Before exploding in popularity on TikTok in 2022, Colin Weng was well-known in strength sport circles as a freakishly strong all-natural lifter chasing elite powerlifting totals. This expanded profile will closely analyze Colin’s athletic background, training philosophies, viral social media success, and potential future achievements.
Athletic Origins: From Football Field to Powerlifting Platform
Long before becoming a viral internet celebrity or sponsored athlete, Colin Weng’s athletic path began rather modestly as a Division 3 college football player at Albion College in Michigan. There Colin started at linebacker for several seasons, credited with 218 career tackles over 4 years.
Weighing around 200-210 lbs with a 1000+ pound (455+ kg) powerlifting total in college, Colin had respectable gym numbers but nothing indicating the phenom he‘d ultimately become. After graduating in 2013, he shifted focus to competitive powerlifting and pack on slabs of additional mass to maximize strength pursuits.
Early competitive meets had Colin totaling mid 700s to low 800s (squat/bench/deadlift) in the 93 kg class before rapidly gaining weight and strength into the 105s where he set noteworthy all-time world records.
Colin Weng playing linebacker for Albion College. (Image credit: Colin Weng)
The work ethic and dedication gained from high-level college sports translated well to the iron game. But how did Colin get so shockingly strong without resorting to the performance enhancers typically associated with 800+ lb deadlifts or 700 lb benches?
The Hypertrophy and Strength Programming of Colin Weng
Much speculation exists regarding how Colin got so muscularly jacked and strong naturally. He credits this to a decade of tracking progressive overload meticulously and being well in tune with his body’s recovery abilities and work capacity limits before overtraining or injury set in.
His training methodology revolves predominantly around the major barbell compound lifts (bench, squat, deadlifts) with supplemental isolation movements thrown in depending on the phase of programming. Below are snapshot examples of various training cycles throughout the year:
Offseason Hypertrophy Block
Weeks 1-4:
Monday: Chest & Triceps
Flat BB Bench – 5×5 @ 8 RPE
Incline DB Bench 4×10
Weighted Dips 4x Failure
Skullcrushers 3×12
Tuesday: Quads & Hamstrings
BB Squats – Ramping Sets 5×5 adding weight each set
Safety Bar Squats – 5×10
RDLs 4×12
Leg Press – Rest Pause Sets
Leg Extensions 3×15
Thursday: Back & Biceps
Weighted Pull Ups 5×5
Rack Pulls 5×5
Cable Rows 4×12
EZ Bar Curls 3×10
Hammer Curls 3×10
Friday: Delts & Traps
Seated DB Shoulder Press 5×10
Side Laterals 5×15
Rear Delt Flies 5×15
BB Shrugs 5×10
Weeks 5-8:
Increased intensity and decreased volume on main lifts by 2-3 sets each. Added more unconstrained high rep isolation pump work tailored to weak points or lagging muscle groups.
Strength & Peaking Block
Weeks 1-3:
Worked up to daily 1RM testing on Comp Squat, Bench, Deadlift for 10+ singles above 90%, 3x per week rotating. Built technique practicing in gear/equipment. Used accommodating resistance.
Accessory work limited to back health, shoulder stability, lightpump work.
Weeks 4-6:
Back down volume on main lifts performing 5×3 @ 7-8RPE 3x per week, not maxing out. Wave loading intensity over the 3 weeks.
Increased specificity on competition variations (paused bench, block pulls, pin squats). Still kept accessory work minimal.
Week 7:
Deload before competition. Worked up to easy heavy double on comp lifts then backed way down. Extra conditioning, mobility, and skill prep work.
The intricacies of program design fascinate Colin but he cautions young lifters from overcomplicating things early on. Getting jacked and tan comes down to diligently tracking weights lifted, aiming to beat PRs monthly or bimonthly, not ego lifting too heavy too soon, and balancing hard training with proper nutrition/rest/recovery practices.
Fueling World Class Powerlifting Performances
Speaking of nutrition, the axiom that champs are made in the kitchen rings true for Colin‘s elite status as an all-time great powerlifter.. But as a 100% drug free athlete without chemical enhancements amplifying his bodily processes, Colin has to be meticulous tracking his food intake. He simply can‘t afford sloppiness there given nutritional deficiencies or suboptimal macros can severely blunt strength and muscle building adaptations.
Here‘s an overview of how Colin approaches his nutrition needs year round both in and out of competition:
Offseason Diet Averages
Calories: 4500-5500 calories daily
Macros:
-
Protein: 300-350 grams per day
-
Carbohydrates: 450-550 grams
-
Healthy Fats: 120-150 grams
Key Food Staples: Chicken, red meat, white fish, eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, protein powder, oats, potatoes, rice, vegetables, nuts, peanut butter
Supplements: Whey protein, creatine, preworkout, multivitamins
Pre-Competition Diet
Calories: 3000-3500 calories
Macros:
-
Protein: 300-350g
-
Carbohydrates: 300-350g
-
Fats: 80-120g
Consistent Meals With Flexible Carbs: Colin employs a structured meal plan hitting his protein/fat needs through clean foods but allows some flexibility with carbohydrates manipulated around training sessions to maximize performance and glycogen replenishment. Additional peri-workout supplements like dextrose or carb drinks aid his strength athletes needs.
This framework year round facilitates building freaky amounts of strength/muscle during dedicated growth phases in the offseason but also easily transition into shredded conditioning for bodybuilding or powerlifting competitions when needed.
Displaying elite level muscularity and shredded conditioning (Image credit:@cweng Instagram)
The Rise to Fame on Social Media
As discussed previously, Colin jumped on the social media influencer bandwagon quite late compared to the hoards of young Instagram and YouTube fitness personalities. But displaying authentic world record strength well into the 800 lb deadlift and 700 lb bench press realm captured attention quickly.
Uploading videos under the moniker @cweng of these monumental strength feats intermixed with interesting entertainment concepts provided the recipe for his content to strike algorithm gold.
His first viral hits came from loading 700+ lbs onto a barbell dressed up as the Ghostface horror movie villain. Such novelty caught fire on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and more until blue check verification and hundreds of thousands of engaged followers were his new reality.
Sponsored athlete deals soon followed from supplement leaders like Muscle Feast, Gym Shark, and Jacked Factory. A tailored online coaching platform named Strong Shreds also leverages his name recognition to offer fans personalized programming, though Colin mainly contributes exercise demos and guides rather than actively coaching each client.
This personal brand ecosystem provides Colin stable income from diverse streams separate from competition winnings which can prove inconsistent long term.
But Does This Social Media Success Prove Sustainable?
An interesting debate exists on whether strength sports like powerlifting or Olympic weightlifting have niche enough audiences that social media fame won‘t crossover to mainstream consciousness, preventing someone like Colin achieving notoriety akin to top bodybuilders or CrossFit athletes.
The counterpoint resides in the fact that power outputs displayed by strength athletes impress people inherently much like record setting Olympic sprinters. Everyone intuitively understands benching 700+ lbs as an incredible show of human strength regardless if they can name 5 powerlifters. Sheer numbers also indicate an enormous global addressable audience exists even capturing small percentages of interest. Powerlifting has topped 400k+ competitors globally with millions more recreational strength focused gym goers.
If Colin continues his elite level performances, perhaps surpassing current unequipped/raw standards into the 800s on deadlift and squat, such headline grabbing acts of sheer strength stacked on his already significant social followings may well cement his notoriety into the next decade. In fact during just my drafting of this sentence, Colin posted an all time world record 350 kg (770 lb) raw bench press…Enough said.
All-time World Record 350 kg (770 pound) Raw Bench Press! (Image credit: @cweng on Instagram)
The ceiling still remains sky high for what this gifted strength wunderkind can accomplish. We will be eagerly watching and cheering the whole way wishing him iron clad joints and sinew. After all, as Colin says – Strong Shreds for life!
The intensity that built a champion powerlifter (Image credit: Colin Weng YouTube)
