Greg Kovacs (1968-2013)

[elysiumfields]

Seems like yet another Bodybuilder has sadly died in this last year. Greg Kovacs died of heart failure at the age of 44. It seems evident that the pursuit for getting BIG,clearly puts a strain on the heart,whether through natural training or foolishly,through the use of steroids..



The grim roll call:

Nasser El Sonbaty 1965-2013
Daniele Seccarecci 1980-2013
Mat Duvall 1972-2013
Ed Van Amsterdam 1972-2013
Sergio Oliva 1941-2013
Aziz 'Zyzz' Shavershian 1989-2013 - Fooled around with 'roids

and of course,the legendary pioneer of BB'ing, Joe Weider 1919-2013

[Gymini29]

whether you are 325lbs ( or what ever ) and all fat, or 325 lbs of solid muscle the human heart was not designed to work that hard to keep you alive. something has to give eventually, even if you disregard the negative effect on the human system that occurs with steroids and growth hormones.

regardless, my prayers for Greg and his family.

namaste

[hulkoutlvr]

Very sad. It really makes me consider if, with my obsession and lust for muscle, that I'm not fueling a very destructive cycle (please excuse that term). I love muscle as much as the next guy, and probably even more. But when I see something like this it really makes me feel horrible, because a man died probably because of a pursuit that turns me on. I know that everyone dies of something and there is a price to pay for everything. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here. I had an enormous muscle crush on Greg for the past seventeen years. I personally think he had one of the most brutally beautiful bodies ever to pick up a weight. But it wasn't worth his life. My sympathy and prayers go out to his family. And I hope no one on here will think me silly for my feelings of guilt over this.

[nnnrg]

Rather than write paragraphs about healthy versus unhealthy hearts, I will point out this decent summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventricular_hypertrophy

In brief, it means that being an athlete doesn't cause heart disease, being muscular doesn't cause heart disease, and that the damage to the heart caused by obesity is generally due to co-factors: high blood pressure, caused by the arteries becoming less flexible, which is in turn caused by fatty acid buildup (cholesterol plaques) on the walls of the arteries. This is now well understood to be a result of chronic inflammation, which may be exacerbated by genetic components.

Kovacs had a family history of early-presenting heart disease, which indicates a genetic propensity. That alone means he should have been alert for heart problems at about 40.

While he competed at 380 his normal off-season weight was around 420, which means he would gain and lose about 35 pounds of fat, and that's quite a swing, and can mess up the liver and kidneys on top of everything else. He apparently used synthol, which ... I can't begin to describe how that stuff can kill you, but at the very least, it can trigger inflammatory cascades. And he used anabolic steroids in ways that may have contributed as well.

I think in Greg Kovacs' case, based on what I've seen written by his friends and family, that he would have had heart disease even if he never trained, and that being 400+ pounds of muscle was preferable to him over being 400+ pounds of mostly fat, which would otherwise have been very likely.

And, I wouldn't feel too much displaced guilt over his death - he chose his lifestyle himself, his drive to be huge was his own, and had nothing to do with whether or not any of us admired him from a distance. No bodybuilder gets to be truly huge (stories notwithstanding, because they're stories and fantasies, not reality) without a very strong desire to become huge, that comes from within themselves.

[bulkybud]

Originally Posted by nnnrg

I think in Greg Kovacs' case, based on what I've seen written by his friends and family, that he would have had heart disease even if he never trained, and that being 400+ pounds of muscle was preferable to him over being 400+ pounds of mostly fat, which would otherwise have been very likely.

With or without the family history, I doubt that any heart specialist would want him to be 400+ pounds of any kind. Yes, muscle would be better than fat, but not being over 400 lbs. would be best.

He was never a good competitive bodybuilder and made his livelihood by being huge and making appearances as the biggest bodybuilder around. A gym member today said he met Kovacs at an event and that Greg was polite, friendly, HUGE, incredibly strong, and always sweating profusely.

Looking at other 400 pounders like Trevor Smith, dead at 33, and Jeep Swenson, dead at 40, who both died from heart attacks, reveals an unhappy theme in being that big.

bulkybud.

Trevor Smith
http://images.t-nation.com/forum_ima..._scary_big.jpg

Jeep Swenson
http://img3.douban.com/view/photo/ph...1218877943.jpg

[suma]

Nnng can you confirm that he competed at 380 and normal offseason weight was 420?
I saw him way back some years ago at the Arnold expo and he didn't seem to me that big.

[mystery7]

This is the one reason why I will never use roids. I might want to get big but I don't want to die that early.

[GTlifter]

Originally Posted by mystery7

This is the one reason why I will never use roids. I might want to get big but I don't want to die that early.

Sorry but you are literally the first person to said roids on this topic. Someone get this man a ribbon most of us can definitely attribute most of his heart issues to size and genetics. Now while roids may have played a factor, you obviously think it's the major contributor even though everything points to other things having a greater contribution.

Thanks for being that guy.

I think 400 lbs of any kind will definitely put stress on the body and a predisposition to heart disease definitely doesn't help. I don't think he was great bodybuilder either but he was different and in this sport that's sometimes the best thing what do you do differently. There are hundred of bodybuilders but for him to be his height and hang with the shorter guys of the sport. I think that deserves a round of applause.

[suma]

AAS & GH abuse were the primary cause of his early death.
Let's not go into denial.
And I'm all for AAS use but let's face it it comes with inherent risk.

[hulkoutlvr]

I just think it's sad that he's dead, whatever the cause. I think it's sad that we live in a society and a world where people feel that they constantly have to be bigger, thinner, more attractive, faster, stronger, smarter, whatever, and that those obsessions are causing people to pay with their lives. It's sad that we live in a world where being ourselves doesn't seem to be enough. I never met Greg, and so I can't comment on what kind of guy he was. But something in him must have felt that he wasn't good enough unless he got bigger. I realize athletes are constantly driving themselves to be better and advance to that next level, but do any of them ever reach a point where they say, 'I'm satisfied just the way I am."? I'm not a medical doctor, so I cannot comment on whether or not the use of performance enhancing substances contributed to what happened with his heart. I just hate that the high price of being bigger and better was his life. Can't we just be sad about this without pointing a finger at what the cause might have been? What difference does it make? He's still gone, and I'm sure he is missed by a lot of people who loved him and didn't care why he died.

[GTlifter]

Originally Posted by suma

AAS & GH abuse were the primary cause of his early death.
Let's not go into denial.
And I'm all for AAS use but let's face it it comes with inherent risk.

I'm not in denial so please excuse yourself. But we all know the size he was carrying did not help the matter and genetics always play a factor in conditions and diseases that we get. I know friends who are totally healthy more so than myself and have high cholesterol issues due to the natural levels they have.

Did the products he use have a factor most definitely as I stated. But don't said that if you get to that size and have those kind of predispositions that you won't lie at that age.

To tell the truth from a statistic standpoint there are almost too many variables in determining exactly what may have led to his death at this age. Facts that we can support when individuals have heart attacks at a multitude of ages and have never touched any drugs.

Originally Posted by hulkoutlvr

I just think it's sad that he's dead, whatever the cause. I think it's sad that we live in a society and a world where people feel that they constantly have to be bigger, thinner, more attractive, faster, stronger, smarter, whatever, and that those obsessions are causing people to pay with their lives. It's sad that we live in a world where being ourselves doesn't seem to be enough. I never met Greg, and so I can't comment on what kind of guy he was. But something in him must have felt that he wasn't good enough unless he got bigger. I realize athletes are constantly driving themselves to be better and advance to that next level, but do any of them ever reach a point where they say, 'I'm satisfied just the way I am."? I'm not a medical doctor, so I cannot comment on whether or not the use of performance enhancing substances contributed to what happened with his heart. I just hate that the high price of being bigger and better was his life. Can't we just be sad about this without pointing a finger at what the cause might have been? What difference does it make? He's still gone, and I'm sure he is missed by a lot of people who loved him and didn't care why he died.

I also can't fully support that hulkoutlvr, even though we would like to said that he was pushed my the world in truth he made the conscious decisions for all his actions. He wanted that kind of size believe me you can't be forced to that kind of size. There is definitely a great big world out there that guides many of our decisions but some of them we move towards all on our own. He knew full well what he was undertaking and any medical professional that he visited would have informed him if they had all knowledge of his activities.

The word "obsession" is always interesting to me too, we are guided for the most part by these and obsession could be used to label almost anything. There are guys obsessed with being big, being around big guys, with being rich, with being the fastest, with being the best, with being a good dad, with never being late to work, etc. We have to think to ourselves that we are all a little obsessed and that desire is what keeps us going most of the time.

[suma]

GT is right u can't be forced or pressurd by society to bulk to that size ; with all the gym time and eating involved.
He loved being super big and strong. No one had to pressure him

[nnnrg]

Originally Posted by suma

Nnng can you confirm that he competed at 380 and normal offseason weight was 420?
I saw him way back some years ago at the Arnold expo and he didn't seem to me that big.

I can't confirm it. Those numbers came from searches for his cause of death and were from a person on a forum who claimed to be a friend of his family and had some quotes that made be believe that he was. It's consistent with Kovac's apparent size in the later pics, if he was over 5'11".

Apologies for not having good confirmations. But yeah, those numbers ARE a big on the OMG side, aren't they.

Also? No, heart disease was the primary cause of his early death, and his size PROBABLY contributed, but the genetic predisposition, eating a modern diet, and yo-yo dieting are MUCH more likely to be the "cause" of his heart disease. Especially the dieting followed by regaining fat quickly.

And yes, his muscle size was abetted and maintained by some use of anabolic steroids, but as his family history is of being big and fat otherwise, and having heart disease, yeah, well, I think he was happier being a muscle freak.

[Uskathoth]

Originally Posted by suma

He loved being super big and strong. No one had to pressure him

How can anyone now state with any degree of certainty that he "loved being big and strong" as opposed to, for example, "he feared not being big and strong"?

We don't know. He could have pushed himself because of a desire to better himself or he could have pushed himself because he needed validation or any number of other reasons or combination of reasons.

All we know is, it's sad he died.

[nnnrg]

Uhm, Uskathoth? He explained why he trained himself.

And in response to Suma's earlier question, here's a link to his facebook page, where his training weight of 400+ and his competition weight of 308 (in one contest) were given... and frankly at 6'5" the man was TALL...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/IFBB-...91214880895241

Anyway, he answers some of the questions on a Muscle Insider Q&A at http://muscle-insider.com/columnist/greg-kovacs :
"The heaviest I ever weighed was 412 pounds. And boy, was that uncomfortable. I weigh 365 now and feel spry in comparison. I can tie my own shoes again! Here is a typical day’s eating back then. (list of huge amount of food.)"

So, since these columns (like too many things on Teh webz) are completely UNDATED, there's no way to tell when he said that. But the man was TALL.

He lifted because he wanted to lift. He talks about it here:
http://www.muscupassion.com/t3319p30-greg-kovacs

WARNING: The story reads like it belongs on our story forum pages.

eta: Apparently there's a lot of Greg's stuff on that page that kind of "blows open" the sport of bodybuilding - not that it's a surprise to anyone that it was and is populated by people with varying degrees of crazy, only a few of which are bodybuilders.

eta2: I wonder if the guy on the other forum who claimed Greg's family tended to be fat is from the younger generation. There's a pic of Greg's father on one of those pages, which shows him as a normal, skinny-ish old farmer dude. Maybe it's the usual 'susceptible to metabolic syndrome' thing - I know that one all too well.

[Mdlftr]

Thank you to nnnrg for finding the link to this Greg Kovacs "Origin" story. For the benefit of all of those too lazy...busy...to actually go to the link and download it, here is the actual story in Greg's own words:

[Link here: http://www.muscupassion.com/t3319p30-greg-kovacs ]

Greg Kovacs - he was DEFINITELY a genuine muscle and iron head!!
Mdlftr




The Kovacian: One Rep Good; Three Reps Better!

I am a freak of super size and strength. I wasn't just another kid who lifted weights in his parent's basement. People always ask me when I realized that I was "different". . . and I can narrow it down to one bench press contest at a local gym. It was in that Niagara Falls weight pit that a story was forged that has almost become the stuff of urban legends and folklore.



At the time, I was only 18 years of age and had been training for a good year and a half. I grew up on my parent's farm and all my training had been done in the basement of my home. My parents were always supportive of me and had nurtured my potential by buying me all the heavy duty weight equipment I needed to get big and strong. I had a flat bench, incline bench, squat rack, hack squat machine, dip bars, iron plates, up to 200 lbs. dumbbells (a friend welded them for me), etc. I had all the basics that a growing farm boy could possibly need to train like an animal. I had never really worked out at a public gymgreg319 and I had nobody to compare my strength to. I would literally spend hours down therein that basement. It was dark and dingy, but it was my own gym. It was where I began building the hulking figure that would eventually become known as the Canadian Colossus. To this day, I can still remember my mother shouting down to me to "stop already!" I loved it so much that I would train until I heard her voice bellowing "Gregory!" When I heard her call me by my full name, that became my cut-off point for the day. I never messed with mom. My father would always say "At least he's getting his money's worth and more." I'll always be grateful for the opportunity and support they showed me.



Eventually, fate reared its head and a friend told me about a bench press contest that was being held in town that I should enter. I didn't feel that I was strong enough to enter an official bench press competition. I just lifted as heavy as I could and loved every minute of it. I did agree to go watch the contest though. I was interested to see what it was all about. When we arrived at the gym it was an awkward experience for me. I was a 300 pound farm kid and I was very shy, nervous, and introverted. Everyone at the gym was staring at me and it made me a bit uncomfortable. Eventually, as the contest started, they all backed off a bit and focused on the competition.



I vividly remember witnessing the first few lifts. I was shocked to see that they were only performing one repetition. I had never done just one repetition; I didn't get it. My friend had to explain to me that, in this competition, they were trying to see who could lift the most for one rep. The second instance that really sticks out in my mind was that these guys were lifting very light weights. When I was in my home, I never added up what I was lifting on the bar. For me, instead of 455 lbs. on the bar, I would say "4 big plates and 1 little plate on each side." I only had 45 lb and 25 lb plates at home so I just counted plates. After that day, I started counting a little differently.



I was totally surprised that the top lift of the day was only 430 lbs, and it was only one rep! As the lift was locked out, the crowd went nuts. On completion of the lift, the winner stood up and bellowed at the top of his lungs like the king of the jungle. A crowd gathered around him to celebrate his victory. He was very cocky and bragging that no one could bench more than him. After a few minutes had passed and the group followed the winner away from the bench press, I noticed that no one had emptied the bar. The winning one rep max was still there. My friend jokingly mentioned that I should go and rep out with it. Curiously, I went and counted the weight. In Kovacs weight, there were only 4 big plates and one really little plate on each side.



I remember, I was wearing a plaid farmer shirt with jeans that day. I sauntered over to the bench, plopped down under the weight, grabbed the bar and unracked the bar. I let the weight settle on my frame, then slowly pressed the weight. I'm talking very slowly at first and then sped it up a bit. I crushed 18 repetitions with virtually no effort. I racked the weight and sat up smiling at my friend not realizing that by about my 6th rep everyone in the gym had gathered around. The gym was completely silent other than a few gasps of disbelief. No one said a word. No one moved a muscle. I stood up, took my coat from my friend and just walked out of the gym. My friend was 140lb if he had bricks in his pockets.; and he stuck his chest out, proudly, as we left.



To this day, I still get people asking me about that competition. I have to admit, it was a life-changing experience. I was an introverted farm kid and, on that day, I realized that I might just have a gift. Iron is something I love and have always had a passion for. I meant no disrespect to the athlete that won the contest on that day. I just loved moving weight and seeing the loaded bar. If my friend hadn't jokingly coaxed me into it, I would have never done it. His wisecrack pushed me to attempt the lift, and I just did it. I'm sure I ruined the winner's thunder that day. Had I entered the contest, he would have lost anyways. After that event, I rushed straight home with my friend to see how much I could bench at once. In Kovac's weight, I pushed 6 big plates on each side for 3 reps. One rep just didn't feel right. Three always felt better.