Who is Sam Sulek, the fitness influencer with millions of followers?

He's one of today's hottest influencers, and his name probably rings a bell. Followed by millions of followers on social networks, Sam Sulek was a runaway success. This popularity American bodybuilder He owes it all to his extraordinary muscular development. However, as you will see, his training methods and diet are far from the usual standards for such a physique.

Who is Sam Sulek?

Before becoming a influencer phenomenon, Sam Sulek grew up in the U.S. state of Ohio.

Born in July 2002, he attended Rutherford B. Hayes High School in Delaware, Ohio, before studying mechanical engineering at Miami University in Oxford.

On the sporting side, Sam Sulek has taken turns doing gymnastics and divinga sport he's been practicing since the age of 8. His experience as a swimmer is certainly no stranger to his exceptional talent. muscular base.

But the young American quickly developed a passion for bodybuilding, and more specifically for the physical culture. 

He boasts a muscular build worthy of top-level athletes, with impressive measurements for his age: 180 centimetres for 109 kilos, and a body fat percentage close to zero!

Sudden fame thanks to TikTok

In 2022, Sam Sulek created an account dedicated to bodybuilding on the platform TikTok. Its content quickly went viral, attracting the attention of the fitness community and many body-builders.

We discover a young man with muscle mass with long curly hair and a cap screwed on his head. On his account, he posts videos of himself at the gym and motivational quotes. Each video receives several million views.

Sam Sulek also launched its YouTube channel in early 2023. His content will be longer, between 20 and 45 minutes, with simple, effective mechanics. Most of the time, he films himself in the car on the way to the gym, then doing his strength exercises. A sort of logbook in which he documents each stage of his progress.

His YouTube channel has seen spectacular growth, with almost 1.8 million followers earned in just a few months, between August and October 2023.

Finally, he has a less active account on the social network Instagram.

So how do you explain such success?

Several factors need to be taken into account.

Firstly, Sam Sulek has a exceptional physique for his young age. A muscular maturity which inevitably aroused the curiosity of fitness and bodybuilding enthusiasts.

On the other hand personality spontaneous and authentic. He seems calm and friendly. Each video is a new invitation to delve into his daily life as a sportsman, without frills, but with sincerity. He presents his own routine, the one that suits him, without ever giving lessons. It's easy to identify with him.

Looking at Sam Sulek's physique, you'd think he was following a diet millimeter. Well, it's just the opposite. To put it simply, he'll eat anything...

A far from exemplary diet

In concrete terms, thefood by Sam Sulek seems to be a cheat meal permanent.

Several of his YouTube videos focus on this topic, as in the one below.

We see him eating a multitude of foods usually banned from athletes' diets: chocolate milk, industrial cereals, burgers, doughnuts and so on. His philosophy is simple: only calorie count no matter what the quality of the food you eat. 

I'm sure you'll agree that this is a far cry from the classic diets of bodybuildersThese are more focused on chicken, lean meat, rice and green vegetables.

Depending on whether he is in the mass gain or lean phase, his caloric intake daily calorie intake is between 2,700 and 6,800 calories. Of course, he makes sure he eats enough protein.

A surprising strategy, to say the least, but one that seems to be working for Sam Sulek, given the quality of his physique. Of course, I strongly advise against adopting the same strategy. It would certainly have the opposite effect on you. To find out more, I invite you to discover this article on the composition of bodybuilding meals.

Sam Sulek's training

On the side of his training programHere again, Sam Sulek seems to have little regard for the approaches that are the consensus of the fitness community.

His bodybuilding sessions are very intensive. With barbells or dumbbells, he works with a variety of heavy loadsThis is often to the detriment of execution technique. His sets contain a large number of partial repetitions, where he would certainly benefit from performing movements with full amplitude.

In this sense, his training method can be described as "old school", in the tradition of what the bodybuilder could do Mike Mentzer in its time.

When he walks into a gym, Sam Sulek's goal is simple: to destroy each and every muscle group. In other words, he gives it all he's got.

Is this approach sustainable? Only time will tell. 

As a sports coach, I personally believe that the Sam Sulek's bodybuilding program is both risky and counterproductive. Always training with such intensity can be disastrous in the long term, causing serious damage to the joints. In my opinion, it's better to find the right compromise between weight and quality of technique.

However, it has to be said that the results in terms of muscular gains are, for the time being, impressive.

Is Sam Sulek doping?

Given everything we've just said, it's only logical that you should question whether Sam Sulek is a natural or not. It's a subject that's hard to avoid in this case.

Indeed, how do you explain the fact that the American influencer has such a handsome physique? massive and dry by eating the wrong way and doing the exact opposite of what is recommended in terms of training? Is it really just a question of genetic ?

Although Sam Sulek has never spoken openly about this subject, there are several indications that he is taking a more active role. doping products. The acne visible on his chest and shoulders is the first of these. A phenomenon often linked to the use of anabolic steroids, as is the fact that he regularly appears out of breath.

But then again, these are just hypotheses and suppositions.

A future in bodybuilding?

Many of the influencer's fans would like to see him take part in his first bodybuilding competitions. It's true that with his physique, Sam Sulek has real potential.

Proof of this is her posing session with Samson Daudathird in the Mr Olympia 2023 in the Open category. Alongside one of the world's best bodybuilders, Sam Sulek more than holds his own.

Although he has not yet taken part in his first bodybuilding contestSam Sulek is already making a name for himself among professional athletes. On Instagram, we saw a video in which Sam Sulek Chris Bumstead and Urs Kalecinski discuss the young influencer.

" I like this guy. I'm going to retire and he can take over.. "

Chris Bumstead

See this post on Instagram

A publication shared by Rising Lifters (@risinglifters)

While there's no guarantee that Sam Sulek will have a career in bodybuilding, there's no denying that he's already caught the attention of the entire industry.

Conclusion

One thing is certain: Sam Sulek has exceptional genetics. His physique is remarkable, yet far from optimized when you consider what he eats on a daily basis... Of course, suspicions of doping tarnish this observation. In any case, the young influencer has succeeded in breaking through on social media by sharing his passion for bodybuilding in a simple and modest way.