truth compared to ratings? Obviously not much.

"You're sitting in a jail cell saying how the f-- did I get here?" -- Gregg Valentino


Probably had something to do with the fact you were selling massive amounts of drugs, dating a drug addicted street prostitute, and then going online and in magazines bragging about how much money you're making selling steroids and how stupid you look after abusing them. The more interesting question would be to ask what exactly Valentino put in his arms to get them that big?


Some of the other bizarre parts of this documentary are the quotes by Steve Michalik, who seems to have a limited knowledge of steroids, as most bodybuilders in the late 70s and early 80s did. Apparently he had liver failure caused by steroids, which would only occur if he was using massive amounts of oral methylated steroids for long periods of time. He gets on his soapbox about how terrible steroids are, and the entire culture of having medicine that helps people get rid of ailments. He mentions later having a stroke, so we can only assume that he has had some loss in his brain function. It's unfortunate to see a former pro bodybuilder in such poor condition, mentally and physically.

Mick Hart's health also seems to be failing, and his son seems quite a bit out of shape himself. Mick put his son Chris, on a cycle of Dianabol and Winstrol and then sold the guide online for profit. Hopefully Mick Hart won't drop dead one day and then turn into the next bodybuilding martyr who couldn't realize his own health was failing and refused to admit the causes, like Dan Duchaine - another major drug experimenter. He apparently has had a heart attack, in addition to his previous GHB addiction which caused him quite a bit of problems.

Overall, for TLC, I'd say it was a pretty poor show if someone wanted to get an overall idea of steroids and bodybuilding.

The Most Hated Man in Bodybuilding - An Interview with Greg Valentino

Gregg has also come out with his own vitamin supplement called Jekyll & Hyde. It won't give you arms like he has. However, his ability to sell out hasn't stopped there. He is also selling EsikClean Posing Oil on his website. This is the outrageously overpriced Synthol which created his freakish arms and was responsible for his arms exploding.

An update to this post has been published!  Check out the new interview The Gregg Valentino Interview: I never took Synthol!