The world of fitness and bodybuilding has been shattered by the devastating death of Jo Linder, known as “Joesthetics,” who succumbed to a fatal aneurysm at 30 years old, according to his girlfriend. The latest to make sense of this tragedy is Greg Doucette, a popular coach and former bodybuilder.
Linder, known for charm, charisma, and a shredded physique, amassed a social media empire over the last several years with an eccentric personality and fun collaborations with other influencers, such as powerlifting great Larry Wheels. He grew his Instagram following to a staggering 8.4 million and often inspired fans with workouts, where they could see first-hand the dedication he had to stay extremely fit.
Following his tragic death, fans have questioned if steroids and performance-enhancing drugs played a role in his demise. Linder has been open online about his steroid cycles in the past, as he went over his regimen in detail with Wheels last October. During the candid interview, Jo said growth hormone never helped him during his days of bodybuilding, but added that insulin was looked at like a ‘magic sauce.’
While an autopsy has yet to be completed, others have pointed to the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines as a possible culprit. These suspicions arose after Linder’s recent appearance on Bradley Martyn’s Raw Talk Podcast. Linder shared that he and doctors discovered ‘heavy metals,’ ‘particles,’ and clots in his blood, which led to him cleaning his blood with treatments of plasmapheresis.
“Did you get the vax?” asks Bradley Martyn.
“I got the vax yeah, yeah. Even four [of them]. It also, bro you know how it is… it’s the same like you go to a party and you hang with the wrong people all of a sudden you might do something on this party that you don’t want to do because there’s these people [nudging you], ‘You know, you should do it,”‘ said Jo Linder.
“I did blood cleaning twice after all this. I did plasmapheresis to take out heavy metals and all that stuff. I did all this. I don’t know if this is too controversial probably to say. I went to the doctor and I did my blood work again because I check my blood work all the time, I show it to the doctor and we kind of see these particles…I’m like what is this? This is from this [the vaccines]. I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ I show it to another one of my friends, there’s all kinds of websites you can’t get to and there’s some crazy conspiracies,” said Jo Linder.
According to Linder, a doctor told him that if he wanted to survive the vaccines he would need to undergo additional plasmapheresis treatments. Many have noted that Linder also suffered from rippling muscle disease, which he used to his benefit on social media. Meanwhile, other fans have suggested that his excessive coffee habit contributed to a heart attack from a caffeine overdose.
“The doctor was like you need to do it man if you want to survive after you took these shots, bro, that’s how it was actually,” said Linder. “I don’t know if the nurse did something weird. This was in Thailand obviously, when she took out the blood, there was a white thing in there. I’m like, ‘What the fu** is that?’ I’m like, ‘What the fuck is this?’ I show this to my friend, he’s into conspiracies.”
“He showed me all these websites, since they do this to people since so many, they found this in athletes and stuff and there’s a weird reason why people, they die, they have these wide blood clots, tons of them – in their blood – everywhere. He’s like, ‘Maybe this is what you have?’”
“There was no white thing, there was probably some air, the nurse didn’t do it right. But the [doctors], he’s said, ‘There’s some black particles, these are the heavy metals you have in your blood.’”
Community Reacts to Jo Linder’s Death at 30, Greg Doucette Discusses Tragedy and Explores Cause of Death
With the fitness and bodybuilding communities up-in-arms regarding Linder’s death, Greg Doucette took to a recent YouTube video to set the record straight. While some believe steroids could have been a factor, Greg says Jo stopped abusing PEDs and was only using hormone replacement therapy at the time of his death.
“Joe was very proactive with his health. Remember, he did in fact abuse PEDs when he was younger but he was only on HRT, and when he prepped for his various competitions, he hardly added anything to his cycle. I can promise you he was very concerned with his health, far more than the average person, was getting regular blood work and doing everything the right way.”
Doucette highlighted that autopsy details haven’t emerged and no one actually knows how Linder died.
“So because of that, many people are speculating that they know that the reason for Jo’s passing is because he did those four shots [COVID-19 vaccines and boosters]. Well, other people are speculating, no it has nothing to do with that, it absolutely has everything to do with that he was not 100% natural. Now remember, it’s only been a few days and an autopsy has not yet been performed. So people that are saying it’s a blood clot, that they know this for a fact, that it’s an aneurysm, that it’s a heart attack, nobody actually knows the exact answer,” said Doucette.
Following the tragedy, deaths in bodybuilding have been hurled back into the spotlight. Over the years, fans have taken notice of the risks as athletes like Shawn Rhoden, George Peterson, and Cedric McMillian all met their fates before turning 50 years old. The trend prompted retired IFBB Pro Seth Feroce to issue intense warnings about the dangers of steroid use last year.
Jo Linder’s passing has saddened the fitness and bodybuilding world, leaving behind many questions about the cause of his death. While some blame steroids, vaccines, or caffeine, it’s evident “Joesthetics” had a profound impact on those around him.
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