Besides winning the coveted Mr. Olympia title, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jay Cutler, Ronnie Coleman, and Phil Heath all had one more thing in common: they were huge. Each of these competitors dazzled the bodybuilding world with their immensely bulked-up physiques. If one had a 30″ thigh, the other would show off a 36″ thigh. One would flex 22″ biceps only to be out-flexed by 23″ biceps.

But the craze for bigger muscles and a bigger body has taken an unforeseen turn. While the rise of the sport has been immense, some habits of professional bodybuilders have opened up a perilous path.

Arnold Schwarzenegger gives his two cents on the ‘size obsession’ of bodybuilders

The man who started it all, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has been around to see bodybuilding reach far beyond anyone’s expectations. A master of the sport, Schwarzenegger won the prestigious Mr. Olympia title seven times in his active years. Post-retirement, Arnold has continued to keep his ties with the sport and has seen it grow and evolve continuously. While evolution has brought forth many positive changes, it has also invited some negative aspects. Such aspects pose a threat to not just the future of the sport but also the lives of professional bodybuilders.

The obsession of bodybuilders with looking big and bulky has led them to use a variety of harmful substances. Talking about the same in an interview earlier this year, Schwarzenegger mentioned the possible fatal outcomes of the obsession. He said, “They have taken it, in my opinion, too far. It has gotten too competitive. They’re gonna take more and more stuff that they’re not supposed to, and sometimes it kills people.”

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While lifting weights is often healthy for people, a small chunk of the population overdo it. Unnecessary lifting of extra-heavy weight has led to an obsession with bulking up, giving way to ‘bigorexia.’

Bodybuilding is the most dangerous sport according to Arnold Schwarzenegger

In recent years, bodybuilding has seen numerous unprecedented deaths owing to the misuse of PEDs. Considering these events, Schwarzenegger once claimed the sport of bodybuilding was the most dangerous sport in the world.

In an interview in 2021, Arnold mentioned the harmful effects of the growing sense of competition among athletes. He said as the competition gets more extreme, the top athletes would get more competitive. This means that bodybuilders lift more weights than the human body should. An unhealthy appetite for winning combined with the usage of PEDs cooked up a recipe for disaster for numerous athletes.

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Should it not reach the extremes, bodybuilding remains a positive sport. It has led to the opening of gyms in almost every block and has inspired millions of people to exercise and become healthy. Arnold Schwarzenegger has even said bodybuilding has been one of the biggest benefits of human development in the last five decades.