On 22nd May 2003, a Bodybuilder died. Scott Klein was found lying dead on his bed at 5.00am by his mother. He died of cardio-vascular disease and kidney failure. His death may have had absolutely nothing to do with bodybuilding, but 30 year old men do not die suddenly with kidney failure unless there is some known genetic weakness and, as far as I am aware, that was not the case here. In the same week that I heard about Scott Klein I read detailed reports of the illness of Tom Prince – another great bodybuilder – with ulcers and kidney problems.
Lee Priest – one of the all time greats – announced his retirement from competition with immediate effect. Lee has generated rumours of health problems in the past and with his massive bodyweight changes on/off season, coupled at times with a junk food diet, this is hardly surprising. Lee said that he did not enjoy the sport any more. “What is happening to a lot of good athletes is crazy. In the end, all you have is your health and some of the greats don’t even have that.”
Similarly Milos Sarchev retired from contests after the Hungarian GP on June 8th, when he finished 6th and failed to qualify for the 2003 Mr. Olympia. He also cited health reasons for giving up. Milos has been at the top level for many years and has probably competed in more Pro contests than any other bodybuilder, ever. He obviously enjoyed the competition and has come back after suffering serious injury with a rupture of the quadriceps in his right leg. Such mechanical type injuries can happen to anyone in any sport that pushes the body to the limits. But Milos has had direct experience of internal health risks associated with top level bodybuilding. He suffered an almost fatal embolism a year or two ago when he had a blood clot, caused by using Synthol, detach from an artery and cause a blockage in his lung.
More and more top level amateurs and professionals are reporting or admitting to serious health problems. I have not carried out exhaustive research nor investigated every denial; if I did, I am sure that I would find many more with serious health problems. How about these. Orville Burke suffered an injury in 2002 during a post-Olympia photo shoot and needed an operation on a shoulder and elbow. One medical team refused to work on him because of his poor health; another did so only after a report and approval from a heart consultant. Orville suffered serious problems during surgery resulting in kidney failure and his lapsing into a coma. He is still receiving treatment as he slowly recovers but his bodybuilding career is over.
Mike Francois, a great physique until a few years ago suffered serious internal problems, which ended his career. Nasser el Sonbaty withdrew from the Night of the Champions 2003 in New York for health reasons and it is reported that his bodybuilding career is finished. Flex Wheeler has had his pro Card withdrawn for “health reasons” and it is rumoured that he may need a kidney transplant. Don Long, another top American, also required a kidney transplant – his sister had to give up a kidney to save him. Ron Teufel, top American in the late 1970′s has died at 45 years of age. Now, you can argue that all of these problems may have nothing to do with drugs. And in some cases you may be correct. But the overall picture of young men, the apparent epitome of strength, fitness and masculinity, who ought to be in glowing health – or at least not seriously unhealthy – is severely damaged when so many are having serious, life threatening and in some cases fatal illnesses.
I have mentioned a number of drugs in addition to anabolic steroids, which are in the arsenal of any competition bodybuilder but professionals are at the cutting edge of the game. Each has contacts with one or many drug gurus who are always looking for some other product with potential for taking the freaky physique just that bit further. Such a product could be used to give their clients the extra edge in muscle size, condition, vascularity and increase the earning potential of the guru. The men at the top need bodies with awesome drug handling genetics to be able to tolerate a combination of high doses and a complex cocktail of drugs, over long periods.
The life of a pro is dictated by his sport and his income earning potential. The time for high earning at the top can be short [even if our Pro remains healthy] and the serious Pro wants to maximise his earnings in that short time. This means a life of competing – unless you are a special kind of showman, your earning potential soon starts to drop if you are not in front of the fans, regularly winning or placing high in contests – of training to be bigger and better next year, of appearing at exhibitions, giving seminars, grabbing star spots, etc. And for all of the last three you will be expected to be in decent shape; appearing as a lard ball is not an option. The consequence of all of this is a life of drug use year round. It is not healthy.
Being a top level bodybuilder is not all roses. Hard training with heavy weights ultimately causes many joint problems and with the size of top men today, heavy means VERY heavy. Injuries are not unknown – they are to be expected. Then the consumption of huge amounts of food – particularly with high protein content – gives the digestive system, the kidneys and the liver plenty to do. Most men have continuously high blood pressure. And, finally, add the drugs cocktail. The total stress on the organs is massive. The body needs significant periods of rest from this. But for a pro bodybuilder, there is no rest.
In some ways American Football makes similar huge demands on the body. A sport with big men training hard, lots of pounding of the body and games where players get lots of bad injuries. What drugs are used by American Footballers, I don’t know – I can only guess – use is certainly not at the dosage levels of bodybuilders and generally they will get better medical supervision. But American Football is played for only four months each year and eight months is left for rest and recovery.
Most of you who read my column will know that I am not opposed to the use of drugs and, like every real bodybuilding enthusiast; I want to see ever freakier physiques. But I do not want a single young man to kill himself trying to get just that bit freakier. Trying to draw the line anywhere is difficult. Once a genie is out of the bottle it is pretty well impossible to get it back in again. And the release occurred over 40 years ago. I hope that bodybuilding will not develop into a sport of lunatic freaks; a small group of competing men who have a crazy, uninformed death wish and will take anything and everything to be THE FREAK of the year. Perhaps it is that already? It is the old rockers motto incarnate. Live hard, die young and have a good looking corpse.
On 22nd May 2003, Scott Klein died.
Is death the only real future for the Bodybuilder?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
mick this was a good blog keep the pen moving mick good heaith to you all out there reading this
jerseybeef
Interesting piece, well written, well thought out. As for the question at the end…let’s be honest here, death is the only real future for every living thing on the planet! It’s pretty much the one thing that you absolutely..no question about it..CANNOT avoid.
All we can do is make the final trip as comfy as possible…
What is the future for bodybuilders? (Parts1, 2 & 3). How poignent was that article Mick? You nailed it.
Like you i have an admiration for the sport & the competitors in our sport, however health has to be paramount. Yes we like to see huge symetrical physiques, that is what bodybuilding is about, however the mindset is the more drugs you take the bigger & better i will become. How naive & uneducated these narrow minded people are.
Thank god that you have the unselfishness to forward on your knowledge & experience, both personal & shared to try and educate an uneducated society about the reality of drugs.
The media is an uneducated enemy.
Philip Short
Mick,
Great article. Very honest and realistic.
I enjoyed reading it.Puts a lot into perspective.
Thank you for your courage, honesty and straightforward literary style. You do more positive for the reader and sport enthusiast then the medical and regulatory bodies of all the sports do. If we are going to be able to improve the condition of sports in general it will only come with honesty and information being made available. You do that and I thank you.
hey man :
It is a very emotional post you got here , i swear i almost cried, i shit you
not.
But i am starting to think something very bad man , i already lost my motivation and drive from reading this post man , its like saying that bodybuilding is a sure way to get your body damaged , from the training , from our supernutrition , from steroids etc etc ……
i am lost man , what the hell should i do , i want to continu in this sport because i simply love it and enjoy it , it means a lot to me .
i am very confused at the moment , i dont wanna loose my health or my physique.
thanks .
I enjoyed the honesty and information in your blog. I do seem to have a problem finding the right balance for women – not in competition level but those that desired a very toned body – what is the right balance and combination – women just starting out do not know what to do especially if they have weight to loose. What are your recommendations? I am do not want to cause any harm to anyone, health is very important and 35-48 year old women are seeking answers. The military women have a fine line and must be careful not only that they are in regulation for their weight – they also have restrictions on what can go in their body due to regulations on supplements. Please advise.
Yes, All the top bodybuilders nearing retirement are going to have health issues. Ronnie Coleman will be next…..you just can’t maintain at that level for 20 years its inpossible….
Thanks
Dear Mick, On Jan 14th, I finally realized i could no longer breath normally, so i took myself to the closest Emergency room, thinking I had contracted pneumonia from visiting my mother in a nursing home…I had been on a cycle of Sustenon and Deca(1 cc each every 10 days) but being prone to high blood pressure did not stop me…I loved how i was looking… When the nurse put the blood pressure cuff on me she thought it was broken, but the Dr told her it was brand new…I knew I was in trouble and i knew what it was…my blood pressure was 273/158 with a resting pulse of 140/minute…..to those that don’t know, that is not human…I should have exploded…the nurse asked me 8 months later if I had had a heart attack that day, and when I asked how close I had come, she told me about an hour or two, and it would have been fatal giving how enlarged my heart had become attempting to keep that blood pressure going… I was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which caused congestive heart failur(inability for the heart to remove the blood it takes in), caused by extreme high blood pressure, caused by steroid cycles…this one had started in Sept, and it was my last shot in Jan……. Obviously, I am now done with that nonsense considering my age(59), tho I will miss the strength gains…but I now have bursitis in my hips from (in my opinion) heavy squats utilizing full range of motion(down to the floor)…which is being given credit for doing 1000% more damage to the hips than just going part way down…..and since I could not take the tamoxifen while ending the cycle so abruptly, the aromatization was complete, the estrogen allowing me to gain weight in a ridiculous fashion…couplethat with stopping smoking and viola, my metabolism slowed to a crawl…so now with my hips so sore, i cannot even use my own treadmill. My cardiologist thinks I am a waking miracle because my heart funtion(ejection fraction=amount of blood heart can pump out) has normalized and my heart’s size and shape have come down to near normal levels, and with sever hypertension drugs my blood pressure is under control, all of which i had predicted would happen once the juice had left my system completely…I was very lucky to have survived that and will never atempt that again….even if i thought it would help my hips…
Damn , these posts on this page are so damn counterproductive , look at what happened to richard for even 1cc of susta and deca every 10 days , wich is considered a very very safe dosage . Again , i am confused , please mick log in man and tell us something , i am confused , i mean look at these stories , that means juice aint safe even at super low dosages man . i am just going natural now, i dont use a whole lot of stuff , i just like and use only one steroid at this time wich is primo , and i like it a lot . But now after i read these , i am even worried about using primo (!).
thats the story and truth to all of this , one person comes and says its safe , and than comes another that says its not safe .
Who can we trust .
Sorry mick but i am just too upset now man , and i am sorry for you richard that you have that kind of life threatening problems even in such low dosages, wich should be so fucking safe at your age.
Dear Mick
Just a quick e-mail to say keep up the good work, I loved the last Blog about the health impact on Top Body Builders and was gutted to hear Lee Priest is going to retire because of health Issues etc.
One question Mick, what would be a good cycle on Just Dianabol Tabs and would this be a safe place to start?
Kind Regards
Mark
Well done Mick! A thorough and unbiased analysis of the untold and catasrtophic health consequences by so called “professional Bodybuilders”, and bodybuilders in general that dare place monetary rewards and freaky bodies above once health.
Due dilligent and educated use of steroic cylcles and careful and regular monitoring can be accomodated by the body and produce results-safely.
Unquestionably, if the aim is to get as freaky a body as possible at all costs this objective is only persued by people that they think their health is worth placing on a roullette table.
But the truth is: no money on this planet can restore your health once you loose it-period.
Kind regards
Andrew
Hey, this is for user “thickasabrick” and anyone else who lost their motivation to be the best bodybuilder they could be, from this article. First off, everyone is going to die. Plain and simple, you just have to weigh out the pros and cons of your actions. And, when we die, whether we go into blackness and don’t remember or we live eternal in some sort of “heaven” its still eternal.. therefore, this life that might span a mere 30-100 years is absolutely a microsecond compared to eternity.. But what occurs within this lifetime is remembered or at least creates a mark thats lasts forever as fact. Now, after your gone wherever you go, you are remembered eternally as something! In this one life you get, do you want to become what you’ve dreamed no matter what? BECAUSE ONCE YOU’VE BECOME IT YOU’VE BECOME IT FOREVER! Or do you want to take the mind frame that focuses on ALL of the possible negative outcomes of anything you choose to do. Driving your car down the road on a two way street with no dividers is risking your life. You choose to do it because not doing it would mean you are always stuck.. and that is literally death in itself.. Since we are alive we choose to get in the car and make ourselves “unstuck” and act on living. But, we take the necessary precautions like making sure the tires have air in them, the mirror is fixed, our seatbelts are on etc. Thats the same thing you have to do in bodybuilding and in every aspect of your life. Of course there are potential pitfalls in EVERY SINGLE SITUATION IN LIFE! Shit! Don’t eat cause you might choke! And let me give all these statistics and findings that show how many people die from choking each year etc. etc. etc… Let’s get real now. The truth is that if there was no risk involved in our actions then we would never appreciate anything. Think about it. And stop letting fear stop you dead in your tracks or give you a bullshit excuse to not go for your dreams. Do your research, make a choice and try your best. The greatest men in history had that mind frame. Remember that.. A man had a belief and dream for freedom that was so true in his mind.. but, the cost for this dream was potentially HIS LIFE. Now, there were others who didn’t have this same dream? Why? Not because they didn’t wish it, but because they knew they never had the guts to go for it therefore shunned it as something worthless. Well that one man had the guts and had the courage.. and thats why you remember his name to this day..
EVERY MAN DIES, BUT NOT EVERY MAN TRULY LIVES
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