We puny humans are never content to accept things the way they are.
And when it comes to our bodies, that counts double.
For some, simply having a working body isn't enough.
Instead, these folks go for big muscles at all costs, health be damned.
So, to help you avoid the same fate, here are a few bodybuilders who took things a little
too far.
"Oh yeah."
Trevor Smith
He may have never competed in any professional competitions, but despite this, Trevor Smith
was well-liked in the bodybuilding community.
Rather than flex in front of judges, Smith instead chose to write articles, run his own
bodybuilding and supplement business called Nuclear Nutrition, and coach mercilessly.
"Push.
Harder.
Go faster.
Max.
Reach over the top.
Master your abs."
The thing he's most famous for is simply being huge.
Smith stood 6'1", and at his peak weighed over 400 pounds.
Unfortunately, to get that big, he not only had to train excessively, but also reportedly
used steroids.
All that extra weight, and the damage done to his internal organs, meant he was putting
an excessive strain on his heart, and he died in 2004 at the age of 33 after suffering a
heart attack.
Greg Kovacs
Hailing from Niagara Falls, Canada, Greg Kovacs was a professional bodybuilder of remarkable
proportions.
He measured well over 6 feet tall, and weighed anywhere from 330 pounds for competitions,
to over 400 pounds in the off-season.
You may not be surprised to hear that he was a heavy user of steroids, hormones, and probably
a few other things that contributed to his superheroic weight gain — all so he could
look more or less like a real life version of this guy:
"Abobo wins!"
Needless to say, he was huge, physically dominating his competitors and making them look like
children in comparison.
But like Trevor Smith, all that extra weight, and his almost certainly high intake of drugs,
did his health no good at all, leaving him dead from a heart attack in 2013, at the age
of 44.
(Abobo losing)
Andreas Münzer
In order to achieve increased muscle definition without steroids, it's fairly common for bodybuilders
to take diuretics, which dehydrate the body.
This has the effect of shrinking the skin and tissues on the surface of the body, which
pull tight around the muscles and transform giant men into giant anatomy displays.
"I'm not satisfied until every vein is forced up against my skin.
Look at how vascular I am, Brian.
If there's one thing women love, it's a vascular man."
Andreas Münzer used this technique, but also managed to reduce his body fat to almost non-existence,
resulting in a ridiculous amount of muscle visibility, comparable only to maybe this
guy.
In March 1996, Münzer was admitted to the hospital with severe stomach pains related
to organ failure.
Doctors tried to operate to stop his internal bleeding, but couldn't save him due to the
extensive damage he'd done to himself.
An autopsy revealed numerous physical abnormalities, including a swollen heart and tumor-covered
liver which was described as being a crumbly, styrofoam-like mass.
Not to mention the "hazelnut-sized testicles".
We'll never look at Nutella the same way again.
"Breakfast never tasted this good."
Gregg Valentino
According to Elite Fitness, Gregg Valentino is notable for two things: holding the record
for the biggest arms, and being possibly the most hated man in the bodybuilding community.
Unlike most professional bulgers, Valentino focused on his arms exclusively, making him
look like the Marvel Comics character, Strong Guy.
While he managed to get pretty big training naturally, it wasn't until he started using
testosterone, steroids, and synthol that his arms grew to an unbelievable 27 inches.
All that flexing in front of a mirror distracted him from observing the basic rules of hygiene.
He began to re-use unsterilized needles.
"I was an idiot.
I dropped a needle on the floor.
Blow it off.
Stick it in.
And you wind up getting infections."
This, along with getting hit in the arm by a baseball bat, resulted in a very disgusting
abscess in one of his arms.
What happened next is the apex of Internet gore: he filmed himself trying to drain the
wound, making his bathroom look like a scene out of Saw.
Finally, he gave in and went to the hospital, where the doctor had to slice open his arm,
leaving him with a large scar across his bicep, and a distinctly lopsided appearance.
"I'm short, I'm ugly, and I get it—I look like Uncle Fester on steroids."
That too.
Moustafa Ismail
"My name is Moustafa and I have the biggest arms in the world."
A bodybuilder who walks in the questionable footsteps of Valentino by focusing almost
entirely on his arms, Moustafa Ismail set a new world record with his biceps measuring
an almost-alien 31 inches.
He was later investigated for using less-than-natural means to achieve it.
Among bodybuilders, it's widely believed that he's a serious user of synthetic oils that
artificially bulk his biceps, a claim that he denies.
Either way, there's enough meat in those arms to keep a starving family for several days,
though if the rumors are true, the FDA probably wouldn't approve it.
All mentions of his record were quietly removed from the Guinness World Records official website.
Fortunately, he's still a contender for World's Coolest T-Shirt.
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