Eddie Abbew’s transformation from lifting empty tins filled with concrete as a skinny schoolkid to body building champ
EDDIE Abbew’s transformed his body from a school kid to being Britain’s best body builder.
Abbew competed alongside some of the world’s biggest names in body building, including Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler during his career.
The Ghanaian-turned-Brit started out lifting empty tins filled with concrete at boarding school in Nairobi and didn’t know what the weights were.
A 1981 photo posted to his Facebook page shows the teenage future champion flexing his guns.
Abbew says in the caption: “When I first started lifting weights, I knew I was going to be lifting for the rest of my life.”
That youthful image is paired with a more recent one of the much older Abbew pulling the same bicep-flexing pose.
His guns are now just as large despite being older.
“Resistance training is not only good for your mental health. When you get to the ripe old age of 60, resistance training is imperative for the prevention of sarcopenia.”
Abbew followed a strict diet that sought to maximise protein.
He has now released his top three tips for growing muscle: cut out ultra-processed foods, eat lots of eggs, and eating fresh food.
He says when he was a student he ate 38 eggs a day because it is such a good source of protein.
Abbew rose to prominence in the world of bodybuilding when he won the 1997 British Championships.
He said: “It was cool being big, being noticed and being admired.”
Another comparison image, this time 28 years, posted in 2022 shows Abbew in competition form in little yellow posing trunks.
His muscles are defined with his skin stretching tight over them aided with oil.
One story tells Abbew being mistaken for Coleman, arguably the greatest ever body builder, by children while walking through a city in Romania in 2006.
But, the 6’1″ struggled to make the same impact and his best finish during his 12-year professional career was a third place at the 2007 Ironman.
Abbew’s strength was always his biceps which he said he mostly grew through concentration curls.
He described working his arms that: “Originally, all I did for biceps was concentration curls. My bi’s did most of their growing from that one exercise.”
“When I do one-arm curls I don’t pause between sets. When I’m done with one side, the other side is ready to go.”
Now Abbew owns a gym in Hemel Hempstead, just outside London, and has 1.4 million followers listening to his health and fitness advice on Instagram.
Abbew worked as a nurse during his career and he and his wife were both qualified Psychiatric Nurses.
On his social media, Abbew recommends builders eat an amount of food that can be right down to the gram.