Striated Delts

[Muay Thai]

are we seeing less of this and more of a " dense cap shape" in pros these days? The conditioning in the 80s and early 90s was insane

my delts in my 20s were very striated I used to pride what I could on that little bit of achievement lol. now it is not the same look. scar tissue? I've been that lean again and they came back to a degree

 

[Tomgrass]

For me it is opposite , the older i am the more define they are. In fact not only them but also my chest , for sure i am getting leaner every year and i am more ripped during my bulk as a result of it. Every cut makes new set point in bodyfat. Just started dieting 3 weeks ago and I am so lean already that is crazy and I still have around 10 weeks of dieting in front of me.

 

[alfresco]

are we seeing less of this and more of a " dense cap shape" in pros these days? The conditioning in the 80s and early 90s was insane

my delts in my 20s were very striated I used to pride what I could on that little bit of achievement lol. now it is not the same look. scar tissue? I've been that lean again and they came back to a degree

Could it be the oil?

 

[luki7788]

after 16 years of pouring liters of gear into my shoulders there is so much scar tissue in them that there is no way I will see any cuts there even when I get down to a very low %bf

 

[bbxtreme]

I actually no longer pin in my delts for this reason. That and I just think pinning there causes too many issues pre-maturely on movements in the gym.

As a whole I would say insulin being misused with diet is a cause to many bodybuilders not having striated delts like they used to.

 

[b-boy]

Damn good question, some say scar tissue and some say insulin abuse, I would think that most bodybuilders hit their delts a lot, I did and I have some striations in my delts even in the offseason, when I diet down they are the first thing to get nasty lean and striated, so not really for sure about the scar tissue theory as that doesn't pan out for me personally, and as most know I hate insulin and have rarely ever used it, so maybe the insulin abuse theory makes more sense to me.

 

[danieltx]

after 16 years of pouring liters of gear into my shoulders there is so much scar tissue in them that there is no way I will see any cuts there even when I get down to a very low %bf

Same here - I don't have the definition I had in my shoulders and quads 4 years ago even though I get leaner now than I was then.

 

[Elvia1023]

It's all the injections and oil going into them it's as simple as that. Obviously insulin (diet) misuse can affect overall condition so that could be a factor in some cases but there are plenty of bodybuilders with striations all over and big boulder shoulders with much less detail (Hadi for example) and that's because of site injections (aas and/or seo). The same could be said for arms (specifically bi-ceps) as well.

 

[qbkilla]

For me it is opposite , the older i am the more define they are. In fact not only them but also my chest , for sure i am getting leaner every year and i am more ripped during my bulk as a result of it. Every cut makes new set point in bodyfat. Just started dieting 3 weeks ago and I am so lean already that is crazy and I still have around 10 weeks of dieting in front of me.

Damn, weren't you around 6% recently on the inbody? I think we were comparing numbers lol. What's your current estimated bf? How many calories?

 

[dantes]

Damn good question, some say scar tissue and some say insulin abuse, I would think that most bodybuilders hit their delts a lot, I did and I have some striations in my delts even in the offseason, when I diet down they are the first thing to get nasty lean and striated, so not really for sure about the scar tissue theory as that doesn't pan out for me personally, and as most know I hate insulin and have rarely ever used it, so maybe the insulin abuse theory makes more sense to me.

I think it is the site oil. It’s not like guys in 80s & 90s didn’t pin their delts but most had feathering in the delts. The super round popping middle delt has become the acceptable norm so I almost think guys have to do it

 

[Elvia1023]

Wesley Vissers is up there when I think of striated shoulders.

 

[dsteelo455]

definitely usually due to injects imo. irritation, inflammation , small scale swelling of thin skin, not even counting scar tissue. try no injects for 3 months (assuming bf doesnt get higher), should be noticeable on most who often inject there. could be something else tho ofc.

 

[Tomgrass]

Damn, weren't you around 6% recently on the inbody? I think we were comparing numbers lol. What's your current estimated bf? How many calories?

Right now around 8-9% and week by week going down.
Currently 200 carbs 300 proteins 50 fats
Two times a week 400 carbs

 

[madg]

My opinion scar tisue and slin abuse

I never shooted gear in my delts only gh for this reason

Ass was enough for me most times but max 1.5 g total maybe 2 g prep

Prep i was do fast esters in outer quads

 

[danieltx]

If anyone can elaborate on insulin causing the lack of striations I'd love to hear it.

The most I've heard is theorizing that insulin causes muscle to be built faster, therefore it doesn't have the same look as much that came over a longer period. Some point to Dallas McCarver as an example since he had virtually no striations anywhere.

 

[bbxtreme]

If anyone can elaborate on insulin causing the lack of striations I'd love to hear it.

The most I've heard is theorizing that insulin causes muscle to be built faster, therefore it doesn't have the same look as much that came over a longer period. Some point to Dallas McCarver as an example since he had virtually no striations anywhere.

It’s not the insulin. It’s using insulin to abuse food.

It’s much easier to blame insulin than what you put in your mouth. Lol

I use insulin and as everyone can see even with carrying weight in my pic posted today I still have striated delts.

 

[danieltx]

It’s not the insulin. It’s using insulin to abuse food.

It’s much easier to blame insulin than what you put in your mouth. Lol

I use insulin and as everyone can see even with carrying weight in my pic posted today I still have striated delts.

How does food abuse cause lack of striations? I'm not asking facetiously, I've never heard of this.

Using myself as an example, my shoulders and quads don't have the definition they had four years ago even though I get leaner now when I diet.

 

[bbxtreme]

How does food abuse cause lack of striations? I'm not asking facetiously, I've never heard of this.

Using myself as an example, my shoulders and quads don't have the definition they had four years ago even though I get leaner now when I diet.

It’s a delicate balance of using insulin to shuttle the right nutrients at the right time. If you eat a ton of fat in your insulin windows you will store fat.

Insulin inhibits lipolysis. This is why timing of it with the right nutrients is key. HGH also promotes lipolysis so having it in helps offset the storage of fat.

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpendo.00620.2020#:~:text=Insulin%20primarily%20inhibits%20lipolysis%20stimulation,(mTORC1)%20that%20inhibits%20ATGL.

Someone such as you or myself knows this and we take in insulin, carbs and fats at strategic times.

How many bodybuilders do we know who aren’t as rigid as us though who pin insulin in the offseason (sometimes with every meal) while eating like crap. It’s a recipe for disaster in my opinion.

That’s my stance and understanding of it and I could be way off base. If any of the coaches on here want to chime in feel free.

But I’ve never seen it be a problem unless guys are abusing it to abuse eating the wrong food at the wrong times.

 

[danieltx]

It’s a delicate balance of using insulin to shuttle the right nutrients at the right time. If you eat a ton of fat in your insulin windows you will store fat.

Insulin inhibits lipolysis. This is why timing of it with the right nutrients is key. HGH also promotes lipolysis so having it in helps offset the storage of fat.

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpendo.00620.2020#:~:text=Insulin%20primarily%20inhibits%20lipolysis%20stimulation,(mTORC1)%20that%20inhibits%20ATGL.

Someone such as you or myself knows this and we take in insulin, carbs and fats at strategic times.

How many bodybuilders do we know who aren’t as rigid as us though who pin insulin in the offseason (sometimes with every meal) while eating like crap. It’s a recipe for disaster in my opinion.

That’s my stance and understanding of it and I could be way off base. If any of the coaches on here want to chime in feel free.

But I’ve never seen it be a problem unless guys are abusing it to abuse eating the wrong food at the wrong times.

Good post. Probably as close as we'll ever get to answer since there won't be any studies on topics like this.

It's funny - over the year's I've lost definition in my quads and delts but my abs keep getting more and more veins over them. And I never inject my abs so there's something!

 

[svenrpb]

Wesley Vissers is up there when I think of striated shoulders.

Wesley also stated he NEVER does shoulder injections.

The insulin theory doesn´t make sense, he does use it for sure.