The death of Hulk Hogan at 71 is very shocking because as of recently, he seemed to be in pretty good physical condition — not just in body composition but in his energetic movements at Trump functions.
Some people will jump to the conclusion that “all that muscle” was bad for his heart.
But he was lifting a lot heavier and straining a lot more with weight workouts in his younger days.
Over more recent years he has backed down from killer hardcore weightlifting sessions — simply because his body was getting older.
I think Hulk Hugan died from a pulmonary embolism. I’m not a doctor, and not even an actual doctor will know what led to his death until the autopsy results come in.
However, it’s a logical deduction that Hulk Hogan suffered fatal consequences of a pulmonary embolism because he’d had recent surgery.
A PE is a blood clot in a lung.
- Recently he’d had neck surgery.
- Recent surgery is a major risk factor for a PE.
In addition, being too inactive is a risk factor. A lot of bed rest or time spent in a convalescent state, such as that which follows a neck or spine surgery, in combination with the actual surgery, can easily lead to a pulmonary embolism.
Not every PE is fatal. A PE can be small and just cause some shortness of breath.
But a large PE that gets trapped at the point where the pulmonary artery splits into each lung (a “saddle” embolism) is immediately life-threatening — a huge medical emergency with a poor prognosis because the saddle nature of the blood clot instantly cuts off blood flow to the lungs.
This then causes cardiac arrest. News reports have stated that Hogan went into cardiac arrest.
So it’s a fair and very logical speculation that The Hulkster succumbed to a PE.
Surgery, and especially excessive rest in the days or weeks following, can lead to a blood clot in a leg (deep vein thrombosis or DVT, which is very common in the population).
Not all DVTs produce the classic symptoms of calf or leg pain, or swelling, redness or warmth in the calf.
A fragment can break off from a DVT in the leg and instantly travel to the lungs, where it then embolizes or becomes a PE.
An autopsy will easily determine a PE because these are very visible in the decedent’s lungs upon autopsy.
Someone with the Fittest Heart Can Still Die from a PE
There will be those who will, pending autopsy results, insist that being too muscular finally took a toll on Hulk Hogan’s heart.
But look at pictures of him during his heyday. He doesn’t have the degree of msculature that pro-bodybuilders do.
From a proportionate standpoint, relative to height, pro-bodybuilders are bigger than Hulk Hogan.
I see men all the time at the gym who, proportionately relative to their height, are much bigger than Hulkster was during his prime.
However, because Hogan stood at 6’7, this added a lot of weight to his body — a 300 pound body.
The muscles, in combination with his extraordinary height, made him look bigger than life.
One might say that 300 pounds, whether it’s “all fat” or “mostly muscle,” puts tremendous strain on the heart.
This strain can be compensated for in a young body. But as one ages, their body weight becomes increasingly relevant.
So at 71, the heart just gives out under the stress of pumping for 300 pounds — even if much of that was from muscle and towering height.
Many fans will go in this direction, assuming that body weight caused the cardiac arrest.
It’s also very interesting to note that we never see very tall old people.
I see very tall people all the time — but always young adult to middle age.
And I see very old people all the time — but they are never very tall and, in fact, are often short. Hmmm… just some food for thought, because more body weight automatically comes with more height.
But I’m still sticking with the pulmonary embolism speculation. Old age is also a risk factor. So is dehydration.
- I’ve been lifting hard and heavy since high school, and it’s because of that, that I’m so fit and strong even well into middle age.
- Excess fat is significantly far more of a factor in strain on the heart than is large amounts of muscle.
If an autopsy reveals a PE, we may never know if Hogan had been dehydrated or had excessive bed rest during his recovery from the recent surgery.
Was he on a blood thinner? I had surgery some years ago and the morning after, in the hospital, the nurse gave me a heparin injection into my abdomen (very painful) to help prevent blood clots.
Following joint replacement surgeries, my parents were on a prescribed course of blood thinners.
Pulmonary embolism is fairly common and, if big enough, can cause cardiac arrest.
Again, it’s fair to speculate on Hogan’s cause of death; we are human, after all. Let’s wait for the autopsy report to come out.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness, where she was also a group fitness instructor, she trained clients of all ages and abilities for fat loss and maintaining it, muscle and strength building, fitness, and improved cardiovascular and overall health.
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