Hong Kong bodybuilding champ Len Chui out to prove the mighty don’t need meat

Len Chui Hin-chun would not be caught dead chowing down on chicken: the 22-year-old Hong Kong bodybuilder is completely plant-powered, and proud.

Last month Chui won the men’s physique category at the International Natural Bodybuilding Association’s Natural Olympia in Las Vegas. It was a career-defining victory that enables him to compete alongside professional bodybuilders in future shows.

“It was surreal,” he says. “I’m glad that I’m able to show people that you can become muscular and strong without sacrificing animals or our environment in the process.”

But eating animal products was exactly how Chui’s bodybuilding journey began, before it went terribly wrong. When he first hit the gym at just 16 years old, he was eating up to 40 egg whites a day, and downing litres of blended meat as shakes. Within six months, Chui gained 10kg, and a range of health problems.

“I developed eczema and nasal allergies, and had a body fat percentage in the high 20s,” he recalls.