That is the ESSENCE of professional bodybuilding. The IFBB is a sport for delusional people who are willing to trade in their health body.... for a massive, ripped body. People like Aceto see these delusional individuals as a source of INCOME
How much money did Aceto make off of Rhoden and McMillan before they died?
I think it may be time for a thread on gurus.
I've spoken to Chad Nicholls before on Facebook, and I used to respect him. I always try to ask myself: would I say what I'm saying about a person online, to their face?
So I'll try to word this carefully:
I lost a lot of respect for Chad when he did not even know the NAME of the kidney disease he was allegedly giving people [FSGS - Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis]:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_segmental_glomerulosclerosisI think if I was accused of destroying people's kidneys, I'd be aware of the name of what I had supposedly caused them.
Both Chad Nicholls and Shawn Ray [who has my full respect] were interviewed by Patrick Bet-David - and while Shawn remembered specific dates and names of people and places, Chad didn't even remember what FOS stood for.
That's when I thought - "My God - this dude has no flipping clue what he's potentially causing people."
And do you remember that Ronnie Coleman had a diuretics scare at the 2001 Mr. Olympia contest, that required him going in an ice bath all night? Chad's protocol involved Ronnie's organs basically cooking, and he treated Ronnie with an ice bath! It sounds like that may have been DNP - Ronnie passed the diuretics test that Jay Cutler and Markus Ruhl both failed, so that doesn't rule out DNP.
If you watch the 2000 Battle for the Olympia, Chad tells Ronnie to put a wet towel behind neck, to cool him off. Exactly how overheated must Ronnie have been to require these measures to cool his body down?
Ronnie has ALWAYS maintained that it was all worth it for him...but it just makes me wonder...
Dennis Wolf, to the contrary, swore off all gurus after Chad, and there have been so many issues with Chad's bodybuilders:
Ronnie Coleman: see above.
Flex Wheeler: kidney issues.
Nasser El Sonbaty: dead.
Dallas McCarver: dead.
Art Atwood: dead.
Don Youngblood: dead.
And now Chris Aceto is piling up a similar list: the most prominent one being Shawn Rhoden. I believe George Peterson was under Aceto's tutelage as well.
Didn't Rhoden have some health/heart issues, yet stayed 300-lb at under 5'10"? Why didn't Chris just tell him to stop? My God - he was suspended from the IFBB anyway!
As for the morality of all this: I tend to be libertarian about these things, but I think the risks should always be disclosed, and gurus should basically ask all competing pros: "ARE YOU WILLING TO TAKE DECADES OFF YOUR LIFE BY PURSUING A CAREER IN PROFESSIONAL BODYBUILDING?"
If not, then he shouldn't work to them.
These ARE consenting adults...so I look at if like any drug transaction. But I think gurus should try to research how to REDUCE gear usage, by possibly figuring out how Kevin Levrone was able to slim down in the offseason. But maybe active pros aren't able to take so much time off, or they lose social media money and other money.
I don't know...I guess it's just a consenting adults thing. Like all drugs.
But I really think Chad Nicholls should at least BE AWARE of the names of the diseases bodybuilders can get as a result of using heavy gear like they do.
