The statement on Facebook didn't say what John's official cause of death was, and it's unclear whether it was related to any of the health problems that he's experienced in the past. Mary announced last year that John had suffered from a heart attack, and although the exact cause of the attack was unknown, she said that it may have been caused by a clotting disorder in his blood.

Even prior to his heart attack, John had already made it known that he suffered from a rare colon disorder that had already nearly taken his life. He was in the hospital when his colon burst, and he said that if he hadn't been so close to doctors at the time, he would have died.

“If I hadn’t been in the hospital, I wouldn’t have survived," he told Great Physique.

"They didn’t figure out what was really wrong until they did a biopsy. It was a vascular disease in a particular vein in the sigmoid part of my colon.”

In spite of his health problems, John continued to compete in bodybuilding competitions until quite recently. His death leaves a massive hole in the world of bodybuilding, and in his personal life.