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Mamdouh Elssbiay
Mamdouh Elssbiay is conveniently called “Big Ramy” and rightfully so. It was only two years ago when seemingly out of nowhere, he won the New York Pro 2013 (and became a father the same night). I wrote about this in “Results New York Pro 2013.” It was his first competition as a pro. He had previously qualified for the Mr. Olympia 2013 where he finished 8th that year.Biography “Big Ramy”
Mamdouh was born in Egypt into a fishing family and worked as a fisherman until he was 22. After moving to Kuwait with his brothers, he started training in 2003. His big inspirations at that time were Dorian Yates followed by Victor Martinez. Interestingly, it was the same Victor Martinez who had to watch as Big Ramy snatched the first place in New York, 2013. However, he had only been training since 2003 for a little over half a year when he had to stop due to an accident. I cannot find anywhere what kind of accident that was, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it had something to do with gamma radiation or falling into a vat of growth hormone. It wasn’t until 2010 that he picked up where he left off. Yes, you heard it right; this giant has only been seriously into bodybuilding for 5 years and obtained his pro license within 3 years!O2 Gym
He started training that year at Oxygen Gym where he got a job. In 2011, his weight was still around 97 kilograms with not too low body fat percentage. The gym owner Bader Boodai (who is the biggest bodybuilding promoter in Kuwait) saw his potential and asked the well-known bodybuilder Dennis James, who regularly visited the gym, to mentor him. The following year, Ramy was in competition shape (meaning lean) on stage at his first competition, the Amateur Olympia 2012. By then, he weighed around 130 kilograms, clean! That’s absolutely insane. Even for “newbie gains,” 30 kilograms in a year is, to put it mildly, “remarkable.” It won’t surprise you that he won in his class “super heavyweight.” This qualified him for the Mr. Olympia 2013 among the pros. Dennis James advised him to do another pro competition first to gain some more recognition before entering Olympia 2013. That other competition was the New York Pro, which he won (and won again in 2014).How did Big Ramy become so big?
During that Arnold Classic Brazil on 31 May 2015, Mamdouh weighed about 143 kilograms (315 lbs). To put this into perspective; 8-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, who was seen as the epitome of mass, never appeared heavier than 136 kilograms on stage. And that was in his later years when this weight also found its way to his protruding belly. Mamdouh is already surpassing that! How is that possible? Let’s list the variables:- Genetics
- Training
- Nutrition
- AAS, growth hormone (and synthol?)
Genetics
Let’s start with genetics. In the article about myostatin (a kind of natural brake on muscle growth), I mentioned that Ramy has been said to have a myostatin deficiency. Because this natural brake either does not work or works less, he would naturally be more muscular like the famous double-muscled cows. However, this has never been proven. Undoubtedly, he has enormous potential for muscle growth compared to the average person, but that applies to every bodybuilder at that level. Still, Dennis James sees the cause mainly in his genetics and he suspects a myostatin deficiency [1].His body is just different. I can’t even explain it, it’s honestly incredible. This is probably one out of a billion people who can grow the way he can grow.” I really think Ramy is like one of those myostatin-deficient kids, where no matter what you do, because of his genetics, he just keeps gaining. I’ve never worked with such a genetically gifted person. Dennis James, Flex magazine
Training
If we looked at the training in 2015, we didn’t see anything special in comparison with other bodybuilders. He was trained by Dennis James who had him train the way he trains himself. If there’s anything remarkable, it’s that he uses a lot of machines, just like Phil Heath. Something that hardcore bodybuilders always advise against. He used to primarily train with free weights himself. However, because he always trained alone, he found machines very convenient because then he doesn’t need a spotter when training to the extreme. He also likes the fact that he feels the muscle contraction better with machines.Nutrition
Besides genetics, Ramy mentioned nutrition as the most important factor in an interview with Flex Magazine [2]First of all, genetics plays a big part. I have very good genetics and don’t put on fat easily. Second, I get some sort of cardio in every day off-season, even if it’s just 15 minutes on a treadmill after I lift. But everyone starting out in bodybuilding needs to realize that nutrition is the real secret to winning shows. Anyone can lift heavy weights, but to grow as much as I did in just three years, you need to be exceptionally disciplined with your food intake and never miss meals, no matter what. I believe you need to take in carbs, fats, protein, and a little simple sugar in the form of fruit every day. I keep my diet very simple and hardly ever cheat, which is how I stay lean off-season. Someone who’s just starting out can adjust the number of meals to five or six, but the key is eating every two to three hours, even if that means waking up to drink a shake. If you keep the diet simple, there are no excuses for missing meals. Big Ramy, Flex Magzine, 2 December 2013I take his word for it, but these are things any bodybuilder can tell you and do not explain why he has grown so much faster, so much heavier than the competition. Dennis also says that it doesn’t matter much what he eats. Mamdouh would even grow or maintain muscle mass when eating only 75 grams of carbohydrates per day for a while [1]. He responds so well to whatever he eats. I’ve never seen anything like it. He had all the size he ever needed, he just needed to come in ripped, so I put him on a low-carb diet. Here is the amazing part: Where other people would lose muscle on low-carb diets, he would still gain weight and or maintain it. He was on 75 grams of carbs for a while and almost lost nothing. Dennis James, Flex magazine
Steroids
Does Big Ramy use more or more skillfully things like anabolic steroid, growth hormone than other bodybuilders? We will probably never know. A fun theory on forums for which there is no evidence at all is that he would have stored a large amount of kigtropin. This is HGH (growth hormone) produced by an unknown Chinese laboratory that has deliberately chosen to work through the black market. However, it became so popular so quickly that many counterfeit versions appeared while the lab that made the “real stuff” allegedly stopped production around 2012. According to certain rumors, Ramy would still have a large supply. Again, there is no evidence for this, and even if there were, it was not certain that this was decisive for his success. As for synthol, the oily substance injected directly into muscles to make them appear bigger: I have shared enough examples of synthol freaks, people who go overboard in its use and therefore look like Michelin men. You can immediately see that this is fake. If Ramy uses synthol like many bodybuilders do to “thicken up” lagging muscle groups a bit, this cannot be responsible for his enormous mass, but can only contribute to it to a certain extent. Otherwise, this would be immediately visible.Genetics for proportional size
Personally, I think it’s a combination of factors. Yes, he will have enormous potential for growth, but this alone is not enough. Many bodybuilders eventually reach the point where they can no longer grow in muscle mass without sacrificing aesthetics. By that, I mean especially the belly. In the last 15-20 years, we have seen that bodybuilders often develop a protruding belly, the “roid gut” or “turtle shell,” which has been discussed here more often. Ramy, who is already heavier than the slightly taller Ronnie Coleman at his peak, doesn’t have this problem at all. So, he not only has the potential to become big quickly, but also especially to be big in the places where you want it. It’s no coincidence that Ronnie Coleman named Big Ramy the future Mr. Olympia during the Bodypower Expo in Birmingham last year. Ramy came closest to this prediction in 2017 when he finished second behind Phil Heath. However, in 2018, he finished 6th and in 2019, he did not participate due to a shoulder injury. His biggest problem is the so-called ‘conditioning’, the level of body fat percentage and the extent to which you retain water on the day of the competition.Big Ramy’s results
(source: bodybuilding.com)- 2015 IFBB Arnold Classic Brasil 1st</ li>
- 2014 IFBB Olympia Weekend 7th
- 2014 IFBB New York Pro 1st
- 2013 IFBB Olympia Weekend 8th
- 2013 IFBB New York Pro 1st
- 2013 Mr. Olympia – 8th 2014 New York Pro Championship – 1st 2014 Mr. Olympia – 7th 2015 Arnold Classic Brazil – 1st 2015 Mr. Olympia – 5th 2015 Arnold Classic Europe – 4th 2015 EVLS Prague Pro – 2nd 2016 Mr. Olympia – 4th 2016 Arnold Classic Europe – 2nd 2016 IFBB Kuwait Pro – 1st 2016 EVLS Prague Pro – 2nd 2017 Mr. Olympia – 2nd 2017 Arnold Classic Europe – 1st 2018 Mr. Olympia – 6th
References
- flexonline.com. Big ramys corner december 2 2013
- lexonline.com. Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay explodes into the IFBB Pro League. Who is he and where did he come from?
