The Rise of Chris Bumstead

  • Name: Chris Bumstead
  • Date of Birth:  2/2/1995
  • Weight:  215-220 lbs
  • Height: 6’1″ 
  • Waist: 30″ (76 cm)    
  • Chest: 51″ (130 cm)
  • Division: Classic Physique
  • Era: 2010          
  • Nationality: Canadian

Biography of Chris Bumstead

NEVER GIVE UP, TRUST YOUR SELF Chris Bumstead

It's challenging to be a professional bodybuilder. You must give everything up, stop eating your favorite foods, and live a life of a robot. Additionally, you never know when a health problem will arise. You briefly experience being at the top of the planet at one moment, but the next one you is pounding on hell's door. Chris Bumstead, the #1 bodybuilder in Classic Physique, also experienced this when he was in the hospital!

Chris Jonathan Bumstead is a Canadian IFBB professional bodybuilder who has finished first and defeated opponent Breon Ansley in the classic physique division of Mr. Olympia three years in a row (2017, 2019, and 2010). After taking first place and winning the 2016 North American Bodybuilding Championships, Chris Bumstead earned his pro card. He also appeared as an athlete in the Generation Iron 2 documentary feature.

Chris Bumstead Early Life

Chris Bumstead was born on February 2, 1995. Ottawa, Canada, is the hometown of Chris Bumstead. He looked up to the renowned Tom Platz as a child because of how his legs were built. He also mentioned the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger and bodybuilder Barry Demay from the 1980s as his inspirations.

Chris Bumstead built the base of his physique by practicing for sports he played in high school, including football, basketball, and track and field. 

Iain Valliere, an IFBB Professional bodybuilder who was dating Chris's sister and is now his spouse, served Chris as his introduction to bodybuilding.  When Chris Bumstead was barely 19 years old, Valliere sensed potential in him and assisted him in getting ready for his competition in 2014. He has admitted that Valliere is an inspiration to him and someone he still looks up to. 

In the Classic Physique division, Bumstead appears to have truly found his home, and he doesn't seem to want to be anywhere else.

“Physique wise switching to the Classic division drove my passion through the roof, thinking now of symmetry aesthetics and portraying it all as a form of art through posing is such a different dynamic than just trying to be huge.”

 

Body Building Career

Chris Bumstead debuted in 2014 at the age of 19, and at the age of just 21, after winning the 2016 IFBB North American Bodybuilding Championships, he received his professional card.

The title of current Classic Physique Olympia champion, which Bumstead earned in 2019, 2020, and 2021, belongs to him. He finished second behind Breon Ansley in the same competition in 2017 and 2018, which was undoubtedly upsetting to him. But in 2019, he delivered an incredible package that helped him win the top prize at the world's biggest tournament. Given that he underwent hernia surgery months before the show, his victory at the 2019 Olympia was amazing.

The drama also arose from his triumph since Ansley's coach Chris Cormier, a former IFBB professional, wasn't pleased with the competition's outcome. He and Ansley, however, had their fair share of disagreements as well, and they continued to fire shots up until the 2020 Olympia Press Conference. He and Ansley, however, had their fair share of disagreements as well, and they continued to fire shots up until the 2020 Olympia Press Conference.

But Bumstead won the Olympia championship once again in 2021, tying him and Ansley with two victories each, and this time, he accomplished it with more authority. Ansley came in third, so this may mark the end of their ongoing rivalry, but we'll have to wait and see. Ansley came in third, so this may mark the end of their ongoing rivalry, but we'll have to wait and see. 

What the future of the Classic Physique division will look like is unknown at this time, however, Bumstead probably does not intend to surrender his title anytime soon.

 

Training Regime

“If you’ll train hard, you’ll not only be hard, you’ll be hard to beat”

Chris Bumstead, like many competitors in 2020, trained from home for several months due to the health crisis circumstances, but he was eventually allowed to return to the gym. Chris Bumstead, like many competitors in 2020, trained from home for several months due to the health crisis circumstances, but he was eventually allowed to return to the gym.

Bodybuilders frequently alter their training regimens for a variety of reasons, which is why Bumstead's workouts are diverse. They have an off-season, prepare for competitions, and switch things up also keeps things interesting and can trigger new stimuli. Chris Bumstead occasionally switches up his splits; an example of one of them might be quads, arms, shoulders, hamstrings, back, and chest on their days.

Additionally, he uses supersets and drops sets in his workouts, both of which are excellent ways to grow muscle.

 

Competition Diet

Chris is quite meticulous about his eating. In the months proceeding up to a competition, he will consume the same six meals each day with only minimal variations. As Chris says

“This way I can determine what my body needs, and I can make a small change in my diet to achieve the results I’m after.”

Chris is aware of how crucial it is to avoid introducing any new foods to his diet prior to a picture shoot or competition.

“As I don't know how new meals will affect my body, it's important to avoid introducing them just before a competition”

 

Chris Bumstead Bulking Diet

He is easier going during the off-season, though. Although he will consume more calories and be less strict, this does not mean that he will consume pizza or hamburgers. He continues to live the bodybuilding lifestyle.

He will continue to eat six to seven meals every day, trying to consume 6000 calories from healthy foods like chicken, rice, and potatoes. He will include more carbohydrates in his pre-exercise breakfast to assist him to get through the workout.

Chris acknowledges that he will consume muffins and quick carbohydrate snacks prior to working out since he finds it challenging to get the massive 6000 calories that he requires from clean sources.

 

Business Endeavors

Bumstead has 1.2 million Instagram followers and more than 340 thousand subscribers to their YouTube channel. He is quite active on social media and provides a variety of content on his channel, such as day-in-the-life videos, workout videos, nutrition tutorials, etc.

He has a new podcast with his sister Melissa and Matty Milkshake called Paradise On Fire and is a sponsored athlete for Gymshark and Revive MD (Matt Thompson). On the podcast, they discuss life, offer guidance, and have guests. He also provides coaching online.

Since being identified as suffering from the autoimmune condition IGA Nephropathy, Bumstead has gained more insight into the significance of a healthy diet. He has said that it's probable his career could suffer as a result. That hasn't stopped him from pursuing his enthusiasm for bodybuilding, though.

He gets along well with his parents, especially his father, whom he considers to be his hero.

 

Personal Life

Chris Bumstead is not married yet. However, he is in a relationship with his girlfriend Courtney King. Courtney King is one of the top bodybuilders IFBB professional bikini competitor and Instagram personality. She also has a massive fan following

 

Chris Bumstead Injuries

2018: Chris Bumstead discusses a recent health scare that may have prevented him from competing in the Olympics.

It's challenging to be a professional bodybuilder. You must give everything up, stop eating your favorite foods, and live a life of a robot. Additionally, you never know when a health problem will arise. You briefly experience being at the top of the planet. The following time, however, you are pounding on hell's door. Chris Bumstead, the #1 bodybuilder in Classic Physique, experienced this when he was in the hospital!

In his very first Olympia back in 2017, Chirs Bumstead wowed the audience and the judges, and he ultimately finished in second place in the Classic Physique division. The outcomes for Bumstead in the 2018 Olympia were comparable, despite the fact that he brought a pretty remarkable body to the stage; he fell short of what the fans had hoped for. He wasn't in particularly good condition. Many people were pondering why this had occurred.

Chris Bumstead has made the decision to let his soul out. He acknowledged that he had been in the hospital before the program. Chris recounted the onset of his issues as follows:

This story starts around seven or eight weeks from now, immediately following my last guest posting in Los Angeles. I could push on my ankles and the water would move in an inch or two, and I was holding so much water in my shins that I had no idea what was happening. Perhaps my diet was a little different since I taught. I sort of dealt with it by pushing it aside. However, things swiftly deteriorated.

"I shed a lot of weight thanks to the diet. I woke up and discovered that I had gained five pounds. I was on my way to the doctor because I had a lot of water in my shins once more. Prior to that, I visited a water park and spent the entire day in the sun. The following morning, I only gained 15 pounds and my ankles were swollen.

Chris Bumstead waited for the answer for three nights in the emergency room. He was under a lot of stress. Since the doctors discovered that his kidney problems were the cause of the potassium buildup, they gave him a highly potent diuretic to flush it out.

Even after being sent home, Bumstead admitted that he had been walking in the middle of the night and that his quads had been terribly cramping. Since no one knew what he had been through, it was a highly emotional time for him.

He concluded by saying that he is extremely happy because things could have been much worse. Chris Bumstead would have been unable to continue competing and doing what he loved. Bumstead had a message in the end.

“If you see something is going on with your body, especially if you are a bodybuilder and you have gone through a lot, get yourself checked out. Get your regular blood work, get your urine test, go and see the doctor regularly.”

In 2019: Chris Bumsted tore his Hamstring

Chris Bumstead has truly had to overcome challenges in 2019 as he continued to train for the Mr. Olympia competition. Chris had a hernia operation earlier that year, which we reported on; he seemed to have healed quite well from it, and he was making enormous progress throughout this preparation.

Chris announced on his YouTube channel shortly after several days that he had torn his hamstring less than four weeks before the Olympia. It turns out that when performing straight-leg deadlifts, this incident occurred more than a week ago. He wasn't using heavyweight during his fifth set, though most of us would argue with his definition of a lightweight when he heard the dreaded "pop" that every bodybuilder dreads. He immediately knew that he had pulled his hamstring as the pain surged up his leg.

It was really painful for the first few days, but there was no bruising. But after his most recent update, he reveals in his video that bruising has developed at the base of his hamstrings, which are located behind his right knee. After seeing his chiropractor and massage therapist, it was discovered that his hips were out of alignment, which put more strain on the right than the left muscles.

Given that Olympia is in less than four weeks, Chris believes he will have to push through the injury while taking great care to avoid doing any additional harm. He'll do very light, high-repetition hamstring curls, and fortunately, he can still ride the bike pain-free for cardio. Chris appears to be on track based on his most recent Instagram photo, which gives us a quick look at his current fitness level.

 

Controversies

Chris Bumstead: Breon should be upset since he believes he is a better bodybuilder than me and lost, according to Chris Bumstead.

Classic Physique Olympia Champ Chris Bumstead Fires Shots At Breon Ansley Following Criticisms Of His Physique

One of the most exciting storylines leading up to the 2020 Mr. Olympia is the competition between Chris Bumstead and Breon Ansley. Ahead of their showdown, the winner of the Classic Physique Olympia fires some shots at his challenger. When Bumstead defeated Ansley to win the 2019 Olympia, many people thought it was controversial. Chris, on the other hand, believes that this is only an indication that the standards for judging Classic Physique are changing, and that he was the ideal candidate to start this new age. Breon would respond, however, on multiple occasions, claiming that Chris should not have won since he lacked some essential physical characteristics.

This competition with Breon Ansley doesn't particularly concern Chris Bumstead. In fact, he recently stated in an interview that he believes the two of them battling it out are beneficial for the sport. In addition, he responded to some of Breon's remarks by firing his own bullets in the former champion's direction.

Personally, I adore it, remarked Bumstead. "I really enjoy doing it. I believe the reason I like it so much is that I am completely aware that whatever pressure or stress I experience in any area of my life is entirely my responsibility. Consequently, regardless of what other people may think, I don't really feel any stress or pressure coming from them, and I am really appreciative of that. I still experience pressure and other things, but it usually comes from me and not from anyone else. Since I can't be certain that everyone else thinks the same way, if I can laugh about it and it won't affect me, it's all in good fun.

Chris Bumstead continued, "I think it's excellent for the sport to have rivalries like this. And Breon ought to be furious. He believes he is a better bodybuilder than I am and he failed. At the press conference last year, I stated that the Olympia and IFBB were awaiting the appearance of the ideal Classic Physique package to move the division in that direction. That's what I intended to accomplish in 2019 and what I still hope to accomplish, therefore I believe he should be furious. He has a very different physique from mine and believes that he is the finest in the world, but I believe the division is moving more in my favor. It will be amusing while also causing a little rivalry and tension between us.

Chris Bumstead continues by praising Breon Ansley's abilities and athleticism, emphasizing that this rivalry is purely competitive and not personal. Either way, they both appear motivated to deliver their absolute best to the stage come December. If Chris is correct about the direction of the Classic Physique division, it won't be known till after that.

 

Competitions

•        2015 CBBF Canadian National Bodybuilding Championship Men’s Junior Division, 1st

•        2016 CBBF Bodybuilding Championships Open Heavyweight Division, 2nd

•        2016 IFBB North American Bodybuilding Championships, 1st (Pro Card)

 

Conclusion

“Strength does not come from the physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will” Chris Bumstead

One of the great talents coming out of Canada is Chris, who was born in the heart of Ontario and made his stage debut as a bodybuilder in 2014. His idols are the bodybuilders of the golden era. 

Chris maintains a slender physique, keeping his core and waist tight in an effort to carry on their tradition. He received his professional card in 2016 after winning the IFBB North American Bodybuilding Championship at the age of 21. 

 

Follow Chris on Instagram