The biography, life, and accomplishments of Chul Soon Hwang
Also known as the “Asian Arnold”, Chul Soon Hwang has become a sensation throughout not only his home country of Korea, but the fitness industry as a whole. Breaking out on the scene in 2009, Chul has taken the industry by storm.
Below is a complete breakdown of Chul Soon Hwang’s profile, stats, biography, training, and diet regimens.
|
Full Name: Chul Soon Hwang |
||
| Weight | Height | Date Of Birth |
| 215-225 lbs | 5’10″ | 09/01/1983 |
| Division | Era | Nationality |
| Fitness Model, Social Media Celebrity, bodybuilder, personal trainer | 2010 | Korean |
Biography
Being dubbed the “Asian Arnold” is quite an honorable nickname, especially since Arnold Schwarzenegger, a 7x Mr. Olympia champion, is someone that Chul has looked up to since he started his fitness journey. Chul Soon Hwang is a Korean-born bodybuilder who’s famous for his incredible physique. You may recognize his “chiseled” 8-pack abs accompanied by his undistinguished capped deltoids and an overall old-school, classic physique.
Chul has become a sensation throughout his homeland and the fitness industry as a whole, ever since he started competing way back in 2009. He has won numerous bodybuilding contests throughout the U.S. as well as Korea, and he has also appeared in commercials and TV shows, talk about being accomplished.
Sadly, Chul’s life was not always this glamorous and successful, nor was he anywhere near the size he is now. Throughout his childhood, he was often disrespected for his small frame and underdeveloped appearance. Like the backstories of many of us gym goers, the criticisms of his appearance were what made him turn to the weight room, and begin his fitness journey.
When he began his training, Chul would do 3000 crunches a day, just about every day and his overall training sessions would frequently last more than two or even three hours in total. Eventually he realized that this type of training was not that efficient for building muscle mass. Once he realized that, he started following an actual workout program that had true structure to it, and began focusing on his diet.
Once he made the change to how he trained and ate, Chul began to see incredible progress on his physique. Three years later, he had crafted a physique that was massive and shredded, he had become almost unrecognizable.
Competition History
As stated above, Chul Soon Hwang had started competing in bodybuilding way back in 2009, and since then he has really racked up the trophies and titles. Chul has become a seasoned vet in bodybuilding. Let’s take a look.
- 2016 Musclemania Universe at Fitness Universe, Professional Medium, 1st place and Overall Champion
- 2015 Musclemania Universe at Fitness Universe, Professional Medium, 1st place and Overall Champion
- 2015 Musclemania World at Fitness America Weekend, Professional Medium, 2nd place
- 2014 Musclemania Universe at Fitness Universe, Professional Medium, 1st place
- 2013 Musclemania World at Fitness America Weekend, Professional Medium, 2nd place
- 2012 Musclemania World at Fitness America Weekend, Professional Heavyweight, 1st place – Overall Champion
- 2011 Musclemania World at Fitness America Weekend, Professional Heavyweight, 4th place
- 2010 Musclemania World at Fitness America Weekend, Lightweight, World Champion (Pro Card)
- 2010 Model Universe at Fitness Universe, 3rd place
- Musclemania Universe at Fitness Universe, Lightweight, 4th place
- 2010 Musclemania Universe Korea, Sports Model, 1st place
- 2009 Fitness Korea, Sports Model, 3rd place
- 2009 Musclemania World at Fitness America Weekend, Lightweight, 2nd place
Training
The way Chul trains is nothing short of intense. In order to really build his massive “old-school” physique, Chul had to countless hours in the gym, and it was not something that just came to him effortlessly. He spent hours and hours each day in the gym, working to craft the perfect physique.
One way that Chul really packed on the size was focusing on compound movements. These movements included things like the bench press, the squat, then pull-ups and deadlifts. While it may not seem like much, Chul believes that just these four exercises can be enough to build an impressive Golden-Era like physique. If you really maximize each set, and focus on the mind muscle connection with some great volume, you’ll more than likely have some great results.
While Chul believes heavily in simple compound movements, he still adds some isolation movements to his workouts as well. Isolation movements are like fine-tuning additions to a workout routine, really bringing up weak points in terms of strength and muscle definition and size. Some examples of isolation movements include cable flys, dumbbell rear delt flys, and wide-grip lat pulldowns.
Chul’s split is as follows:
Day 1: Back
Day 2: Chest
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Arms
Day 5: Shoulders
As you can see, Chul Soon Hwang follows the “bro split”, which is hitting one muscle group at a time, typically once a week. This allows the muscles to have adequate rest and recovery before the next training session.
Here is an example of Chul’s back day:
| Exercises | Sets | Reps |
| Wide-Grip Cable Pulldown | 3 | 10 |
| Close Grip Rows | 3 | 10 |
| Seated Rows (Normal Grip) | 3 | 8 |
| T-Bar Row | 3 | 8 |
| Rack Pull | 3 | 10 |
| Pull-Ups | 3 | Until Failure |
One thing that Chul focuses on is relatively high volume averaging 8-10 reps per exercise, but do not let that fool you, he still moves heavy weight. It is also worth noting that he takes his last exercise to failure on each set!
Nutrition
You do not get to look like Chul Soon Hwang with just lifting weights, diet is also a huge factor in his massive, yet ripped physique, as well as his impressive strength.
Like many bodybuilders, Chul follows a strict diet pretty much year round. He focuses his diet on high protein, moderate carbs, and moderate fat intake. One thing to note is Chul times his macros, with most of his carbohydrates being consumed in the morning as well as right after a workout. On the other hand, his protein and fats are consumed in meals throughout the day, especially in the evening right before bed. He also eats a meal just about every 2 or 3 hours, making sure to refill pretty much as soon as the last meal digests.
What does he actually eat? Well, to name some of the common things that he consumes, the include:
- Bananas
- Chicken
- Brown rice
- Whey protein shakes
- Avocados
Wrap Up
Overall, Chul Soon Hwang is someone that brings a unique look to the fitness industry. He shows that it is not all about how massive you can be, but also about symmetry and muscle definition.
What are your thoughts on Chul Soon?
Be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Chul Soon Hwang Instagram
