Lil Jon? More Like Jacked Jon, as Rapper Takes One Of Top Prizes at Muscle Beach Championship

Lil Jon may want to reconsider his diminutive stage name after his shocking finish in the annual Muscle Beach championship in L.A.’s Venice Beach. The 53-year-old, Grammy-winning “Turn Down For What” MC took home the third place trophy in the annual Men’s Physique Masters Over 45 category on Monday (Sept. 1).

Looking super shredded thanks to his years long fitness journey, Jon pumped iron, flexed and posed with the best of them as the showed off his winner’s medallion in an impressive Instagram video from the competition. “3RD PLACE! ALHAMDULLIAH. THANKS TO ALL THAT SUPPORTED ME ON THIS JOURNEY!!” he wrote.

“It’s been a lot physically, just in the gym, dedication, eating, focus. I’m winning just by being here and changing my lifestyle, mentally and physically,” Jon said in an interview with ABC 7 during the competition. “One of the things I hope is that I can be an inspiration to so many people who say, ‘Oh, I don’t have time. I can’t do it.’ If I can do it, then you can do it too.”

The annual Labor Day tradition in Venice Beach is billed as the greatest outdoor bodybuilding show on Earth and is open to amateurs only. Athletes from around the world descend on the famed stretch of beach every year to compete in categories including bodybuilding, physique, bikini and wellness.

Jon has been chronicling his wellness journey over the past year, posting videos of fasting cardio, his impressive pull-up skills and ridiculously jacked triceps. In addition to his dedication to eating well and working out, Jon has been feeding his mind as well via two albums of guided meditations, 2024’s Total Meditation and Manifest Abundance: Affirmation of Personal Growth and teaming up with Peloton last summer for a new Artist Series, bringing his catalog to six of the workout company’s live classes, including cycling, tread, row, meditation and strength.