Overcoming limitations to achieve bodybuilding
Khoi recounted that at the age of 14, during the social distancing period due to the Covid-19 pandemic, his body weight reached 120 kg with a height of about 1.77 m. Khoi said that due to his habit of overeating and then lying down, he gained more than 20 kg. His excessive weight, combined with a history of asthma, made movement difficult and caused him to frequently experience fatigue and shortness of breath.
Khoi said that he initially only intended to exercise to improve his health, but then the solid muscles of the athletes he saw online ignited a great passion in him.
Back when I was overweight
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE SUBJECT
“At first, I was a bit lazy because I was overweight and just wanted to stay home, eat, and rest. Luckily, I had a personal trainer who closely supervised and motivated me, which helped me push myself to maintain a consistent workout routine,” Khoi shared.
According to Khoi, the initial training sessions with his overweight physique left him sore, breathless, and incredibly tired. However, overcoming the initial inertia with the support of his coach, step by step, the young man forced himself into a rhythm of exercise to regain his physical strength.
Khoi diligently trains with heavy weights at the gym, honing his physical fitness for bodybuilding competitions.
PHOTO: THAI PHUC
Khoi recounted that, through persistent effort, after three months, his body weight dropped to 100 kg, making his movements gradually lighter and rekindling his passion for bodybuilding.
“Iron discipline” reaches the pinnacle of national youth bodybuilding.
At the age of 16, while focusing on his passion for competition, Khoi suffered a knee ligament sprain due to lifting heavy weights while malnourished and without proper warm-up. However, the biggest challenge for this high school senior was not just the injuries or the strenuous training regimen, but the problem of balancing his study time with the intense muscle-building regimen.
Khoi maintains a strict training intensity at the gym.
PHOTO: THAI PHUC
Preparing for the 2026 National Bodybuilding Championship, Khoi said he has to maintain a training schedule of two sessions a day, combined with a two-hour walk. “I go to school in the morning, quickly stuff my packed lunch into a lunchbox I prepared during break time, and then I work out diligently in the gym until late at night,” Khoi said.
The male student added that there were periods of intense dieting, the pressure of studying for the high school graduation exam , and the stress of preparing six meals a day, which left him exhausted and even falling asleep in class.
“There were days when I was so tired that I fell asleep in class. At those times, I was always in a state of low blood sugar, and I couldn’t absorb information as quickly as a normal person,” Khoi recalled.
The “sweet reward” for that sacrifice is a series of impressive achievements. Khoi successively won a bronze medal at the Long An Open Bodybuilding Championship in 2024, followed by a silver medal at the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Bodybuilding Championship in 2026, and culminated in a gold medal in the bodybuilding category for those under 18 (80 kg) at the National Youth Bodybuilding Championship in 2026.
Khoi brilliantly won the gold medal at the 2026 National Youth Bodybuilding Championship.
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE SUBJECT
Returning to his normal life after competing and graduating from high school, Khoi now works as a personal trainer, nurturing his long-term ambition to conquer new heights in bodybuilding.
Commenting on his young protégé, coach Tran Hoang Duy Phuc, coach of the Ho Chi Minh City bodybuilding team, highly praised Khoi’s willpower and discipline.
According to coach Duy Phuc, balancing studies with a rigorous training regimen of two sessions per day is no easy feat. Khoi’s transformation from a 120kg teenager to a national gold medalist is the clearest evidence of his efforts.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chang-trai-tung-nang-120-kg-va-hanh-trinh-doat-huy-chuong-vang-the-hinh-185261007143153781.htm
