WATCH the horrifying moment a bodybuilder tears his pec muscle right off the bone as he bench presses – just moments after he ominously joked about it.
Eye-watering footage shows Tristan Barnes shaking and swearing as he begs his pal to grab the 140kg barbell he was lifting above his chest.
Tristan Barnes, 23, tore his pec muscle off the bone while doing a bench press[/caption]
Footage shows him begging his pal to help with with the weight as his arm gives out[/caption]
Tristan said he heard a pop as the muscle ripped off the bone[/caption]
He pec, arm and chest turned purple after the accident[/caption]
Tristan said he heard his left pec “pop” and detach from the bone on as he went for his third rep, leaving him in agonising pain.
The 23-year-old, who competes in the junior bodybuilding category, was rushed to hospital by a friend as soon as the incident occurred in late January.
But after learning he’d have to wait eight hours in A&E, he decided to go home.
The next morning, Tristan was horrified to discover his pectoral muscle, shoulder and forearm had turned a deep purple and he was left so weak he was unable to lift a cup of tea.
Tristan returned to hospital and was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon, who said he may need surgery to repair the damage.
Tristan, from Manchester, Greater Manchester, recalled: “It was a normal day at the gym, I was doing a bench press like normal, just like anyone else.
“I lifted the weight and two or three reps in I saw the pec completely detach from the bone itself.
“My left arm lost all strength, I heard something pop. I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy, it was absolute agony.
“After that I had the sensation like when you break a bone, I felt instantly sick. I was hot and cold and was being sick, so I went to the hospital.
“I said I’d get a private consultation the next day, but that night I took my shirt off and I had just turned purple. My whole entire arm just went purple.
“I’ve lost all the strength in my entire left arm where I can’t even lift a cup off the table.”
The online coach blames his injury on years of using steroids to bulk up.
But shockingly says he’ll continue using them until he competes again before going down a “healthier” route.
Tristan said: “A big factor is anabolic steroids. With steroids, the muscles grow quicker than the tendons so what probably happened is I put on a weight my body probably wouldn’t have handled before.
The bodybuilder ominously laughed about tearing a pec moments before it ripped off his bone[/caption]
Tristan’s left arm is now so weak he can’t lift a cup of tea[/caption]
He warned others to be more careful at the gym[/caption]
“I competed last year and I didn’t get the results I wanted to so there’s an itch there that’s still not scratched.
“I feel like it may be a couple more years. I stay on steroids and try to get the results I want from bodybuilding and then start coming off them and go down a healthier route.”
The wince-inducing clip shared on social media shows Tristan eerily foreshadowing the injury as he slides onto the bench, saying “let’s try not to tear a pec off the bone”.
He completes two successful reps, but while lifting upwards on the third rep Tristan swears and demands his pal Fam Williams “take it off” as plates clatter off the barbell to the floor.
Tristan can be heard issuing a stream of expletives and gasping “I just tore my chest, I’m not even joking” while clutching at his pec, before being helped up by concerned mates.
Listen to your body
After the accident, Tristan went to a private specialist and now faces an anxious wait to see if he needs surgery.
The influencer admitted he began using anabolic steroids when he was 18 as he wanted to pursue a career in bodybuilding and social media.
Despite knowing the risks, Tristan said that looking “unnatural” and “scary” is more likely to get views online.
Tristan said: “It started at 18 when I found my testosterone was naturally low and doctors prescribed Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT).
“I wanted to do it anyway and in bodybuilding it is very well known that if you want to do really well at it you have to take more than what doctors prescribe.
“If you have someone looking half-decent compared to someone that looks unnatural and scary, the scary person is always going to get more views.
The risks of misusing anabolic steroids
Anabolic steroids – manufactured drugs that copy the effects of the male hormone testosterone – are prescription-only medicines that are sometimes taken without medical advice to increase muscle mass and improve athletic performance.
If used in this way, they can cause serious side effects and addiction.
Effects of anabolic steroids in men can include:
- Reduced sperm count
- Infertility
- Shrunken testicles
- Erectile dysfunction
- Hair loss
- Breast development
- Increased risk of prostate cancer
- Severe acne
- Stomach pain
In women, anabolic steroids can cause:
- Facial hair growth and body hair
- Loss of breasts
- Swelling of the clitoris
- A deepened voice
- An increased sex drive
- Problems with periods
- Hair loss
- Severe acne
In addition, both men and women who take anabolic steroids can develop any of the following medical conditions:
- Heart attack or stroke
- Liver or kidney problems or failure
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Blood clots
- Fluid retention
- High cholesterol
They can also lead to psychological side effects like aggressive behaviour, mood swings, paranoia and hallucinations.
Source: NHS
“I know you can earn a lot of money through social media so you sacrifice 10 years of your life but earn a good amount of money to not worry later on.”
Now, Tristan is warning others to take care when training, as the bench press exercise left him “scarred for life”.
Tristan said: “I probably won’t ever do a bench press again knowing what can happen, it has scarred me for life.
“I usually use machines which are a lot safer. But this time I let my boy nature come out and wanted to do the bench press, which is quite a dangerous movement.”
He warned others: “Listen to your body because now that I look back on it there were probably signs that my body was telling me not to do this that day.
“If you go to the gym you probably know yourself every single time you do a movement, if there’s a bit of pain just stop that movement, go do something else that doesn’t cause pain.”
Tristan reckons steroids might be to blame for his accident[/caption]
