Do bodybuilders die young?

Short answer

Not because of exercise. Athletes had a 33% lower risk of death than the general public. But among bodybuilding competitors, 38% of deaths were sudden cardiac deaths, pros had 5.23 times the risk of death of amateurs, and steroid users had 3 times the risk.

Do bodybuilders die young?
'Exercise = a longer life' — does this formula hold for bodybuilders?
People say those who exercise live longer, yet news of famous bodybuilders dying young keeps coming. We looked at death records for athletes in general and for bodybuilding competitors separately.
Athletes usually live longer
Their risk of death was 33% lower than the general public
An analysis pooling 42,807 athletes found their risk of death was 0.67 times that of the general population. A study that followed 2,363 former Finnish national-team athletes for 50 years found they lived 5-6 years longer. Strength sports, though, showed a small gap at 0.93 times.
Bodybuilders were different
46 of 121 deaths were sudden cardiac deaths
Researchers followed 20,286 men who competed in international (IFBB) contests in 2005-2020 for an average of 8.1 years. 121 died, and 46 (38%) died when the heart suddenly stopped. Their average age was 42.2, and autopsy records showed enlarged hearts.
About 14 times college athletes
Among active competitors, about 1 in 3,000 a year
Among bodybuilders still competing, sudden cardiac death struck 32.83 per 100,000 a year, about 1 in 3,000. For US college athletes it was 1 in 43,770 a year. That is about a 14-fold gap. The bodybuilders were older, which is one difference.
Pros and bigger bodies carried more risk
Pros had 5.23 times the risk of death of amateurs
Of 1,454 pros, 2.8% died, versus 0.4% of 18,832 amateurs. Of 100 Mr. Olympia Open competitors, 7 died, 5 of them from sudden cardiac death (average age 36). Classic Physique, which caps body weight, had 5 times fewer sudden cardiac deaths.
The common link is drugs
Steroid users died 3 times as often
In Denmark, 545 people who tested positive for steroids died 3.0 times as often as 5,450 non-users. Among 62 top Finnish powerlifting finishers suspected of drug use, 12.9% died within 12 years, 4.6 times the general public (3.1%). Causes included 3 suicides and 3 heart attacks.
Women bodybuilders showed the same pattern
Their death rate was about half of men's
Following 9,447 women, 32 died and 10 of those were sudden cardiac deaths. Their death rate was 0.53 times men's. Even so, sudden cardiac death among pros was 53.98 per 100,000 a year, far above amateurs (2.48).
Bottom line: the problem is the extremes, not exercise
Sudden cardiac death was common in bodybuilding competitors, especially pros
Athletes lived longer than the general public. Bodybuilding competitors, by contrast, had about 14 times the sudden cardiac death rate of college athletes, and pros had 5.23 times the risk of death of amateurs. Steroid users died 3 to 4.6 times as often.