Muscle Doesn’t Kill Your Heart — But Headlines Like This Might

Last week the New York Post ran a piece on Hulk Hogan’s passing, leaning on a quote from a cardiologist claiming that “too much muscle can increase strain on the heart and may actually be harmful.”

Let’s cut through the bullsh*t here. This is the kind of headline that sounds scary, gets clicks, and leaves people thinking lifting weights is going to lead to a heart attack. It’s not. In fact, the opposite is true for 99% of people reading this.

The Evidence We Actually Have

Across large studies and meta-analyses around the world, the message is consistent: more muscle and strength are linked to better heart health and lower mortality.

• Higher muscle mass = lower cardiovascular risk. A major UK cohort study found that more lean mass meant fewer heart attacks and lower all-cause mortality, even after adjusting for body fat and BMI.

• Stronger grip = longer life. A global meta-analysis covering millions of people found higher grip strength (a stand-in for overall muscle strength) is tied to lower cardiovascular and all-cause death risk.

• Sarcopenia (low muscle) = higher risk. Reviews show losing muscle as you age is a big red flag for heart disease progression and death.

  
  

If you’re in the gym building muscle, the odds are stacked heavily in your favour — you’re protecting your heart, not killing it.

Why Elite Performers Can Still Be at Risk

When it comes to someone like Hulk Hogan, there are plenty of factors that could increase cardiovascular risk that have nothing to do with “too much muscle” — and they’re well-documented in strength and combat sports in general:

• Possible long-term anabolic steroid use. AAS use is linked to heart muscle damage, arrhythmias, artery disease, and sudden cardiac events.

• Pain medication overuse. Chronic high-dose NSAIDs and certain painkillers can significantly raise heart attack risk.

• Relentless schedules and poor recovery. Professional wrestlers have historically faced punishing travel, sleep deprivation, weight cuts, dehydration, and constant injury management — all massive stressors on the heart.

  
  

None of those points require guessing about Hogan’s specific lifestyle, but they’re all proven issues in his profession.

The Real Problem With This Narrative

This “muscle strains the heart” claim isn’t just misleading, it can actively discourage people from doing one of the most protective things for their long-term health: building and maintaining muscle.

If you want a stronger heart, better metabolism, better balance, stronger bones, and lower risk of death, you lift, you walk, you recover, and you keep your weight (and your blood pressure) in a healthy range.

Hulk Hogan’s death is tragic, but using it to push the idea that muscle mass is inherently dangerous is lazy and harmful. The real takeaway for the average person isn’t “avoid building muscle” — it’s build it, keep it, and look after your whole health while you do it.

Don’t fear the barbell. Fear the sofa.

Glossary of Evidence & Sources

1. Higher muscle mass linked to lower CVD & mortality:Srikanthan, P., & Karlamangla, A. S. (2014). Muscle mass index as a predictor of longevity in older adults. The American Journal of Medicine, 127(6), 547–553.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2014.02.007

2. Grip strength & reduced cardiovascular risk:Leong, D. P., et al. (2015). Prognostic value of grip strength: findings from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. The Lancet, 386(9990), 266–273.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62000-6

3. Sarcopenia associated with higher CVD risk:Kim, T. N., et al. (2014). Sarcopenia and cardiovascular disease: An overview. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 5(3), 179–185.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13539-014-0146-2

4. Anabolic steroid use & heart health risks:Baggish, A. L., et al. (2017). Cardiovascular toxicity of illicit anabolic-androgenic steroid use. Circulation, 135(21), 1991–2002.https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.116.026945

5. Pain medication and cardiovascular risk:Coxib and traditional NSAID Trialists’ (CNT) Collaboration. (2013). Vascular and upper gastrointestinal effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: meta-analyses of individual participant data from randomised trials. The Lancet, 382(9894), 769–779.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60900-9