Rangoon (AFP)

Proud, Sein Maung bandages his biceps and chest in front of his mirror. Former national bodybuilding champion, this Burmese bodybuilder still raises cast iron at 91 years old.

His sport, he started practicing it about 70 years ago, when the soldiers were not yet in power in the country of Southeast Asia.

It was at the end of the 1950s that he distinguished himself by his performances. In 1958, he won the "Mr Olympic" competition then, the following year, he was crowned "Mr Burma" in this country where bodybuilding competitions attract crowds.

"All my brothers died around 70 years old, but I'm still here," he said frankly to AFP.

He attributes his longevity to his disciplined lifestyle, with religious practice, healthy eating ... and lots of physical exercise.

Before each training, he recites Buddhist prayers. Then he anointed himself and began to practice on the machines.

Sein Maung says that he was already having fun, as a teenager, lifting heavy blocks of wood in his small village in the rural region of Ayeyarwaddy.

It was during his passage under the flags, in 1950, that he attended his first demonstration of bodybuilding.

His career took off a few years later. In the 1960s, he starred in two films and gave his sports advice to aspirants at the Miss Burma beauty pageant.

And in 1962, the year the army took power, he opened his gym in Rangoon, the largest city in the country.

It is still open today; but unlike the heyday, where it had some 200 registrants, only a handful continue to come, including many elderly women.

He takes his sport to heart so much that it draws new aspirants away, he admits.

"I get angry and tell people to go if they don't take bodybuilding seriously. I can't control my anger," he says.

The gym is currently closed to avoid spreading the new coronavirus.

But Sein Maung tirelessly continues his routine from home: prayers, high-protein diet and sport, convinced to maintain his immune system.

Is he afraid of the coronavirus? "I know that it is mainly the elderly who die from it. But it is not because I am over 90 that I am worried. I am not afraid of death," he said. .

© 2020 AFP