Greg Kovacs Dead

[Admin]

Greg Kovacs is dead. I'm sure many of you saw it in the news, if you didn't here you go:

News: Greg Kovacs IFBB Pro Dies | Steroidal.com

Very sad at only 44. If you take some pretty big doses (and I know some do or claim to), perhaps you should think about the direction you're going in.

I do think there is a link between AAS and GH on damaging the heart. Too many bodybuilders, powerlifters, strongmen, steroid users are dying for it to be a coincidence.

[Dan C]

Yup, sad day indeed. I didn't want to talk much at all about his drug use and just keep the blog post as a nice little tribute to him and mention his successes as a bodybuilder. I know for a fact the bodybuilding community loves to hate on Greg and make fun of him, and I think its very bad taste to pull the whole "we all expected this" or "we all saw this coming from a mile away", etc. etc. commentary.

Yeah, Greg was most likely one of the more extreme abusers of AAS, HGH, and insulin, but to make fun of the guy and talk him down for how his physique looked in the later years of his bodybuilding career is in bad taste. A friend of mine met him once at a bodybuilding convention downtown at the Toronto expo center, got a picture with Greg, and told me that Greg was one of the nicest and most knowledgeable guys he ever met. I always wanted to meet him and I feel bad considering he basically lived in the same city as me, and I'd hear stories about how he could be spotted in some of the gyms around here.

I like to think that whatever decisions in regards to AAS and PEDs that Greg made, he made them fully aware and conscious that he did so in the pursuit of his dreams in bodybuilding and that he would risk his life at a young age, accepting that risk. I'll bet that if he could talk to us all today, he would tell us all that he has no regrets and knew full well the potential result of his decisions. I'm sure he died happy. RIP Greg.

[jasona]

Damn that's a shame.

I hate hearing about bodybuilders passing away, especially at such a young age. It seems to add fuel to the anti-steroid fire. I also think it's too bad that we tend to never know steroid and PED history with most of these guys, as I think it would help sensible users such as ourselves to better moderate what and how much we use.

I hope you're right about his dying happy, Dan C. It's a sobering reminder of the risks associated with bodybuilding, though many of us choose to pursue it anyway. Climbing Mount Everest is dangerous too, and comes with a lot of risks, but there are still people willing to make the climb. When I consider the risks associated with bodybuilding, I often wonder what part of us needs to accomplish this, in the same way some people simply MUST risk they're lives climbing to the top of a mountain, passing frozen corpses of those who failed as they go up. I think most people are satisfied to forego the risks associated with most extreme accomplishments, in return for the illusion of safety. But I think Kovacs probably accepted the risks of the lifestyle he chose in the same way a lot of folks who choose to do risky things do. So many people are bred to consider safety as the most paramount consideration in life, but some people simply MUST achieve something uncommon and extreme, and in that sense, ours is actually a very noble pursuit in my mind. Most of my family would disagree, and only begrudgingly accept my drive to compete, but at the same time people need to be allowed to reach for whatever their dream goal may be.

Whether we live to 45 or 95, it's such a short blip of time in the grand scheme of things, even if we only consider the timeline of our species, and not the age of the universe. So I'll take my risks, as Greg took his, and hopefully the satisfaction of making our dreams into reality will find us contented with whatever span of life we have. People die every day in car accidents, from cancers, fuk, even little kids from awful shit like Leukemia. We're here for a short time so we have to enjoy it and make it meaningful for ourselves. It is not for others to say what our dreams should be or how we should fulfill them. Our lives are ours to live as we see fit, and Greg probably had similar thoughts.

And who knows? We're young and we can always hope that in decades to come medicine will save our asses with stem cells or some shit.

RIP Greg.

[OnTheSauce]

How many people die everyday from all the crap food and just being obese? Everything kills you. If rather be an unhealthy juicer and strong as **** than an unhealthy weak fat piece of shit.

[OnTheSauce]

I also think keeping a proper watch on estrogen plays a big part. Lots of these guys completely ignore this and leave estro levels sky high forever. Watch your blood pressure. Do some cardio to keep heart healthy. Take your vitamins and eat healthier. Soooo many variables and juice is always blamed

[Dan C]

I have to agree with OnTheSauce.

There are many factors that contributed to Greg Kovacs' death. Some of which were:

- Extreme levels of AAS, HGH, insulin, PED use. This definitely does contribute
- At the same time, being 420 lbs. is enough alone to put enough strain on the cardiovascular system and the heart that it will peter out early. Look at people who are abnormally tall, they don't live very long.
- Rumors of Greg Kovacs' extreme diet. Apparently he would force feed himself so much in order to pack on the mass that it was almost like how they force feed ducks to make liver pâté.

It's everything combined. As far as I know as well, Greg was not slowing down in the years leading up to his death, apparently he was still pressing hard on the gas pedal when it came to bodybuilding. And I recently read an article on Greg's death that ended with something along the lines of: "Greg will not be the only person to die this week at the age of 44 of a heart attack". Most people who die young of heart related illnesses are not steroid users or people who have ever even lifted a weight either.

[OnTheSauce]

Seriously 420lbs is a lot of stress. Muscle or fat.

[jasona]

How many people die everyday from all the crap food and just being obese? Everything kills you. If rather be an unhealthy juicer and strong as **** than an unhealthy weak fat piece of shit.

My thoughts exactly. That's kinda where I was going with the idea that people die every day in different ways. But SO many obese people fat as fuk and eating bullshit food every day.

I have to agree with OnTheSauce.

There are many factors that contributed to Greg Kovacs' death. Some of which were:

- Extreme levels of AAS, HGH, insulin, PED use. This definitely does contribute
- At the same time, being 420 lbs. is enough alone to put enough strain on the cardiovascular system and the heart that it will peter out early. Look at people who are abnormally tall, they don't live very long.
- Rumors of Greg Kovacs' extreme diet. Apparently he would force feed himself so much in order to pack on the mass that it was almost like how they force feed ducks to make liver pâté.

It's everything combined. As far as I know as well, Greg was not slowing down in the years leading up to his death, apparently he was still pressing hard on the gas pedal when it came to bodybuilding. And I recently read an article on Greg's death that ended with something along the lines of: "Greg will not be the only person to die this week at the age of 44 of a heart attack". Most people who die young of heart related illnesses are not steroid users or people who have ever even lifted a weight either.

But we can all agree that regardless of our family history/genetics, and our lifestyle besides PED use, if the PED use is going to be a contributing factor, then responsible PED users must take every precaution, starting with frequent visits to the doctor and ardently monitoring health risk factors. Maybe a Ronnie Coleman tackle box full of pills.

[Dan C]

My thoughts exactly. That's kinda where I was going with the idea that people die every day in different ways. But SO many obese people fat as fuk and eating bullshit food every day.

But we can all agree that regardless of our family history/genetics, and our lifestyle besides PED use, if the PED use is going to be a contributing factor, then responsible PED users must take every precaution, starting with frequent visits to the doctor and ardently monitoring health risk factors. Maybe a Ronnie Coleman tackle box full of pills.

You are absolutely correct about that, but the problem is that with the legal status of anabolic steroids in the Western world (as well as the medical establishment's refusal to view anabolic steroid use for physique/performance enhancement as a valid use), it is VERY hard for most PED users to find a doctor who is willing to oversee their progress and vitals.

It is the laws and ridiculous anti-steroid attitudes that drive the use of these things underground and result in MORE health problems. This is even worse in a country like Canada where I live, as we are all covered under public healthcare. Even though personal possession and use of AAS is legal here, if you go to most doctors here and ask them if they could help you monitor your vitals and provide bloodwork, etc. during your PED use, most will tell you flat out NO. It's not because they don't WANT to help (some are actual assholes and don't want to), but its because first and foremost, they can't justify issuing bloodwork at the expense of other taxpayers to oversee your performance enhancing drug use, which is a use that is not yet recognized by the medical establishment. Once I become a doctor, I want to work to change all of this. At present, most AAS users hide their use from their physicians not necessarily because they WANT to hide it, but because of the implications if they do let it out (insurance, etc.). I believe a study was once completed in which anabolic steroid users completed surveys, and a whopping majority of the subjects said that if they had the opportunity to have a physician supervise and monitor their use, they would go for it. I think I referenced that study in some of my articles for Steroidal.

The only things that AAS and PED users can do currently is:
- Ensure the use of ancillary supplements and compounds that support and promote organ and cardiovascular health.
- Play it safe with the dosages and cycle lengths. Start with the minimal effective dosages, and grow into that dose before increasing it. Is it really necessary to be using over 1,000mg of total steroid per week? Is a gram of Testosterone per week ON TOP OF other stacked compounds really that necessary? Do you really NEED to be throwing in HGH and insulin? Keep cycles as short as possible.
- Find a doctor who will help you monitor your vitals (if you can). As I mentioned above, this is very difficult.

The fact is that we know a lot more today about AAS and LED use than they did back in the 1970s and 1980s (hell, even 10 years ago). We know more about their effects on the body, and what we can do to effectively mitigate and minimize the negative effects. 20 years ago, PCT didn't exist, nobody did it. In the 1970s and 1980s do you think AAS users were supplementing with fish oils and EFAs to promote cardiovascular health? I highly doubt it! Aromatase inhibitors didn't hit the scene hard until the 1990s. In my opinion, there is no excuse to be running cycles without proper supplemental and ancillary support.

[jasona]

1. WOW, anabolics are legal to own/use in Canada?!? Wow. Awesome. The US is so fuking backwards about this, we actually WASTE law enforcement resources arresting peaceable steroid users!! Men (and a few women) who work legit jobs to pay for steroid use, and pay income taxes. Yet we will waste taxpayer dollars to arrest and prosecute steroid users. Because roids make you drive erratically on the way home from a bar, possibly crashing and killing people? Nope. Because they cause lung cancer? Also no… It's because they're bad and they're cheating and if they were legal every 16 year old HS athlete would be jooced to the gills!!!! It's for the kids. Fuking lol.

2. I don't know what the law is like with socialized health care, but one thing the US does get right is that the law is very strict about the privacy of health information. You can get in DEEP trouble disclosing someone's private health info, if you're a doctor or related provider. That means that as a patient, you have your physician's complete confidence: he/she CANNOT disclose any information about your health. I made very certain of this before disclosing my PED use to my doctors. They cannot communicate with your insurance carrier beyond the coding they use for billing. Your insurance provider will also be aware of pharmacy purchases. But there is no way for your insurance carrier to discover from your doctor that you use PEDs.

3. My experience has been that doctors actively discourage the use of PEDs, and will not give any advice of any kind in terms of dosage, etc. The only advice they will give is to cease using. They will, however, monitor your health risks as a result of your steroid usage. They'll look at things like lipids, blood pressure, even EKG as common precautions. I have had my doctors perform all of these tests on me as precautions, ostensibly for my age and diabetes, but specifically due to my disclosed use of PEDs. My experience with at least 3 doctors has been that they will provide the care you need. Do No Harm means that if your blood pressure is elevated, regardless of the reason, they will prescribe the medication they deem appropriate to reduce the elevation.

My opinion is that this approach is probably the best one, at least in the current AAS legal climate. Treat anything out of range, regardless of why the health risk factor is off, but don't provide any advice for using an illegal drug, even if it's silly that it's illegal.

4. I agree with you that the legal status and social stigma of gear hurts more than it helps. It discourages PED users from getting the medical attention they need, it makes clinical studying of the effects of PEDs unethical, and it forces people to use gear from underground labs made from sketchy Chinese raw materials. I can't express my frustration with the legal status of steroids in light of the legal status and controls on alcohol and tobacco.

As for the old school gear use, I know the guys in the 70's didn't use ancillaries and PCT like guys do now, but they still seem to be doing mostly pretty well. I chalk it up to more whole food, lower doses, no HGH, and no slin. These guys seem pretty irresponsible with the gear use back then, but they all seem to be pretty healthy these days, with the exception of a few. At least from an outsider's perspective, the bodybuilders of the 70's and early 80's seem to be the healthiest generation.

[TJM]

Great points you guys make. I didn't read a single line on here that I either didn't agree with or can at lest empathize with the pov.

Kovaks always wanted to be the largest muscular physique in the human class... I can't think of anyone larger who is also muscular. I'd say he succeeded. Rip big guy.