Man weighing 20st transforms into bodybuilder

An obese warehouse worker who tipped the scales at 20 stone has transformed into a top bodybuilder - after being inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger movies.

Conor Hickinbottom, 22, weighed the same as a baby elephant after years of scoffing pizza, chicken nuggets, chips and chocolate washed down with full-fat coke.

By the age of 16 he was consuming more than 4,000 calories and day and ballooned to 20 stone (127kg). He was so big he was left with no confidence and he had barely enough energy to walk upstairs.

He told Leicestershire Live: "Food felt like a comfort at the time – now that seems weird to me. I wouldn't have touched vegetables back then. I don't think I ever really tried them. When there's all that sugary stuff you don't want anything healthy."

In the summer after leaving Wreake Valley Academy, Conor, who was living in Leicester, tried applying for jobs but didn't get very far.

He continued: "I had no energy and no confidence. I didn't like leaving the house – if I went on buses I felt people were laughing at me and judging me because of my weight. I hated the way I looked and felt in myself."

Then, on the cusp of turning 17 conor had a change of mindset: "I was watching a lot of shows about bodybuilding and old Arnold Schwarzenegger films, too. That got me motivated to try joining the gym.

"I put together my diet plan and after six or seven months at the gym people started to notice a change.

"That really helped me, when other people I knew from the gym encouraged me – people I'd known when I was big and knew how much weight I'd lost. They kept pushing me."

Conor eventually shed enough weight to get below his traget of12 stone a year of gym sessions, avoiding junk food and eating a lot of rice and fish, had all been worth it.

Following this success he decided to start building more muscle and step into the world of competitive bodybuilding. His first competition was in 2017 and he's gone form strength to strength since. At the Pure Elite 2018 contest in Kent a few months ago he picked up two trophies, for a third place finish in the Male Model category and a fourth in the transformation category.

"I'm very happy now and very confident. I'm on Instagram and looking at doing some proper YouTube videos so that other people everywhere can learn from what I've been through."