The last few months here in China, whole cities have been locked down and closed, no one allowed outside their homes. I don’t know where Lu was living at the time, but during the Shanghai lockdown, he was making a bunch of at home workout videos for Chinese social media, and he talked about the Shanghai lockdown quite a bit. For tens of millions of people, getting basic food was really hard for 3 months. It was physically devastating on a lot of us. I’m not surprised to see that Lu is looking skinny after that ordeal if he went through it. It’s hard to say though- most of the high level guys at the Shanghai UFC performance center left the city to train elsewhere before the lockdown- but they didn’t give us much warning, and they didn’t make exceptions for athletes or anyone else. No one expected 3 months of starvation. I don’t know. Being semi retired plus large scale lockdowns is a great way to lose the gainz.
Thanks for the clarification. I have nothing to do with martial arts (except I like watching a lot) but I still like your content and your amazing voice
I think this sticks out to people more because it's more common to see an athlete look more like the fridge on an off season, just adding on some worthless weight. Lu looks like he has lost substantial amounts of muscle tissue without adding much fat.
Yeah what Zach is saying here is generally true for most athletes but this looks pretty wild. Beyond looking 40lbs lighter, the 150kg for a heavy back squat triple is insane. I’d assume that typical off season Lu’s squat is somewhere around 200kg at least. I highly doubt getting this weak in the off-season is a typical thing for him.
The Olympic training CYCLE Year 1 after the Olympics = stop blasting, let body recover, get generally fit Year 2 after the Olympics = tickle the test, build back the muscle Year 3 after the Olympics = begin to blast, build the foundation Year 4 (new Olympic Year) = BLAST HARD, Become Legendary
Despite Lu's unquenchable love for the sport, his physical and mental state wasn't ideal to continue for 1 more year after the Olympics was postponed. I mean look at his performance in China's internal test event in March 2020. Judging from the speed of his 205kg squat jerk and facial expression, I would consider Lu's condition at that time on par with that of his younger 77kg prime self. Without the Olympics being postponed, Lu would probably snatch 177kg again or c&j 210kg at the Olympics with such a condition, no kidding... However, the Olympics was postponed, but Lu's condition was already at/near his best, just like a train was accelerated to its full speed. Everything was programmed for him to reach his prime/train's full speed before July 2020, so maintaining such speed for 1 more year was extremely difficult, as you can see from Lu's struggling facial expressions and much slower squat speed in his squat jerk attempts over 200kg in the following competitions (Asians, Olympics, China's domestic competitions, etc.). Lu admitted this in an interview (sorry I don't know which one now...there's just too many of them). He talked with Coach Yu several times whether he should quit after hearing the postponement news cuz he really worried about his condition, and Coach Yu had to chat with him about life, family, etc. etc...like doing psychological counselling. Maintaining their peak conditions was tough even for younger athletes as well. Tian and Deng Wei both got injured early in 2021. Shi got injured 3 weeks before Tokyo. Although Shi managed to make it, he said later he felt a lot of pressure, not as easy as he looked on stage. So it kinda makes sense for this train to stop for a while considering his age. Now Lu's training again you can see how happy he is now, although the weight was no way near his peak performance. Unlike Clarence he wouldn't be bothered by these talks on western social media cuz he never and can't read them lol. So it's good for him :)
Somehow I just can't paste the link of that video here. Anyway if you search “Lu Xiaojun 174 205", you'll find the video of his performance at that internal test event, for those who're interested
Was going to say something similar. Even at late intermediate - advance levels of conditioning to this sport rest is hugely important and often goes undervalued, when we take into consideration GOAT status of athletic condition and training loads it’s clear as day he needed like a year off essentially to allow his mind and body to recover from the physical, physiological and psychological stresses of living the life like that. And as mentioned, 20 ish years of elite training, genetics, PED use will seep back in with some muscle memory and general training and Lu will have a 60/40 shot of reaching a peak condition one more time in my opinion. Due to his age it will likely have to ramp up much more slowly but he is of course 1/1,000,000 genetics , training environment, mindset and more
10.38 is a good point. I remember seeing a video of Gabriel Sincrain back squatting 100kg for sets of six in a commercial gym. No ego, just getting back into training and getting the work done.
You don't lose muscle that quickly. This is from coming off and on steroid cycles, something olympic weightlifting is notorious for. That's all this is.
Just shows how these guys are built BY chemicals, it’s not just the ‘finishing touch’. There are people in full body casts who atrophy less than this. If he was any wear NEAR natural, as in if he could find natural with a compass, he would have kept a lot of muscle with push ups and body weight squats. This guy has been on since he was 12 years old, he’s basically a eunuch at this point.
Sauce, natural muscle and strength don't disappear like that. It does give a new perspective on all the people who want to "look like Lu", Even Lu only looks like Lu because of gear, you're not gonna get there by doing Snatch/C&J training as a natty.
@@vainbow4632 yes I know you said that but that's still very far from being "only" about gear. The man has been training for decades and you don't give ANY credit to that or anything else. His current appearance is due to not training, not eating, being locked up inside for months at a time. Not because he went off gear.
@@TheOak82 Take a natural with the same experience and he will lose much less with months off. If it disappears it's a telltale sign that the mass was only there because it was supported by the hormonal profile. i.e. natural Lu would not look like Lu with a borderline bodybuilder physique. He might very well resemble a DYEL despite being extremely strong. It was mainly aimed at those who train like a weightlifter to look like Lu (and there are many such "build a weightlifter physique" videos on RUclips). Natties who want to look like him are probably even better off just doing a generic bodybuilding routine than trying to copy what he does, all because of hormones.
Also he might not want to go up to -89 (according to Sika strength). He's near 40, this was definitely a smart move. Risk of heart disease only rises with age.
Great points but let’s not forget that his training cycle wasn’t the only cycle he came off of lol. Nattys don’t lose that much mass in that short amount of time unless they became completely sedentary.
In 4/5 months during the second lockdowns in Europe I lost 6kg I was fatter and looking like dyel when I came back in march girls where lifting more than me. Took me about 3 months to get back in the groove and other 3 to look like i was on steroids, lifting 7 plates for sets of 12 in the leg press.
@@cloud-ny5ux No it isn’t. It is actually a more “true” representation of pure leg strength because your core gets taken completely out of the movement. However if you were to say that being good/strong at the leg press doesn’t necessarily make you a good/strong squatter, then you’d be correct. In the squat your core stability and strength are extremely important. If you are lacking in these areas, you will suffer from technique breakdown with your back rounding over once the weight gets heavy even if you have very strong legs. All good squatters are good leg pressers, but not all good leg pressers are good squatters.
@@jermaineayivoh8263 leg press is a joke, i was repping 10 plates on it for sets of 15 when i was a skinny novice with twig legs. Sounds like bodybuilder cope
@@hipdrive Nice assumption you made there. But I am not a bodybuilder. Your reply tells me 2 things. 1) That you are most likely a naturally quad dominant squatter who’s leg press doesn’t transfer over all that well to your squat because your quads aren’t your weakness (which is why you think the leg press is a joke). 2) Because of this you lack the understanding of how the leg press can be an excellent quad strengthener for naturally hip dominant squatters who’s quads are a weakness (like me). This effect is even more pronounced for high bar squatters (like me) who go into more knee flexion than low bar squatters.
The most shocking part is that the videos were released in the first place. Remember when Seb from Weightlifting House had a recording of Lu during training looking juicy doing Lu things and someone from Team China very nicely asked who sent him that clip.
"You cannot be at peak form all the time", i wish everyone could hear this. Was at peak form earlier this year (not a weightlifter though) and took a prolonged deload of 2 and a half months and everyone who knows me thought i fell off lol, it was annoying to say the least
I'm getting back in the gym after the same 2 1/2 month break and man is it demoralizing to feel this weak. But no biggie. Keep going and we're gonna make it
Yep, it's tiring as hell to maintain a high level for no reason. If you're not competing, why would you need to maintain the bod year round? Look at the Marvel and DC superheroes when they are not filming, they "lose" all their gains too. Look at Hugh Jackman, Henry Cavill, and Jason Mamoa's "dad bods" when they are not filming vs what they look like when they train to film.
@@Fossilized-cryptid Yeah pretty sure you're the ignorant one here. All these superhero actors don't maintain their results after the movies because it's very draining on them. You can't even spell or use grammar correctly and you have the audacity to call others ignorant. Go back to kindergarten.
Natty lifting you dont get such drastic peaks and valleys, 22 years lifting natty. Never ever lost that much muscle even when not lifting for a few years, just ran and push ups, didnt lose just a few kgs.
You must not have been very muscular to begin with. Take someone who spends several years hypertrophy training and puts on significant amounts of mass. Then have them just run and do push-ups for. A few years, they will lose most of their muscle.
Agreed, i took a 4 year layoff (depression n things), back in it for 3 weeks now but went from 155lbs to 130 lbs, push ups/pull ups only got me back to 140, olympic lifting like i was back in the military, im 150, and my conditioning is there. Just not strength, but conditioning at 37 is harder, them 30 min warm-ups tho.
@@Mr_Sh1tcoin LOL, i was lifting 2x+ my body weight. Some humans just dont grow big, but we produce enough force or acceleration compared to our mass. I dunno if you know anything about lifting, but force = mass × acceleration. Oh, and my genetics are good enough to do recon while in the military. And stay pretty conditioned after that break (still deadlift 315 @ 149 recently, and that was after years off. Oh, and i was a marathoner never really trained weight lifting until i wss in the military, and id say im still closer to being a 300 pft marine (including the cft) than you are at 37. Im around 280 atm, if you even know what any of that is. If you even served this lovely nation. Do you lift 2x your body weight currently, as a natty?
He tapers off the PEDs a bit and reduces his food intake, reduced training volume, recovers in many ways, then he ramps back into a blasting phase to peak for the Olympic trials
muscle memory, I stopped lifting for a year and a half because I was working as a truck driver, got out of shape and weak, after coming back in 3 months I gain back more muscle than I had before and I got shredded without any ped
I love muscle memory. I went from 168 to 151 cuz I lost motivation and was depressed for 3 months. After a week and a half of lifting I'm at 158lbs. The body is amazing
True , technically , long rest for training sometimes give you an up , because sometimes we never recovery at 100% during the training routine, maybe 1 year to much but sometimes one week off and some month a very low volume decrease your strength and fitness level but recharge you body
@@rally_chronicles I don't know you, but from what I understand about building muscle, most of that gain is likely to be fat. You're "cultivating mass".😂😂😂
On gear vs off. Looks just like when bodybuilders who used to be skinny get on gear then come off it. Seen it too many times even at my local gym! Super obvious. The natural guys typically only get kinda chubby if they stop training, they don't suddenly lose tons of muscle. That's usually a hallmark of gear use.
We all know that you can't maintain your best shape year around, but come on. His squat droped from 300kg to 150x3, isn't it obvious that he just went off cycle?
Yeah, obviously he went off cycle. It's really hard to imagine anybody in denial of this fact). But even for going off it seems like an incredible loss of performance. If Lu were around at least 220-230 1rm squat, ok, going off cycle and lack of training kinda explains that. But this transformation is really incredible and unusual)
@@ДмитрийЛеонкин-ъ4ч , yes, my point exactly. You don't just lose half of your strength. He can't back squat now what he used to snatch. I am no expert on PEDs, but I still thought that an athlete of his level will be significantly stronger even after coming off PEDs, guess I was wrong.
@@ultramegadavidbowie6314 I can only assume he's making faces but that doesn't mean he's actually struggling. They may have as well filmed the literal first session after the comeback and 150 can be some kind of extremely light weight to come back to the squatting patterns. I'm gonna be honest, PED and what not I can't believe someone can go from squatting 300 to struggling with 150 in such a short timespan, even if we're talking about lockdowns and food shortages. He's not a cancer patient, this drop in strength would be insane
@@Lollonman1 , that's what surprised me as well. Maybe he came off competely, but his own test production is shut down or something. That happens to some people if they abuse PEDs for years and then no amount of PCT helps with that. But yeah, as was mentioned, that drop in strength and muscle mass is just insane.
Going off cycle after such a long time on has its consequences. Unless you're really good with your PCT, you basically accept to be weaker off cycle than you'd be naturally, so you can be stronger on. Plus in this case not being peaked or not even training, eating less and so on and so forth.
Great video Zack! I'm not a weightlifter but train in powerlifting. I think your statements about peak performance apply there as well. I fell into the trap thinking I always had to be setting PRs like the folks on social media. Changing my mindset to understand that it's optimal to peak a couple times a year has been a game changer.
This highlights how unrealistic the high level athlete's body is to achieve for the average person. Not even life long athletes can maintain their physiques when they don't have access to unlimited steroids, food, government assistance, and the support of a dedicated team
Muscle loss happens relatively fast. Not 3-4 weeks fast, but a year is plenty of time. Bodybuilders who used to go off steroids [edit: and back off or stop training] (like Kevin Levrone for example) would go down an amazing amount in just a few months. I lost almost all my extra muscle well within a year once (natural).
I did my bodybuilding show as a junior at 20.5 (I was still natty ) my weight was 83 kg at 7-8%om stage that is around 76 ffmi . One month after I stopped lifting completely for a whole year when I stepped back in the gym I took my measurements ready for an epic transformation which I did . My starting weight was 95kg at 25+% . So yeah if you stop lifting for a whole year you are going to lose almost all your gains .
man I always get your channel popping up on my feed. I caught covid last month, and broke my hand lifting weights and I gained 20 lbs and lost hella strength in a matter of days. The body is really funny at times.
Also, muscle memory and mitocondries is a real thing. The time it takes for guys at this level to go from DYEL to Yoked is insanely fast usually. By yoked i mean very high end of non-elite pro lifters. Going from the Yoked to the 1% of the elite takes more time though. But getting back to a fit "baseline" is fast. We see this in sports all the time when people get injured, have a year or season off, looks out of shape 2 months away from the season and then are big as hell again once playing starts. Thats cuz the body gets back to the normal level fast. Difference is, with the amount of training these guys have put in over the years, their "normal" level is equivalent to what most would consider elite.
I think people just don't the want the disingenuousness of what the reality truly is regarding competitive weightlifting scene. Calling it out publicly and addressing the concern is the only way to get it noticed especially for those who aren't in the weightlifting scene and don't really know that most athletes have taken or are currently using PEDs. Your channel is your own platform and you have every right to do with it as you please. I just think you and Seb have channels that have public outreach and have the opportunity to educate people on the matter (which by the way I think you do a better job of it than Seb). However, not "speculating" as you put it about the obvious (athletes being on PEDS), I believe is also part of the problem because it creates a false sense of reality. I know it might be a kick in the pants to hear that your favorite competitor is saucing for competition but that's the reality. Drugs work and are doing exactly what they are designed to do and help push through plateau barriers. There is nothing wrong with cycling PEDs just don't hide the fact/ignore it all together.
I love that you have the training session in the beginning. I'm one of the few that prefers training vids to gossip vids, but I understand you gotta follow the analytics
Nice to watch the weightlifting session a tht e start, I think you can get so much value just watching other people lift and the pointers/queues you guys emphasize. As for Lu - I was also blown away by how much muscle he seemed to have lost - comments section is lit with theories 🤣
PEDs are MUCH stronger than the average person thinks, seriously, combine his experience and knowledge about his own body with the level of support he would get from China's older population, he has a real shot. Muscle memory is very real and his peak form is not out of the question. If he trains like crazy, given how hard he went in the past, it is possible his body has recovered slightly from the years of abuse.
I'm currently coming out of one of these training cycles, I gained a bit of weight just to tackle some strength goals and lower stress levels and now I"m getting back to the heavy weights moving fast again. I probably have what I call a "fat year" every 4 years, so I'm looking forward to what the next year looks like.
Remember when human size Ilya came to the US to tag along to a couple of the Klokov seminars, then next thing you know he was fridge-size and hitting WR’s. EDIT - yeah you covered it. It was bananas!
THANK YOU. It was insanely frustrating seeing some of the other videos and comments on them from people not understanding training cycles, especially at an elite level. Especially the people saying (including in this comment section), oh well I'm natty and took a few months off and didn't lose this much.
But this is not some arthritic retired lifter trying to get back in shape after years away from the sport. This fellow was capable of snatching 170 in the summer of 2021! From that, to really struggling to back squat that weight due to more than just training cycles…in addition, you have to explain his substantial loss of muscle. He’s not fat, as one might expect if he just sat around and didn’t train for 10 mos…he’s now skinny with a chicken back. Either he was laid up with a very bad case of Covid, or his just off of the gear.
@@Michael-cb5nm Yeah dude, the fact that he is an elite caliber athlete means he has MORE to lose and it takes an insane amount of effort to maintain his peak, not the opposite. Did you actually watch the video?
Really disagree with this completely, this is a discussion about steroids and not relevant for naturals. Clarence openly admits gear usage. I have trained continuously for 10 years, and I 100% am the strongest and fittest I have ever been. I have been heavier and lifted more, I have been lighter and run faster, so yes in the past i have prioritised certain excersises and be stronger on those (simply though specialisation), but ultimately at my age right now I can lift and run at a high level, and I continue to marginally improve. It must be noted that every year I learn more, I train harder, I track harder, I eat better, I sleep more efficiently, I use better and more supplements, I use better movements I know work for my body etc etc. If you are natty it’s amazing how much you can improve, it is marginal, but it’s actually continuous (within reason).
Thing is, before social media and youtube, the general population never saw athletes when they were out of shape. They just saw them at their peak, in competition. And so naturally it is surprising for them to see an athlete like Lu out of shape. But anyone who is involved in sports even at an amateur level understands this. Lu had just won an Olympic gold and didn't know if he wanted to return and conpete again. Of course he went out of shape.
Taking long periods of active rest to clear the systemic fatigue of performing at an elite level is pretty orthodox (Especially in strength sports) (Unless you're Bulgarian).
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Uhh no, he just popped. I'm not sure why you made this long video just to deny the obvious.
The last few months here in China, whole cities have been locked down and closed, no one allowed outside their homes. I don’t know where Lu was living at the time, but during the Shanghai lockdown, he was making a bunch of at home workout videos for Chinese social media, and he talked about the Shanghai lockdown quite a bit. For tens of millions of people, getting basic food was really hard for 3 months. It was physically devastating on a lot of us. I’m not surprised to see that Lu is looking skinny after that ordeal if he went through it. It’s hard to say though- most of the high level guys at the Shanghai UFC performance center left the city to train elsewhere before the lockdown- but they didn’t give us much warning, and they didn’t make exceptions for athletes or anyone else. No one expected 3 months of starvation.
I don’t know. Being semi retired plus large scale lockdowns is a great way to lose the gainz.
Accepting totalitarian regimes causes starvation!!!!
Good to see you here. Thanks for the insight.
What‘s up Coach!
Still waiting for the comments that he's off cycle. Oh wait, this is actually an insightful thread.
Thanks for the clarification. I have nothing to do with martial arts (except I like watching a lot) but I still like your content and your amazing voice
Nice to see Lu’s clone has finally reached teenagehood
🤣
Take this thumbs up and go
Would love to know his ped ragime
Hahahaahahha
He’s been decanted
Lu is what gymbros feel like when they forget their creatine scoop for the day.
I think this sticks out to people more because it's more common to see an athlete look more like the fridge on an off season, just adding on some worthless weight. Lu looks like he has lost substantial amounts of muscle tissue without adding much fat.
lockdowns or serious illness
Yeah what Zach is saying here is generally true for most athletes but this looks pretty wild. Beyond looking 40lbs lighter, the 150kg for a heavy back squat triple is insane. I’d assume that typical off season Lu’s squat is somewhere around 200kg at least. I highly doubt getting this weak in the off-season is a typical thing for him.
@@middlenameawesome might be since he’s probably off cycle
@@2caiden4u Lol I mean I'm not sure what else it could be...like it's painfully obvious
@@adamjjohnsen for example it could be complete lockdown that took place in China. Or it could be fighting a disease
The Olympic training CYCLE
Year 1 after the Olympics = stop blasting, let body recover, get generally fit
Year 2 after the Olympics = tickle the test, build back the muscle
Year 3 after the Olympics = begin to blast, build the foundation
Year 4 (new Olympic Year) = BLAST HARD, Become Legendary
Well most of those guys compete in a lot of other competitions beyond the olympics
geniunely surprised why this argument isn't being put forward more frequently in this discussion
lu is 100 natty bro
@@pacmandeck9718 🤨
@@pacmandeck9718 nice troll!
This man clearly puts 100% to anything he does. If he trains he’s going to the Olympics. If he’s taking a break he’s going to enjoy his life 100%.
Def my fav part about Lu
He's either 100% natty or taking 100% of the drugs
@@todo9633 who gives af?
Despite Lu's unquenchable love for the sport, his physical and mental state wasn't ideal to continue for 1 more year after the Olympics was postponed. I mean look at his performance in China's internal test event in March 2020. Judging from the speed of his 205kg squat jerk and facial expression, I would consider Lu's condition at that time on par with that of his younger 77kg prime self. Without the Olympics being postponed, Lu would probably snatch 177kg again or c&j 210kg at the Olympics with such a condition, no kidding...
However, the Olympics was postponed, but Lu's condition was already at/near his best, just like a train was accelerated to its full speed. Everything was programmed for him to reach his prime/train's full speed before July 2020, so maintaining such speed for 1 more year was extremely difficult, as you can see from Lu's struggling facial expressions and much slower squat speed in his squat jerk attempts over 200kg in the following competitions (Asians, Olympics, China's domestic competitions, etc.). Lu admitted this in an interview (sorry I don't know which one now...there's just too many of them). He talked with Coach Yu several times whether he should quit after hearing the postponement news cuz he really worried about his condition, and Coach Yu had to chat with him about life, family, etc. etc...like doing psychological counselling.
Maintaining their peak conditions was tough even for younger athletes as well. Tian and Deng Wei both got injured early in 2021. Shi got injured 3 weeks before Tokyo. Although Shi managed to make it, he said later he felt a lot of pressure, not as easy as he looked on stage.
So it kinda makes sense for this train to stop for a while considering his age. Now Lu's training again you can see how happy he is now, although the weight was no way near his peak performance. Unlike Clarence he wouldn't be bothered by these talks on western social media cuz he never and can't read them lol. So it's good for him :)
Somehow I just can't paste the link of that video here. Anyway if you search “Lu Xiaojun 174 205", you'll find the video of his performance at that internal test event, for those who're interested
Was going to say something similar. Even at late intermediate - advance levels of conditioning to this sport rest is hugely important and often goes undervalued, when we take into consideration GOAT status of athletic condition and training loads it’s clear as day he needed like a year off essentially to allow his mind and body to recover from the physical, physiological and psychological stresses of living the life like that. And as mentioned, 20 ish years of elite training, genetics, PED use will seep back in with some muscle memory and general training and Lu will have a 60/40 shot of reaching a peak condition one more time in my opinion. Due to his age it will likely have to ramp up much more slowly but he is of course 1/1,000,000 genetics , training environment, mindset and more
My guy TLDR
That entire essay when there’s a one-word answer: roids. He’s off-cycle.
10.38 is a good point. I remember seeing a video of Gabriel Sincrain back squatting 100kg for sets of six in a commercial gym. No ego, just getting back into training and getting the work done.
The road to 300kg series?
I think so
You don't lose muscle that quickly. This is from coming off and on steroid cycles, something olympic weightlifting is notorious for. That's all this is.
Maybe he wants to prove to himself that he can win even without drugs. This is his last shot.
@@carsonlee7709 Smooth brain moment
@@carsonlee7709 ye that's literally impossible
@@carsonlee7709 And compete against other people who are roided? Makes no sense
Crazy people can’t just face reality. 99% related to going off cycle I’d wager.
Just shows how these guys are built BY chemicals, it’s not just the ‘finishing touch’. There are people in full body casts who atrophy less than this. If he was any wear NEAR natural, as in if he could find natural with a compass, he would have kept a lot of muscle with push ups and body weight squats. This guy has been on since he was 12 years old, he’s basically a eunuch at this point.
This guy is saying what no one else has the bojangles to say out loud
Facts
Lu was set to retire until he got one glimpse of himself without his special supplements 😂
Sauce, natural muscle and strength don't disappear like that. It does give a new perspective on all the people who want to "look like Lu", Even Lu only looks like Lu because of gear, you're not gonna get there by doing Snatch/C&J training as a natty.
If it's "only" about gear then I guess I'll go on gear and become a goat weightlifter. Thank's bro!
@@TheOak82 "Look like Lu"
@@vainbow4632 yes I know you said that but that's still very far from being "only" about gear. The man has been training for decades and you don't give ANY credit to that or anything else. His current appearance is due to not training, not eating, being locked up inside for months at a time. Not because he went off gear.
@@TheOak82 Take a natural with the same experience and he will lose much less with months off. If it disappears it's a telltale sign that the mass was only there because it was supported by the hormonal profile. i.e. natural Lu would not look like Lu with a borderline bodybuilder physique. He might very well resemble a DYEL despite being extremely strong.
It was mainly aimed at those who train like a weightlifter to look like Lu (and there are many such "build a weightlifter physique" videos on RUclips). Natties who want to look like him are probably even better off just doing a generic bodybuilding routine than trying to copy what he does, all because of hormones.
Yeah but every olympic level lifter is on gear so whatever
I'm glad I watched this. Kinda helped me feel a lil better about how I've not been at my peak for some time now
Some times peaking is the priority. Sometimes recovery is the priority. Sometimes something else takes priority. Focus on what is important.
Deloading could possibly help you
It helped you feel better about being a weak natty?
@@xxOmnipresencexx yes papi
@@lenn_man Keep up the good work brah, we're all gonna make it
I want to thank jack and Clarence for making me Olympic lifting enthusiast. 🙏🙏🙏
Clarence who... :( whish he would post stuff again
@@phosphate66 just subscribe to his patreon. its really worth it
@@ProdigyQb THANK YOU FOR THIS
Went off PEDs to get his health on point.
Smart thing to do.
Also he might not want to go up to -89 (according to Sika strength). He's near 40, this was definitely a smart move. Risk of heart disease only rises with age.
@@MarijuanaGuy specially when u run stuff for close to 2 decades. That's a lot too.
Go to sika page and lu had time off or it’s his pee clone… sika said it not me
“I don’t think people understand training cycles.”
Think you meant “I don’t think people understand cycles.”
"You don't just sustain peak performance"
cuts to Grizzly and crew laughing their ass off hahahaha
Great points but let’s not forget that his training cycle wasn’t the only cycle he came off of lol. Nattys don’t lose that much mass in that short amount of time unless they became completely sedentary.
In 4/5 months during the second lockdowns in Europe I lost 6kg I was fatter and looking like dyel when I came back in march girls where lifting more than me. Took me about 3 months to get back in the groove and other 3 to look like i was on steroids, lifting 7 plates for sets of 12 in the leg press.
@@redmanhigh now try back squatting even 3 plates. leg press is a poor exercise to test ones true leg strength.
@@cloud-ny5ux
No it isn’t. It is actually a more “true” representation of pure leg strength because your core gets taken completely out of the movement. However if you were to say that being good/strong at the leg press doesn’t necessarily make you a good/strong squatter, then you’d be correct.
In the squat your core stability and strength are extremely important. If you are lacking in these areas, you will suffer from technique breakdown with your back rounding over once the weight gets heavy even if you have very strong legs.
All good squatters are good leg pressers, but not all good leg pressers are good squatters.
@@jermaineayivoh8263 leg press is a joke, i was repping 10 plates on it for sets of 15 when i was a skinny novice with twig legs. Sounds like bodybuilder cope
@@hipdrive
Nice assumption you made there. But I am not a bodybuilder. Your reply tells me 2 things. 1) That you are most likely a naturally quad dominant squatter who’s leg press doesn’t transfer over all that well to your squat because your quads aren’t your weakness (which is why you think the leg press is a joke).
2) Because of this you lack the understanding of how the leg press can be an excellent quad strengthener for naturally hip dominant squatters who’s quads are a weakness (like me).
This effect is even more pronounced for high bar squatters (like me) who go into more knee flexion than low bar squatters.
The most shocking part is that the videos were released in the first place. Remember when Seb from Weightlifting House had a recording of Lu during training looking juicy doing Lu things and someone from Team China very nicely asked who sent him that clip.
"You cannot be at peak form all the time", i wish everyone could hear this. Was at peak form earlier this year (not a weightlifter though) and took a prolonged deload of 2 and a half months and everyone who knows me thought i fell off lol, it was annoying to say the least
Been there lol.
I'm getting back in the gym after the same 2 1/2 month break and man is it demoralizing to feel this weak. But no biggie. Keep going and we're gonna make it
Yep, it's tiring as hell to maintain a high level for no reason. If you're not competing, why would you need to maintain the bod year round? Look at the Marvel and DC superheroes when they are not filming, they "lose" all their gains too. Look at Hugh Jackman, Henry Cavill, and Jason Mamoa's "dad bods" when they are not filming vs what they look like when they train to film.
@@sigerlion8608 hypertrophy results are easy to maintain, ignorant, another thing is his weightliftibg performance and peds
@@Fossilized-cryptid Yeah pretty sure you're the ignorant one here. All these superhero actors don't maintain their results after the movies because it's very draining on them. You can't even spell or use grammar correctly and you have the audacity to call others ignorant. Go back to kindergarten.
If you think in DYEL, the strongmans are a great example, strenght is not the same as being jacked or looks muscular
Off cycle. Simple.
Off cycle Lu is my new body dismorphia demon.
Natty lifting you dont get such drastic peaks and valleys, 22 years lifting natty. Never ever lost that much muscle even when not lifting for a few years, just ran and push ups, didnt lose just a few kgs.
You must not have been very muscular to begin with. Take someone who spends several years hypertrophy training and puts on significant amounts of mass. Then have them just run and do push-ups for. A few years, they will lose most of their muscle.
Agreed, i took a 4 year layoff (depression n things), back in it for 3 weeks now but went from 155lbs to 130 lbs, push ups/pull ups only got me back to 140, olympic lifting like i was back in the military, im 150, and my conditioning is there. Just not strength, but conditioning at 37 is harder, them 30 min warm-ups tho.
@@blazedones hahaha mate I wouldn't be 140 pounds when I was 15. You got bad genetics full stop, just give up.
@@Mr_Sh1tcoin LOL, i was lifting 2x+ my body weight. Some humans just dont grow big, but we produce enough force or acceleration compared to our mass. I dunno if you know anything about lifting, but force = mass × acceleration.
Oh, and my genetics are good enough to do recon while in the military. And stay pretty conditioned after that break (still deadlift 315 @ 149 recently, and that was after years off.
Oh, and i was a marathoner never really trained weight lifting until i wss in the military, and id say im still closer to being a 300 pft marine (including the cft) than you are at 37. Im around 280 atm, if you even know what any of that is. If you even served this lovely nation.
Do you lift 2x your body weight currently, as a natty?
yup if you're natural you dont lose as fast from taking a break, vs if you weren't natural
He tapers off the PEDs a bit and reduces his food intake, reduced training volume, recovers in many ways, then he ramps back into a blasting phase to peak for the Olympic trials
ahem
muscle memory, I stopped lifting for a year and a half because I was working as a truck driver, got out of shape and weak, after coming back in 3 months I gain back more muscle than I had before and I got shredded without any ped
@0070 Gibran Maulana I got foldable bench and set 80 pounds adjustable dumbbells problem is lack of sleep and work volume
It's not like Lu's working as a truck driver.
I love muscle memory. I went from 168 to 151 cuz I lost motivation and was depressed for 3 months. After a week and a half of lifting I'm at 158lbs. The body is amazing
True , technically , long rest for training sometimes give you an up , because sometimes we never recovery at 100% during the training routine, maybe 1 year to much but sometimes one week off and some month a very low volume decrease your strength and fitness level but recharge you body
@@rally_chronicles I don't know you, but from what I understand about building muscle, most of that gain is likely to be fat. You're "cultivating mass".😂😂😂
You don't lose over 100Kg on your squat just taking a deload break. Dude came off cycle to clear up the internal organs most likely.
What Zack probably meant in a few word is "steroid cicles" and "androgen receptors".
love the lifting with the boys parts of the videos, great to see you guys absolutely blastin
On gear vs off. Looks just like when bodybuilders who used to be skinny get on gear then come off it. Seen it too many times even at my local gym! Super obvious. The natural guys typically only get kinda chubby if they stop training, they don't suddenly lose tons of muscle. That's usually a hallmark of gear use.
We all know that you can't maintain your best shape year around, but come on. His squat droped from 300kg to 150x3, isn't it obvious that he just went off cycle?
Yeah, obviously he went off cycle. It's really hard to imagine anybody in denial of this fact). But even for going off it seems like an incredible loss of performance. If Lu were around at least 220-230 1rm squat, ok, going off cycle and lack of training kinda explains that. But this transformation is really incredible and unusual)
@@ДмитрийЛеонкин-ъ4ч , yes, my point exactly. You don't just lose half of your strength. He can't back squat now what he used to snatch. I am no expert on PEDs, but I still thought that an athlete of his level will be significantly stronger even after coming off PEDs, guess I was wrong.
@@ultramegadavidbowie6314 I can only assume he's making faces but that doesn't mean he's actually struggling. They may have as well filmed the literal first session after the comeback and 150 can be some kind of extremely light weight to come back to the squatting patterns. I'm gonna be honest, PED and what not I can't believe someone can go from squatting 300 to struggling with 150 in such a short timespan, even if we're talking about lockdowns and food shortages. He's not a cancer patient, this drop in strength would be insane
@@Lollonman1 , that's what surprised me as well. Maybe he came off competely, but his own test production is shut down or something. That happens to some people if they abuse PEDs for years and then no amount of PCT helps with that.
But yeah, as was mentioned, that drop in strength and muscle mass is just insane.
@@ultramegadavidbowie6314 he’s not just off cycle, he clearly didn’t train since the last Olympics and have just been on a long holiday.
For the youngsters, the take away is that steroids are a hell of drug.
Amen
Each time you say lady and gentlemen it makes me feel seen. Thank you :)
IDLES is top tier lifting music. Well Done!
The show your training+talk/ commentary content is perfect
Going off cycle after such a long time on has its consequences. Unless you're really good with your PCT, you basically accept to be weaker off cycle than you'd be naturally, so you can be stronger on. Plus in this case not being peaked or not even training, eating less and so on and so forth.
Lol
Watching you guys CRUSH, those weights was awesome and inspiring!!
BEFORE YOU COMMENT ABOUT ME NOT TALKING ABOUT IT I ADRESS PED'S/STEROIDS AT 12:48
@C J B it's just the toxic community of Clarence Kennedy and Max aita. And Zack is their apprentice
Never stop the blast
Great video Zack! I'm not a weightlifter but train in powerlifting. I think your statements about peak performance apply there as well. I fell into the trap thinking I always had to be setting PRs like the folks on social media. Changing my mindset to understand that it's optimal to peak a couple times a year has been a game changer.
Yep in a volume block you can't come close to heavier weights
Yeah the only time you really be peaking is at meets and maybe one during the off season if you are having a super long off season
This highlights how unrealistic the high level athlete's body is to achieve for the average person. Not even life long athletes can maintain their physiques when they don't have access to unlimited steroids, food, government assistance, and the support of a dedicated team
This
I actually recently did a 2 month gap from training and in 3 weeks after coming back am so much stronger and feel fresh.
No way this is just guy being out of shape, it’s been what? one year max. You just don’t lose muscle mass so fast. He got off them Chinese PEDs
those things aren’t mutually exclusive.
if you train 7-10 times a week on a worlds best level for DECADES, a year of not training on that level will have you skinny like lu is
@@buffboi7977 training that hard/often at his age would be a big red flag lol.
Muscle loss happens relatively fast. Not 3-4 weeks fast, but a year is plenty of time. Bodybuilders who used to go off steroids [edit: and back off or stop training] (like Kevin Levrone for example) would go down an amazing amount in just a few months. I lost almost all my extra muscle well within a year once (natural).
I did my bodybuilding show as a junior at 20.5 (I was still natty ) my weight was 83 kg at 7-8%om stage that is around 76 ffmi . One month after I stopped lifting completely for a whole year when I stepped back in the gym I took my measurements ready for an epic transformation which I did . My starting weight was 95kg at 25+% . So yeah if you stop lifting for a whole year you are going to lose almost all your gains .
The training section was an absolute joy to watch! Great way you're editing these videos.
Damn! You guys working hard and listening to the latest Idles album, that’s the right workout mix.
That training session was awesome. I’m just starting to learn Olympic lifting and this is some good footages.
He stopped PED's. Any other questions?
Gotta respect them listening to idles during training . Much love from Bristol!
man I always get your channel popping up on my feed. I caught covid last month, and broke my hand lifting weights and I gained 20 lbs and lost hella strength in a matter of days. The body is really funny at times.
Loved the training session at the start!
Also, muscle memory and mitocondries is a real thing. The time it takes for guys at this level to go from DYEL to Yoked is insanely fast usually. By yoked i mean very high end of non-elite pro lifters. Going from the Yoked to the 1% of the elite takes more time though. But getting back to a fit "baseline" is fast. We see this in sports all the time when people get injured, have a year or season off, looks out of shape 2 months away from the season and then are big as hell again once playing starts. Thats cuz the body gets back to the normal level fast. Difference is, with the amount of training these guys have put in over the years, their "normal" level is equivalent to what most would consider elite.
I think people just don't the want the disingenuousness of what the reality truly is regarding competitive weightlifting scene. Calling it out publicly and addressing the concern is the only way to get it noticed especially for those who aren't in the weightlifting scene and don't really know that most athletes have taken or are currently using PEDs. Your channel is your own platform and you have every right to do with it as you please. I just think you and Seb have channels that have public outreach and have the opportunity to educate people on the matter (which by the way I think you do a better job of it than Seb). However, not "speculating" as you put it about the obvious (athletes being on PEDS), I believe is also part of the problem because it creates a false sense of reality. I know it might be a kick in the pants to hear that your favorite competitor is saucing for competition but that's the reality. Drugs work and are doing exactly what they are designed to do and help push through plateau barriers. There is nothing wrong with cycling PEDs just don't hide the fact/ignore it all together.
+1 for the Idles in the background, killer workout soundtrack
I dont care for the training footage in the beging but the second half was amazing. Couldnt stop watching. Great videos and commentary to boot
It's just funny. Cuz if LU keeps the same shape, we can say that's PED effect. If he lost muscle, we can say he stopped PED.
are you guys crazy ? he just stopped the test / gear and went off, loosing his gains. I swear he will be back in peak form in 3 -4 months
hes just dyel-ing in bodyweight.
great intro for this! watching some good, solid training is utter foreplay. cheerzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Great video Zakch Tyllandir. Love the honesty brother, more of these x
I really enjoy the type of Video in which you Show some of your recent traninig progress and then talk about other interesting stuff!
I love that you have the training session in the beginning. I'm one of the few that prefers training vids to gossip vids, but I understand you gotta follow the analytics
Nice to watch the weightlifting session a tht e start, I think you can get so much value just watching other people lift and the pointers/queues you guys emphasize. As for Lu - I was also blown away by how much muscle he seemed to have lost - comments section is lit with theories 🤣
Loved the training footage, please stick some more in your vids.
Forget peaks and valleys. ABB = Always Be Blasting
PLEASE keep showing your training. Thanks Mr. Z.
Lü really looks like he's off gear more than anything
is it just me or zack looks more and more like chael sonnen talking? Kinda bizarre, but I like it
that was such a badass training segment. metalhedz unite - also, those fucking block presses were AWESOME
the combined vlog and discussion is really cool! keep it going
That mix of training vlog and commentary in the same video thooo 🤌🏼👏🏻
Nice to hear CRAWL! playing in the background
The internet has a weird obsession with always seeing abs.
Strength fluctuates, (natural) muscle stays, especially if you keep lifting weights submaximally.
Loving the uploads
Your speed during the snatches is insane
PEDs are MUCH stronger than the average person thinks, seriously, combine his experience and knowledge about his own body with the level of support he would get from China's older population, he has a real shot. Muscle memory is very real and his peak form is not out of the question. If he trains like crazy, given how hard he went in the past, it is possible his body has recovered slightly from the years of abuse.
Awesome content man! I love the training video before the main stuff
He's off the gear cycle
I'm currently coming out of one of these training cycles, I gained a bit of weight just to tackle some strength goals and lower stress levels and now I"m getting back to the heavy weights moving fast again. I probably have what I call a "fat year" every 4 years, so I'm looking forward to what the next year looks like.
Really enjoyed this one! I’m glad I found your channel
It’s called off cycle
Remember when human size Ilya came to the US to tag along to a couple of the Klokov seminars, then next thing you know he was fridge-size and hitting WR’s.
EDIT - yeah you covered it. It was bananas!
really like the format here
Lack of " vitamin S"...
THANK YOU. It was insanely frustrating seeing some of the other videos and comments on them from people not understanding training cycles, especially at an elite level. Especially the people saying (including in this comment section), oh well I'm natty and took a few months off and didn't lose this much.
But this is not some arthritic retired lifter trying to get back in shape after years away from the sport. This fellow was capable of snatching 170 in the summer of 2021! From that, to really struggling to back squat that weight due to more than just training cycles…in addition, you have to explain his substantial loss of muscle. He’s not fat, as one might expect if he just sat around and didn’t train for 10 mos…he’s now skinny with a chicken back.
Either he was laid up with a very bad case of Covid, or his just off of the gear.
@@Michael-cb5nm Yeah dude, the fact that he is an elite caliber athlete means he has MORE to lose and it takes an insane amount of effort to maintain his peak, not the opposite. Did you actually watch the video?
Really liked the video style with training footage in the beggining and then the discussion
FUCK!!! Hell yeah, man, absolutely fired up!
I like this video format. Nice Zack trainings
Really disagree with this completely, this is a discussion about steroids and not relevant for naturals.
Clarence openly admits gear usage.
I have trained continuously for 10 years, and I 100% am the strongest and fittest I have ever been.
I have been heavier and lifted more, I have been lighter and run faster, so yes in the past i have prioritised certain excersises and be stronger on those (simply though specialisation), but ultimately at my age right now I can lift and run at a high level, and I continue to marginally improve.
It must be noted that every year I learn more, I train harder, I track harder, I eat better, I sleep more efficiently, I use better and more supplements, I use better movements I know work for my body etc etc.
If you are natty it’s amazing how much you can improve, it is marginal, but it’s actually continuous (within reason).
Love the training session at the start
People are too used to watching powerlifters blast gear year round
Beginner and motivated 😁thanks!
Thing is, before social media and youtube, the general population never saw athletes when they were out of shape. They just saw them at their peak, in competition. And so naturally it is surprising for them to see an athlete like Lu out of shape.
But anyone who is involved in sports even at an amateur level understands this. Lu had just won an Olympic gold and didn't know if he wanted to return and conpete again. Of course he went out of shape.
Dmitry always seems to be near top shape! Kudos to him, I’m almost 60 and he inspires me to be strong into old sge
Taking long periods of active rest to clear the systemic fatigue of performing at an elite level is pretty orthodox (Especially in strength sports) (Unless you're Bulgarian).
Beginning was pretty cool!
Zach is the CEO of looking DYEL
He's off the D-Bol end of story.
he looks like he was on the juice and now went off the juice