Rant about personal responsibility in the sport

[liberalismo]

My own personal brief Meltdown...

I'm so fucking sick of bodybuilders and strength athletes dying of heart attacks or organ failure before 45. Anyone who says that steroids have no relation would be fooling themselves. When used in excess, that is what happens to steroid users, they tend to get heart trouble including high LDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc. which can all lead to heart attacks or strokes. I personally believe that anabolic steroids SHOULD BE LEGAL for bodybuilders, however I also believe that people need to start being responsible when using them.  A short list I just compiled includes the following people who have died fairly young, often heart attacks. If my list is incorrect in any way, please post the correction and feel free to add names to it. Some of the people may have died from totally natural causes unrelated to steroids, but I think most of their deaths were related to excessive and outrageous steroid usage. The list includes:

Andreas Münzer
Jesse Marundi
Johnny Perry
Erik Fromm
Mike Mentzer
Erik Fromm
Don Youngblood
Paul Grant
Curtis Leffler
Momo Benaziza
Robert Benavente
ANTHONY D'AREZZO
ERIC OTERO
Charles Durr
Hans Hopstaken
Jorma Räty
Dan Puckett
Ed Kawak
Fannie Barrios

The following who have become very sick from memory includes:

Tom Prince
Mike Matarazzo
Dennis Newman
Mike Francois
Don Long


Another list of people in our subculture who have fairly young, many due to heart attacks.
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=69617.msg1019851#msg1019851


I think that in 90% of the cases where young power lifters, strongmen or bodybuilders die suddenly from organ failure or heart failure or cardiac arrest at least party caused by Anabolic Steroids. I believe that people have the personal right to use Anabolic Steroids, just like tobacco or alcohol or marijuana, but I believe that competitors need to exercise more restraint and responsibility when using very powerful hormones including Anabolic Steroids. The urge to take "a little bit more" than normal to win the next competition or get ahead of the game leads to taking "a little bit more" than that next competition, and so on and so forth. This invariably leads to wildly excessive and dangerous amounts of human growth hormones and Anabolic Steroids. Not only is excessive use the problem, but also lack of medical supervision is a huge issue which people need to take issue with. If you are using Anabolic Steroids, regular visits to the doctor to get blood tests is necessary to determine cholesterol levels, blood pressure, etc. It's hard and sometimes impossible to know whether or not you suffer from high cholesterol levels or if you are a high risk for cardiac arrest, the only real way to know for sure is to get frequently (about every 2 weeks) checkups while cycling Anabolic Steroids so that a heart attack doesn't creep up.

Obviously some may argue that heart-attacks happen to non-steroid users every day by the thousands and it would be presumptuous to conclude that steroids play a role in the heart attack, stroke or cardiac arrest deaths listed. My response? Get real.

[Jeffro]

Calm down big guy, these people all made their own decisions to live that lifestyle.

[liberalismo]

Calm down big guy, these people all made their own decisions to live that lifestyle.

That's really beyond the point. Crack-heads make their own decision to live their lifestyle also. I'm certainly not comparing steroid users to crackheads, but the fact that they make the decisions does not mean that people shouldn't be trying to encourage responsibility to reduce the deaths occurring.

[gordiano]

That's really beyond the point. Crack-heads make their own decision to live their lifestyle also. I'm certainly not comparing steroid users to crackheads, but the fact that they make the decisions does not mean that people shouldn't be trying to encourage responsibility to reduce the deaths occurring.

Well, they're both addicts...

[liberalismo]

Well, they're both addicts...

I don't agree.

[Jeffro]

That's really beyond the point. Crack-heads make their own decision to live their lifestyle also. I'm certainly not comparing steroid users to crackheads, but the fact that they make the decisions does not mean that people shouldn't be trying to encourage responsibility to reduce the deaths occurring.

I dont worry about other people's business.  If they choose to live the bodybuilding lifestyle and use high amounts of steroids, so be it, it's their own personal choice.  They know there are risks involved.

[liberalismo]

I dont worry about other people's business.  If they choose to live the bodybuilding lifestyle and use high amounts of steroids, so be it, it's their own personal choice.  They know there are risks involved.

I tend to care though. It bothers me when I see young people die, even if they know the risks of their lifestyle.

Also, I'm not totally sure that they all knew exactly what the risks were before getting involved in such copious steroid use. Sometimes they were deluding themselves.

[Jeffro]

I understand where you're coming from.  But bodybuilding is a shady business based on narcissism, and people are going to continue to abuse drugs to achieve their own personal ideal.  Nothing we can do about it...

[liberalismo]

I understand where you're coming from.  But bodybuilding is a shady business based on narcissism, and people are going to continue to abuse drugs to achieve their own personal ideal.  Nothing we can do about it...

That's a pretty defeatist attitude. For people who know professional bodybuilders personally, they could talk to them seriously and try to decrease their risk of dying early. Encourage them to do things to lower cholesterol such or encourage them to get a medical checkup very frequently.

[The Coach]

Hans did't die from anything steriod related.

[just_a_pilgrim]

If you put something in your body like steroids, you are going to get a reaction as you are hurting the bodies natural state. So it is going to have consequences, in some people it will be worse than others, and obviously some people will abuse the drugs worse than others.

I think some athletes think that because they have control over their bodies nothing bad will happen.

[Bluto]

calm down gloria, it aint that serious

[troponin]

If you're using exercise to promote health, that's great. 

If you're using exercise to compete in bodybuilding, you're trying to become more competitive, not healthy.


Trying to "excel" at something dictates that you do what it takes to excel.  The only time "health" plays a decisive factor is if "health" is what you're trying to excel at. 

If you want to graduate law school, you don't base your course of action on what is healthiest.  You base it on what will get you a degree. 
If you want to become CEO of a corporation, you don't base your course of action on health.  You base it on what will help you get promoted.


People play in monday night basketball leagues because their doctor tells them to get "exercise."  This doesn't mean that players in the NBA should stop worrying about winning games and train for "health."



No one has to agree with it and it doesn't make it right, but that's how things are in any form of "competition," no matter how trivial others may feel the competition is.

[Bluto]

To excel at something, say being the no 1 poster and contributor in the history of Getbig with over 30,000 perfect posts isn't necessarily healthy, but some of us are willing to do anything to achieve our goals.

It's all about being no 1 baby.

[CalvinH]

Sport

[tbombz]

Trying to "excel" at something dictates that you do what it takes to excel.  The only time "health" plays a decisive factor is if "health" is what you're trying to excel at. 



People play in monday night basketball leagues because their doctor tells them to get "exercise."  This doesn't mean that players in the NBA should stop worrying about winning games and train for "health."

Top Notch post.

[jaejonna]

Dead bodybuilders are like dead alley cats...




someone pick that shit up and throw it in the fuckin garbage..

[SHUTUPANDTRAIN]

Dead bodybuilders are like dead alley cats...




someone pick that shit up and throw it in the fuckin garbage..

Talk about narcissistic self loathing...and here comes J