Meet the real-life Popeye – whose 31 inch biceps have just been crowned the biggest in the world.
Moustafa Ismail, 24, has spent ten years pumping iron twice a day and his upper arms now have the same circumference as a grown man’s waist.
But despite his cartoon proportions the Egyptian-born bodybuilder actually hates spinach.
Instead “Big Mo” eats as much as 3lbs of chicken, 1lbs of steak or fish and four cups of almonds washed down with two gallons of water and three litres of protein shakes.
Incredibly, the gym bunny was so dedicated to bulking up his arms he moved his whole family to America to gain access to better workout equipment.
Muscle man Moustafa said: “People always 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.
“I’ll stick to my chicken I think.
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“Actually I think my arms are now bigger than the cartoon character.”
Moustafa, who lives with his wife Carolina, 30, started bodybuilding ten years ago in a bid to keep fit.
But after hitting the gym he received hundreds of compliments on his bulging biceps and decided to concentrate all of his efforts on making them even bigger.
Five years ago, when he failed to win a place in the Egyptian bodybuilding team he swapped his home country for the USA.
He now trains at least twice a day and can lift an incredible 500lbs.
Moustafa admits to taking protein shakes to help with his bodybuilding but puts his bulging body down to genetics – his father was an Egyptian wrestler.
He has a daily exercise regime of 5am until 8am during which he concentrates on cardio, strength-training and body sculpting, using heavy and light isolated weights.
And when Moustafa is not pumping iron he’s pumping gas at the two petrol station he owns near his home in Massachusetts.
Moustafa said: “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.
“Working out makes my mood better. You’re just focusing. And I like that in this type of sport you can see your improvement in your shape.
“I know they are growing, my chest, my shoulders, my arms. I love the weights.”
Moustafa’s biceps have now been confirmed as a record and he will appear in the Guinness Book of World Records 2013, which is launched in London today.
He attended the promotional event in the capital – and model Jessica Jerrard was on hand to recreate the famous scene of Popeye lifting Olive.
She said she was amazed by the size of his arms.
