If you have ever wondered how much food it takes for a "monstrous" bodybuilder to maintain almost 160 kilograms of muscle, well, you've come to the right place. Hint: it's a lot. Like, a lot.
In a recent piece, Men's Health broke down what Czech colossus Illia Golem eats on a day-to-day basis to maintain his freakishly muscled physique. Standing at 185cm tall (around 6'2") and weighing about 158kg, the 35-year-old said he began his bodybuilding journey at a young age in a bid to replicate the famous figures of his heroes, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
"As a child I wanted to be like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Stallone in Rambo. And when people passed me, they saw a monster. I wanted to be as strong as my Hollywood idols. In my small town, a gym opened, and I joined," the Dubai-based bodybuilder - who is also known to take anabolic steroids - told the outlet.
"When I started training there was no internet or social networks to help me learn. I was guided only by my knowledge from magazines and the help of the gym owner."
In a detailed breakdown of Golem's meal plan, Men's Health revealed that the titan eats seven meals throughout the day to supplement his training, starting with 300 grams of rolled oats for breakfast at 8am.
At 11am, Golem will then consume a whopping 108 pieces of sushi split into three plates - 36 apiece - totalling 1600 grams of rice and 800 grams of salmon.
For his second lunch at 1:30pm, the 35-year-old chases down 1300 grams of beef with a dessert of crepes and ice cream and at 3:40pm, he will eat a bowl of fresh pasta with olives and 500 grams of rice.
About an hour later at 4:50pm, Golem will tuck into his fifth meal of the day: more pasta (300 grams of it) with 200 grams of cheese.
At 7:30pm, he'll wolf down another 1300 grams of beef, paired with 700 grams of ricotta or cottage cheese.
To finish the day, Golem will serve himself a stack of 14 oatmeal pancakes with maple syrup at around 9:15pm.
According to the outlet, Golem is able to bench-press 272 kilograms and can deadlift 317.
In an interview with AM last year, former bodybuilder Josh Williams spoke out about the struggles he encountered while using anabolic steroids.
"It's obviously a lot faster than when you're doing it naturally, you can expect to gain maybe 10 to 12 pounds of muscle within a matter of weeks," the personal trainer told AM. "It was tough, because you kind of underestimate the power of what you're putting in your body.
"I noticed my hair was falling out. I noticed I had increased anxiety. I had sleep apnea. There's a massive list of side effects that came from the back of that."
