Why Elite Bodybuilders Keep Dying

Bodybuilding is awesome, but there's a dark side at the elite level most people don’t see.
Rising steroid usage, risky drugs, and extreme behaviors are pushing athletes to dangerous limits—sometimes with deadly consequences.
Today we explore why bodybuilders seem to be dropping like flies and the deeper motives and factors driving this trend.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝘆𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴
00:00 Dropping like Flies
00:51 Evolution of bodybuilding
02:04 Rising PED Use
05:55 PED Psychological Toll
08:05 'Bigorexia'
09:22 The Not-so-Silent Killer
10:34 Diuretics
12:08 Extreme Coaches
14:56 Summit Fever
16:14 A Healthier Future?

🎥 Josh Brett @brettjosh = Making honest, investigative fitness documentaries.

[brettjosh]

Thanks for watching everyone, I really appreciate your time.
Plenty more investigative fitness videos on the way, if you have any requests, please let me know🙏

And thanks to Headspace for sponsoring this video.

[FitRob]

“The fitness industry is the only place that you get rewarded for having a drug problem and an eating disorder. If you combine the two you get a pro card."

[srleplay]

For every Pro that died there are dozens of people no one heard of that checked out by abusing gear, meds and diuretics despite being nowhere near big and with genetics that wouldn't allow them to get a Pro card even if they replaced their blood with tren. That is the real tragedy

[llkoolbean]

Extreme body dysmorphia, eating disorders, drug addiction. What could happen?

[richiesmooth]

I was a wrestler in high school. As a freshman I had a membership at a golds gym and worked out next to a bunch of huge bodybuilders not too much older than me. My coach knowing this sternly told me not to talk to any of them or try to get info out of them. I was right to listen to him. Present day, that gym is closed down and has been replaced. One of the bodybuilders I worked next to is DEAD!

[marieraia]

this is excellent I am Bostin Loyd's mom, thank you for adding Bostin in this, I have watched most of your videos you are so right on very educational you are making a difference in the Bodybuilding world

[williammoyle]

"Bodybuilding got me interested in fitness, but it's darker side is what got me interested in health" 🔥🔥🔥 bars bro I literally got chills

[leotrollstoy]

People have no concept of how lucky they are with bodies that are so functional, wasting them for nothing.

[licksnkicks]

My son gave up being a pro. I am so happy for him. He was so dedicated to the gym and diet. He passed out while posing. No more!!

[johnalbertwrestling]

IN Brazil there is a man called Rodrigo Góes who does videos talking about issues of steroids. He gets so much hate for many of Fitness bubble, saying he is just a hater who never made it as a pro.

You see in the comment section of his videos many guys telling how he made them never take or quit steroids. This work you do is excellent.

Dallas McCarver's Heart was over 800 grams, this is not normal.

[dannyganelin]

This video should be shown in gyms and at schools.

[NicholasPorter-pi]

I nearly died 2012 from two blood clots in my right lung, 6yrs AFTER i stopped juicing. Even today i walk around with high red blood cell count & i ain’t taken gear for decades. Damage is done

[chuck]

This video might have saved my life. Gonna make the change and pray there is no lasting damage that time can’t heal. Thank you!

[NancyLebovitz]

This is reminding me of issues with dog-breeding. Contests about meeting a visual standard become more extreme and have less and less to do with living well or anything practical.

Thank you for the concept of summit fever. It applies to a lot.

[Nick_Taylor.]

The point about very high T affecting IQ shocked me. I would've never guessed. This is really informative content. Thanks!

[onerider]

No one dying says “at least I’m dying doing what I loved”. They say “Mama, Mama” or “Lord, save me”.

[nuclease]

It's not just bodybuilding or fitness. In every single media we are blasted with ideal body images, it's a constant pressure. It's terrible for both mans and womens.

[shadykable]

I started abusing PED's between ages 29 to 32 but stopped soon after. Liver enzymes went off the roof, high BP, palpatations all became a daily occurence and that scared the hell out of me. Now I am 33, clean for little over a year and feel rejuvinated (Though the withdrawl phase I felt weaker and miserable)

[seattlegrrlie]

It was the late 90s and I got down below 20% body fat for a photoshoot. I was also very dehydrated to look lean and cut. I hadn't eaten in 24hrs. For a sportswear photoshoot - modeling "healthy active lifestyles"

Don't chase that look. Don't starve yourself and use crazy drugs to be big and cut. It's not worth your life

[enilenis]

A friend was a high level bodybuilder. Stalone's body double in movies in the early 2000's. He was a steroid user. They absolutely went to his head. He got dumb and aggressive. I remember visiting, and he had a competition buddy over. They ended up punching a head sized hole in every wall and in the bathroom door. Once, the friend got into a domestic fight, which lead to a confrontation with police with a fake weapon, hoping to get shot. Didn't get shot, but when he was taken in, he hung himself in a cell, leaving a young daughter behind. I used to go with him to competitions, and he encouraged me to get on board, because I had the right build. But the system just didn't appeal to me. It was weird for me to look at all those people who had their special conventions and events. Their whole complex world revolving around getting to be bigger than everyone else. And that's it. I did work out, but naturally. Got to natural dimensions, even having maxed out all of the machines in the end. I still looked normal. My legs looked best when was in high school, biking long distance for years on end. My legs were shaped like they were made of Legos and my knees were recessed below the muscle, like a traffic light, and that was all natural, but at a cost of exercising every weekday for a decade, while still growing. After I stopped biking, legs became ordinary. Body only keeps the muscle it needs and it has an optimal form beyond which it will not progress. That's what steroids override. The upper limit. If you work out naturally, you'll plateau. If you mess with the chemistry, you'll flatline. Those are your options.