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Back in 1993, Denise Rutkowski was a very successful female bodybuilder and her success was really impressive. But since a woman without testosterone cannot build muscle, she had to take huge doses of steroids. Taking large doses of steroids turned into substitution therapy, literally turning Rutkowski into a man.
Denise Rutkowski Biography
Denise, also nicknamed as “The Golden Panther,” was a great female bodybuilder during the ’90s. She started her bodybuilding career in 1989 when she came to San Diego, California. She only had her professional debut during the 1993 IFBB Jan Tana Classic when she won in the heavyweight division and became the overall champion. One of the most noteworthy bodybuilding contests she participated in was the “IFBB Ms. Olympia 1993” where she won second place. This also became the last contest she had joined in and after that decided to go back home in Texas. After winning Ms. Olympia in 1993, Denise decided to return home to Fort Worth, Texas in 1994. During that time, she was already having problems with her hormones and side effects on her mental state, such as depression. Because of this, she dedicated her time to increase her faith in God. She even attended a Bible school for two years and became active in spreading the word of God in various religious events in the US. In 2001, she returned to train for bodybuilding, regaining a better physical condition. Fast forward to 2012 and 2013, it was reported that Rutkowski was arrested for evading an arrest in Tarrant County, Texas. The police had a hard time recognizing her identity as her appearance had a drastic change. A mugshot of her has surfaced on the internet and revealed a shocking visual of her looking similar to a man and even had grown a beard. To see how her physical appearance had changed, here’s a photo of how Denise looks when she was 30 years old, at the peak of her career, and another photo of her when she was 50 years old, which was taken by the police in 2012 when she was arrested. The changes in her body were probably due to excessively used steroids during her bodybuilding training and possible drug addiction. Since testosterone, a hormone that helps in developing male sexual characteristics, was mostly found in anabolic steroids, this led to a transformation on Rutkowski’s body making it look more like a male than a female.

Side Effects of Steroids in Women
Anabolic steroids are used as a performance-enhancing drug that can increase muscle mass and decrease fat, hence it is typically used by bodybuilders, whether male or female. Side effects in using anabolic steroids are normal, but when misused these effects can be dangerous to the person and can even lead to death. Since anabolic steroids include testosterone, a primary hormone for males, female bodybuilders who overused their intake of steroids can have serious changes in their bodies. These changes in women’s body include:
- course skin
- breast atrophy
- excessive body hair growth
- male-pattern baldness
- deepening of voice
- swelling of clitoris
- irregular menstrual cycles
- severe acne breakout
- significant muscle growth
And, most of these effects are evident in Denise’s physical appearance.
How to Quit Anabolic Steroids?
Deciding to quit from the severe abuse of using anabolic steroids is hard, but it’s not impossible. For women who have similar experiences and want to overcome their addiction in this drug, many ways can help them. Seeking proper education and counseling are necessary for you to understand the things you must do to stop and change your lifestyle. It will be hard at first, so you need to continually seek assistance while battling your addiction to using steroids. These are some of the factors that must be considered before a person gets proper treatment for anabolic steroid abuse.
- How long has a person been using anabolic steroids?
- What is the average dosage of anabolic steroids they are taking?
- How often did they take it?
- Did they combine this drug with other drugs or alcoholic beverages?
- What are the person’s mental health and medical history?
- How they administered anabolic steroids?
With continuous treatment and discipline, it is possible that a bodybuilder who suffered from addiction from steroids can still find hope. Just like what Denise had experienced. More about GP Test Enanth 250

Denise Rutkowski Now and Then
After all her success and downfall as a woman bodybuilder, she seems to be looking well based on the latest updates about her. She remained active in her religious activities and possibly volunteering to help underprivileged children and even stray animals since this was her interest. There’s no doubt that Denise Rutkowski is still one of the most successful and sought-after female bodybuilders. She may only have a brief career in bodybuilding, but what she has achieved will always leave a mark on other women who also want to try the said sport. It’s good to know she’s still well and healthy and doing the things she loves to do aside from bodybuilding.
Hello, what does denise rutkowski look like today?
Based on some of the latest updates about her, Denise Rutkowski looks much better and healthier now than her previous look on her mugshots last 2012. She’s currently active in doing ministry in Fort Worth, Texas and mostly wearing simple outfits to not be easily recognized by the public. There were still no signs of her returning to bodybuilding.
Wow truly interesting
Also curious
Hi! Who is the other female bodybuilder that looks like denise masino?
Denise Rutskowski is one of the famous female bodybuilders who is also attractive like Denise Masino. Both Denises are unique and very much appealing in their own way and are both successful in the bodybuilding industry.
Denises are unique and very much appealing in their own way and are both successful in the bodybuilding industry.
So glad Denise is doing alot better today
i think it’s not right not call him man or woman. he is transgender, they should be using their own bodybuilding competitions
Is she still a body builder until now?
Interesting thing about Denise is that a lot of people also struggle like her. It opens doors for everyone who wants to understand more about steroid abuse.
Oh dear.
Side effects in using anabolic steroids are normal, but when misused these effects can be dangerous to the person and can even lead to death.
Thats scary
Oh
what are the side effects.
I’m in awe…
Hope she’s fine now.
Wow..nice body.
What are the side effects?
Hi… it gofd product
Hope she’s doing things she love and happy
i dont see the photos of her in her 30s and in her 50s like you said in the article. i wonder what she looks like in her 50s. she’s beautiful and even won miss olympia 1993
Wow! She looks really strong
Just posting a comment
Is she healthy today?
nice article
An inspiring story! I hope all is well now with her.
Interesting hopefully doing better now
Hope she is ok now
Wow!
Shes’s so amazing!
This is unbelievable!
She looked amazing back then.
Wow that is crazy!!!
Hmm
wow
Hope she’s doing fine now
I’m curious about her happiness right now if she feels any doubt of doing the things that made her herself today cause that would be something people should learn on
I hope she’s okay
WOW! Amazon and muscles are much bigger than mine
omg
Wow so interesting!!
Truly amazing story hope shes doing better in life today
That is crazy
She looks like a man with all the muscles.
Sad.
People shouldn’t judge other people her choices are her own
That’s so scary. I hope she is doing better now.
Amazing story. Hope she is doing fine now.
Wow! Interesting..
Too much of something is dangerous
I bet she can still kick anyone’s butt…
She is a strong woman with a big muscle. Keep up the good work.
great article
Its nice to become a body builder.
Wow
Get it
Is she happy with the transformation?
Its nice to become a body builder
I wish her well!
Too much. Be happy what god gave us
Quite scary
I didn’t know you could be a man just by taking excessive steroids.
Omg
Amazing
Hmmmmm. She’s much macho than me haha
Macho
Nice
Nice
Overusing steroids is really bad for health
Long live, Denise!
This shows too much kills
Shes been through a lot.. And im proud of her achievements as a woman.
How does she look like now?
Wow! I didn’t know excessive steroid usage could do this! Scary!
Woooow
she had a big muscle but thats not like what we had
Oh wow, that’s interesting. This is quite scary though.
Yeah
🙂
Cool, where is the woman now?
Using steroid is not good
We should build step by step, gradually
Take your time