Becca Longmire is a digital news writer-reporter at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on ET Canada, Metro and the Mail Online.
Illia "Golem" Yefimchyk, known as the "most monstrous bodybuilder" and "The Mutant," died on Sept. 8, his wife Anna shared on social media. He was 36.
The 6-foot, 340-pound Belarusian athlete -- who famously maintained his 25-inch biceps through intense workouts, steroid usage and a "monster diet' of 16,500 calories a day across seven daily meals -- suffered a heart attack on Sept. 6 before falling into a coma, Australia's 7 News reported.
Per CNN, he was taken to hospital by helicopter, and died there two days later.
"I spent every day by his side, hoping, and his heart started beating again for two days," Anna told local outlets, according to 7 News. "But the doctor gave me the terrible news that his brain had died,"
"I thank everyone for their condolences," she added. "It's very heartwarming to realize that I am not left alone in this world, and so many people have offered me help and support."
Bodybuilding Instagram account @whoisthebestbb led the tributes to Yefimchyk, calling him "the 340 LBS. beast" and writing alongside a photo of him to, "Rest in peace ♥️🙏🏻."
Despite not competing professionally, Yefimchyk boasted over 300,000 followers on Instagram and would regularly talk fans through his day-to-day lifestyle as a bodybuilder in YouTube clips.
He earned praise from his audience for being fully transparent about his process, including the supplements and growth hormones he would take.
Back in 2020, he spoke to bodybuilding magazine Muscular Development about his transformation.
"Just two years ago, I was eating 7,000-8,000 calories a day, and I was sure it was impossible for me to eat any more than that," Yefimchyk said at the time. "My goal was to take in 10,000 calories daily, but I doubted I could do it."
He said he wanted to be like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone as a teenager. "I saw movies like The Terminator and Rambo, and I wanted to be big and muscular like they were. I wanted to be The Hulk, to be so big that everybody would notice," he told the outlet.
"I had no books or magazines to look at, and [the] Internet was just coming to our area at that time, so it was too expensive for most of us. All I knew was that I wanted to have a chest and biceps like Arnold," Yefimchyk added.
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While speaking about his workouts, Yefimchyk said, "My sets can be in the three to six rep range, or as high as 20. One day my workouts will be more like a bodybuilder with more reps and a faster pace, another day I might rest more and go heavier for lower reps like a powerlifter."