Page 177 - Muscle & Fitness (February 2020)

PANDA_FLEX

“You probably hear it a lot from
people of my generation, but
we grew up watching Dragon-
Ball-Z,” says the 33-year old.
“Goku is a character we all loved.
The crazy physique, the shoul-
ders, the waist on some of these
superheroes. You think of Goku.
You think of Kenshiro from First
of the Northstar. I think of Guile
from Street Fighter, with those

delts and shoulders.”
Panda has always trained
as if he lived on Krypton or in
Gotham. When teenage Panda
first picked up a weight, his only
thought was about getting stron-
ger. And just as with Batman,
the giant traps, the barn door
shoulders, and the shredded abs
have all been a product of his
quest for strength. Don’t believe
it? Check out Panda’s Instagram
(@simeonpanda) and watch him
perform ass-to-grass squats
with 525 pounds on his back.
“It sounds silly, but it was never
about the physique,” he says.
“The physique was not part of
the plan. I started at 14 or 15,
and I loved how it felt. To this day
the strength training is what I
love the most. Building a certain
physique comes with it, and I love
that, but it’s the training that ac-

tually gets me to go to the gym.”

Super Volume Serum

Whether it’s gamma radiation or
the bite of a radioactive spider,
all superheroes have that special
X-factor that instigated the birth
of their powers. Panda’s origin
story centers on training volume.
If you look at any of his online
workouts, they’re filled with
exercises done for eight sets,
sometimes more. He’ll often
slide in a one-rep max or three-
rep strength set, but then he’s
back to racking up insane rep
counts.
“I love volume. If someone
hasn’t used high-volume training,

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0 / M U S C L E & F I T N E S S 1 7 3