With 10 weeks until he attempts to defend his title at the 2024 Mr. Olympia, pressure is mounting for Canadian bodybuilder Chris Bumstead. Joined by Justin King, Bumstead walked fans through his latest quad-focused leg day workout shared on August 1, 2024.
Since 2019, Chris Bumstead has set himself apart from the Classic Physique category with granite conditioning and hard-to-match stature. For years, he’s laid waste to top contenders of the division, including former Arnold Classic champion Ramon Queiroz, former two-time Classic Physique Olympia Breon Ansley, and German standout Urs Kalecinski.
However, one opponent has emerged from the shadows this year after taking seventh at the 2023 Mr. Olympia — Wesley Vissers. ‘The Dutch Oak’ surpassed Queiroz on the scorecards at the 2024 Arnold Classic Ohio and UK shows, setting the stage for a massive battle with Bumstead on the horizon.
Chris Bumstead Smashes Intense Quad-Focused Leg Day Workout 10 Weeks from 2024 Mr. Olympia
Check out Chris Bumstead’s exercise selections below:
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- Atlantis Pendulum Squat Machine
- Belt Squat with Heel Wedges
- Hack Squat Machine
- Leg Extension Machine
- Back Hyperextensions — Seated Calf Raise Machine (superset)
- Wall Lying Leg Stretches
Atlantis Pendulum Squat Machine
To begin the session, Bumstead gave an update on how his knees are feeling at this stage of prep.
“[I feel] pretty good, I feel it a bit on the patella but I feel like that always happens when I’m warming up and I get better. But also why I started wearing knee sleeves when I go heavier because it just felt better when I did,” said Bumstead. “It stayed the same [last year during prep].”
Last year, Bumstead didn’t perform hack squats or barbell squats for the entirety of his prep. However, that’s changed this season as he performs hack squats later in this workout.
“Yeah, it was the first year where I didn’t do any kind of like hack squat, barbell squat, the whole time. There was a lot of leg press and belt squat,” said Bumstead. “Same [feeling on my knees], yeah. I was going heavier and not as slow but.”
Belt Squat with Heel Wedges
Bumstead pushed through intense belt squats, so much so that he struggled to remove himself from the machine following his final set.
“You’re just trying to sandwich the calf and the hamstring as much as you can,” said Justin King.
“Dying in the middle of a leg day. Got Mr. Justin King in the house, kicking my ass, making sure I’m doing all the right things 10 weeks out from the Olympia. Had to start with a leg day because we need huge legs so doing this nice little yielding ISO but cycling squat on the belt squat,” said Bumstead.
Hack Squat Machine
During hack squat sets, Justin King offered Cbum guidance.
“The whole idea behind a drop set is that you recruit a fiber and you fatigue that fiber but then you’re going further by lowering the load. If you don’t even fatigue the fiber, why are you dropping the load? You’re just getting more time under tension with the muscle fibers that don’t have as high of potential for hypertrophy.”
Leg Extension Machine
Using pause reps, Bumstead sculpted his quads with sets on the leg extension machine.
Back Hyperextensions — Seated Calf Raise Machine (superset)
Justin King monitors Bumstead with a stopwatch through back hyperextensions before having him superset with the seated calf raise machine.
Wall Lying Leg Stretches
Prioritizing recovery and range of motion, Bumstead tops off the session with wall lying leg stretches.
Bodybuilding veterans and judge Terrick El Guindy believe Vissers holds a few distinct advantages over Bumstead in a head-to-head match-up. Most notably, El Guindy pointed out that Vissers is slightly taller than Bumstead and mentioned that his front double biceps pose can overpower the dominant titleholder.
It’s clear Bumstead is upping the ante with each passing workout ahead of his title defense. Don’t miss his attempt to earn a sixth Classic Physique Mr. Olympia victory in a row on October 10-13 later this year in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Watch the full video from Chris Bumstead’s YouTube channel below:
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