Joey Swoll, the American bodybuilder and influencer known for calling out bad behaviour in gyms, was rushed to hospital for his heart on Saturday 3 October 2026. On 6 October (US time) he posted from his hospital bed: “I was rushed to the hospital Saturday morning for my heart. It’s been a rough few days, I’m still here, but doing much better.” He asked for “love and prayers” (X).
He hasn’t said what went wrong. As of 14 October we couldn’t find any further update from him or in the press. It’s at least the fourth heart-related hospital stay he has posted about since 2023.
| Joey Swoll at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Who | US fitness influencer and bodybuilder, the self-styled “CEO of gym positivity” |
| Latest | Rushed to hospital for his heart on Saturday 3 October 2026; “doing much better” on 6 October |
| Cause | Not disclosed |
| Earlier heart scares | Surgery in January 2023; an angiogram that went wrong in April 2024; kept in hospital overnight in December 2025 |
| Steroid use | By his own account, not natural since he started competing in his 20s |
What happened to Joey Swoll in October 2026
What we know comes from Swoll’s own post and the outlets that reported it. He was taken to hospital on the morning of Saturday 3 October, and three days later he was still there, “doing much better”. He didn’t give a diagnosis or say what treatment he’d had. Generation Iron reported on 6 October that he was still in hospital, and noted that the Arnold Sports Festival was among those who sent him well wishes. Dexerto and Fitness Volt reported the same details.
Many of his followers’ reactions made the same point: this has happened before.
Joey Swoll’s heart history
January 2023: surgery for “genetic irregularities”
Swoll first went public about his heart in January 2023. He said he’d been “feeling a little off and having some pain now for awhile” before he decided to stop being a “tough guy” and get checked. Doctors found what he called “genetic irregularities” with his heart. He had surgery that lasted a few hours at Hoag Hospital in California and was back on his feet that night, Fitness Volt reported.
He signed off his post with advice worth repeating: if you’re feeling off or you’re in pain, get checked. “It might be nothing and you’re fine, or it might save your life like it did mine.”
April 2024: an angiogram that went wrong
In April 2024 Swoll went in for a routine diagnostic angiogram, a test he said should have taken 30 to 45 minutes. During the procedure, he wrote, “a piece of the tool they used fell off inside my heart causing a LOT of problems and me to crash.” At one point doctors put a pump in his heart. They finally got the fragment out about six hours later, going in through both sides of his groin and his wrist. “The doctor has NEVER seen this happen before,” he wrote after a stay in the cardiac ICU (X; Fitness Volt).
December 2025: kept in overnight
In early December 2025 Swoll was back in hospital. This time, he wrote on X, “I wasn’t having an event”. Doctors kept him overnight to be cautious given his cardiac history, and he said the tests had come back “perfect” (X). He posted that he’d been discharged on 8 December (X). In the same posts he said he had PTSD from his heart procedures, and he wrote about “living with heart disease” and the mental toll that comes with it.
Between the scares
Swoll has had good news too. He has said that tests showed his heart function was “better than ever” and that his cardiologist took him off most of his medication, according to Generation Iron and Dexerto.
Steroids: what he has said, and what we don’t know
Swoll has never pretended to be natural. In a 2024 conversation with YouTuber Kenny KO, he said: “I’ve never said I’m natural. I haven’t been natural since I started competing in my 20s.” He added that anyone thinking about it should understand the risks: some can be mitigated, but not all (Fitness Volt).
Plenty of people online have linked his heart problems to steroids. Nobody outside his care team knows what caused them. He has described his 2023 problem as genetic, and he hasn’t explained this month’s admission. We won’t guess.
The general evidence on steroids and the heart, though, is clear enough to state:
- Plaque in the arteries. A 2017 study in Circulation compared 86 experienced male weightlifters aged 34 to 54, all with at least two years of steroid use, against 54 lifters who didn’t use them (PubMed). The users had more coronary artery plaque, and the more steroids they had used over their lifetime, the more plaque they had.
- Heart attacks and rhythm problems. A larger study, also in Circulation, followed 1,189 steroid users and 59,450 non-users for an average of 11 years (AHA Journals). After adjusting for other factors, the users were about three times as likely to have a heart attack, close to three times as likely to need a stent or bypass, and more than twice as likely to develop an abnormal heart rhythm or a blood clot.
These are observational studies. They show a strong association, not proof that steroids caused every case, and they say nothing about any one person’s heart. Still, the pattern across studies points the same way.
What lifters over 40 can take from it
None of this is personal medical advice. These are general points, drawn from Australian health sources.
Don’t be the “tough guy”. Swoll’s own 2023 lesson is the most useful one. The Heart Foundation lists the common warning signs of a heart attack as chest pain, arm or shoulder pain and shortness of breath. Some people instead feel sick, sweaty or dizzy, or have pain in the back, neck or jaw. If you have them, call Triple Zero (000). Someone in Australia is admitted to hospital with a heart attack every nine minutes (Heart Foundation).
Get a Heart Health Check. It’s a 20-minute check-up with your GP that assesses your risk of a heart attack or stroke (Heart Foundation) and estimates how likely you are to have one in the next five years (Heart Foundation). Being strong and lean doesn’t tell you your blood pressure, cholesterol or family risk.
Know what an angiogram is. A doctor threads a thin tube (a catheter) through an artery in your wrist or groin to near your heart, injects dye and takes x-rays to look for narrowed or blocked arteries. If a blockage turns up, a stent can often go in during the same procedure. Healthdirect describes angiograms as generally very safe. The listed risks include bleeding and bruising, a reaction to the dye, kidney damage and, rarely, a heart attack or stroke (healthdirect). What happened to Swoll in 2024 was, by his doctor’s account, something they had never seen.
Tell your GP if you use, or have used, steroids. Your GP can only judge your risk properly if they know, and the research above suggests it matters.
Joey Swoll FAQ
What happened to Joey Swoll?
He was rushed to hospital for a heart problem on Saturday 3 October 2026. He posted on 6 October that he was “doing much better” but didn’t say what had happened.
Is Joey Swoll OK?
His last update, on 6 October, said he was doing much better. We couldn’t find a later one as of 14 October.
What is wrong with Joey Swoll’s heart?
He hasn’t given a full diagnosis. He described his 2023 problem as “genetic irregularities” that needed surgery, and in December 2025 he wrote about “living with heart disease”.
What happened during Joey Swoll’s angiogram?
In April 2024, a piece of the instrument broke off inside his heart during a routine angiogram. He crashed, needed a pump in his heart for a time, and doctors took about six hours to retrieve the fragment.
Has Joey Swoll used steroids?
Yes, by his own account. He said in 2024 that he hasn’t been natural since he started competing in his 20s.
What is Joey Swoll known for?
Videos calling out gym-goers who mock or secretly film other people while they train. That turned him into one of the best-known accounts in fitness, under the tagline “CEO of gym positivity”. In 2025 he caused a storm with a Hulk Hogan tribute.
Sources
- Joey Swoll on X: 6 October 2026 hospital post, April 2024 angiogram post, December 2025 posts (6 December, 8 December)
- Generation Iron, 6 October 2026
- Dexerto, October 2026
- Fitness Volt: October 2026, April 2024, January 2023, Kenny KO interview
- Baggish et al., Circulation 2017
- Cardiovascular disease in anabolic androgenic steroid users, Circulation
- Heart Foundation: heart attack warning signs
- Heart Foundation: what is a Heart Health Check
- healthdirect: coronary angiogram
