On July 31, China's famous weightlifter Lu Xiaojun lived up to expectations and won the men's 81 kg championship again at the age of 37, becoming the oldest weightlifting champion in Olympic history. After Lu Xiaojun won the championship, the on-site referee also instantly became his fan and went on stage to ask for autographs.
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Mention the name Lu Xiaojun, people who usually do not pay attention to weightlifting may not be familiar with him. However, this weightlifting champion, who is not well-known in China, is the top of the foreign fitness circle, has a large number of die-hard fans, and is the "peerless handsome guy" in the hearts of many European and American fans.
Under these photos of recording their own competition with a little pride, there are usually tens of thousands of likes and comments from all over the world. Weightlifter Shi Zhiyong's "WOCAO" has become a tacit meme for fans in the comments, and even foreign weightlifting enthusiasts have turned this keyword into an instagram topic about weightlifting, and since two years ago, people have been sharing their own strength training photos under this topic.
Of course, the most popular Chinese weightlifter overseas is Lu Xiaojun, who has 247,000 followers and 27,500 subscribers on Instagram and YouTube, respectively. Lu Xiaojun's own brand LUXIAOJUN operates weight training equipment that can be ordered directly in many countries, and the official website supports a variety of mainstream currency settlement.
With 12.93 million views, "Yao Ming's Top 10 Career Goals" ranked first in the number of single-player video views on YouTube by Chinese athletes. The protagonist of Yao Ming's sports video, which is second only to Yao Ming in terms of play, is Lu Xiaojun - during the 2019 World Weightlifting Championships, a 5-minute daily training clip filmed by weightlifter Lu Xiaojun at the training center, with more than 4 million views, became the most influential Chinese athlete video overseas besides Yao Ming, with comments, playback data and well-known Internet celebrity Li Ziqi on a par.
Let's first take a look at what Rainbow Farts the overseas fans of The God of War have said to him:
"His warm-up process is all my training."
"He squats faster than I can free fall."
"Lu Xiaojun's back strength is crazy."
"Is it normal to watch this video (Lu Xiaojun's game video) ten times in a row?"
"His figure is so hot."
The god of war, who was praised by European and American fans as a "world-class beauty", personally responded to this nickname in an interview after the competition: "I like every muscle in my body, after training, I will have selfies, and I must practice to be very full." 」 ”
Strength lifting, bodybuilding, Hercules, weightlifting... In fact, there are different aesthetics and training methods in each project, but Lu Xiaojun has unexpectedly and unprecedentedly unified the concept of the fitness circle. The most convincing thing is his back strength, clipping coins, clipping A4 paper, clipping mobile phones, these actions that are difficult to go to the sky in the eyes of ordinary people, in the eyes of the god of war and his fans, "not a challenge at all."
With the popularity of the comprehensive fitness sport Crossfit in recent years, many gyms abroad have posted posters of Lv Xiaojun, and his training videos have also been analyzed frame by frame by fitness coaches around the world, and even the fitness big V on YouTube will explain the training methods and difficulties of each muscle on Lu Xiaojun's body one by one, and finally conclude that such a figure is the result of talent, endless explosiveness and long-term training.
Garage Strength, a well-known sports video blogger, said in a video dedicated to analyzing Lü Xiaojun's movements: "We can study Lü Xiaojun's movement methods and power, so as to apply them to the development of fitness equipment. ”
Overseas fans not only learn the training skills of the god of war, but also pay attention to Lu Xiaojun's achievements on the field. During the 2016 Rio Olympics, Lu Xiaojun lost to Haskstein athlete Rasimov with the same overall result, but heavier weight.
At that time, the domestic controversy focused on whether Rasimov's last stand was in line with the rules of successful standing and whether the referee's decision was fair. Reuters immediately pointed out that as a former Azerbaijani player, Rasimov has long been banned for two years for taking banned drugs, and the head coach of the Kazakhstan weightlifting team is a "habitual offender" who loves to guide players to take banned drugs. Lu Xiaojun's foreign fans also joined the discussion, saying that "it is impossible for anyone to surpass the god of war, and that player must be taking drugs." ”
Five years later, in early 2021, an investigation by the International Weightlifting Federation found that Rasimov did violate the drug test process. Not only was he disqualified from the Olympic Games, but after further investigation and confirmation, he may also "return" the gold medal at the Rio Olympics to Lu Xiaojun.
Lu Xiaojun's popularity not only made him a yds in the hearts of overseas fans, but also greatly improved the popularity of Chinese weightlifters in the european and American fitness circles. Although some athletes have not opened instagram themselves, if you casually flip through Lu Xiaojun's ins, you can see that many fans have asked about the latest situation of famous players such as Tian Tao and Li Wenwen. There are even fans who "boldly show love" and express that they are willing to change their sexual orientation for Shi Zhiyong.
To sort out why Chinese weightlifters have such a high popularity in the European and American fitness circles, let's first take a look at why many popular fitness Internet celebrities are loved by fans. The perfect body has its own traffic, coupled with the ability to share the training secrets of practicing such a body, the network big Vs in the European and American fitness circles often have the heat of many celebrities and stars.
Colombian girl Anllela Sagra has attracted more than 13 million followers with her slim and powerful body. The 26-year-old only entered the gym for the first time four years ago, quickly reduced her body fat through reasonable training to have eight-pack abs, and won the third place in the first bodybuilding competition in her life. Anllela, who used incorrect weight loss methods such as dieting and vomiting as a costume designer and model, has now started her fitness career full-time as a fitness instructor.
In addition to the perfect body in line with healthy training and the standard action sharing that is worth referencing, the inspirational stories behind the fitness circle internet celebrities are also inspiring their followers. Swedish girl Linn Lowes, who has 2.7 million followers, did not interrupt her workouts during her lymphoma. After the condition was suppressed, due to multiple surgeries that destroyed the muscle nerves, the doctor told her that it might take years or more to restore muscle growth, but it only took her three years to make her body, which had been destroyed by the virus to the point of weakness, become fit and full of strength again, and even recovered to the same weight level as before the illness.
The reasons for the popularity of weightlifters such as Lu Xiaojun in Europe and the United States are also roughly similar. Perfect body is the most obvious reason, to know that weightlifting is not short of champions, but not all weightlifting champions have the same good body as Lu Xiaojun.
Due to the characteristics of weightlifting itself, most of the athletes with excellent results are not very tall, and some heavyweight players even look a little "short and fat" in appearance. In the course of accumulated high-intensity training, each athlete has accumulated an injury, which also creates some obstacles to better training and perfect body shape.
However, because of his extraordinary talent and persistence over the years, Lü Xiaojun has developed a perfect figure that is most respected in the weightlifting industry: "short thighs, long torso, extremely flexible ankle and hip joints, and every muscle in the back has been developed". His sculptural muscle lines have not declined in the slightest as he grows older — he can easily clamp an A4 piece of paper when Lu Xiaojun's back muscles are exerted, so it is expected that he will become the top of the European and American fitness circles.
In addition, crossfit, which has many references for weightlifting, is popular in the fitness circles in Europe and the United States, and many of the warm-up methods and power methods needed in weightlifting training have become the main content of fitness enthusiasts to study and learn.
Although Lu Xiaojun insists that "there is no standard action, only reasonable force, reasonable use of waist and leg strength", his light and stable squat has become a textbook in the industry across various segments. The upper body is in a standard vertical state, the leg position is not moving, and the perfect waist power - a simple squat, so that many European and American fitness enthusiasts shout "feel comfortable" after watching the video. These videos are not only played on a loop in foreign gyms, but are also used as demonstration materials by many fitness instructors.
In the field of competitive sports, excellent results are always the confidence, and the good results of Chinese weightlifters represented by Lu Xiaojun in various world competitions are naturally an important reason why they are loved by overseas fans. The controversy at the Rio Olympics not only did not let Lu Xiaojun, who only won the silver medal, decline in people's hearts, but also further "out of the circle" because fans complained about him. While learning from his training methods, many overseas fans have also begun to pay attention to his game process and life experience, and inspirational stories have also become an important reason for the "solid fans" of the god of war.
Because weightlifting is very hard, but the equipment required is very simple, many athletes who choose to enter this industry in China are from poorer families. Lu Xiaojun, who came from a rural background and changed from sprinting to weightlifting, was more embarrassed and poor than ever after entering the weightlifting team in Hubei Province because his mother was ill and his father was unable to take care of the farmland alone. In 2001, Lu Xiaojun quit the provincial team and ran home to run freight. But the coach and his family know that his talent cannot be wasted, and lu Xiaojun returns to the game with the persuasion of the coach and the unconditional support of his family.
Until the 2009 World Championships, Lu Xiaojun's standing and overall results broke the world record to win the championship. Since then, in large and small events, everyone's focus has become to see if Lu Xiaojun can break the record again.
In addition to popular matches and training videos, Lu Xiaojun's interview videos about his childhood experiences and daily preparation details also garnered more than 60,000 views on YouTube. The tortuous life story, the miracle of fame in one fell swoop, and the follow-up to the marriage and child of his girlfriend who has been in love for ten years after Liu Dark Flower Ming, the life of Lu Xiaojun, who is full of strength and non-stop like an inspirational blockbuster, has also inspired countless of his fans at home and abroad.
Chinese weightlifters who have been praised by the fitness circle abroad are not treated satisfactorily at home. Liu Xiang, Guo Jingjing, Lin Dan, Sun Yang, Zhang Jike, a series of well-known sports stars, rarely appear in the name of weightlifters. On the contrary, many weightlifting champions are often found to be depressed by the media or netizens after retiring.
In order to pursue results, many weightlifters have been practicing hard since childhood, which has also caused serious injuries and illnesses after retirement, which affect daily life at the slightest and endanger life. The former "Asia's First Lux" talent won more than 40 national championships and more than 20 Asian championships during his service, but after retiring, he was deeply involved in many diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hyperhemovision, glomerulitis and apnea syndrome. After 3 months in the hospital, Caili's weight soared to 150 kg. In 2003, at the age of 33, Heli died of sleep apnea syndrome, and on the day of his death, the family had only 300 yuan in savings.
Another weightlifting champion, Zou Chunlan, was found working as a bather in a bathhouse after retiring from the army, and later opened his own dry cleaning shop with the help of the Women's Federation and the Sports Bureau. But weightlifting still brought difficult regrets to Zou Chunlan, and after marrying her husband, Zou Chunlan has always hoped to have a child of her own, but due to the hormonal confusion caused by taking drugs such as "vigorous supplements" during her early training, this wish has never been realized.
In addition to the many injuries left by training, the weightlifting champions have a downfall after retirement, in large part because the commercial value of weightlifting is not great compared to sports such as football and swimming.
This is first of all because the attention of the sport is not high, and an athlete with no name in football is likely to earn more than an Olympic champion. "That's true, and most people don't get commercial endorsements. This is closely related to the media exposure and public attention of the sports projects involved. The relatively low-participation, low-participation, low-level internationalization projects that we can draw attention to at the Olympic Games will rapidly decrease after an Olympic cycle, and the commercial value of the athletes in these sports will be greatly reduced. Zhang Qing, president of a sports consulting company in Beijing, analyzed.
Appearance conditions are generally another reason why weightlifting champions have low commercial value and rarely become sports stars. A Taiwanese weightlifter, Huang Shixu, once told reporters during the 2012 London Olympics: "I am ugly and strong, and it is difficult to find a boyfriend." As mentioned earlier, not every weightlifter has beautiful muscles and perfect lines like Lu Xiaojun, and in this era of "looking at faces", if they want to go further in commercial value if they are not dominant in appearance conditions, it is difficult to imagine.
However, it is worth noting that the difficulties encountered by the weight champions are also improving. This year, after Chen Lijun won the Men's 67 kg weightlifting title at the Tokyo Olympics, many media reported on his poor family's poverty. Netizens have called on social media for merchants to choose Chen Lijun as a spokesperson. On July 30, Ping An Health Insurance officially announced that it had invited Chen Lijun to serve as a health ambassador, and he also posted on Weibo to thank netizens:
"First of all, thank you to all enthusiastic netizens for helping me find endorsements. Weightlifting is a contest of strength and skill, but also a contest of perseverance and courage. Whether it is a sports field or a life arena, I will cheer for everyone who loves life and works tenaciously. ”