Stretch marks and weight training: how to prevent them during muscle gain

Stretch marks are often associated with pregnancy. Yet many athletes see them appear too, especially during muscle gain^1,2. Shoulders, chest, biceps, thighs: when muscle grows faster than the skin can adapt, it can leave marks. Here is why it happens and, above all, how to limit the risk.

Why weight training can cause stretch marks

During muscle gain, muscle volume, and often weight, increase quickly. The skin stretches gradually thanks to its collagen and elastin fibres. If the stretching is too fast, these fibres break in the dermis and a stretch mark forms¹. The skin cells that produce these fibres, the fibroblasts, also change their behaviour within stretch marks².

Several factors increase the risk: rapid weight gain, a family predisposition, and the use of substances such as anabolic steroids or corticosteroids, which weaken the skin^1,3.

The most exposed areas

The shoulders and upper arms, particularly where the deltoids meet the pectorals, the chest, the biceps, the thighs and the lower back³. All areas that work hard and gain volume.

Our prevention tips

• Gradual muscle gain: giving the skin time to adapt is the first step in prevention.
• Choose a suitable treatment and massage your skin every day on the areas that are developing, ideally from the start of a bulking cycle.
• Drink enough and eat a balanced diet, two pillars that contribute to skin quality.
• Watch for the first marks: a recent stretch mark is red or purple, and that is the best time to act⁴.

What if they are already there?

While they are recent, red or purple, a targeted treatment applied regularly lets you care for them when the skin is most receptive⁴. Once white and pearly, stretch marks are harder to fade: aesthetic medicine techniques, such as laser or microneedling, are then a matter for a dermatologist⁵. We review these options in our article Cream, oil, laser, microneedling: what does the science really say?

Our skincare, designed for athletes too

The KOUAGA prevention cream supports the skin during phases of muscle gain, and the fading cream cares for recent stretch marks. Two formulas with no miracle promises, but with high standards: validated tolerance and efficacy currently under clinical evaluation.

Sources

1. Al-Himdani S, Ud-Din S, Gilmore S, Bayat A. Striae distensae: a comprehensive review and evidence-based evaluation of prophylaxis and treatment. Br J Dermatol. 2014;170(3):527-547.
2. Viennet C, Bride J, Armbruster V, et al. Contractile forces generated by striae distensae fibroblasts embedded in collagen lattices. Arch Dermatol Res. 2005;297(1):10-17.
3. Walker J, Adams B. Cutaneous manifestations of anabolic-androgenic steroid use in athletes. Int J Dermatol. 2009;48(10):1044-1048.
4. Ud-Din S, McGeorge D, Bayat A. Topical management of striae distensae (stretch marks): prevention and therapy of striae rubrae and albae. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2016;30(2):211-222.
5. Elsaie ML, Baumann LS, Elsaaiee LT. Striae distensae (stretch marks) and different modalities of therapy: an update. Dermatol Surg. 2009;35(4):563-573.