Is Bolo Yeung Natural or Used Steroids?

Bolo Yeung is a famous Asian actor who have played some really notorious villains in different famous movies such as for example: Enter the Dragon; Bloodsport as well as Double Impact where he was starring alongside other famous actors such as Bruce Lee and Jean Claude Van Damme.

The “Beast from the East” it is one of the cinema’s most iconic baddies, where he is combining martial arts with monster muscularity and that’s a dangerous combination. Most of the bodybuilders out there would really love to have such a body like Bolo Yeung in the offseason because he really looks jacked and big.

By analyzing his body you just can’t ignore his huge pecs, monster traps as well as jacked arms… they are so big and good that gym rats are still admiring even nowadays, although so much time have passed since Bolo Yeung has been in his prime. One if the reasons why Bolo’s physique looked so so good it is due to the fact that he has had some really good proportions to his body, something that we can’t say the same about every bodybuilder out there especially from nowadays. He is having a herculean chest that is combined with some really huge biceps and that’s always going to be one of the best recipes out there for great success. He was looking very similar to what Arnold Schwarzenegger was looking back in the 70s, the main difference it is that Bolo seem to have a higher body fat percentage and that’s it – in terms of muscle mass they both seem to be the same.

Since this guy got so famous and since he mostly got so famous thanks to his really big body and muscular look, it is obvious that many guys out there are wondering whether Bolo Yeung used some steroids to get to look like that or not. That’s going to be the main topic of our article today.

Contents

Legal Disclaimer

I am going to continue with my article about whether or not did Bolo Yeung used steroids or not after I am going to get the legal stuff out of the way.

We need to mention here that we don’t know Bolo Yeung personally or anybody close to him. We are in absolutely no way, shape or form associated to him or anybody close to him and that’s why there’s no interest for us to give a false verdict. But since we are in no way associated with him, we have no personal information about this guy. We do not have his medical history or anything in this matter. For this reason, we don’t know and we can’t know for sure if he did ever used steroids or not. All that we are going to do is to take public information, photos, videos etc. about this guy and having knowledge about steroids, steroid signs and side effects we would try to determine if he used steroids in order to get into such a shape.

Nonetheless, our verdict still remains to be rather speculative than factual. We do believe that very often our verdicts given are very close to reality, nonetheless there are still chances that we might be wrong and since we have no actual proves (drug tests etc.) proving anyone taking any kind of steroids, we can’t say this for sure. We can find out if a person used steroids only if they make a drug test proving it or if they come out and admit it themselves – something that I have big doubts would ever happen.

Anyway, in the end, regardless if a person uses steroids or not we are not going to judge him for doing so and we are not going to recommend steroids. We do know that steroids are dangerous – everybody knows it and yet, there are still millions of people all over the world using them. That’s why we do understand that regardless of what’s being said about steroids – people are still going to use them. We are not going to recommend them but in the same time we are not going to judge anybody who uses them.

All that we can do is – if you do think about using steroids or already use them then please do it carefully and wisely. They are dangerous, but they get lethally dangerous if you are not using them wisely. So let’s get to our main topic.

Who is Bolo Yeung?

As I earlier said Bolo Yeung is an Asian actor but is also a former competitive bodybuilder, martial artists and a martial arts film actor. He is currently 72 years old but as I earlier said, he was known for having an amazing body in combination with knowing martial arts.

Bolo has created a fierce presence on the big screen by breaking necks, crushing skulls as well as doing his famous pec dance before he was destroying his opponents.

It is quite fair to say that if you were under the age of 10 while you were watching a Bolo Yeung film then there’s quite a good chance that you were soiling in your pants. Bolo is always going to be remembered for being one of the baddest dudes out there in the Hollywood because he was always playing a villain. And as much as we can see, a really bad villain.

To have a ripped six pack abs it is already pretty awesome, however Bolo it is a perfect example of how to put a bit of fat and still to look really huge while in the off season, so it also has its place in the world of bodybuilding. Bolo Yeung might not seem to have an aesthetic look, however he definitely is having (or better said was having) some really MASSthetics. While nowadays people seem to mostly look in the direction of aesthetic guys, in the past people were definitely looking at MASSthetics.

He has developed a really great passion for the bodybuilding from a really young age and he has been then crowned Mr Hong Kong back in 1970. With bodybuilding enhancing Bolo’s reputation across Asia, Bruce Lee soon later became aware of who Bolo was and so they met later. Then later, only 3 years after Bolo has become the Mr Hong Kong, Bruce has casted him to play the main henchman in the Enter the Dragon.

If there’s someone who don’t remember Bolo or you haven’t watched any movies of him (something that I doubt since those are legendary movies), then here’s a sequence in order to refresh your memory and check his body.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kofztWMe6Ds

Here’s an interesting fact that I have discovered while I was doing research about him: Bolo Yeung’s real name is actually Yang Sze, but he has then changed it to “Bolo”, naming himself after the role that he played in the “Enter the Dragon”. 40 years on people still wondering whether Bolo Yeung it is natural or whether he has taken steroids back then in order to get as jacked. Especially because we all know that back in that time everyone, could take steroids and not bat an eye.

With all of this being said, let’s take a look at all the evidences that we might find proving him being natural or taking steroids.

Is Bolo Yeung On Steroids?

In order to determine if there is somebody who is on steroids or not then I can say that one of the quickest and best ways to say it is to analyze their body composition. That’s because, usually, there are steroid signs appearing on the body of those who use steroids and in case they have got some really big cannonballs for shoulders, a really insane vascularity, gyno, flushed skin, cobra like traps or their abs are incredibly dry all the year round (especially having a big/ blocky midsection), then you can know that there is quite a good chance that the person is on something.

There are some steroid signs which can appear on a person who never used them, such as vascularity (especially in older people), acne (especially in those who have acne issues by nature), or thick abs depending on their genetics and many others. However, there are some distinguished differences between the steroids signs for people who do use them and for those who never used them.

In addition to that, the bodybuilders are having one or even more of those steroid symptoms on their bodies which can be seen with naked eyes which is usually giving them away. Being huge is also a sign. Not all people using steroids are huge, but they get considerably bigger plus they do not have an aesthetic look.

I was searching for the steroid symptoms on Bolo Yeung body and as much as I have noticed, he doesn’t have to have any of those side effects. He is jacked and huge, but there are good examples like Mike O’Hearn proving that people can be huge naturally thanks to their genetics. But except for being big, which is not always a prove that a person uses steroids, I checked other steroid signs and there are none. His skin is pretty smooth and is having a natural look and in addition to that, even though his chest is really huge and his traps are pretty well developed, I can’t say that his traps/ delts/ shoulders are overly developed which is very often attributed to steroid use. That’s because the steroids as we all know – are anabolic and the traps/ delts/ shoulders are having a higher number of androgen receptors compared to other body parts meaning that these muscle groups are going to respond the best and will grow considerably bigger compared to other body parts.

In addition to all of this, most of the steroid users, after a while, stop having the natural look and they most likely start getting the artificial look. But Bolo Yeung does not seem to have anything artificial looking about him and that’s another sign which can prove that he is not using steroids and never used them.

Anyway, I also need to mention that despite everything I mentioned above, there are exceptions to that rule either. This means that it is possible to be taking some steroids and not have any obvious visual symptoms. There are people out there who do use steroids, but they use it very wisely and that’s how their body responds to them. As a result, there are rare cases when a person using steroids still doesn’t get any steroid symptoms. Therefore, we can’t say for sure that a person uses steroids only by checking their body composition. It is a very good way to say it, but still there is an even more accurate way of telling if there is somebody who is taking steroids by looking at their “gains timeline”. If the person doesn’t have any steroid symptoms since they use small dosages and that’s how their body responds to steroids then the more accurate way of saying whether or not there is somebody who is taking steroids it is to look at how their bodies transformed and changed over the years.

Gains Timeline

From my experience I have noticed that by far the best and the most reliable way to find out if there is somebody who is using steroids it is to compile photos of their progress over the years. There is a very big difference between the natural bodybuilders and steroid users and it is that the juicers are blowing up out of a sudden even after newbie gains. I mean… a steroid user’s muscles are growing when they are firstly starting to lift weights (like everyone else – like a normal natural). However, then they are going to stay the same size for a while (then again, as everyone else because that’s normal and natural) but the big difference is that then they all out of a sudden are going to get their muscles blown up out of nowhere and that’s the strange part which just doesn’t happen to naturals. The natural bodybuilders plateau from newbie gains and they barely see absolutely any gains at all over the course of many years and hard trainings. It is different for steroid users because they gain from newbie gains and then they continue growing making them twice in size.

I should mention here that while a natural bodybuilder who is all genetically gifted is usually going to be a very good shape even before they ever set their foot in the gym. You can see how jacked was, for example, Chris Hemsworth, before he ever started to lift weights. It is no obvious that he became so huge as we can see him today when he started to train. So, the genetically gifted guys are putting on a very significant amount of size as soon as they start to lift weights. But regardless if you’re genetically gifted or not, everybody plateaus from these newbie gains and then you are struggling to put on size thereafter.

This is why, we need to check photos of Bolo Yeung over the years but by doing my research I have noticed that it is extremely hard to find any photos of him when he was younger compared to his progress over the years. Nonetheless, we can see what he was looking like in such movies like for example Enter the Dragon (which was more than 40 years ago). in contrast to what he looks like today.

There are the steroid users that are generally fluctuating quite a lot over the course of several years – which is another sign of steroid use because it is very rare when naturals are fluctuating as much as the steroid users. Like for example, Arnold Schwarzenegger has been in his prime (at his biggest) in 1974 when he has admitted that he was taking steroids and this is what has helped him to win the most prestigious contest in the bodybuilding – Mr Olympia. However, then later, after he initially has retired from bodybuilding back in 1975, he has shrunk quite significantly in only a year.

Below I am going to share a photo of him in his prime in 1974 and you can see how much he changed and how much his body fluctuated in a year and then in 2 years. you can see there’s quite a big difference and that’s what is applying to steroid users and is a very rare phenomenon to naturals.

Even though he still was looking jacked compared to an average bodybuilder (which is obvious, since he was really huge – so huge that he managed to win Mr Olympia and become a legend), he still continued to get considerably smaller in each of his action movies if we start noticing it.

So well, that muscle shrinkage is being inevitable when you are coming off the steroids and do not use it anymore and that’s because of the testosterone levels that are surely going to become suppressed, therefore your body is going to start to shift into a catabolic (which means muscle wasting) state. That’s another way to determine a steroid user.

So, therefore, if there is a person who is roughly staying in pretty much the same size long into old age (a very good example of that is Van Damme who has managed to do it), then that’s quite a serious and strong evidence proving that the person is all natural. So, it is time for us to determine this for Bolo and see if his huge size has shrunk like Arnie or he managed to stay plus or minus in the same size as Van Damme.

Bolo Yeung Nowadays

As I said, it is a very good idea to check if Bolo has stayed in pretty much the same size or he shrunk which would indicate he’s natural or using steroids. For example, here are 2 photos of Bolo appearing in the movie “Blizhniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter”, 34 years on from Enter the Dragon which is considered that Bolo was in his prime.

As much as we can see in those 2 photos which were taken 34 years after the movie Enter the Dragon, Bolo is looking pretty much the same size here as he did long ago even though he was 61 years old back then, compared to what he was looking like in his prime at the age of 27 years old.

So well, the fact that he did managed to keep quite a big portion of his muscle mass over so many years is quite a strong evidence proving that he has not taken or ever relied on the bulking steroids which would make him build big amounts of muscles as we can see him having in his prime at 27 years old. Therefore, being a natural person, it would have been pretty much easy for him to keep nearly all of his size even though he aged considerably and that’s because everything he has to do it is to continue going to the gym and to lift weights on a regular basis. By doing so, he definitely would manage to keep a good proportion of his muscles. Not going to gym would have a different outcome, obviously.

But another strong evidence is: I have managed to find another photo of Bolo Yeung which was taken much more recently. The photo has been uploaded to Facebook 2 years ago only in 2017 via one of his most popular fan pages. There are more recent photos of him but we can’t see his body and his muscles. But in 2017 here’s what he was looking like.

If we are going to judge by the bald spot that we can see at the top of his head, this could very well confirm the fact that it was being quite a recent picture uploaded indeed meaning that it wasn’t a photo taken in 2000 but it is indeed Bolo Yeung nowadays. I doubt we can say in any shape that he has lost so much muscle mass that proves him using steroids in the past. in fact, I am doubting that he has lost any muscle mass at all.

So, what’s the conclusion?

I guess everybody has already understood what’s going to be the verdict. And I guess that’s something obvious my verdict is natty and that’s based on the fact that there’s no evidence proving him using steroids and in fact, there are evidences proving him being natural. Steroid users are having at least some signs of using steroids such as flushed skin; vascularity (especially when getting older due to less collagen production); cobra traps; gyno; water retention and many other signs. As we can see, Bolo doesn’t have any of these. Plus, he does not look artificial but much rather natural. He has not lost muscle mass indicating he’s natural and his gains timeline does not seem to look anything indicating he uses steroids. Generally, there’s nothing indicating him using steroids.

As much as it looks like, this is quite a good case of strong Asian genetics, pretty much like Chul Soon, however Chul Soon got a different verdict. For this reason I think that with years, we are going to see different outcome for Chul Soon when he’s going to get older. However, for Bolo we can see he got no steroid symptoms that you can see from his body AND plus to that, he is still jacked up well into his 60s. That would have been something unheard of if he would have taken steroids as he would have inevitably shrunk post cycle. Something that I am quite sure we would witness for Chul Soon, as I said. On the other hand, I do realize that some people could say: “He could still be juicing nowadays”.

Well, I just think that this wouldn’t make absolutely any sense and that’s because there is absolutely no motivation for him to take steroids anymore during a period where his career is practically over. I would understand if he would continue taking them for some roles (as some people were accusing him that he was taking steroids in his prime, that would make sense because he needed them for the role), otherwise there’s no need for him putting his health at risk and getting nothing.

But another evidence proving him he is most likely natural is the fact that if you were taking steroids for 40 to 50 years all straight, then you would most likely would be dead by now. Or even if your body responds super well to them and you won’t be dead, then there’s absolutely no way you can use steroids for so many years and then still not have any visual symptoms of steroid use. Taken in consideration you use them for so many years and you’re well over 60.

With all of this being said, we now know that Bolo is all natural, can you imagine what he would look like nowadays if he did take some steroids in his prime? That would have been an absolutely beast mode but he would pay a lot nowadays. Even though I am quite sure that he did not needed any extra testosterone because if he did used any then he would most likely end up breaking his wife while they were making love (if he already didn’t do it).

In the end, write down in the comments section below what do you think about Bolo Yeung. Was he one of your most favorite actors? Most favorite villains? Do you love the way he used to look? Tell us everything you think about Bolo. Do you still think that he used steroids? Provide evidences why.

There are many different sources which helped in writing of this article. But most of the websites you can find by a quick search for Bolo Yeung in Google Search. But it does look like it seems fairly right if I am going to end this article by sharing quite a classic video (which I found on You Tube while writing this) of Bolo while taking on of the muscles from Brussels himself – the famous actor and legend – Jean Claude Van Damme in that epic fight scene from the Bloodsport. Enjoy watching it. I personally got nostalgic and I guess, I am going to go re watching this piece of art once again as I remember I used to enjoy it a lot when I was younger and watching it, dreaming that one day I am going to fight like that and have such a great body.

3 thoughts on “Is Bolo Yeung Natural or Used Steroids?”

  1. In the case of if Bolo ever took steroids…….

    I present to you exhibit A….

    Atleast in Bloodsport……..

    He has a very noticeable case of (b)acne. One clear indicator of steroid use is the collection of pimples on your back.

    His skin was clear everywhere else, except the class indicative patch on his back.

    It’s the same thing on alot of WWE guys. Clear skin everywhere, back full of pimples.

    What ever stack Bolo took…… it was top notch.

  2. I mean you almost can’t tell which speaks to tye quality he must have been getting. But back acne don’t lie when your skin is clear and clean everywhere else.

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