After liberation, Zhao donated the Shanghai Fitness Center and all his sports equipment to the country. He works in Shanghai Institute of Physical Education, engaged in scientific research of bodybuilding and weightlifting. Zhao often goes deep into the training of sports teams, especially the Shanghai weightlifting team. Until he retired, he was over 70 years old and still went to Jiangwan training camp in the suburbs every week, in the wind and in the rain.
After the reform and opening up, he took the lead in publishing an article on how to carry out whole body muscle exercise in Sports Daily. Since then, bodybuilding, which was once neglected, has been revived with the joint efforts of Zhao, Zeng Weiqi, Lou Zhuoyu and fellow traveler Qi Xin, plus the propaganda of the news media.
Shanghai Gymnasium and other places opened gyms or remedial classes, and Zhao was hired as a consultant. At that time, people who came to consult every day were overcrowded. He always receives them warmly and gives them everything, so that he often forgets to eat and sleep.