Scripps Ranch bodybuilder makes his mark
By John Gregory
Zicheng “Steve” Zhou is a seemingly mild mannered Scripps Ranch resident who appears to turn into a muscled Superman when it’s time to train and compete in bodybuilding contests.
Zhou, 27, came back victorious after participating in the INBA International Battle Against Cancer bodybuilding competition in El Segundo on May 25. He won first place in the male sports model category, placed third in the mens classic physique amateur division and eighth place in the mens physique amateur division.
Zhou started weightlifting seriously in 2013. He entered his first official competition in 2016.
He said he had some early health problems when he was younger. But, with the help of his father, who opened his eyes to some larger than life characters, he was inspired to begin his bodybuilding journey. He speaks humbly, mindfully and intelligently as he describes his path.
“I grew up pretty skinny and I had asthma as well. My father wanted to inspire me to get fit, so he would show me movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone … and that got me interested in working out,” Zhou said. “At the same time, he enrolled me in a swimming program, and I was pretty good at it. So, I was competitively swimming before I started doing bodybuilding shows.”
Zhou now competes in the sports model competition and mens physique, which are both along the lines of a classic beach body appeal as opposed to a bulky body style.
In his early days of bodybuilding competition, Zhou was competing in the unlimited class, which included bodybuilders who could use performance enhancing substances, which left Zhou at a disadvantage. He is now competing in the natural bodybuilding classification.
It takes discipline and a solid plan year-round to stay competitive as a serious bodybuilder. This involves workouts, proper nutrition and practicing poses that will outshine the competitors.
“The work is done before you step on stage. I need a balanced approach. So, I have the in-season and the off-season. In the off-season, I get a little bit more body fat and try to lift as heavy as possible to build as much muscle as possible … try not to be too ridiculous about my diet,” he said. “About 15 weeks before the competition, I would start to control my diet and add cardio that I do. And the closer I get to a competition, the more exercises I would do and the fewer calories I would consume.”
Then, Zhou begins focusing heavily on a crucial part of the bodybuilding preparations: he spends a large amount of time practicing competitive poses.
“What people don’t realize is that posing is an art in itself. It’s no different from when a competitive dancer practices their moves because when you’re on stage, it’s actually hard to flex all your muscles at once in a way that’s aesthetically pleasing,” he said. “So, you need to make sure to practice that in advance.”
Zhou spends 1 to 1 ½ hours in the gym each day in the off-season. As competition nears, he starts adding one hour of cardio each day to that. He did 2 hours of cardio exercises each day the week before his most recent competition.
“Two weeks before my competition, I would work out every single day. I would do a 4-day cycle to train every single body part,” he said.
Day 1 included calves, thighs, glutes as well as abs. Day 2 included chest and triceps. Day 3 included back and triceps. Day 4 included shoulders and arms again. He restarted the 4-day cycle on the fifth day. In addition, he included 1 hour of cardio exercises immediately after his weight training sessions. Then added another hour of cardio on his stationary bike each day once he returned to his home.
His diet before a competition nears becomes very measured.
“A few weeks before I must maintain calorie deficit, which means eating less calories. That way you lose fat. In that diet, I would prioritize protein,” Zhou said. “So, how I would eat is usually six meals a day; six very, very small meals. That’s going to allow me to not feel really hungry at any certain point in the day and it also shapes the stomach a little bit.”
This is how he described his typical diet: Morning – egg whites and oatmeal. Other meals – veggies, rice and forms of clean protein, which can be a combination of fish, steak, some other beef, shrimp and chicken. He prepares and eats a very precise amount of each.
Preparation takes months of intense workouts, strict dieting and self-discipline. Finally, as competitors arrive for a competition, they receive tanning treatments, eat some carbs, get more tanning, pump up and go on stage to pose. But, during the recent competition, he wanted to “pig out more than anything,” Zhou said.
“I won a medal and a sword. That’s cool, but none of that is as cool as the meal after the competition,” he said.