How to Stop Stretch Marks From Muscle Building

Stretch marks are common among serious weight lifters.

One of the negative aspects to body building and weight lifting is the development of stretch marks on the skin. Stretch marks usually only occur on serious weight lifters who attempt to bulk up rather than through normal strength training. The most common location for muscle building stretch marks is in the chest and upper arm regions.

Things You'll Need

• Multivitamin
• Lotion with vitamin E
• Lotion with coconut oil
• Water

Instructions

1. Start taking a daily multivitamin that is high in vitamins A, C, D and zinc. This will promote good skin health which allows the skin to stretch more without creating stretch marks.

2. Apply a lotion containing vitamin E or coconut oil to the chest and upper arm regions on a daily basis. If you spend a lot of time outdoors, you can use sunscreen or suntan lotion that contains coconut oil.

3. Drink eight to ten glasses of water per day to stay fully hydrated. The more water you drink, the more elastic your skin will be.

4. Stop drinking coffee, tea and soda, as the caffeine these drinks contain will dehydrate you and cause the skin to lose moisture.

5. Begin a weight loss program to lose fat as you build up muscle. This will replace the fat with muscle rather than just building a layer of muscle underneath the fat. As a result, the skin will not stretch as much.

6. Reduce the intensity of your weight lifting sessions or decrease the number of times per week that you lift weights. Although this may not be an option for competitive weight lifters, slowing down the process of building muscle will give your skin a chance to adjust to the added bulk gradually.

References

• Body Building: Stretch Mark Maintenance
• Muscle Pro: Muscle Growth: Preventing Stretch Marks
• Biocutis: Stretch Marks & Body Building