The Tragic Death Of Bodybuilder Trevor Smith
Trevor Smith's death at just 33 years old was tragic. One user on the weight lifting website BodyBuilding.com wrote that he was "shocked" by the news, but could anyone argue that it was unexpected? Smith weighed over 400 pounds at his peak, and it was reported that to get that big, he not only trained like a demon, he also used steroids.
The American Urology Association has noted that mortality rates are higher among professional male bodybuilders. The report states that high-dose testosterone and other performance-enhancing drugs used by Smith and other bodybuilders can possibly lead to several negative consequential maladies such as hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular conditions, and liver damage.
Smith explained his training regimen — called, ironically, Beyond Failure Training — in a needlessly wordy article for Muscle and Brawn: "I call it beyond failure training, because the general rule of thumb is that when the body fails, the set just begins, and it is this philosophy that will cut through all the bullcrap" of other training practices. His body reached the final failure, and now there are no more sets. What was the point of taking those drugs in order to pick up and put down heavy things so many times?
Do other bodybuilders not have a responsibility to speak out against steroid use?
How in the world could so many people involved in the industry be surprised that taking dangerous drugs and being unnecessarily and unhealthily huge caused Trevor Smith's untimely death? Do other bodybuilders not feel a responsibility for enabling and promoting the use of these terrible effects of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs?
Muscle and Fitness interviewed five experts about steroid use, and received varying responses. While the bodybuilders and lawyers interviewed seemed to lightly defend the practice — "The difference between a medicine and poison is the dose," said an industry lawyer — the doctor they consulted had a stark warning for muscle heads. "We're in trouble. Steroids need to be studied. We need to get doctors to open up and see," said Thomas O'Connor, aka, the Steroid Doctor. "I'm against steroids, because they damage people."
The truth about the tragic death of Trevor Smith is that if he had lived a healthier life, he might still be alive right now. And he's not the only bodybuilder who took things too far. The real danger is that his lifestyle is sometimes marketed as a healthy way to work out and look good. Perhaps more weightlifters will heed the warning of his short life and decide to leave their hormones alone.