Storytime with LATS.. tale of two bodybuilders

[LATS]

Ok.. I am going to address two bodybuilders that I talked with a few months ago.. both from China. . Both just did very well In a few shows very recently in China.. as usual I will not divulge their names as they are being open with drug use. . I wasn't going to talk about these two but choose to based on their radical difference in protocols. Both training and drug.. yet Both did very well and are very " Big boys" ... so there is more than a couple ways to be successful in this game..

Body builder number 1.. we will call Lee.. Lee is knowledgeable but, mainly just does what he found over the years to work for him.
(Training) Lee trains on the typical one big bodypart a day couple with a small bodypart. 5 days a week..
Mon chest tri ( ends with 3 sets of side delt)
Tues back bi ( ends with 2 to 3 sets of rear delt)
Weds off
Thurs delts calves
Fri legs
Sat touch up for back and calves .. he, like many Asian bodybuilders has a bit of a weakness in his back. So he gives it a touch up on Saturday .. like many in that region the quads are insane.
His sets are never higher than 10 reps.. he never goes to failure.. usually a rep or two reserved.. he averages 12 to 15 sets a big bodypart.. and 8 for arms etc.. he prefers a bit of volume over lots of intensity.. he said that Training to failure really hurts his sleep regardless of lowering the volume..

his rep style is very controlled for safety reasons as many of his sets are in the 6 to 7 range but the concentric is explosive as he can based on the load

(Diet).. typical diet .. 5 to 6 meals a day.. 4 solid.. 2 shakes.. he states he never eats junk food and eats alot of fish, " bird" and eggs.. rice and vegetables make up quite a bit of his diet..says his diet leans more toward protein. ( photo he sent me was a large tray of sushi with rice and salad after his training) he is lucky , as he states, that his parents are considered wealthy and he is employed in his families business.. so he can afford what some can not..

( drugs) he is sponsored, so to speak. And doesn't have to pay for gear etc.. but even so his cycles are boring..
He is strictly a test man in his off season with gh and insulin.. he believes it is safer and says his blood work is always good on just test.. he stated once he starts adding things like dhts , nandrolone his blood work takes a hit.. so he reserves those compounds for pre contest along with t3 clen etc

Off season he starts at 400 mgs of test and slowly titrates up to 1750 or 2000mgs of test.. blood work is done at 400mgs.. 750mgs.. 1250mgs and 1750mgs.. aromasin is added as tests its needed.. but typically at his highest does 25mg of aromasin is used 4 times a week.. he said next off season he will go to a a little over 2000mgs of test and if he needs more load he will add in some mast at low dose..

Gh is used at a starting dose of 3 to 4 ius and at its end is around 10 to 12 ius.. ( morning glucose is taken every day).. thyroid is added if numbers are off. . ( he does lots of blood work) lol

Insulin he would not discuss but did say it was used .. he did feel comfortable with discussing slin. .

Precontest he reduces test to around 600 for most of the 12 weeks and makes up the androgen load with mast , primo, some tren at the end.. so example given was 600mgs of test, 600mgs of mast, 800 primo, along with gh .. orals added in the last 6 weeks while lowering the oils .. the only thing he said was he preferred winstrol, halo, and oral turinabol at that stage..

Bodybuilder 2.. we will call him LU

Lu is quite a bit different but equally successful.
(Training) Lu trains on a upper body lower body split. . Two days on two days off. Repeat. He picks 2 movements for chest back and shoulders.. 1 movement for bi and tri on upper body day. 2 sets of each..
Lower body (quads) gets two presses.. one extension.. hams get rdl or weighted hyper and a standing leg curl. . Calves are hit with two movements also. Everything 2 sets.. low volume. . High load.. frequency and rest..

Diet.. very similar to Lee.. no junk food.. eats as healthy as he can with vegetables, fish, eggs rice etc. He does not have the extra income so he does work quite a bit to afford the " lifestyle" but says his job is sedentary so that helps.. but only spend money " healthy foods".. says his diet leans more towards carbs than protein.. he averages 3 meals a day and two shakes..

Lu is also sponsored.. same company.. his protocol is much different than Lee.. his test is kept at no more than 500 to 600mgs.. the remainder of the androgen content is primo and mast with Npp thrown in when joints hurt. A typical off season looks like
500 test
800 primo
500 mast
4 to 6 ius gh
No insulin

He states that he takes no AI but if he feels his e2 is getting low he will add a bit more test than lower primo .. but he says that's rare and feels great.. I asked him if he does regular blood work to see where cycles like this put him and he says about twice a year but I coukdnt get much more info than that.
Lu also states that he does like to experiment with various peptides but uses only things like tb500 and BPC-157 year round.

Precontest he says protocol stays about the same except for addition of clen and t3. . The last 3 weeks orals will be added and primo, test and mast brought down ..

They both admit they need better condition to do better internationally. But they are big, full and still have good conditioning. .

But yet two very different guys. Very different protocols.. both have been racking up the trophies.. the key , as always, is consistency .. they both believe their routines are best and they apply them day in and day out.

 

[TheOtherOne55]

Love Storytime with LATS.

Different ways to skin a cat...
Question @LATS, how big are these guys? Open BBers?

 

[LATS]

Love Storytime with LATS.

Different ways to skin a cat...
Question @LATS, how big are these guys? Open BBers?

Open.. big... if you look at some footage of the recent shows in china.. one being the arnold .. you'll see the quality of the competitors is very high.

 

[powerforward]

Awesome I always enjoy story time lats. Hope all is well buddy!

 

[LATS]

 

[LATS]

 

[moriss]

Aren't they very short? Like 5,5 or under? Stage weight 185-190?

 

[VakarianSK]

I've always been interested in running BPC year round like Lu. I've heard of people doing it but I've heard there are some cancer risks, to what extent I honestly don't know. I believe Andrew Berry on Think big bodybuilding media has been running it year round for years and he loves it.

 

[luki7788]

I've always been interested in running BPC year round like Lu. I've heard of people doing it but I've heard there are some cancer risks, to what extent I honestly don't know. I believe Andrew Berry on Think big bodybuilding media has been running it year round for years and he loves it.

Cancer from BPC - this is the first time I hear something like that

 

[VakarianSK]

Cancer from BPC - this is the first time I hear something like that

That's what the claim is but I've never found anything definitive. I think it has to do with how the regenerative process works with bpc in regards to repairing cells. Something like that but I'm not as well researched on it as others so I cannot say for certain.

 

[luki7788]

That's what the claim is but I've never found anything definitive. I think it has to do with how the regenerative process works with bpc in regards to repairing cells. Something like that but I'm not as well researched on it as others so I cannot say for certain.

you must have confused or misunderstood something

i've been taking bpc and tb-500 for a whole year since almost 2021

 

[VakarianSK]

you must have confused or misunderstood something

i've been taking bpc and tb-500 for a whole year since almost 2021

Maybe I am lol, so many peptides I've read about I can't keep track sometimes. I love bpc and would love to run it year round for its protective measures and inflammation suppression.

Edit: I'll ask some questions on your thread as to not derail this one from @LATS .

 

[EnhancedFatGrappler]

That's what the claim is but I've never found anything definitive. I think it has to do with how the regenerative process works with bpc in regards to repairing cells. Something like that but I'm not as well researched on it as others so I cannot say for certain.

There is no study that looked at cancer and BPC-157, not even on rats.

But theoretically, it could be causing existing cancer to grow. BPC-157 promotes the growth of new blood vessels (Angiogenesis), and that process can also support tumor growth and metastasis.

But again, this has not been looked at in any study, and is more a theoretical concern.

P.S.: And agreed, sorry for derailling, really enjoyed Lats insight. Looks like Bodybuilding is becoming huge in China, that's cool!

 

[VakarianSK]

There is no study that looked at cancer and BPC-157, not even on rats.

But theoretically, it could be causing existing cancer to grow. BPC-157 promotes the growth of new blood vessels (Angiogenesis), and that process can also support tumor growth and metastasis.

But again, this has not been looked at in any study, and is more a theoretical concern.

Good to know thanks

 

[qbkilla]

Great stuff as always... some things that stand out to me

1. Two completely different training approach yet great results
2. First guys split is a bro split disguised as a push pull off delts legs touchup off. With delts twice a week, I assume he thinks they benefit from frequency/volume or he thinks he needs the bring them up in addition to back?
3. Interesting he uses rir. I feel like that's a "newer" term I don't remember anyone talking about it when I first started reading forums it was all failure training. Makes me wonder...I know China is censored, do they have social Media and all this exercise science research coming through from over here, or have their own content?
4. Interesting to hear how they train in China. I remember year ago buselmo would talk about how they did things in the middle east...if I recall this was in the early 2000s when HIT was the craze here but I think he said over there if was more volume volume volume.

 

[VaginaBoob89]

Homie, I've been living in China for 9 years and these stories contradict almost everything I've learned from interacting with Chinese bodybuilders in the field, including a 212 pro coached by Grandma or open pro Lu Chenhui and his crew in Xuzhou.

They never use the test+dht derivatives stuff that Americans push; almost all of them use test+deca+tren simultaneously usually with lots of orals and humalog.

Very high test over let's say 1g is almost unheard of, but they will push tren fairly hard even offseason up to 600mg/wk, deca up to a gram, frequent use of orals offseason. They also wouldn't care about you using their names because gear is completely unstigmatized here and they talk about cycles very openly, even with "localized foreigners" like myself.

Maybe you are dealing with some high level amateurs who speak good English and can actually read about western style protocols, not saying your story is bullshit or anything. it's just that it does NOT represent what the typical monolingual Chinese would be doing.

I'm assuming both of these Chinese bbers are doing the protocols they wrote to you, but they are the exception rather than the rule in China where 19-nors, insulin, and orals are king.

 

[VaginaBoob89]

Oh, actually i know exactly who Lee is and just messaged him on wechat. I competed with him in 2018 at my very first show. His girlfriend trained at the same oly lifting gym as one of my ex's. He had a big health scare in 2021 which is why he switched to the test only offseason, but he used to do the typical test+deca+tren+dbol offseason. And yes, his family is loaded AF.

Lu I don't know.

 

[qbkilla]

Homie, I've been living in China for 9 years and these stories contradict almost everything I've learned from interacting with Chinese bodybuilders in the field, including a 212 pro coached by Grandma or open pro Lu Chenhui and his crew in Xuzhou.

They never use the test+dht derivatives stuff that Americans push; almost all of them use test+deca+tren simultaneously usually with lots of orals and humalog.

Very high test over let's say 1g is almost unheard of, but they will push tren fairly hard even offseason up to 600mg/wk, deca up to a gram, frequent use of orals offseason. They also wouldn't care about you using their names because gear is completely unstigmatized here and they talk about cycles very openly, even with "localized foreigners" like myself.

Maybe you are dealing with some high level amateurs who speak good English and can actually read about western style protocols, not saying your story is bullshit or anything. it's just that it does NOT represent what the typical monolingual Chinese would be doing.

I'm assuming both of these Chinese bbers are doing the protocols they wrote to you, but they are the exception rather than the rule in China where 19-nors, insulin, and orals are king.

How do they use the slin and what type of dosages? I assume pre, post, or both? Every training day or just to bring up a weak part?

 

[VaginaBoob89]

How do they use the slin and what type of dosages? I assume pre, post, or both? Every training day or just to bring up a weak part?

Basically Milos was coming around here pre covid and was training China's most pre-eminent men's open pro, Lu Chenhui. He's like 6'2 or so, very tall. He lives in Xuzhou and is a fairly well known celebrity and has a real bodybuilding gym in a terrible tier 4 city called Xuzhou known for being polluted and disgusting. Milos protocols sorta percolated from Lu Chenhui and a few of the bodybuilders who trained at the gym in Xuzhou and they became popular throughout the country. I think he first started coming out here all the way back in 2018 or even 2017. I wasn't really a competitive bodybuilder back in 2017 and was still learning the language fundamentals.

At that time Chinese bodybuilding was even more cut off from the rest of the world and everyone was very eager to work with a coach who had worked with a foreign IFBB pro coach (Milos) and they were paying absurd sums like 30k RMB per year for coaching to get "the secrets". So the good ole 20/20 pre and post humalog became really prevalent. If you look at Milos protocols you can see how they influenced what Chinese guys are doing, and some of the higher level English ones still hire Milos directly. About 750-1g test, 600 deca, 200-400 tren e, hex, or ace, optional EQ, and then anadrol or dbol with growth hormone and 20/20 pre post.

But English fluency overall, particularly in the Chinese bodybuilding community, gets better and better every year so I won't be surprised if in a few more years they're pushing the test+dht derivatives cycles that have become popular in the anglosphere in the past 3 years.

 

[VaginaBoob89]

Another thing really popular in Chinese bodybuilding is nicotine. Rates of smoking cigarettes are very high among Chinese males, but even higher among both male and female physique athletes. I can't think of any I know who do NOT smoke. And they ostensibly start smoking for the performance enhancement aspect for bbing.

Another weird detail is that nearly every Chinese bb (male or female) has tattoos. Bodybuilding is still considered countercultural here, and the thought is that if you do one countercultural thing you have to adopt other counter-cultural things.

hard or softcore porn among female atheletes is really common here and sorta tolerated. They get a VPN and sell their wares on twitter of all places because the government has trouble policing a foreign social media platform and pornography is obviously illegal here.

They are two competing amateur feds that both link to the IFBB and can offer athletes pro cards. DMS (Dream Muscle School) and Huanji Galaxy. Huanji is super professional and well organized. DMS is a corrupt retarded joke with awful judging. Athletes don't seem to get punished for competing in both feds simultaneously. As far as I know it's the only country with 2 amateur feds that both cooperate with the IFBB, but somebody else can double check me on this, I may be wrong. DMS refuses to offer women's divisions other than bikini and wellness for female athletes, despite lots of demand from female athletes who want to do figure/physique. Huanji is more open to this.

Despite the fact that we are discriminated against frequently in Chinese society, foreign (western) athletes are pretty consistently favored in judging in Chinese bbing. I was placed way too high at my first show; got 6th when I deserved 8th or 9th out of 10.

Chinese have a very strange fixation on limb length and this tends to seep into bodybuilding judging as their aesthetic preferences are for longer limbed people in general irrespective of height, especially women.

One thing very consistent with LAT's original post is the training style... they avoid going to failure on most things, do tons of volume, favor machines over free weights, and rest for relatively shorter time periods. PPL isn't popular here at all, bro splits dominate. They have no fixation with moving big weights on big barbell compound lifts the same way a lot of western bbers used to/still do. They view pling and bbing as much more seperate and distinct than we do, although there is one high profile SHW who's benched 290kg with elbow wraps.

These guys diet like absolute maniacs. The level of discipline when it comes to fat loss dieting is truly incredible, but a lot of the athletes, especially older ones from middle class and below families, grew accustomed to hunger growing up as China was still very poor until the late 2000s.

Fake tits are way less common among bikini/wellness athletes relative to the general population. Chinese view toward breast implants is more how they will look while wearing clothes rather than while naked/on stage, so they aren't as motivated to get them.

Chen Kang's 5th place finish at the Mr. O 2019 raised a ton of cultural awareness about the sport. Even high school kids who literally don't lift know his name and know classic physique. It's getting more mainstream and less countercultural.


That's the Chinese bodybuilding scene in a nutshell.