Premature deaths in bodybuilders regularly make headlines and are cited as evidence that bodybuilding is a dangerous activity. A wealth of research has revealed elite athletes typically enjoy lower mortality rates than non-athletes, but research on bodybuilder lifespan is surprisingly limited. Anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) use is commonly cited as a key contributor to morbidity and premature mortality in bodybuilders, but this area of research is highly nuanced and influenced by numerous confounders unique to bodybuilding. It is quite possible that bodybuilders are at elevated risk and that AAS use is the primary reason for this, but there remains much unknown in this realm. As global participation in bodybuilding increases, and healthcare providers play a more active role in monitoring bodybuilder health, there is a need to identify how numerous factors associated with bodybuilding ultimately influence short- and long-term health and mortality rate. In this Current Opinion, we discuss what is currently known about the bodybuilder lifespan, identify the nuances of the literature regarding bodybuilder health and AAS use, and provide recommendations for future research on this topic.

健美运动员的过早死亡经常成为头条新闻，并被引用为健美运动是一项危险活动的证据。大量研究表明，精英运动员的死亡率通常低于非运动员，但对健美运动员寿命的研究却出奇地有限。合成代谢雄性类固醇 (AAS) 的使用通常被认为是健美运动员发病率和过早死亡的关键因素，但这一研究领域非常微妙，并受到健美运动特有的众多混杂因素的影响。健美运动员很可能面临更高的风险，而 AAS 的使用是造成这种情况的主要原因，但在这个领域仍有很多未知数。随着全球对健美运动的参与度增加，医疗保健提供者在监测健美运动员健康方面发挥更积极的作用，有必要确定与健美相关的众多因素最终会影响短期和长期的健康和死亡率。在此当前意见中，我们讨论了目前已知的关于健美运动员寿命的信息，确定了关于健美运动员健康和 AAS 使用的文献的细微差别，并为该主题的未来研究提供了建议。