IrongarmX

Fuck! This is crazy. There was a lot going on by the looks of things.

Sad for his family and he did seem like a genuinely good dude. RIP. Will bust out some Meadows Rows in his honour.

Joe Doe wrote:

Saw on social media that John Meadows, mountain dog, passed away. Generation iron reported it as a pulmonary embolism in his sleep. Between his colon disease and heart attack in May, he’d already been through a lot. Seemed like a genuinely good guy.

He did seem like a good guy. Hard not to speculate about the role anabolics played, but RIP to the man.  He was a genuine contributor.

https://www.auajournals.org/doi/10.1016/j.juro.2016.02.336

>An initial cohort of all 1,578 professional male bodybuilders who competed between 1948-2014 was identified, and complete mortality data were obtained for 597. This cohort was identified via competition listings and bodybuilding websites. Proof of life or death was compiled using data from public records, competition listings, bodybuilding websites, and social media venues. Mortality rates among bodybuilders were compared with CDC mortality rates for an age-matched male population.

>The mean age within the study cohort was 47.5 years (range 25.0-81.7) and mean age during competitive years was 24.6 years (range 18-47). Of the 597 bodybuilders with mortality data, 58 (9.7%) were reported dead and 539 living. Only 40 deaths were expected in this population based on age-matched data, yielding a standardized mortality rate (95% confidence interval) of 1.34 (1.10-1.88) for these competitors, which is higher than in the general population. The mean age of death was 47.7 years (range 26.6-75.4), and no significant difference in mortality rates was observed above the age of 50 (Figure 1).

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by
  Fat Cat .

Fat Cat wrote:

Hard not to speculate about the role anabolics played, but RIP to the man.

Massive role, I’d say. I remember some years back when Shaf posted a photo of him looking Grimace purple in the face. Last year after his heart attack, he had some shifty looking doctor go over his bloodwork on a YouTube clip. It almost seemed like they were trying to find a way to omit drugs as being a problem. This could be completely wrong and unfair, I just sensed drugs were the elephant in the room.

He also seemed to train prodigiously, 5 times in one day while in Vegas I remember seeing. Could be too much of one thing and the other.

But it always struck me as sad. Like it all came from a place of no self-esteem. Little guy with no parents as a child, juicing himself to the gills. Granted he got the pro card, a fortune and a legacy. Fortune and legacy almost makes it seem worth it, but not at 49 .

The Power Project put out a video from recently where he was talking about his sons. Very sad.

OK, if we can slip away from the nice guy bullshit for a second.  I know he was a nice guy, but fuck, the man looked like a dried up turd.  The fact that he died prematurely should come as no surprise to anyone, and least of all, him and his family.

I love natural “bodybuilding”–resistance training, careful nutrition, intelligent recovery–but the sport of BodybuildingTM is beyond retarded.  Does anyone think this looks good?  Healthy?  Strong?  It’s repellent.  He had his colon removed in 2002, he had had a heart attack more recently, and he suffered from a blood clotting condition that runs in his family.  On top of which he pumped the whole pharmacy into his buttcheeks.  This isn’t so much blame as pity, because BodybuildingTM exists along the same body dysmorphia continuum as transsexuals, and is similarly disgusting.  

• This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by
  Fat Cat .

Joe Doe wrote:

The days of Frank Zane are long gone. Even he I’m sure was on copious amounts of drugs but he was close enough a lot of dudes probably thought they could get close to his aesthetic.

They didn’t call Zane “the Chemist” for nothing, and it wasn’t because he was a teacher.

Fat Cat wrote:

OK, if we can slip away from the nice guy bullshit for a second. I know he was a nice guy, but fuck, the man looked like a dried up turd. The fact that he died prematurely should come as no surprise to anyone, and least of all, him and his family. I love natural “bodybuilding”–resistance training, careful nutrition, intelligent recovery–but the sport of BodybuildingTM is beyond retarded. Does anyone think this looks good? Healthy? Strong? It’s repellent. He had his colon removed in 2002, he had had a heart attack more recently, and he suffered from a blood clotting condition that runs in his family. On top of which he pumped the whole pharmacy into his buttcheeks. This isn’t so much blame as pity, because BodybuildingTM exists along the same body dysmorphia continuum as transsexuals, and is similarly disgusting.

The saddest image I saw was on the Power Project clip where he is posing in combat boots and underwear on some road in downtown Columbus it looked like.

It’s weird and doesn’t look good. And the thought did occur maybe with that health record, nevermind the kids, plus your peak competitive days behind you – worth it?

John was universally regarded as a great guy.  The points being made here that he certainly was on the cutting edge of pharmaceutical bodybuilding are valid.  However, it was his personal choice and he felt that he made additional lifestyle choices that offset the drug use (dietary mostly, but it leaves me wondering if he was a cardio bodybuilder like Shelby Starnes or not)

Its sad as fuck for the loss.  Like I said somewhere else, out of the serial rapists, snake oil salesmen, grifters and outright cunts in the fitness space, the fact that John died so early may be proof that there is no karma or justice as part of the universal gestalt.

I didn’t know John.  I never met him.  There was one degree of separation, as a lot of people I’ve met did know him well.

Shaf wrote:

John was universally regarded as a great guy. The points being made here that he certainly was on the cutting edge of pharmaceutical bodybuilding are valid. However, it was his personal choice and he felt that he made additional lifestyle choices that offset the drug use (dietary mostly, but it leaves me wondering if he was a cardio bodybuilder like Shelby Starnes or not) Its sad as fuck for the loss. Like I said somewhere else, out of the serial rapists, snake oil salesmen, grifters and outright cunts in the fitness space, the fact that John died so early may be proof that there is no karma or justice as part of the universal gestalt. I didn’t know John. I never met him. There was one degree of separation, as a lot of people I’ve met did know him well.

Nothing I said is intended to take away from the man, after all, he’s dead and he made his choices for better or for worse.  But it’s also true that he chose to take dangerous drugs that cost him lifespan and set a poor example for his two sons.  We wouldn’t give an addict or an alcoholic the same clearance and say it was a personal choice.  Drug-assisted bodybuilding to the degree that you look like a turgid penis is mental illness, plain and simple, and takes a toll on more than just the user.