Question
I have a question about deaths in bodybuilding, powerlifting and the strength sports. Why do so many people avoid the real reason – steroids? Am I to believe so many died before 50 due to natural causes?
Answer
While it is true that steroid use can be a contributing factor to mortality, you can also argue that actual deaths from steroids are surprisingly few. How can this be? Let’s talk about what steroids are, what they are not and the general public’s perception of the “steroid problem”. Because as you’re about to see, the devil is always in the details…
Types of Steroids
On the one hand, you could say that Methyl 1 Testosterone (a steroid) is incredibly toxic, potentially dangerous and continuous, uninterrupted use would almost assuredly result in an early death. OTOH, you could say that testosterone (also a steroid) is relatively benign, not at all dangerous and in many cases benefits not just mortality, but also your quality of life. Both statements are truthful. Both are accurate. Both are steroids. One will likely add to your demise, the other subtract from it. The problem is this: The public isn’t concerned with details. They like simple stories that are easily understood.
The media for its part, is not concerned with such details. They like simple headlines and easy to understand good guys and bad guys. Along the way, they decided all steroids were bad guys. Even the one that belongs in your body (testosterone), in both males and females. Classic case of the baby being thrown out with the bathwater.
Steroids Aren’t Always to Blame
Another example: In the mid-90’s an up and coming Westside member Matt Dimel was setting the world on fire. At a bodyweight of almost 385lbs, he squatted 1,000lbs using Louie’s methods and had a likewise monster total. Then, at the tender age of 33 one day, he dropped dead.
At the time, not much was said. But speculation swirled that it was the copious amount of steroids he had been taking, the extreme bodyweight he had been carrying or some combination of the two. Even I, up until recently (and with no other explanation put forth), assumed this to be the case. We were all wrong: Matt died after his stripper GF shot him up with an 8 ball of coke and 2 GRAMS of heroin. His heart literally exploded, and he was found face down bleeding from his mouth.
Bottomline on Steroids
Look, I’m not going to tell you that staying on tons of gear (especially powerful orals) for decades isn’t going to hurt you. But I will tell you that in most cases, it’s going to take decades or close to it for anything like that to happen.
Far more dangerous in bodybuilding today is insulin (which will kill you in minutes if injecting too much and not getting enough carbs), diuretics (which can kill you in minutes via excretion of too much potassium and other minerals, that keep your heart beating) or painkillers, which an overdose of can shut down your breathing.
It happens every day in this country, and the vast, VAST majority of people dying aren’t bodybuilders – they’re everyday people, just like you and me. They got hooked on opioids, many by doctors who will never be held accountable because their big pharma cohorts in this manslaughter – are both untouchable. They used their ungodly amounts of money and influence on capital hill to insulate them from almost any real litigation, no matter what happens to you from taking their drugs.
So yes, I imagine some bodybuilders and other strength athletes may die from known to be toxic steroids after decades of gross abuse. But first, I want you to visit any emergency room in the country. Sit there for a day, a week or a year. Or a decade, and count how many steroid overdose victims come in clinging to life. There aren’t any. Don’t believe me? Try it. You’ll see.
And in the unlikely event you see one or two, they are a drop in the bucket compared to the millions who are dying from alcohol, tobacco and opioid based painkillers. If you’re searching for a real cause worthy of your soul searching, look there first.
What I just gave you is the truth, but don’t expect to get corroboration from the mass media. Because they have another agenda, and it has little to nothing to do with truth…
