Chris Bumstead is officially back to training after a hair transplant in Turkey halted his workouts. In a recent YouTube video, ‘Cbum’ shared his 2024 off-season grocery haul and revealed his new push-pull-legs-style training split.
“Back in the gym right now, I’m not really officially starting to work out I’m still not supposed to train for another week but I’m just going to do a little bit of movement train a little bit because you know, when someone says take 30 days off what they really mean is 21 because they know you’re not going to listen to them.”
Bodybuilding has remained a top priority for Bumstead, who sits atop the Classic Physique Olympia throne as a five-time champion. He has successfully held the crown since 2019 after taking the honor from former two-time champ, Breon Ansley.
Just two months ago, Bumstead extended his reign, though admits a handful of obstacles nearly prevented him from doing so. Most notably, his brother-in-law and Open star, Iain Valliere, announced his abrupt retirement despite having qualified for the 2023 Mr. Olympia contest.
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Recognizing the adversity he faced in his 2023 Olympia victory speech, Bumstead also revealed he sustained a torn lat weeks from his title defense. With his off-season underway and a baby on the way, Bumstead is now offering insight into his grocery haul and a newly implemented training split.
Chris Bumstead to ‘Ease Back’ into Working Out, Shares New ‘Push-Pull-Legs-Style’ Training Split
After a 21-day break from the gym, Bumstead caught up with fans before exercising. He revealed plans for a new push-pull-legs-style split to ease back into training.
“So 21 days, back in the gym right now. I’m going to be doing a little bit of back workout for the next couple of weeks I’m going to do like four, three to four workouts a week I think I’m going to do like a push, pull leg-style split to just like ease back into it.”
Following his break from training regularly, Bumstead disclosed that he felt worse, mentioning that his hips and joints have become sore because he’s not moving around enough.
“It’s funny; some of the mobility stuff with gbrs guys and my obliques and my hips, my joints, and shit were sore. You would think taking time off actually would help you feel better but makes you feel worse because I have a lot of muscle that was already tight and sore. Not moving, sitting in desks, sleeping like this everything just got more locked.”
“I have a lot of muscle that just got tighter because there was no movement,” Bumstead revealed.
Bumstead Hands Out Grocery Haul Tips in 2024 Off-Season
Tired of lean meat during prep, Bumstead has made turkey sandwiches a staple for his 2024 off-season
“Turkey breast is the goat that goes on it. This is a fat box of turkey breast. Oven-roasted turkey breast. I don’t eat these a lot but I just love sandwiches so I have probably one every other day at least. I stuff it full of meat so this will last me like a week maybe.”
“I got tired of eating lean meat after prep obviously. So, I’ve actually been, I don’t like eating a lot of red meat consistently like for multiple meals a day so I’ll have one but I have been eating a lot of salmon. So I’ll have salmon like once or twice a day right now, tastes absolutely delicious. So Atlantic salmon is the way to go, my go-to. Fresh fats, Omega 3s, one of the GOAT fats that you can eat so I eat a lot of salmon.”
Aside from his preference for Atlantic Salmon, Bumstead likes bison because they are less likely to be farmed and injected with drugs.
“Bison has been the go-to ground meat. I’ll get like steaks and bison, I actually kind of like the flavor more than ground beef and because it’s more of a wild game animal, not actually wild anymore because we live in America the 22nd century, kidding but they’re less likely to be farmed full of drugs all that kind of shit.”
One of Bumstead’s favorite treats during the off-season is chicken nuggets.
“I have been absolutely enjoying chicken strips AKA chicken nuggets. But when you buy the ones that are called Chicken Strips they are usually a little bit more boujee and they are breaded a little bit lighter and crispier, delicious.”
Bumstead also shared tips on making a ‘lazy man’s stir fry.’
“This is the lazy man’s secret to chicken stir-fries or any kind of stir fry. I put them in the microwave [frozen vegetables] for a minute or two and throw them on the pan and let them get a little bit crispy then I put my rice and chicken in there, tastes fire.”
Aside from his nutrition, Bumstead has taken every other measure possible to preserve his health and longevity. Shortly after retaining his title in November, the Canadian native received a renal stem cell injection, which Dr. Akhan hopes will help aid the Classic Physique star with his autoimmune disorder IGA Nephropathy.
While there are concerns about Bumstead’s eventual retirement, it appears the reigning Classic Physique Olympia’s focus is on training for the time being. Fans expect his next bodybuilding appearance to come at October’s 2024 Mr. Olympia, where the promotion will celebrate its 60th anniversary.
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