Chris Bumstead’s highly anticipated splash into the Men’s Open division has the bodybuilding world watching closely. In his latest appearance on the Bro Chat podcast, published November 11, 2024, he opened up on his ‘weird desire’ to try ayahuasca and revealed whether he will remain retired from the sport after the EVLS Prague Pro show.
When the 2024 Mr. Olympia contest wrapped up, it appeared as if it would be the last time fans got to see Chris Bumstead perform. He narrowly bested Mike Sommerfeld on the scorecards to clinch his sixth consecutive Classic Physique Olympia title. During his victory speech, he revealed that he was retiring from the sport. But in a crazy turn of events days later, he announced that he’d be competing in the Men’s Open at the 2024 EVLS Prague Pro.
Questions, speculation, and expectations have dominated discussions within bodybuilding since his announcement. Some, like Nick Walker, believe he could find success in Prague, while others such as Michal Krizo, argue he’d be lucky to sniff out a top-three position. With Bumstead’s peak week in full swing, he laid out his feelings and what’s on his mind days before taking to the stage overseas.
Chris Bumstead Wants To Try Ayahuasca And Discusses If He Stays Retired After Prague
First and foremost, Bumstead wants to bring a fuller look to the Prague stage and is willing to sacrifice some dry sharpness to make that a reality.
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“I would like to be just fuller and if I have sacrifice some of my dry sharpness, I’m willing to do that for this. Also, just selfishly, not whether or not I think it’s going to be a better look to win, but selfishly I actually want to see what I look like being full.”
“That’s kind of the point of this show. I’m done, I’m in shape. Let’s see what my body looks like doing a different style, maybe pushing down less hard, filling up a little bit more, sacrificing maybe a little bit of that sharpness just to be really full and see what happens.”
He believes he looks his best at approximately 250 pounds.
“I would say at like 250 I’m normally like fuck yeah, my delts are still round, my chest is popping, my back is still round, everything is full, I’m lean, I got lines in my glutes and I feel really good. Chipping down another nine pounds from there I sort of lose that fullness that gets me fired up.”
Taking a page out of Dorian Yates’ book, Chris Bumstead said he’d like to try the hallucinogenic compound ayahuasca, which he believes could help him find inner peace following his bodybuilding career.
“I have this weird desire to do ayahuasca. I think it’s because I want to learn how to let go of wanting to control things. Will I come back to this point of wanting to have all this control?
Yes. But I would also like to take that as a challenge to overcome my desire to control things and to be able to let go more and be more accepting of life as it is. I think if I can accomplish that, then I wouldn’t even be able to get back into bodybuilding if I wanted to.”
Bumstead described his feelings about retirement and while he left the door open for a possible return post-Prague, he says ‘It’s hard for me to imagine me doing it again.’
“I don’t think anything will ever compare to what I just did for the last six years. Whether I come back in a year from now, or in two years or never or whatever, I know for a fact that I will always be like fuck, that was pretty sweet.”
“I can’t tell you what it’s going to feel like. There’s going to be moments when I do, right now, do I think I’m going to come back? No. But could it change? Maybe. It’s hard for me to imagine me doing it again.”
If he does emerge victorious in Prague, he emphasized that he is unsure whether he would compete at the 2025 Mr. Olympia as an Open competitor.
“Who knows? I don’t know. Exactly. Whether or not I know the answer in my mind, I’m going to say I don’t know. Every year, I’m going to be like should I get the special invite this year? Tease it out there. Get people fired up for no reason you know,” said Bumstead. Yeah, I’ll be Kai Greene for the next 10 years.”
Although bodybuilding veteran Shawn Ray has long called for ‘Cbum’ to try to out the Open, he criticized the mindset he’s taking into Prague. Ray believes Bumstead should be 100 percent ‘all-in’ and focused on winning gold even though he previously mentioned that he doesn’t think he can pull off the victory.
Chris Bumstead appears at peace with his bodybuilding career. Fans are eager to see him test the waters in the Open class while holding out hope for his possible return to the Olympia stage in his new division.
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