Tag: Pro Bodybuilders
9 Bodybuilders Whose Bodies Turned Against Them After Using Steroids
Substandard steroids from the black market can potentially kill. The same applies to the misuse of anabolic steroids even though they’re balanced. In this article, we are going to look at bodybuilders who regretted misusing steroids after their bodies turned on them. Please note that some of them are deceased and in no way does this article victimize them based on their steroid use history.
Steroid users are reminded that their bodies respond differently to the drugs. Only a few adverse or fatal cases have been reported as a result of steroid misuse. Steroids, like any other drug, come with side effects which range from mild to severe. However, the chemicals might start reacting with your body and cause complications. You’re advised to discontinue the use of a particular steroid immediately it starts causing complications. Most importantly, be reminded that the effects from using steroids can be reversed with the right therapy.
Must Read:: 10 Famous Bodybuilders Who Died in the Line of Duty and Why
George Paterson
George Paterson was the 2019 Arnold Classic Championship winner. Sadly, he passed on at the age of 37 due to steroid-related complications. The official cause of death was reported to be sudden cardiac dysrhythmia due to hypertensive cardiovascular disease. But steroid use was cited as a contributing factor.
Paterson had a long history of steroid use and his death came at a time when he was preparing to compete for Mr. Olympia at the Orange County convention center. Fitness experts had predicted that he was the favorite to win the competition before his death. It is possible that Paterson had used too much steroids while preparing for the contest, which turned out to be fatal.
Rich Piana
Another bodybuilder who had a rough path with Steroids, Rich Piana’s death was much publicized. Many people knew him as a bodybuilder but he was also a youtuber and businessman. His major achievements include winning titles for: NPC Mr. Teen California (1989), NPC Mr. California (1998), and other NPC competitions in 2003 and 2009.
Up until his death in August 25, 2017, Piana defended his steroid use, insisting that he is not hooked. However, he admitted more than once that indeed the drugs ‘can kill you’. Piana was placed in a medically induced coma for two weeks prior to his death. When the police searched his home after his death, they found 20 bottles of testosterone, which suggests he might have taken a lot of it before passing out. Piana was one of the most followed athletes on Instagram with 1.2 million followers. He was 46 at the time of his death.
Related Article:: Why People Die from Steroids These Days
Naved Jamil Khan
Steroid misuse can affect different vital body organs depending on how your body responds to them. As for Naved Khan, the drugs had taken a toll on his liver to a point he needed a transplant. He was diagnosed with Hepatitis B and got admitted at the ICU. Doctors cited excessive steroid use as the reason behind his condition. Khan was only 23 years when he died, so his was a case of steroid misuse rather than prolonged use. And just like Piana, Khan died a day before he took part in a bodybuilding competition being held in Thane city.
Khan was found to have dangerously high levels of cortisol in his body. This is a steroid hormone that falls under a family of steroids known as glucocorticoids. These drugs are very potent and could mess up your system if misused. His mother noted that Khan used to order steroids online and inject himself regularly. She further urged young people not to misuse steroids so as not to meet the same fate as her son.
Lex Darne
Darne developed difficulties breathing and had a puffy face soon after using illegal steroids he ordered online. He was initially taken to hospital where he begged the doctor to give him testosterone. The doctor denied his request and that is when he resorted to buying illegal ones from the internet. Darne was a gym owner and fitness enthusiast at the time of his death. A South African by birth, he had moved to the UK where he met his death two weeks later.
Darne’s family knew nothing of his steroid until they accompanied him to the UK hospital and saw his medical records history. His mother, Barbara Darne felt sad that he had been using all that and not letting anyone know. It was later revealed that he used to hide the drugs he was taking for his injury. Darne breathed his last on the morning of July 29, 2020.
Mike Matarazzo
The man fondly remembered as ‘Big Guns’ by his friends had only a 20% heart function at the time of his death. He succumbed to a heart-related condition that is suspected to be due to prolonged steroid use. Matarazzo didn’t win a major title but he was among the most ripped bodybuilders of his time. The closest he came to winning a title was in the 1998 Mr. Olympia contest where he finished 9th. He last appeared in the event in 2001 where he finished in the 21st place.
Mike Matarazzo was using steroids on and off throughout his career. Medical experts have hinted that the use of the drug could have contributed immensely to his death. Matarazzo died in 2014 aged 47.
Ben Harnett
Ben Harnett was known to take steroids ahead of every competition. The father of one would eventually meet his fate in February 2019. He was found dead at his home in Guide Post, Northumberland. An inquest into the cause of Harnett’s death revealed that he had been using body-enhancing drugs. His father, Harnett Snr. Also stated that his son was also using cocaine alongside steroids. This revelation could be the reason Harnett’s death was swift.
A family man who had not even celebrated his first anniversary of marriage, Harnett left behind a devastated 24-year old wife and an infant. His love for the gym proved to be his undoing as he misused steroids trying to make the most out of his body.
Robby Ryder
Robby Ryder is probably the youngest bodybuilder to succumb to steroid misuse. He was a British upcoming bodybuilder when he met his tragic death at the age of 20. It is reported that Ryder died from complications caused by steroid drugs he bought online. He had collapsed at his home in Hull shortly after opening a pack containing the drugs. Fingers were pointed at illegal steroids once again. Ryder’s death showed the consequences of a perpetual culture where young bodybuilders use excess steroids to build muscle quickly.
Must Read:: Steroids Usage Among Young People
Robby Robinson
Robby Robinson is still alive but he has his dark past with steroids. The legendary bodybuilder states that he didn’t used to take steroids until he moved to California from Florida. One day he took a shot and went home, he sat down and his head started spinning.
It is his body’s reaction to steroids that made him restrict their use to during competitions only, and even then, he would take very small amounts once in two weeks. Robinson would not take any steroids during the offseason. He has urged the government to regulate the steroid market because it is doing the opposite of building careers in many cases.
Unidentified Bodybuilder Working to Get Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Physique
The Coroner reported in 2013 that a bodybuilder whose identity was suppressed collapsed and died during a 45 minutes workout. It is also reported that the 20-year old died of a cardiac arrest caused by steroid use. A staunch follower of bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger, the lad was prepared to do anything to look like his idol. Those ambitions pushed him into steroid and dietary stimulant use that caused is untimely death.
Overall
Deaths and other health complications caused by steroid misuse have plagued the bodybuilding industry for decades. Surprisingly, such cases are very rare in elite bodybuilders such as past Mr. Olympias. It is possible that the bodies of experienced bodybuilders have developed tolerance to the drugs.
Additionally, elite bodybuilders have mastered the art of balancing their steroid intake and knows exactly where to get the right product. Steroid products from the dark web are not only illegal but also sub-standard. It is very likely the product you buy from an untrusted entity will cause you trouble. Young and aspiring bodybuilders are advised to trust the process and work it out in the gym first before resorting to steroids. Successful bodybuilders will tell you that it is the hard work that gets you there, steroids only come as a second option.
Top 4 Female BodyBuilders 2000
Since the past years, the Female BodyBuilders have also gained a lot of eminence, success, and fame besides the male bodybuilders. The list of the female bodybuilders that is provided below has gained a lot of success and fame all over the world due to the all-around fitness of their […]
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Blockbuster Interviews with 3 Successful Bodybuilders
It was not until half a century ago that bodybuilding came to be recognized as an international sport. However, what most people don’t know is that it was pioneered by some people who dared to venture into something new. The sport has gradually grown in popularity and is now found in virtually every corner of the globe. In this article, we are going to highlight interviews with the three most successful bodybuilders in the world of fitness. We hope you will get inspiration from their sentiments to take your fitness career to a new level.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Sometimes considered the most successful and greatest bodybuilder of all time, the former governor of California is a household name. Arnold Schwarzenegger immigrated to the united states to look for a better life. After a few years of trying to figure out what to do with his life, the former heavyweight champion finally found a place in fitness. Arnold has been interviewed numerous times but we are going to highlight one interview conducted by David Greene of NPR. This particular interview was very objective as it highlighted many aspects of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career and life.
Interview Highlights
We may not be able to cover every detail of the interview but we shall highlight parts that are most relevant to bodybuilding.
On What Motivated Him to Venture In Bodybuilding
Like most successful sportspeople, Arnold’s bodybuilding career started by taking a rough path. Every one has an idol and his was Reg Park. In his own words, he stated.
“I saw this magazine that had my idol on the cover, Reg Park, who became Mr. Universe three times and won, and then ended up in the Hercules movie in the 60s. And so he kind of became my idol. And so then I started cutting out pictures of these bodybuilding magazines and weightlifting magazines and put them up on the wall above my bed, kind of to remind me every day this is what I ought to look like, train every day, and one day, I will be like that. So it was a kind of motivation vehicle for me.”
From his sentiments, we can see that he started looking up to someone he considered mightier, but look who he became. His was a matter of having a goal, in form of his hero, and working hard to accomplish it.
On Handling Challenges to His Career
People are hardly noticed in the early years of their career. It is at this stage that they get to enjoy a little bit of privacy. Once their star starts shining, they will be subjected to every kind of scrutiny. It was not any different for Arnold Schwarzenegger. As his star begun growing, so did the opposition, from within and outside. Here is what he had to say about his mother.
“But my mother looked at it in a different way… I took her into the bedroom, and I said look how I decorated my bed above here, the wall. She shook her head and, you know, didn’t say much. And I was kind of concerned why she didn’t really say something or didn’t compliment me of how well I decorated the wall. The next thing I knew was she flagged down the doctor, who every Wednesday, came with his little Fiat by our house. And she asked him to come up to the house and to look at my bedroom wall. And so… he came to the bedroom, and he looked at the wall, and she said: ‘Look at this. I mean, my son has all these naked pictures of men …’ “
Despite all the opposition from his mother, he still went ahead to prove her wrong by becoming the best.
Source: Talk of the Nation, via www.npr.org
Frank Zane
Frank Zane is another successful bodybuilder who won Mr. Olympia three times. Also considered one of the greatest of all time, this moving mass can only be compared to legends of Hercules, Zeus and Poseidon. With incredible physique that djrove women crazy, Zane was some kind of demigod between 1977 and 1979. It was at this period that he won the three Mr. Olympia titles consecutively. Fran,k Zane was interviewed by FLEX and this is what he had to say about his life and career.
Interview Highlights
It is important to know that Zane’s career spanned almost 40 years, but he was most active in the 70s and early 80s.
On How He Formulated His First Training Routine
“It was all by people I’d met, things I’d read and trial and error. When I first started out, I was about 18 actually younger I was about 16 or17 when I really got serious. I worked out every other day after school, doing upper body one day, legs the next. I kept that routine for a while and it worked well for me. Then, in the mid-late 60s, when I was living in Florida, I increased the number of workouts so that I was training six days a week, but it was still upper body one day, legs the next.”
When Asked About His Preferred ab Exercises
“Usually crunches and/or Roman-chair situps for upper abs. Leg raises or hanging knee-ups for upper abs, seated twists for obliques.”
His Response to Why the Current Generation of Bodybuilders Don’t Give Much Time to ab Training
“Worked for me. I just went by the example of those who had been training at Gold’s Gym in Venice when I got there. You know, in the late 60s Zabo Koszewski was there and he had the best abs and I figured, well, I’ll try it. He would do 500 Roman-chair situps in the morning and 500 leg raises in the afternoon and so that’s what I did. I figured if you had great abs and you had everything else, you’d look even better, and it worked.”
How Diet Played a Role in his Conditioning
“My diet was always very good, but volume training in itself really conditions you. If you go heavy, you’ll grow too, but boy, volume training really works you down to your core. To this day, I still practice volume, except now I will train three days a week or so.”
Comparing His Training Today and 30 Years Ago
“On the whole, it is, with lighter weights and less volume, of course. I have to say that I rely heavily on muscle memory these days, and it is a pretty amazing thing. I don’t have to train that much anymore to stay in decent shape, which is good because my joints couldn’t handle a lot of this work now. But there comes a point in your 60s when you hit a kind of age barrier, and the gains come slower and the accumulated stress you put on your body all those years adds up. It’s a bit of a balancing act – knowing how much to train to elicit results without aggravating old injuries.”
Source: Flex Magazine 2008
3. Flex Wheeler
We couldn’t leave the Sultan of Symmetry out of our best three for obvious reasons. Flex Wheeler was interviewed by bodybuilding legend Kevin Levrone. This was a very unique interview because it was just two legends having a chat and digging into the past. There are a few points we can pick from the chat. Here is how the interview went down.
Interview Highlights
When Asked Who Was the Most dreadful Competitor He Ever Faced
On this, Wheeler did not hesitate to mention Ronnie Coleman and Dorian Yates. He also went ahead to state that he could have easily defeated Ronnie Coleman in the 1999 contest but admitted that Ronnie was a great Mr. Olympia.
Related Article:: 6 Famous Mr. Olympia of All Time
About Back-to-Back Weekly Competitions
Like most bodybuilders of his time, Flex Wheeler didn’t find it difficult to compete every week. He had to squeeze in time for training every week in anticipation of the next contest. It was a time when bodybuilding as a sport was picking momentum so there was motivation all around.
The Hardest Training Partner Flex Ever Had
A training partner plays a crucial role in shaping and influencing one’s mindset. He/she instills the spirit of competition and this goes a long way in preparing you for major contests. Flex Wheeler revealed that Chris Cormier was the hardest person he ever trained with. Being one of the strongest bodybuilders at that time, Cormier pushed Flex to his limits, thus turning him into a beast.
Source: https://www.evolutionofbodybuilding.net
Overall
As you may have noticed, the three interviews have valuable lessons any bodybuilder can use to make an extra stride in their career. We have tackled unique aspects of bodybuilding in each, from personal struggles to training routines. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane, and Flex Wheeler all looked up to someone and worked their way up to reach that level. And in most cases, the prodigy goes ahead and becomes better than their idol. That is a hell of a motivation for any bodybuilder who wants to put their name on the world map. You can follow up on the full interviews from the sources indicated.