9 Bodybuilders Who Died Too Young

Sad news from the Czech Republic: Mr. Universe title holder Jakub Schubrt died at the age of 32 from multiple organ failure. AiF.ru remembers other bodybuilders and bodybuilders who died due to steroid overdose.

Czech bodybuilder Jakub Schubrt became famous for the fact that already at the age of 21 he managed to win a prestigious competition and receive the title “Mr. Universe”. This overnight made him popular not only in his homeland, but also far beyond its borders.

However, at the age of 32, he died suddenly. The cause of death was multiple organ failure. This is a severe nonspecific stress reaction of the body. The main feature is the uncontrollable development of damage to an organ or system to such an extent that it is unable to maintain the life support of the body.

Shubrt is not the first famous bodybuilder to die due to health problems at such an early age. The risk of dying young for athletes whose goal is to gain muscle mass certainly exists, and there are many factors for this.

“I think for the first time we are beginning to recognize that the heart is one of the organs that gets hit first with long-term steroid use,” said Aaron L. Bagish M.D. , senior author of the study and faculty member in the Department of Medicine at Central Massachusetts State Hospital in Boston.

Below is a list of famous bodybuilders and bodybuilders who have died due to health problems.

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Greg Plitt

He was a very versatile person. He is an actor, a businessman, a bodybuilder, and a soldier with five years of experience. After the army, Greg Plitt decided to try himself as a fitness trainer; by the way, he trained hard in the army, and he quickly began to have clients. After some time, the athlete begins to write his own blog. This man died not from steroids, but by an absurd accident - while filming an advertisement. According to the plot, he had to overtake the train. The athlete assumed that the train was supposed to pass on adjacent tracks, but was mistaken and got hit by the train. At the time of the tragedy, the athlete was 37 years old.

“I was shaking for days”

Shawn Rhoden was born in Jamaica. As a child, he wanted to play football and dreamed of becoming a player on the level of Pele or Maradona. As Sean himself said, in Jamaica he had never even seen a dumbbell, and the only sport he knew was football.

“I wouldn’t be the same Arnie without you.” Schwarzenegger's best friend died in Italy

However, in the 90s, Sean moved to the USA, where he became acquainted with hardware. He started lifting and achieved some success, but soon due to injuries he was forced to refuse to participate in competitions. To top it all off, in the early 2000s, Roden’s father died of cancer, after which Sean began to experience depression and serious problems with alcohol. He laid floors during the day and drank huge amounts of alcohol every evening. Rodin himself later said that in six to eight months he could drink more than an ordinary person drinks in his entire life.

And this could not but affect his health - doctors diagnosed kidney and liver diseases. After talking with doctors, Sean decided to stop drinking, but getting rid of his addiction was not easy.

“I was shaking for days. I was either burning or suffering from the cold. It was very difficult. It was one of the hardest things I had to go through,” Rodin recalled.

Ildar Kabirov

This athlete had high potential and was confidently heading towards the PRO card. Many promised him the future of a champion. The athlete had an impressive track record. Won high-level tournaments. Having become popular, the guy found sponsors and was ready to move to the top of the sports Olympus, but suddenly died due to heart problems. Ildar was 28 years old.

Zero control

It is well known that various drugs prohibited in other sports are formally also prohibited in bodybuilding, but control over their use is practically zero. The most common are, of course, steroids, which directly promote muscle growth, and diuretics (diuretics), taken for “drying” before competitions, for a clearer muscle contour. Apparently, Irina Fomenkova paid with her life for the excessive use of diuretics. On the same forums, there is always a separate topic dedicated to “chemistry”, where athletes share advice on the use of such drugs and the effectiveness of a particular brand.

Meanwhile, in September 2011, the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Heart Failure published the results of a study showing that long-term use of anabolic steroids weakens the heart more than experts previously thought.

A normal, healthy left ventricle pumps out 55 to 70% of the blood filling the heart (a measure known as the ejection fraction). 83% of participants using steroids (the study was conducted on 12 athletes) had low pumping function (ejection fraction less than 55%). According to previous studies, this led to an increased risk of heart failure and sudden cardiac death.

“I think we are beginning to recognize for the first time that the heart is one of the organs that gets hit first with long-term steroid use,” wrote Aaron L. Bagish, M.D., senior author of the study and faculty member in the Department of Medicine at Central Massachusetts State Hospital in Boston.

“Drying” (especially its aggressive types) also negatively affects the cardiovascular system, thinning the walls of blood vessels.

Aziz Shavershyan (Zyzz)

Aziz Shavershyan, who, in my opinion, died at a young age, has been remembered many times already. His story, unfortunately, is already banal and similar to the others. Zyzz died of heart failure at the age of 22. Initially, this guy was a gamer and one day he sold the character that he had been developing for a long time in an online RPG, and with that money he bought an annual gym membership. The guy was fascinated by sports, and as a result he became a coach, a blogger and quickly gained popularity online, so that thanks to his fame, he created a brand of sportswear and successfully sold it.

Praise from Schwarzenegger

Peterson began bodybuilding professionally in 2017 and found immediate success. In 2020, he won his fourth bronze medal in the most prestigious competition in the world of bodybuilding - Mr. Olympia. In 2021, Peterson had every chance of becoming the winner of the tournament.

In 2019, George also won the Arnold Classic competition, organized by Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the Classic Physique discipline. When Schwarzenegger congratulated him on stage, he decided to troll Peterson a little and asked him to do his favorite “vacuum” exercise.

“Incredible! Just look at this! Fantastic!" – Arnold praised the athlete.

Vladimir Turchinsky, nicknamed “Dynamite”

The story of his death is sensational. The cause of death, you won’t believe it, was a heart attack. Showman Vladimir was a record holder as a strongman. For example, his track record includes such records as the thrust of the Ruslan aircraft (260 tons); lifting an elephant (3.5 tons); lifting the “nine” with 12 passengers. Vladimir also managed to pull 30 people (tug of war), and also pulled a double-decker bus with his left hand over a distance of 100 meters. The strongman was also an actor. Turchinsky died at the age of 46.

The harm and benefits of bodybuilding. Why do the “jocks” die?

Is bodybuilding harmful or beneficial to health? What are the harms of using doping and anabolic steroids? And why are news reports about the deaths of professional athletes increasingly appearing in news feeds? Everyone is hearing about the death of Vladimir Turchinsky or Konstantin Konstantinov. But is pharmacology alone to blame for their deaths? In order to give an accurate answer to this question, it is necessary to understand such a concept as “dose of effect” . This term refers to a certain dosage that has some effect on the human body. The term “effect dose” is in turn divided into two more definitions - therapeutic dosages and sports dosages .

Based on therapeutic dosages, the same methandrostenolone must be taken from 2 to 8 tablets. It is prescribed, for example, for burns for quick recovery. Sports dosages significantly exceed therapeutic dosages. Thus, a performing athlete needs to take 1 g of any testosterone derivative per week. Which is 10 times more than the therapeutic dosage. The same Arnold Schwarzenegger took about 20 methane tablets a day, because... in the 60s, this drug was sold absolutely everywhere and was very cheap.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Since we are talking about testosterone , they increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. But this is not enough to significantly affect health and threaten life. Only if you do not use any exorbitant dosages.

Interesting fact. Before the advent of such a drug as growth hormone , athletes died from heart attacks. But after its introduction, they began to die from blood cancer and brain cancer. Before our eyes is the example of Ilya Gorodnichev , who died of cancer not so long ago.

Ilya Gorodnichev

Why did you start taking growth hormone and what’s so special about it? And why not limit yourself to regular testosterone? But because the results from the use of growth hormone are simply “inhuman”. 20 kg of muscle mass and 10 cm of arm volume in a couple of weeks are quite real results even with not the highest doses of the drug. But such changes are unusual for a person and his body, and to achieve such results one has to sacrifice something. In our case, the most valuable thing is health.

But how can this be? After all, many bodybuilders compete in adulthood, and everything is supposedly fine for them. The same Dexter Jackson looks quite good and at the same time performs at the top level. Here it is worth paying attention to the financial component of this issue. For example, normal sports tests will cost at least 30,000 rubles in Russia, and several times more expensive in the USA. Plus, the prices of the drugs themselves are sometimes simply amazing. Professional bodybuilders spend between $50,000 and $200,000 a year on pharmaceuticals alone. Add to it the costs of food, gym, trainer, travel and you get a round sum with six zeros. Despite the fact that combining the career of a professional bodybuilder and another job is something out of the realm of fantasy.

Dexter Jackson

From all that has been said, we can conclude that sports medications are definitely harmful. And their harm increases in direct proportion to the dosage and duration for which you take them. You can minimize the harm to your health only by undergoing expensive tests, and under the supervision of an equally expensive and intelligent specialist. But avoid harm completely, and completely protect yourself.

Now let's look at specific examples. You all know about such an athlete as CC Fletcher , and you have heard that he recently underwent heart surgery. Or rather, a heart transplant. Such serious problems were caused not only by the use of pharmaceuticals, but also by poor nutrition. CT Fletcher admitted that he ate fast food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As a result, I got heart problems.

C.T. Fletcher

The opposite example is Andreas Münzer , who was even nicknamed “the man without skin” because of his 3% subcutaneous fat layer. What was the cause of his death? It turns out that drugs for “drying” are much more harmful than those that we use to gain muscle mass. When examining Münzer's body, more than 20 illegal drugs were found in his blood.

Andreas Münzer

Of course, any tragic example (of the same Rich Piana) must be analyzed individually. But it is worth noting the fact that not every harmful effect on the body will work equally for each of us.

Rich Piana

Often it is a combination of factors that kills a person. For example, the daily alcohol intake is 2 glasses of red wine. But as we know, our country is full of people who are not limited to this norm, and at the same time live to a ripe old age. Think better about what you will get from the same vodka, and what you will get if you become a professional athlete? After all, when performing, for example, in bodybuilding, the prize money in case of victory barely covers the cost of preparation. Moreover, 95% of bodybuilders are either strippers or fitness instructors. Is the game worth the candle?

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Andreas Münzer, nicknamed "The Man Without Skin"

He received this nickname due to his particularly dry muscles, in which the fat layer accounted for only 3% of his body weight. Andreas Münzer was able to achieve this using all kinds of diuretics and pharmacological hormonal drugs. One day he started bleeding in his abdominal cavity and there was no time to save him. At the time of his death, the athlete was 31.

"Best Version of George"

As the foreign press reports, coach Justin Miller

found George lying face down in his hotel room. Before the ambulance arrived, Miller tried to provide emergency medical care to the bodybuilder, but he was unable to save Peterson.

On the eve of his death, the bodybuilder looked absolutely healthy; in the last video on his Instagram, he talked with a smile about diet and training.

Peterson's trainer said that the day before his death, the bodybuilder felt great. “He was energetic, strong, did a great job in the gym. I was inspired and focused. Mentally and physically, this was the best version of George before the competition in the entire time that I have known him,” the coach wrote on his Instagram.

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Baytollah Abbaspur

This bodybuilder from Iran began his career at the age of 17. Literally in the first years of his career, he became the winner at his first tournament. Year after year, gold medals are added to his collection of victories, and eventually he gets to the Olympia. The sport was interrupted by illness, vasculitis. This disease was strong and defeated the Iranian athlete. The athlete died at the age of 36.

Harsh statistics

There have always been a great many risk factors for people involved in bodybuilding. It is no coincidence that on all major Internet forums on bodybuilding, as a rule, there is a separate topic dedicated to deceased athletes. When viewing it, you get the impression that you are reading reports from the scene of hostilities. Not a month goes by without a new death being recorded. But if until about 2015, in the relevant forums they wrote mainly about the deaths of foreign athletes, then Russians are increasingly starting to appear in obituaries. Fontanka counted at least nine cases of death of more or less famous athletes who achieved certain results, the list of which is below, and a dozen more not so successful, whose deaths were reported only by people who knew them closely.

Mohammed Benaziza

This short athlete had massive muscle mass. In the nineties, he won one of the competitions against Dorian Yates. An athlete at the peak of his career died two hours after winning the 1992 Dutch Grand Prix. The athlete was 33 years old. There are a lot of rumors and speculation about the cause of his death, but most likely his heart could not stand it, because before the competition, right up to going on stage, the athlete’s body was extremely dehydrated.

And also read: Bodybuilders who started training after 30 → Top 7 sons of bodybuilders who followed in the footsteps of legendary fathers →

Mike Mentzer (USA, 49 years old)

American Mike Mentzer is a bodybuilding legend. He is still one of the most famous theorists in the field of bodybuilding. At the end of his active career, he switched to coaching and created a new system of high-intensity training called “Supertraining.”

Naturally, he experienced it on himself. But on June 10, 2001, he was found dead in his own apartment. Death was caused by a heart attack while taking multiple illegal drugs. Moreover, two days after this, his brother Rai died for the same reason.

Consequences

The consequences of gynecomastia after the course look like this:

• severe fluid retention in the body, resulting in swelling of the entire body or individual parts;
• breast enlargement and its resemblance to a woman’s;
• either glandular tissue or fatty tissue grows inside the breast (due to this, there is an increase in breast volume);
• breast cancer.

This disease can be successfully treated if you consult a specialist in time and do not wait for complications that may lead to the need for surgery.

Sample participants

There were 54 people on the list. Some of them are unfamiliar not only to the common man, but also to most bodybuilders.

Why did the bodybuilder die?

Peterson's unexpected death came as a real shock to colleagues and friends. His Instagram account, where about 350 thousand subscribers followed his life, is filled with condolences from fans and other bodybuilders.

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“It is with great sadness that we announce the unexpected passing of George Peterson, a champion on and off stage. We express our condolences to his family and everyone who respected and admired one of the kindest people we have ever known,” the Mr. Olympia competition wrote on Instagram.

The cause of death of George Peterson has not yet been announced. According to some sources, traces of blood were found near the bodybuilder’s nose, which may indicate problems with blood vessels.

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Steroids and Cancer

Anabolic steroids do not directly affect the formation of cancerous tumors because they are synthetic analogues of natural male hormones. Actually, if this were not so, then anabolic steroids would not affect muscle growth.

I will say more, anabolic steroids, on the contrary, are prescribed to cancer patients and HIV-infected people.

There is a very small chance of liver tumors if you use very large doses of oral alpha-alkylated steroids. Such as Anadrol, for example. This is thought to increase the likelihood of liver cancer. However, I don't know of any famous bodybuilders who have had liver cancer. While about 400,000-600,000 people every year on earth fall ill with this unpleasant disease.

By the way, for the most ardent “haters”: a direct relationship has been established between liver cancer and alcohol. Just like between liver cancer and smoking. Draw your own conclusions, so to speak, friends.

Steroids and the Heart

Here everything is much more serious. I will say right away that steroids, together with illiterate training, can negatively affect your heart, leading to cardiovascular diseases and strokes.

There are two possible dangers here 1. Proportion Good - Bad Cholesterol 2. Necrosis of parts of the heart (Enlarged heart, “athletic heart”)

There are studies that indicate that AS lowers the level of “good cholesterol” (HDL), which “clogs” our blood vessels and can lead to atherosclerosis and heart disease (read more about the mechanism in the article about “Eggs”).

Personally, I think this is not the case. Firstly, many groups of steroids (nandrolones or testosterones, for example) have no effect on cholesterol levels . And secondly, there are a number of studies that have shown exactly the opposite result . It seems to me that this implies that the main reason for changes in cholesterol levels is the same as for most other people: the proportion of nutrients (protein and fat) in food. It is these factors that significantly affect cholesterol levels, and not anabolic steroids at all.

There is such a terribly unpleasant disease that many cardiologists call “sports heart” . The point is that all muscles, including the heart, can increase in size. But the heart can enlarge either by stretching or by increasing “muscle mass.” In the first case, this is beneficial hypertrophy. And in the second case, it is very harmful, leading to gradual necrosis of parts of the heart and myocardial degeneration. Result: Heart attack and other joys. (details about the mechanism in the story about heart training).

What causes “bad hypertrophy”? From high heart rate caused by heavy anaerobic exercise. When the pulse jumps to 200 beats. This is a sure sign that you are killing your heart. Poor hypertrophy begins, which can be spurred, as with any other muscles, by the use of anabolic steroids.

Add to this a situation where an athlete weighs twice as much as nature intended , but his heart size remains the same. The heart has to beat twice as often to deliver blood to all “consumers”. A person at rest has a pulse of more than 100 beats. And in training, even during rest, he does not drop below 140 beats. And during approaches it can jump up to 200….

Is the logic clear? The death of bodybuilders from “heart problems” does occur. BUT steroids have nothing to do with it. The blame lies with excess weight, an untrained heart and heavy training in a high heart rate range. Without steroids, people with these sizes and hearts would still die.

Which exit? Run! I used to be very skeptical about running. Now I have changed my attitude towards cyclic sports and running, in particular. That's exactly what Ronnie Coleman does every day. The man understands perfectly well that if the heart is like 70 kg, but 140 kg need to be serviced. carcass, then it won’t survive. That's why Ronnie trains him every day in the morning. Simple walking for 30-60 minutes in the range of 120-130 heart rate.

I examined the most famous situations as objectively as possible. Notice I'm not saying something like:

• And these are only the most serious cases... (like AS - death at one glance)
• These are all the most serious cases... (such as AS - can be prescribed for children)

There may be problems. But these problems are not associated with anabolic steroids. They are associated with the head and knowledge. Cancer? Can not be. Diuretics? Yes. This is death! But these are not steroids. Heart attack? Yes. May be. But the reason is not steroids, but a complex of other reasons (incorrect training + excess weight).

Therefore, here is a conclusion for you: it is not steroids that destroy a person, but the absence of a brain in the skull.

Source: Denis Borisov

Workout

Vladimir Turchinsky idolized his main sporting hobby - bodybuilding! Of all sports, he called this the most necessary and useful in everyday life. The athlete even wrote a book about this, “Explosive Philosophy,” where he debunks many myths about this sport. Turchinsky was also a wonderful actor. For filming, he sometimes had to quickly gain weight or, conversely, lose weight. Such extreme experiments on one’s body often result in severe side effects. Two warm-up approaches, one working approach - this is the fitness formula according to Turchinsky. A record holder in five strength sports at once, he expressed his love for bodybuilding as the president of the All-Russian Federation of Extreme Strength and the leadership of the Marcus Aurelius network of clubs. Their visitors were many famous television personalities, presenters and showmen.

Smoking cigars

It's no secret that the famous Dynamite has recently appeared in public with a cigar in his mouth. He started smoking after forty, and doctors unanimously claim that this bad habit is a possible cause of Turchinsky’s death. Vladimir quickly became addicted to nicotine and even considered it somewhat useful! If we turn again to the book “Explosive Philosophy,” we can highlight another addiction that brought Turchinsky’s death closer. The reason may lie in alcohol; the actor drank, according to him, to relax after a hard day of work, training and filming. He himself predicts his early death in the book, although he claims that it will be caused by overexertion. Unfortunately, Dynamite's prophetic prediction came true...