> The amount of mental gymnastics performed by these guys to justify hilariously stupid physical decisions is simply colossal.

This is a very ungenerous and incorrect take.

It is their prerogative to decide what outcome they want to maximize when it comes to their own body. I don't think any bodybuilder is under the delusion that they are particularly healthy when on the bodybuilding stage - they're not trying to be healthy, they're trying to win a specific competition with specific rules around it.

You might not like their goal or think it's stupid, but they are making the correct decisions for the outcomes they care about, and there's nothing wrong with caring about different things.