Flexing his oiled, bulging biceps and pecs, 91-year-old one-time bodybuilding champion Sein Maung admires himself in the mirror before starting to pump iron in his Myanmar gym.

Sein Maung has been bodybuilding for 70 years
Sein Maung has been bodybuilding for 70 years AFP / Sai Aung Main

The barrel-chested nonagenarian's career has spanned some 70 years, both pre-dating and outlasting the country's half-century of junta rule.

But he describes the late 1950s as his heyday, when he bagged a medal at the 1958 Burmese "Mr Olympic" contest before being crowned "Mr Burma" a year later.

Sein Maung credits a disciplined lifestyle for his longevity
Sein Maung credits a disciplined lifestyle for his longevity AFP / Sai Aung Main

"All of my brothers died in their 70s, but I'm still here," he tells AFP proudly, putting his hearty longevity down to a disciplined lifestyle based around religion, diet and exercise.

Buddhist prayers begin each workout before he greases up and starts gruelling sets of chest presses, deadlifts and bicep curls.

A bodybuilding show in 1950 inspired Sein Maung to take up the sport
A bodybuilding show in 1950 inspired Sein Maung to take up the sport AFP / Sai Aung Main

Myanmar has a robust bodybuilding culture, and competitions held at malls often draw enthusiastic crowds to cheer on sculpted men in speedos -- an incongruous sight in the socially conservative country.

Sein Maung said he's not afraid of the coronavirus
Sein Maung said he's not afraid of the coronavirus AFP / Sai Aung Main

Before he even knew it was a bona fide sport, Sein Maung says as a teenager he would hulk heavy blocks of wood around his small village in rural Ayeyarwaddy region.

A bodybuilding show he saw as a young soldier in 1950 proved to be an epiphany, and there has been no looking back.

Flexing his oiled, bulging biceps and pecs, 91-year-old one-time bodybuilding champion Sein Maung admires himself in the mirror before starting to pump iron in his Myanmar gym.
Flexing his oiled, bulging biceps and pecs, 91-year-old one-time bodybuilding champion Sein Maung admires himself in the mirror before starting to pump iron in his Myanmar gym. AFPTV / Lapyae KO

With his career skyrocketing in the 1960s, he even starred in two movies and became bodybuilding coach for Miss Burma beauty pageant contestants.

Meanwhile in 1962 -- the same year the military took over in a coup -- he set up a gym in commercial hub Yangon that still runs today.

Once there used to be around 200 members, he says somewhat wistfully, but now only a handful remain, mostly women also in their later years.

He admits his fiery temperament might be to blame for his fitness centre's dwindling popularity.

"I get so angry and tell people to get out if they don't take bodybuilding seriously. I can't control my temper."

Like most in the city, the gym currently lies shuttered due to coronavirus fears.

Yet Sein Maung says he is continuing with his prayers, protein-based diet and strict fitness regime at home to keep his immune system as strong as possible.

"I know it's mostly elderly people who are dying. But I'm not worried just because I'm in my 90s. I'm not afraid to die."

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