Having once carried the sport of bodybuilding on his back, Jay Cutler is no stranger to the methods that helped him become a four-time Mr. Olympia. In his latest effort on YouTube, shared August 20, 2024, Cutler discussed his 2009 battle with colitis, leaning down using fasted cardio at 51, and opened up on Chinedu Andrew ‘Jacked’ Obiekea’s chances of claiming gold at the nearing Olympia contest.
Throughout his bodybuilding tenure, Jay Cutler never let outside opinions shape his mentality. He always knew he’d one day be the best Open talent in the league, proving as much in 2006 after dethroning Ronnie Coleman in a massive upset. Despite losing his Mr. Olympia title in 2008 to Dexter Jackson, Cutler successfully won it back at the following contest in 2009.
Little did we know that Cutler would deal with a pesky colitis diagnosis shortly after cementing himself as an all-time great with his iconic quad stomp pose. Although the problem does not persist today, it certainly impacted his ability to consume the food necessary to boast a 300-pound physique during his prime. In retirement, Cutler’s focus has shifted to leaning down, and with consistent fasted cardio, the results are undeniable.
In between squeezing in cardio sessions, Cutler makes it a point to unpack what is happening atop the division he once ruled over. And with Andrew Jacked claiming gold at the Texas Pro for a three-peat victory, talks of whether can win the 2024 Mr. Olympia are raging on.
Level Up Your Fitness: Join our 💪 strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!
Jay Cutler Discusses 2009 Colitis Diagnosis, Fasted Cardio to Lean Down at 51, and Andrew Jacked Having ‘The Tools’ to Win 2024 Mr. Olympia
Of late, Jay Cutler bumped up his cardio to 30 minutes with the goal of leaning down at 51 years old.
“I’ve actually bumped my cardio up to 30 minutes now so I’m not doing just 20 minutes. For a long time, I was doing that for you guys that follow me on social media but I’ve actually moved it up now. Like I said, I’m working towards leaning down a little bit.
Dropping a few pounds, I’ve been sitting at about 235, so I want to drop a little bit get myself down a little more and as I lean, it’s kind of funny, everyone leads into winter and they’re putting on pounds, I’m trying to lose as I have different goals and aspirations,” Cutler said.
As for his battle with colitis in 2009, he mentioned that after seeing an array of specialists, a medication helped fix the problem, however, he struggled to keep food down temporarily.
“I couldn’t figure it out during my prep. It might have been 2010, nah I think it was ’09. I had an issue where I just couldn’t hold any food down.
So, I went for a checkup and they put me through all these different specialists, and sooner or later, yes, they said I had colitis. They gave me a prescription to this medication it was like an oral, and literally the day I took it, it stopped.”
According to Cutler, doctors told him he had inflammation in his colon stemming back to 2003.
“They said you know, you have inflammation in your colon, they told me since ’03. They thought it was a number of years so you can imagine it was like six years of it looked like it had been there for a long time.”
While he thought the high-fiber diet was to blame, he also revealed that genetics can play a role in colitis diagnoses.
“I thought it was the high-fiber diet but they said a lot of it can be genetic. But, I had that inflammation so I took the medication, I took it for about six months, they said you can try tapering off of it and it was super expensive at the time,” shares Cutler. “It was thousands of dollars for the monthly prescription.”
“I tried to come off and it literally came right back. Then after one year, because Hany was concerned about it as I started prepping for the next Olympia so 2010, and next thing you know, I came off and I never had to take it again,” he shared.
Fortunately, these issues no longer persist for Cutler today.
“Luckily, I haven’t had any issues [lately], but my diet changed drastically, I feel like it was a lot of Ezekiel cereal and a lot of Ezekiel bread. Any one on a high-fiber diet, you have to be careful,” said Cutler. “Remember I was almost 300 pounds so you can imagine the food I was eating.”
In light of Andrew Jacked’s dominant Texas Pro victory, Cutler discussed how he and his coaches Chris ‘Psycho’ Lewis and Chris Aceto could possibly win the 2024 Mr. Olympia (with the same team used by the late Shawn Rhoden).
“Yeah, well he’s [Andrew Jacked] is 6″3′, I mean Ronnie was 5″11′,” adds Cutler. “He is [like a supersized Flex Wheeler. Do you think he can challenge the top three?”
With a similar stature to Samson Dauda, Cutler anticipates an intense battle between Jacked and ‘The Nigerian Lion.’
“They are going full guns to the Olympia to win it, which I think is great. It makes it really exciting especially when you have Samson, he was like this standout position guy because of his height and his stature, and now he’s got someone that where Andrew was fifth last year, Samson was third, I think we will really see those guys kind of battle it out and who’s going to topple.”
If he hopes to earn the sport’s most prestigious title, Cutler advised Jacked to adjust his side poses.
“His front poses, his front relaxed, his lat spread, his front double, I mean they are all pretty almost unbeatable, he can beat everybody in that. His back has improved, he’s made some improvements. Side poses he still needs to adjust the side chest he can look a little more dense and that side triceps is amazing. He’s got the tools to be Mr. Olympia.”
Like all of us, Jay Cutler is ready to see the best Men’s Open competitors wage war at the nearing 2024 Mr. Olympia. In the meantime, he plans to continue fasted cardio to lean down and lose weight throughout the year.
RELATED: Jay Cutler Offers Tips to Grow Massive Glutes With His ‘Old School Main Exercise’
Watch the full video from the JayCutlerTV YouTube channel below:
Relive every moment from the 2025 Mr. Olympia, including prejudging, highlights, expert analysis, and full results. Explore our Olympia hub: FitnessVolt.com/olympia. For minute-by-minute coverage, follow our Live Blog.
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube for even more content.
