Moustafa Ismail, a 24-year-old Egyptian bodybuilder has recently claimed the Guinness record for world’s largest biceps. His bulging arms are 31 inches across, the same circumference as a grown man’s waist. He is often called a real-life Popeye, just like arm-wrestler Matthias Schlitte.

You’ve probably seen those horrific photos floating around the Internet of bodybuilders who have injected their muscles with synthol. It is not a growth hormone, nor an anabolic steroid, but a synthetic oil famous for giving weight-lifters freakish, almost cartoon-like muscles. Now, one man has proven you can get the same results if you just work out hard-enough and stick to a rich-protein diet. Moustafa Ismail, an Egyptian bodybuilder currently living in Massachusetts, USA, has been pumping iron religiously for the last 10 years, and his results are pretty impressive. The man nicknamed Big Mo started working out as a way to keep fit, but after receiving compliments from fellow fitness enthusiasts on the size of his arms, he decided to dedicate himself to becoming even bigger. With arms the circumference of a grown man’s waist, you can say Moustafa has reached his goal.

Photo: Guinness Book of Records

“My friends in the gym just couldn’t believe how much my arms seem to grow so I began to really focus on getting bigger,” Ismail remembers about his humble beginnings as a bodybuilder. Now this real-life Popeye lifts up to 500 kilograms and has set a new world record for largest biceps. To keep his arms growing, the young Egyptian consumes 3lbs of chicken, 1lb of steak or fish and three protein shakes per day, plus about 7.5 liters of water. But, he notes that genetics also play an important role – his father, a former wrestler, also had impressive muscle mass.

Photo: SWNS

Moustafa is so focused on getting bigger muscles that he even moved his whole family to the United States, where he has access to more advanced training equipment. Big Mo spends most of his day trying to juggle two bodybuilding sessions and running two gas stations close to his home, in Massachusetts. “People always say: you remind me of Popeye the sailor man. This makes me laugh, the truth is I don’t have any spinach in my diet. I can’t stand the stuff,” Moustafa says.

via The Sun