Aspiring bodybuilder Makaia Childress is warning others against using steroids and performance-enhancing drugs after suffering from a heart attack at 20 years old. In a recent video, he revealed that he was abusing ‘everything you could imagine’ for the past five years before the health scare.
“Go talk with your doctor. Get your blood work done. Take lower doses. Do anything you possibly can in order to reduce the risk of getting a heart attack or suffering other diseases like I just suffered and went through,” Childress said.
Childress is the latest person to fire back against excessive steroid use. Over the past few years, bodybuilding has had a disturbing number of deaths occur. In 2021, former Mr. Olympia Shawn Rhoden met his untimely fate following a heart attack. Men’s 212 Bodybuilding standout George Peterson also passed away in his hotel room before getting the chance to compete at Olympia.
Unfortunately, the trend bled into last year as Cedric McMillan died at 44 and 29-year-old Bostin Loyd lost his life to an aortic dissection (a tear in the large blood vessel of the heart). As a result of so many deaths, bodybuilder Seth Feroce and Kali Muscle voiced their disdain for widespread steroid use. Feroce didn’t hold back and said using such drugs ‘will kill you.’
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TikTok content creator Makaia Childress published a video detailing his heart attack to spread awareness about the dangers of steroids. In addition, he disclosed some of the substances he took before the heart attack occurred.
20-yo Bodybuilder Recaps Heart Attack from ‘Gear Use’: ‘I Was Not Truly Paying Attention to My Health’
Speaking in his now-viral TikTok video, Childress shared that he took SARMS, Human Growth Hormone, and many other compounds without paying attention to his health for five years, which implies that he’s been using these drugs since he was 15 years old.
“Hey guys, I’m here to spread awareness. I’m 20 years old and I just had a heart attack from gear. If you don’t know what gear is, it’s anabolic steroids. Steroids are really bad for you. I’ve been abusing PEDs for the past five years, SARMS, Human Growth Hormone, everything you could possibly imagine. And, to look the way I wanted to look, to be as big as the other guys, I pushed gear, I pushed food, and I was not truly paying attention to my health.”
“I was a mass monster at one point… and now I suffer the consequences from abusing PEDs. This won’t happen to everybody, but I hope you can please, I mean, please, go get blood work done and please don’t abuse this shit, it’s serious. Like I said, I’m age 20 and I just got a heart attack from taking it for so long with hardly any rest breaks. So all you kids out there taking PEDs, please reconsider your health,” says Makaiya Childress.
@delt.daddy #greenscreen #greenscreenvideo #viral #fyp #bodybuilding Heart attack at 20 due to PEDS
According to Childress, normal hearts ‘squeeze at 55 to 60%’ of their ‘max capacity’ but his was only squeezing at 25%. Eventually, a blood clot formed in his heart, which nearly caused his death.
“In normal hearts, they are supposed to squeeze at 55 to 60% of its max capacity — mine is now squeezing at 25% and because of that, a blood clot formed in my heart. It traveled up into the arteries of my heart. That’s very serious. I almost died. And even if it was longer than 10 minutes, I would not be here today.
So, please if you have a loved one or somebody who’s abusing PEDS, please go talk with them, if they need help get them help. Just do something so they don’t end up like me.”
In November 2021, a female TikToker also suffered a heart attack after directly ingesting Redcon 1’s Total War pre-workout powder. She realized she was having a heart attack after the left side of her body went limp.
Nick Walker, a high-profile Men’s Open bodybuilder who recently earned third place at the 2022 Mr. Olympia, has been open about his steroid use. He said bodybuilders were ‘playing with fire’ each time they used PEDs. Last month, ‘The Mutant’ talked about his use of compounds during the off-season and contest preps, highlighting that he likes to keep all dosages “moderate.”
Childress implored his followers to reconsider their health if using steroids. Given their life-threatening consequences, he hopes other kids stay away from bodybuilding drugs in the future.
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