16 Bodybuilders Who Took Lifting Too Far

Anthony D’Arezzo

Anthony D'Arezzo has by far had the worst experience one can have in bodybuilding; he died the night before his show. So, Anthony had a heart disease cardiomyopathy to be specific and the doctors had advised him not to lift weights and not do steroids as it would make his disease more deadly and thus the addiction he had for the gym and bodybuilding led to his death.

Markus Ruhl

Markus Ruhl no doubt had the biggest shoulders in the entire freakin' bodybuilding industry at one time. Ruhl started his bodybuilding career at the age of 18 following a soccer injury and decided to compete five years later. Here is a picture of Ruhl at the 2004 Mr. Olympia stage where he placed 5th.

Moustafa Ismail

Not all of our list members end in death, thankfully. For Egyptian bodybuilder Moustafa Ismail there is something to be proud of with his accomplishments. Moustafa is the current world record holder for largest biceps on the planet. Ismail's biceps measure in at a ridiculous 31 inches and they look every bit their size in person. Ismail has come under fire for his alleged use of drugs like Synthol and many folks believe that Ismail is more akin to a freakshow than a serious bodybuilder. According to Ismail the reason for his bicep size is thanks to seven pounds of protein being ingested daily. There's nothing healthy about anything in this situation.

Nasser El Sonbaty

Nasser was one of the greatest bodybuilders of the 19th century. In fact, he placed second on the Olympia platform in 1997. He openly admitted to steroid usage, although that is obvious. A very tragic accident happened in Sonbaty's life when he died in his sleep in Egypt on March 20, 2013, after being ill for several months.

Andreas Munzer

One look at Andreas Munzer and you'd believe that he were pulled straight from the action cartoons we watched as kids. Munzer looked like a real life action figure throughout his short life before he ultimately died in 1996 at the age of 32. What could possibly kill a man who looked like he could break a car in half? Organ failure. Munzer had cut his body fat percentage down to almost nothing. Cutting down your BF% is common in bodybuilding as it allows you to show off each individual muscle, but there is a certain threshold that you never want to cross. Munzer was later found to have several tumors located on his liver as well as an enlarged heart. Safe to say that years of supplement abuse and overtaxed body work ended up dooming the athlete.

Dean Wharmby

For our next bodybuilder we get to see just how tragic things can be when a person dives headlong into the game without understanding exactly what they were doing. Wharmby, at his peak, looked just as good as any official competitor on the bodybuilding circuit however it was coming at a price. Wharmby was eating upwards of 10,000 calories per day while drinking up to 8 energy drinks per day just to stay energized. Wharmby would develop tumors in his body that would turn cancerous, directly resulting from heavy steroid and diet abuse, and he would end up passing away before 40 years old looking like a skeleton on his death bed. Proper diet, nutrition, and supplement usage must be practiced by serious bodybuilders.

Greg Plitt

If you looked at Greg Plitt's pedigree then you would know the man was destined to succeed. Plitt was a high ranking grad from West Point, a celebrated Ranger and Airborne soldier, and he possessed the natural good looks that so few are blessed with. Plitt was becoming a superstar in the fitness community with appearances all over magazines and in television. Tragically Plitt died when he was hit by a train in California. The reason he was hit by the train will make you shake your head: Plitt was trying to race the between the train rails to prove how effective an energy drink was. Tragic.

Bertile Fox

Bertile Fox sums up the dark side of bodybuilding all at once. Fox came to national acclaim rather quickly when he took up bodybuilding, becoming an instant competitor at a very high level. In order to get to this high level Fox relied heavily upon Human Growth Hormone, or HGH. His sudden and heavy reliance on steroids led to an increase in aggression and an imbalance in his brain. Fox would end up murdering an ex-fiancee as well as the woman's mother. Fox would end up being sentenced to life in prison after his death sentence was reduced. While you can't blame steroids completely for his murderous rampage, it is undeniable the role that steroids play in increased aggression amongst heavy users.

Romario Dos Santos

Here we have another ‘bodybuilder' who approaches the world of fitness by trying to take shortcuts instead of working hard. Dos Santos rose to fame thanks to his ghastly appearance and quick viral action on the internet. Dos Santos injects his body with alcohol and oil in order to give an artificial pump. The result of these lethal injections is a body that looks to be inflated and grossly misshapen. Dos Santos is certainly facing long term health effects thanks to his reliance on dangerous substances and fitness shortcuts. The saddest thing of all is that Dos Santos is killing himself for no reason, the effect of the drugs doesn't even make him look anything but freaky.

Gregg Valentino

Next up on our list is Gregg Valentino, the man who formerly had the largest biceps in the world. Valentino is an embodiment of everything that is wrong with the current body building world. Valentino achieved his bear like, huge arms by relying on an oil called Synthol. Synthol was used extensively by Moustafa Ismail, listed above, and many other people in the fitness world. Synthol is frowned upon because it is a shortcut to pumping up your muscles without putting in real work, it is also very dangerous. Valentino found out how dangerous Synthol was when his arm developed a dangerous hematoma that started to disgustingly leak. Valentino tried to drain the growth on his own with a syringe only to watch in horror as his bicep ended up exploding sending him quickly to the emergency room at the hospital. There are no shortcuts without severe consequences in the fitness world.

Gordon Kimbrough

Before entering the world of fitness and bodybuilding, Kimbrough was said to have been a very sweet and humble person who would never harm a fly. The inevitable heavy steroid use of the bodybuilder led to his psychology changing for the worse and that led to him murdering his fiance for thinking she was not being loyal. He was found at the scene attempting to kill himself by lethal injection.

Mike Matarazzo

Mike Matarazzo was one of the more famous bodybuilders in the world back in the late '80s and early '90s. He was well known for his extreme size and weight: 5'10 and 250 pounds. Matarazzo competed for a decade in the IFBB bodybuilding circuit and he was well regarded for his gigantic arms and extraordinary calves. After placing 21st in the Mr. Olympia tournament he was forced into early retirement and into open heart surgery. Matarazzo would go on to have two heart attacks and his heart would be reduced to just 20% functioning before his untimely death at just 48 years old.

Scott Klein

Scott Klein epitomized the idea of ‘mass' on the bodybuilding circuit where he competed throughout the '90s and into the early '00s. Klein would rack up four NPC Heavyweight rankings, two NPC super heavyweight rankings, before going on to become a trainer. Klein's retirement didn't last very long as he experienced kidney failure at the age of 30 and would pass away shortly after.

Mike Mentzer

Mike Mentzer is one of the most popular bodybuilders in recent memory thanks to his blend of perfectly cultivated mass, business savvy, and outspoken ideological beliefs. Mentzer competed in the IFBB for years, making his debut in 1979, and he would rack up a Mr. Olympia Heavyweight Championship in that first year. Mentzer began bodybuilding at just 12 years old and he would get stronger and more nuanced as the years went by. Unfortunately Mentzer passed away at the age of 40 due to heart problems.

Paul Dillett

Nicknamed as the "Freak-einstein" in the bodybuilding world, Dillett first competed in bodybuilding at the age of 26 and placed second in the heavyweight division. Just two years later, he participated in his first ever Olympia and placed sixth which is undoubtedly a very big achievement. But the obsession of bodybuilding led to him buckling in on the 1994 Arnold Classic stage as a result of cramping from dehydration.

Sally McNeil

Female bodybuilders aren't exempt from the insanity either. Having all that testosterone in your body can really wreak havoc on your decision-making skills. Take the case of Sally McNeil. A former Marine, McNeil got involved in professional bodybuilding after leaving the service, along with her husband Ray. McNeil was often seized by insane jealousy, once savagely beating another woman because she believed that Ray was having an affair with her. She also once dropped a 70-pound weight on his car. Things came to a head in April 1996, when she pulled a shotgun on Ray and unloaded it into his chest, killing him instantly. She's currently in jail and claims that the murder was in self-defense and that Ray was the one who struggled with roid rage.

Check out some more bodybuilders who went way too far.