Tragically, the German bodybuilder and fitness influencer Jo Lindner, also known as Joesthetics, passed away last Friday at the age of 30. According to an Instagram post from his girlfriend, immapeaches, Jo died suddenly from an aneurysm after experiencing chronic neck pain. 


“Trust me this man is more than what you’ll ever know,” she wrote. “And he is a believer in EVERYONE.”


Although Lindner’s passing is a blow to the online fitness community, many fans couldn’t help but blame the tragedy on his fitness lifestyle itself; namely performance-enhancing drugs. It’s hard to think of anything else when you see someone who looks like he did.


“There’s a really good reason why pretty much every other sport has rules against steroid use,” @ChadNotChud posted on Twitter. “You don’t see ‘soccer player dies of heart attack at 30’ every other month.”



Although Lindner was open about his steroid use on his platform and acknowledged the risks, many viewers searched for any other reason they could think of for his sudden passing. Those included cardio health and different kinds of injections.







In reality, it’s hard to believe that Jo’s artificially enhanced body-building lifestyle didn’t contribute to his aneurysm. It’s simply unnatural to look the way he did, and studies have proven it deeply unhealthy over and over again.



In the age of Instagram and other social media, looking “fit” to naturally unattainable levels has been made desirable. And while it’s a bigger issue for women, men, and the bodybuilding community need to start opening up about the dangers of taking “fitness” too far.


We’d all be better off just drinking beers on the couch.