You might be wondering, who has the biggest bicep in the world?
Well, the answer isn’t actually what you might expect, it’s not any famous bodybuilder you’ve heard of.
What if the man with the biggest bicep in the world was running the local 7/11 down the street from you?
The person with the biggest bicep in the world is Moustafa Ismail. Who isn’t any IFBB pro or anything, he’s just a MASSIVE gas station clerk. (Free food for his gains, right?) His biceps measure 31 inches and is confirmed in the 2013 Guinness Book of World Records. At Arnold Schwarzenegger’s peak, his arms only measured 22 inches, and Rich Piana’s arms measured 23.5 inches at his peak.
That’s right, 31 inches! Most guys have a waist size of 29-32 inches at normal height/weight. So, his arms are literally bigger than your trunk. Isn’t that crazy?
Who is Moustafa Ismail?
Moustafa Ismail is the man with the plan, or at least a better arm workout plan than I do.
You may think that this guy is the Mr.Olympia winner, but you’d be surprised. Moustafa Ismail, the man with the biggest bicep in the world, has no prior big bodybuilding competitions.
In fact, he was working at a gas station in Egypt. There’s nothing wrong with that but just think of that. Most of these pros you see on stage spend their entire lives bodybuilding and getting paid for it. This guy is literally working at a gas station full time and is bigger than some of these pros!
He would work an 8 hour shift, go to the gym, then go back and work ANOTHER 8 hour shift. All of that money from the gas station goes straight to his food- and I don’t think this is a bad idea! It’s obviously working.
The Biggest Bicep in The World Was Confirmed By The 2013 Guinness Book of World Records
You may be wondering if this guy isn’t an IFBB pro- who exactly confirmed he has the biggest bicep in the world?
The 2013 Guinness Book of World Records confirmed the incredible 31-inch biceps.
They do take their records VERY seriously, so there wasn’t anything suspicious here.
His arms are absolutely MASSIVE.
Moustafa Ismail Ends Up Being The LAST World Record Bicep Holder Ever
When the Guinness World Records released that they have found the person with the biggest arms in the world- there was a HUGE outrage from the bodybuilding community.
When you think of typical bodybuilding competitions and how seriously they take them (even the tans the bodybuilders do!)– they weren’t that happy by the Guinness World Records standards of just measuring by size.
Typically, at a bodybuilding competition, they look at: bodyfat, striations, depth of muscle, equality of muscle, symmetry, shape of the muscle, etcetera. It isn’t based around just the ‘biggest’ size.
Because of this, it sparked heavy outrage in the bodybuilding community as it seemed unfair to them that he holds the record when IFBB/pro bodybuilding standards are different.
Controversy Surrounding The Biggest Bicep in the World (Oil muscles…?)
There was another HUGE controversy surrounding the biggest bicep in the world, a ton of bodybuilders called him out for using PEDs and creating oil muscles.
Many bodybuilders were quick to claim that Moustafa Ismail was using Syn, a type of substance that can be injected to increase the size of the muscle. It is basically like injecting oil into you, and as you can imagine, that oil won’t mix with things and just increase the size of your muscle.
Tons of bodybuilders were very quick to say that his arms look heavily injected with Syn.
Moustafa Ismail Claims He NEVER Used Syn
Moustafa Ismail claims to this day he never used Syn at all. He said he had not even heard of it in Egypt, but he did admit to using a common PED called ‘test’. However, he claimed he stopped after he left Egypt because it’s illegal.
Many bodybuilders quickly refuted that claim and said that it was impossible he did NOT use syn.
Regardless of what you think, I haven’t really seen anybody with a bigger bicep even with the syn use. Let me know what you think about his syn use in the comments below.
There’s been some speculation that Ismail was featuring in a new movie and some medical doctors reviewed his muscles and found nothing abnormal.
However, this hasn’t been confirmed, although I wouldn’t find it off. Ismail has been contacted by many famous agencies after his recent Guinness World Records book.
Still- Guinness Doesn’t Talk About Him Anymore
Through all of this, the Guinness Book of World Records doesn’t talk about him anymore and removed any mention of him.
Furthermore, they removed the category of biggest bicep from the world record books and haven’t made a comment on it.
In some ways, I can’t blame them because I can’t imagine the backlash they received. Regardless, I think they should open back the category.
Call me controversial, but I think the bodybuilding community is being a little crybaby over this whole thing. If he DOES have the biggest biceps in the world, then he holds the record. He isn’t a 5% bodyfat competition-ready competitor, and he doesn’t plan to be.
He’s always planned on just having huge arms- NOT being shredded like many normal bodybuilding competitors.
Having the biggest arms, or biggest back, or legs- whatever — is completely different than having a competition-ready physique. Ismail is a bigger guy and that’s okay, but I think it’s time the bodybuilding community realizes these terms are separate.
Nobody looks at Ismail and thinks he is Arnold, and vice versa- nobody looks at Arnold and says he is Ismail.
Moustafa Ismail is VERY Strong
There’s generally one way to test if someone is using those ‘filler’ injections or if they are actual bodybuilders- strength.
Generally, if they use filler injections they will be very weak. While this isn’t ALWAYS the case, this Family Guy video explains it better.
Moustafa Ismail curls 400 lbs and has benched 500 lbs. He’s also known for just lifting people up over his shoulders, so needless to say, this guy is YOKED. Due to his sheer strength, it seems far-fetched that his biceps are only from Syn use.
At this point, even if he was using Syn, his biceps are probably still bigger than most IFBB bodybuilders with the weight he is lifting.
He is known for his hard work!
Everybody in the gym compliments Ismail on his hard work in the gym.
People say that in months he was able to put inches on in his arm, and his training is just unmatched. He’s just constantly at it growing his arms without delay.
What’s cool is that everybody just kind of recognizes that he busts his back day in and day out. Many people in his gym came out and supported him when he was accused of using different injectable things because people brought up that he just works so hard that they believe his muscle is natural.
Loves Arm Workouts (Just Like Me!)
A huge thing about Ismail is that he just loves arm workouts.
In fact, that’s what he attributes his HUGE arms too- it’s not really anything genetic, he just says he loves working arms.
In his quote: “everybody finds something they like working out in the gym”.
My friend Ian? He LOVES benching, non-stop. Dude barely works his arms compared to his chest, and he bench presses nearly everyday 8-10 sets.
Personally for me, I HATE benching, and Ian will tell you that he’s seen me do more skull crushers and curls in the last week than I’ve ever benched in my whole life.
Ian has a massive chest, and I have massive arms.
Ismail is the same way. Nobody comments and says that Ismail has huge legs or anything, it’s just his arms. And that’s just because he constantly works his arms, which nets a ton of muscle for him.
He Has A Training Style Similar to Rich Piana
Ismail has a training style that is very similar to Rich Piana’s.
Rich Piana has this philosophy that you need to spend a ton of time in the gym, break down your muscles hard, AND eat a ton of food, basically as much as you can.
And, well, it worked for Rich Piana- and it looks like it works for Ismail too.
Ismail Says You NEED To Eat 9+ Meals a Day
Rich Piana is a bodybuilder that has always touted the philsophy that you need to be eating every 1-2 hours and just put a ton of food in your body.
I like the way Rich describes it, “It’s like an IV drip of protein in your body”. It’s the same thing here, that IV is constant all day, consistently giving you that protein and amino acids you need to build the muscle. And you’re accomplishing this by eating all those meals every day.
I’ve always hated the idea of, “it doesn’t matter when you eat, you can just eat everything at night ands starve yourself all day and you’ll be fight”. This is just completely wrong.
Imagine you tell a whole bunch of construction workers to build a house (your ribosomes in your cells) and you just don’t give them any resources until midnight. Well, you’ve just wasted 16 business hours all day where they couldn’t have built anything because they had NO resources to build the house with!
If you give them that protein (the resources) throughout the day, they can constantly work on the house and build it. Remember, a surplus of protein just means they can use it later on.
Better to have it and use it, than to not have it and need it.
Yes, NINE meals a day.
You heard that all right, NINE meals a day. Ismail worked at a gas station, worked two 8 hour shifts, and put all that money into food to eat. He’d constantly eat throughout the day.
Nine meals a day typically looks like a meal every 1-2 hours, so yes, make sure you’re eating every hour.
You might be surprised at the results you get, even if you may consider it dirty bulking- which is admittedly the secret to getting big.
Conclusion of The Biggest Bicep in the World
Who knew that the biggest bicep in the world might just be that friendly guy in the neighborhood that holds down the gas station at night? This just goes to show that bodybuilding isn’t a sport about ‘luck’- it’s hard work and dedication!
Even though there has been a ton of controversy about it, I think it’s time we just agree he’s got massive arms and celebrate it!
Moustafa Ismail, keep doing what you’re doing, and I’d love to see a workout program published by you!
