Legendary Bodybuilder Cedric McMillan Has Passed Away at Age 44
Published April 13 2022, 8:58 a.m. ET
The pro bodybuilder who ushered in a new era of aesthetics has passed away at age 44.
Born on Aug. 17, 1977, in Maplewood, N. J., Cedric McMillan took up an interest in bodybuilding at an extraordinarily young age. After finishing his high school studies, Cedric moved to South Carolina, where he enlisted in the U.S. military. He served as a staff sergeant and an instructor at the Warrior Leader Course in Fort Jackson, S.C. He entered his first bodybuilding contest in the 2000s.
A lifelong fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cedric entered one of his first bodybuilding competitions in 2007, partaking in the super heavyweight category of the NPC South Carolina. He won.
Far more impressive triumphs followed, with Cedric winning the NPC Junior USA Championship in 2008, the NPC National Championships in 2009, and the Europa Orlando Pro in 2011. Frequently hailed as a bodybuilding great, Cedric achieved the kind of success most only dream of.
What was Cedric McMillan's cause of death?
Cedric lost his life on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. He suffered a heart attack while working out on a treadmill, and he had been open about his heart health issues in the past, per Generation Iron.
In November 2021, Cedric confirmed that he had contracted COVID-19 in 2020. It is widely believed that the illness led to long-lasting consequences, causing heart and breathing issues.
Cedric shared details about the health complications he experienced after catching COVID-19 in an interview with Generation Iron Fitness & Bodybuilding Network.
"I got the virus back in 2020, after the Arnold Classic. No problem, no big deal. Fast forward to 2021, about the beginning of April, I started having some difficulty with breathing," Cedric explained.
"I was in the off-season, gaining weight, I thought, 'OK, I'm big now, so, if I'm having difficulty breathing, it's because I'm 300 pounds, but it got more ... it was harder and harder. I was doing some military training, and the stuff I can normally do easily became very difficult. At the end of June, I was still training like normal," Cedric said. "I decided to go to the hospital to get checked because I couldn't breathe."
"They immediately put me in the emergency, and they said that I had pneumonia. While I was there, they checked my heart, blood, everything. They noticed that my heart function was very low," Cedric added. "And they determined that the heart function could be low because of my lungs or the virus."
As he said, he was referred to a heart specialist. As he explained, he was still convinced it wasn't a big deal. But he ended up on life support with a breathing machine nearby. As he said, his heart was functioning at 10 percent at the time.
Cedric is survived by his wife and four children.
Cedric is survived by his wife and four kids. Further details on his funeral are yet to be made publicly available.