Making a name in bodybuilding often becomes equivalent to pushing impossible standards, and the noted podcaster, Joe Rogan, knows that such extreme dedication can also lead to a fatality.

During the #1905 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan highlighted how bodybuilders often ignore the line between peak performance and serious risk, and use PEDs while preparing for the top contests like Mr. Olympia.

"The bodybuilding world is so strange because it literally is impossible to compete without s******s. Yeah, it's impossible. there are, if you're going to be in Mr. Olympia," said Rogan amid his conversation with the episode's guest, Derek, from More Plates More Dates.

Besides talking about PEDs, the UFC color commentator also highlighted how the intense preparation regimen, including dehydrating, can send bodybuilders to "death's door" despite looking jacked. He said, "The strange thing is that when they are in peak form, they're literally on death's door," to which Derek agreed proactively.

Rogan also stated the problems bodybuilders face while posing on stage, saying, “People that don't know, when you see a bodybuilder on stage, and they're fully shredded, ripped, and flexing, they are so dehydrated they're ready to black out.”

However, the risk in bodybuilding isn't limited to just physical ones. Rogan and Derek shed light on how the sport can also be draining financially.

Bodybuilding Isn’t Financially Enriching in Most Cases

Competitive bodybuilding requires a lot of money for supplements, training, diet, and coaching, and sometimes the risk-to-reward ratio is way off the charts. “It's not like a sport that is highly monetizable anyway, right? Like, your prize money will be nothing unless you're at the top of the sport,” said Rogan's guest, Derek.

He further stresses that he has contacts who have made more money as fitness influencers rather than competing at the highest level. However, Derek noted that it’s not their fault,

He said, “The bodybuilders are so dedicated to their craft and eating and training and sleeping, they don't even have the mental bandwidth to do anything entrepreneurial outside of that.”

Joe Rogan couldn’t help but agree with what Derek had to say because that’s the ultimate truth. The winner of Mr. Olympia gets a meagre $600,000 in prize money, now compare that with what NBA, NFL, or boxers earn.

Do you think that the risk-to-reward ratio in bodybuilding is worth entering the sport professionally?

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Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Souvik Roy