CHENQI LIU

IFBB Pro Bikini Athlete

CONTEST HISTORY

Reporter: Chen Qi, hello! Thank you for accepting the interview in your busy schedule. First of all, congratulations to you for winning the championship of this professional tournament, and you will be the first female bikini player in China to win the Olympia competition in the United States. When you won the championship, what kind of mood did you have, and did you have expectations in your heart?

Liu: I promised myself that I would be on this stage this year, but to be honest, I am not 100% confident. Especially since April of this year, I have participated in 7 games, and I have been ranked 4th and 11th. The competition was not very smooth. A small episode happened 20 minutes before the start of the preliminaries. I found that I had forgotten to bring the bikini when I arrived at the stadium, so I ran back to the hotel to get it. This still had some impact on my mentality at the time. But I told myself that I must go, no matter what, I must finish it.

When I won the championship, I didn’t know what words to use to describe my feelings, maybe it was a grievance. I have been practicing bodybuilding for 6 years, and only I know the bitterness and all the things I need to endure. After winning the last bikini bodybuilding professional competition, I think I’m back to the starting point of the cut. For me to qualify for the Olympic Games, this is my lifelong dream for me.

Reporter: When did you decide to participate? How many people participated in this competition? How long did you train before the game? What kind of muscle condition do I need to achieve?

Liu: There are 15 players, including two previous Olympians.

I compete every week, as long as there is a competition I will go, so there is no decision to participate. Pre-match training is not determined by what you practice before the game, but the daily sweat and tears you experienced from the day you started the sport until the day you won the championship.

Before the game, you need to train until the muscles have a certain fullness and dryness, but not too developed muscles, but moderate.

About career: Acquired a career card in 2018

Reporter: When did you get your professional card and when was your first time in the bikini standings of Mr. Olympia?

Liu: In 2018, I won the championship in the Musclecontest Vietnam Professional Qualification Tournament and got a professional card. After that, I won the third place in the professional tournament, so my name has been on the standings since that year.

The first female professional bikini champion in China

Reporter: After participating in bodybuilding competitions in 2016, how many competitions have you participated in so far? What is the motivation that makes you go forward and climb the peak bravely on the road to bodybuilding?

Liu: There were about 10 games before becoming a professional player. After becoming a professional player, I participated in about 13 professional games. I was the first bikini professional champion in China.

As for the motivation of bodybuilding, because this sport allows me to have new goals and motivation every day. Besides, I am a person who likes to be different from others. It makes me feel that I am unique.

Dreams are more important than everything

Reporter: I heard from your father that during the epidemic, did you go to Brazil to train for the game in March last year?

Liu: For me, dreams are more important than everything. No one and anything can stop me. So in order to train better, I went without hesitation.

The biggest difficulty lies in controlling the brain

Reporter: What is the biggest difficulty encountered in professional bodybuilding and how to overcome it?

Liu: I think the biggest difficulty lies in the brain. You have to control your thoughts and adjust your mentality in time. To be honest, I still haven’t been able to solve it completely, but no matter how frustrated I feel, I must try my best to control and eliminate distracting thoughts.

In the United States, fitness is as usual as eating

Reporter: The reason why you choose to develop in the United States is because the American bodybuilding industry is at the forefront? How is it different from the domestic bodybuilding atmosphere? After all, there will be many differences in culture and life between the United States and China. How do you reduce this difference and let yourself “fit in”? How to relieve homesickness in a foreign country?

Liu: I arrived in the United States in April this year, because there are currently no professional tournaments in China and there are almost every week in the United States. For Americans, fitness is just like eating breakfast, while for ordinary people in China, fitness is like the frequency of friends gathering.

Personally, I didn’t reduce the difference and let myself “fit in”. My figure is more popular in the United States, and in the eyes of domestic people, it is still unacceptable for girls to be muscular. Many people think that the image of a woman should be weak, morbidly thin and beautiful.

Homesickness is very strange to me, I have always been on my own. But I never told my parents that I came to the United States because I was really worried that they would overwork because of me.

About the concept of bodybuilding: be your best self

Reporter: The process of bodybuilding must be very difficult. Is there a time when you can’t keep it up? From 2016 to the present, what changes have you made about bodybuilding?

Liu: If you depend on persistence for something, then you are not really passionate about it. In the past few years, my perception of bodybuilding has remained the same, that is, to be the best version of yourself every time.

Don’t care what others think, the key lies in yourself

Reporter: Perhaps it is due to the influence of traditional Chinese culture and aesthetics. There is a saying of “muscle man”. It seems that professional fitness girls are not very acceptable in China. What do you think of this?

Liu: No matter what kind of aesthetics you are, it is OK. Everyone has their own freedom of choice. You don’t need to care what others think. The key is whether you really like it.

Focus on yourself

Reporter: I heard that you take students in addition to bodybuilding. What is the style of class? What is the concept you most hope to convey in the course of teaching?

Liu: Online courses and offline courses, usually they find me through platforms such as Weibo Moments. The idea I want to convey is to focus on oneself and face oneself truthfully. New bikinis are also welcome to join.

About the future: No holidays, immediately start training

Reporter: Will you give yourself a holiday after this event? Do you have a general plan for preparing for the Olympiad?

Liu: There are no holidays, and preparations for the Olympic Games have already begun. I have my coach, and I will talk to him face to face in a while and make a specific training plan.

Hope to bring more bodybuilding concepts

Reporter: Do you have any plans for your personal or future team on the road to bodybuilding in the future? Do you have any ideas and prospects on how to promote the development of bodybuilding in China?

Liu: I will be a better myself and will not stop the game. At the same time, after returning to China this time, I hope to provide more students with fresher knowledge. This is the current plan. I have always walked step by step, but if I say this step, I will do it, and I will not think about things that are too advanced. In addition, I hope I can have the opportunity to bring more and more correct bodybuilding concepts to the domestic players.

Reporter’s Notes >>>

　　In 2018, the reporter made an initial interview on Liu Chenqi, who was 22 years old at the time, a quiet girl who loves to paint and took the road to bodybuilding. From the cute girl who can only paint to the “King Kong Barbie” who is more muscular than the body, this kind of change is beyond the imagination of most people, but Liu Chenqi uses the constantly refreshing “record”, time and time again. Realized self-challenge, and proved myself time and time again. In just 6 years, she has gone from a veritable layman to a professional bodybuilder. Now she has qualified for the highest stage of fitness and bodybuilders-the American Olympia Competition. Among them, she has experienced all kinds of things that ordinary people can’t imagine. . In this interview, I was moved by Liu Chenqi’s incomparably firm words on many occasions. Her love comes from the bottom of my heart, and nothing can be erased by anyone. I hope she can maintain perfect condition in the next Olympiad, play her best level, and achieve another good result.

Article Sources: https://bigbodies.com/Profile/41203/CHENQI_LIU_IFBB_Pro_Bikini_Athlete

https://inf.news/en/sport/206109e8b8be08ac5c79de4d049f7649.html