Maltese competitive bodybuilder Genetic Anomaly, currently sitting at 254 lbs (115 kg) during a maintenance phase, opened up in his latest YouTube video about the physical and personal costs that come with chasing the kind of mass needed to compete at the highest level.
The 23-year-old, who is targeting 276 lbs (125 kg) for his next bulk, made no attempt to soften the reality.
“Weighing over 120 kg sucks,” he said plainly. “In general, no one is going to feel good on that. But that’s why there’s a small amount of bodybuilders who actually can get to that weight, because it’s very uncomfortable.”
Sleep is one of the first casualties. At his peak weight, sharing a bed with his girlfriend Michelle became nearly impossible. “The bigger I get, the more I snore,” he said.
The couple celebrated what he described as a five-minute nap together as a genuine milestone, with Michelle screaming in excitement over something most couples take for granted.
Breathing compounds as the weight climbs.
“When I’m big, like when I’m weighing over 120 kg, it gets harder to kind of breathe,” he said. Post-workout posing sessions, a standard part of documenting competitive progress, become their own ordeal at that size. “I hate posing post workout because I’m so pumped I can barely move.”
Beyond the physical toll, the sheer volume of food required presents daily challenges most people never consider. During an earlier period working in a call center, he described cramming meals into 15-minute breaks, sometimes coming dangerously close to choking on chicken while forcing food down before getting back on calls.
“I could have di3d, but I didn’t care, you know, because what do I want? I want to get big.”
He was equally candid about what the lifestyle costs those around him. “Dating a bodybuilder is annoying as f**k. I’m kind of becoming not human,” he said, acknowledging the blood on kitchen counters, the constant pile of dishes, and the separate sleeping arrangements that have become routine for him and his partner.
Still, he sees no alternative path.
“Humans aren’t meant to get this big,” he admitted. “So you’re forcing your body to grow beyond what it’s naturally capable of. And obviously that’s going to suck.” For him, accepting that reality is simply the cost of entry. “If you cannot embrace the suck, then bodybuilding is most likely not for you.”
