Natural bodybuilding World Championships: Hongkonger medallist aims to dispel myths about Asians
- Marvin Fok says he overcame self-doubt to claim second place at the World Natural Bodybuilding Federation’s championships
- He is hoping to break stereotypes about Asian bodybuilders and their ability to compete with rivals of European or African descent
Hong Kong natural bodybuilder Marvin Fok says he hopes to dispel myths that Asians cannot compete with rivals of European and African descent after his second place at October’s World Championships.
“It’s just a social norm to me,” said Fok, who took silver in the lightweight class in Los Angeles. “If you never try, you never know. I’m 39, so I’m giving hope to young people in Hong Kong and Chinese people, saying we can do it if we invest enough time, train smart and stay injury-free.”
Natural bodybuilding means athletes do not take performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids, which are allowed in other bodybuilding competitions.
Bodybuilding is judged on several criteria such as overall aesthetic, X frame (broad shoulders and broad thighs with a small waist), conditioning (lean, defined muscles), stage presence and eight mandatory poses.
The World Natural Bodybuilding Federation’s championships is one of the most prestigious competitions.
A few years ago, this victory may have been impossible for Fok. He was wracked by self-doubt and reluctant to leave his comfort zone. The idea of believing he could match overseas bodybuilders was too much.
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Then he claimed the prestigious Muscle Mayhem in the United States in 2019. He took the overall title, beating even those outside his weight class. He was the first Asian person to win it.
“From that moment, I knew if I put that mentality to every aspect in life, do the grind, know it’s OK to fail and continue doing it, I’ll get better and better,” Fok said. “[That 2019 title] was a turning point for me.”
He started applying his new-found approach as a form of training his mind.
For example, he was living in Vancouver and was being teased for having poor English. The more he was teased, the less he spoke English and the worse his language skills became – until he decided to put himself out there despite the risk of ridicule. Four years on, he speaks perfect English.
“We try to tease people who are willing to try something different, but I think we can excel if we just do whatever we believe we can do,” Fok said. “You can train your mind. It’s like a muscle, it’s the same concept.
“There is no risk if you reach out and do something new, like learning English, practising it, reaching out to more people, reaching outside your scope of practice. You have nothing to lose.
“This is how I practise my mindset. I challenge myself and do things I’ve never done before.”
The mindset was crucial in his recent win.
“This show, I was so relaxed, my fatigue level was so low, my cortisol level was so low. I had a great time,” he said.
It is important to Fok that he is a natural bodybuilder. He says he does not judge those who use steroids, so long as they have already mastered every other aspect of the sport.
“You see people use it as a short cut – they don’t know anything about training, they don’t know how to eat,” Fok said. “When they don’t see the results they want, they take the short cut.
“I want to tell young people, if they do anything smart enough for long enough, [they will] get something one day, whether it’s a promotion, or their start-up does well, or they grow their YouTube channel.
“I try to achieve with whatever I have in the toolbox. How am I going to use my toolbox? Training smart, eating smart, knowing what you’re doing. And the margin for error is smaller too for natural bodybuilders.
“But if you don’t do the work, and always give yourself the excuse, you won’t achieve your goals.”
