Bodybuilding to death - why young athletes are dying

Manveen Rana (0:01)

From The Times and The Sunday Times, this is The Story on Sunday. I'm Manveen Rana.

At a packed conference center near Birmingham earlier this month, a slate of contestants, men and women, their skin glistening with oil, were readying themselves for their moment in the spotlight. One after another, speedo-wearing bronze bodies flexed across the stage.

Matt Lawton (0:43)

And a quarter turn facing the front. Front double biceps.

Manveen Rana (0:53)

It was one of the highlights of the bodybuilding calendar, the British finals of the Physical Culture Association, where a parade of rippling bodies struck poses to see who had the best physique.

But all was not well. During the competition, one of the contestants collapsed. 33-year-old Mateusz Chmura was treated at the venue and then taken to a hospital, but sadly he passed away. The cause of his death is yet to be confirmed, but it's raised fresh questions about why so many young bodybuilders are dying each year.

So what's going on in this highly competitive world? And could stricter rules around supplements and drugs prevent these deaths? The story today, bodybuilding to death, why so many young athletes are dying.

Imran Khan (2:13)

So bodybuilding, we've all heard of Arnold Schwarzenegger. So if you like, he created bodybuilding. It was like a cult sport. He won the Mr. Universe several times. Then the movie came out, Pumping Iron, and it became like a sort of cult movie and the whole Venice Beach, California bodybuilding scene just grew.

Manveen Rana (2:31)

Imran Khan is a sports and exercise physiologist and a former power lifter.

He was also head of the Safety Committee for the first Enhanced Games in Las Vegas this year, a competition that's billed as an alternative to the Olympics, which allows the use of medically supervised performance-enhancing substances. More on that later.

Imran Khan (2:53)

And then from there, it became like a global phenomena with like gym life. They call it fit inspiration or fit spiration. Like we've seen the growth of gyms globally. And then with that, coupled with the growth of bodybuilding, more and more shows, this pressure sort of to get a physique or to look masculine or to look big, butch, Viking. And it's just become like a massive social pressure.

If you're like a month or younger, then influenced by social media to put muscle on. Obviously steroids do work, because you do put muscle on and you put muscle on a lot quicker and the look they're looking for, it's a lot easier to do.

Manveen Rana (3:31)

Imran, when you were a powerlifter, you were hugely successful. Just describe.

Imran Khan (3:36)

I lost more than I won, but I was decent. See, there's a difference. I mean, this was pre YouTube days and pre social media. So people went to the gym, it was a bit of a laugh. You were with your friends, there was no money involved. You know, if you won, you won a protein tub and a plastic trophy. There were small, low-key shows, there weren't any particular big deal. It was more like a laugh or a get-together with friends. And with power lifting, it's quite easy, you either lift the weight or you don't. Whereas bodybuilding, it's like, and the bodybuilders will hate me for it, so please forgive me. It's like a pageant. You're not actually doing anything physical.

You're just looking good in thongs and you're showing your muscles.

Manveen Rana (4:13)

Well, tell me about that. What is the ideal physique that you're aiming for when you're bodybuilding?

Imran Khan (4:18)

We had a fantastic bodybuilder called Charles Claremont in the UK, a very classic physique, full waist, shoulders, very aesthetic physique. Now as the times have gone on, the physiques have got bigger and bigger and bigger. So if you look at the Mr. Olympia winners of the last 25 years, they just get bigger and bigger and bigger, which obviously puts the health at a higher risk. If Arnold Schwarzenegger was competing today in the Olympia, or even he wouldn't even win a national competition, let alone getting anywhere in the top 10 in the Olympia.

So the look has changed, partially because of the drug use, increased drug use and the variety of drugs you're getting, mass, shape, size and being shredded, i.e. being the lower body fat as possible.

Manveen Rana (5:00)

Wow. And I mean, it's amazing to hear you say the man who invented bodybuilding, who was the great ideal in that world now, wouldn't even really qualify. So something has clearly changed. In the last few decades, this is a world that has started to look very different.

If you're attending one of these big events, like the recent Physical Culture Association's British finals, the big annual event where all of this is playing out, just describe the scene. How big a deal is it and what's happening?