Arnold Schwarzenegger warns young athletes about steroid use: ‘People are dying’

Arnold Schwarzenegger addresses concerns about steroid use among young people.

“People are dying,” said the former bodybuilder said Men’s Health in an interview published online on Wednesday. “They die of a drug overdose and they don’t know what the hell they’re doing.”

According to Schwarzenegger, many lifters don’t listen to medical professionals, but to “charlatans” who promote steroids on social media and elsewhere.

“If I want medical advice … I go to the Cleveland Clinic,” he said, adding that misinformation about the drugs has made bodybuilding unsafe.

Schwarzenegger previously acknowledged a history of reliance on performance-enhancing drugs before Congress passed the Anabolic Steroids Control Act in 1990 to minimize use among athletes.

“It was what I had to do to be able to compete,” said the native Austrian said the Los Angeles Times in 1996, emphasizing at the time he avoided the dangers of “overuse.”

The ‘Terminator’ star told Men’s Health that his steroid cycle was “one hundred milligrams a week…and then three Dianabol a day,” referring to the drug metandienone.

Since his steroid-supported physique made him famous as an athlete and later as a Hollywood star, he acknowledged that some might dismiss his warning about the drugs.

“I recognize the fact, who am I to say that?” he said.

But the “Commando” actor, formerly known as Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia, insisted he witnessed the disastrous effects of the drugs.

“I’ve seen people get kidney transplants and suffer tremendously,” he said. “Any time you abuse the body, you will regret it.”

His conclusion for anyone considering steroids? “Don’t go there.”

Schwarzenegger told Men’s Health that while he misses his old physique and now does bodybuilding poses “only in the bathroom,” he still works out to “stay alive.”

Earlier this week, the former California governor revealed that his passion for exercise — which was first instilled in him by doing hundreds of sit-ups and push-ups every morning at the behest of his father — remains strong.

“It just makes you feel good no matter what you’re doing,” he says said Entertainment Tonight.