he dumb-belled himself to death/ to follow in somebody’s path

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to give me your considered opinion concerning the interpretation of the expressions in bold in the following sentences?

Now Jiggins is dead. He died at an early age. But the fact that he dumb-belled himself to death at an early age does not prevent a whole generation of young people from following in his path.

he dumb-belled himself to death = he lifted dumb-bells until he died of it

to follow in somebody’s path = to follow somebody’s example, to be somebody’s follower

V.