Bodybuilding represents the art of training the body to build a chiseled look. The sport has its origins a century back but gained phenomenal popularity during the Golden Age era in the 1970s. However, over the years, the bodybuilding community witnessed its athletes die at a young age due to heart issues and other health issues. Despite the love for ripped physiques on stage, one cannot fathom the loss of talented athletes too soon, and often hints at the high PEDs dependence for such fatal heart conditions. 

While the history of the sport reflects glorious physiques, it is all plagued with serious health problems in professional athletes. Even the elite Mr. Olympia champions are no different from this horrific truth. The 2023 year has been painful for the bodybuilding community as it witnessed the death of Jo Lindner and Gustav Badell due to health conditions. In this light, let us see the overwhelming cases of bodybuilders who died due to heart disease. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Best Friend Franco Columbu died of stroke

The Austrian Oak had a cherished friendship with The Sardinian Strongman. They met in 1965 at a bodybuilding event in Germany and hit the chord instantaneously. From starting a brick business to training at the gym, the duo bonded on everything. Arnold Schwarzenegger also admits that it was Columbu with whom he trained the most. The 76-year-old cherishes his friendship with the Italian bodybuilding icon and even confessed in his Netflix documentary, “It’s been the greatest, the closest relationship that I’ve had with any guy.” 

But the 7x Mr. Olympia lost his best buddy to a heart stroke. Known for his 750 lbs deadlift, Columbu experienced a heart stroke while on the beach at 78. Despite efforts to save him, he died. Arnold Schwarzenegger still remembers how Franco Columbu brought more joy to his existence. Apart from Schwarzenegger’s best friend, a fierce foe also lost his life due to heart complications. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s arch-rival Mike Mentzer succumbed to heart complications

The bodybuilding world can never forget the controversial 1980 Mr. Olympia championship and the feud that started between the Austrian Oak and Mike Mentzer. Mentzer not just challenged Arnie’s sudden entry on the Mr. Olympia stage that year but also his popular training method. 

Mentzer, who is an advocate of the HIT method, is regarded as an idol by the 6x Mr. Olympia champion Dorian Yates. But the iconic bodybuilder died young at 49 due to heart complications. He was found dead in his apartment by his bodybuilding brother Ray Mentzer, who was undergoing dialysis at that time. A couple of days later, Ray also perished. The bodybuilding world mourned the demise of one of its iconic stars. The only silver lining of the story is that Arnie and Mentzer solved their differences before the latter’s death. However, the death count doesn’t stop. 

An ardent follower of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cedric McMillan collapsed to a heart attack

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s prolific bodybuilding career and his ripped body in his movies inspired many to take up bodybuilding. Cedric McMillan was one of those who lived to achieve his bodybuilding dreams but died midway. The icon who confessed, “Arnold was my first bodybuilding idol, I wanted to look like Conan,” realized his dream by training hard at the gym. 

Despite grueling military training at the US Army, McMillan didn’t give up his love for building a physique he yearned for as a child. Later, he went on to win the Arnold Classic in 2017, impressing his idol Schwarzenegger. But the icon breathed his last at 44 after he experienced a heart attack. The next on the list is the iconic bodybuilder who could be credited as one of the athletes to defeat the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

The champion who once defeated Arnold Schwarzenegger died of a heart attack

The process of building a Greek-God-like conditioning unfolds at the gym and the kitchen as bodybuilders depend on training regimens and diet protocols. But the Golden Era witnessed the use of PEDs for aiding muscle growth, which now broke all barriers as bodybuilding athletes often resort to it. But the bodybuilding icon, Chester Yortan, who defeated Arnold Schwarzenegger once, was an ardent supporter of natural bodybuilding. 

The Father of Natural Bodybuilding started his bodybuilding journey after sustaining a fatal accident that left him almost at the mercy of a wheelchair. He injured his pelvic area, hips ripped from their sockets, and doctors saved him from a leg amputation by fixing a steel plate after four hours of surgery. If the ghastly incident happened to cowards they would have given up on mobility, but Yortan fought back with lightweight training. 

Despite not being on PEDs his entire career, Yortan succeeded in winning many bodybuilding championships, but the greatest of all wins would be his 1966 Mr. Universe NABBA trophy. It was in this competition he defeated the future 7x Mr. Olympia champion Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

At 81, Chester Yorton died from a heart attack in 2020, hours after finding his wife dead. His legacy of building a natural physique is revered by the Bodybuilding community to date. While legends like Yorton lived a content life, into his eighties, the bodybuilding community also witnessed icons who collapsed on the competitive stage. 

Dallas McCarver, the bodybuilder who collapsed on the Arnold Classic stage, died subsequently due to Cardiomegaly

Bodybuilding witnessed a transition from the Golden Era to the Mass Monster era real fast. With the advent of PEDs on the bodybuilding scene, athletes resorted to them uninhibited with the only aim to build a muscle monster physique. Months after collapsing on the Arnold Classic stage in Australia, the 300 lbs mass monster giant was found dead in his flat in 2017.

The immediate theories suggested choking on food to be the reason for the 26-year-old sensation. The autopsy reports that came after three months, suggested an “un-witnessed acute cardiac event“, that led to the bodybuilder’s death. His heart was enlarged during the time of death, a condition called Cardiomegaly. And enlargement is common in the case of steroid intake. The bodybuilder who earned his Pro Card at 21 lost his life too soon despite having huge potential to become the face of the sport. The deaths of bodybuilders due to heart conditions continue, the recent being Gustavo Badell’s untimely death. 

The Freakin’ ‘Rican dies due to a heart attack in 2023

The 2000s in the bodybuilding arena is known for the tug-war between Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler. But Gustavo Badell was the iconic bodybuilder who ranked third among the icons in the 2004 and 2005 Mr. Olympia events. But he reportedly died of a stroke at 50, sending shock waves to the bodybuilding world. 

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The bodybuilding world is marred with the heart and other ailments that are cut-shortening the lifespan of the athletes. The 7x Mr. Olympia champion Arnold Schwarzenegger also underwent three heart surgeries in his lifetime. However, his heart issues are attributed to a congenital disorder that runs in his family. But the list of bodybuilding icons collapsing due to aneurysms and strokes doesn’t end here, and Arnie once blamed the unregulated use of steroids for the recent spike in deaths. 

“They have taken it, in my opinion, too far. It has gotten too competitive,” he told the Insider, “They’re gonna take more and more stuff that they’re not supposed to, and sometimes it kills people,” he further stated. Do you agree with Arnold Schwarzenegger? Let us know in the comments below!

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