Becoming a reigning five-time Classic Physique champion is no walk in the park and Chris Bumstead has openly shared his journey with fans through the years. In a recent RAW Nutrition Podcast on YouTube, Chris Bumstead opens up about why he disappeared during his prep for the 2023 Mr. Olympia and his biggest setback that led to personal growth.
“We’ve shown them that we’re not just fuc**ng off when we leave, we’re putting in the work,” said Bumstead.
Chris Bumstead has asserted his dominance in Classic Physique for an impressive five consecutive years, consistently showcasing impeccable conditioning and hardness on the stage. His reign commenced in 2019 when he seized the throne from Breon Ansley. Fast forward to 2023, and he continues to reign supreme, defeating notable contenders such as Urs Kalecinski and Ramon Queiroz.
Each win hasn’t been without its difficulties, like in 2022 when Chris Bumstead suffered a bicep tear. Bumstead isn’t sure when it happened but noticed pain days out from the Mr. Olympia stage. Regardless of his injury, Cbum persevered through the competition and won. He only revealed his bicep tear after earning his fourth title.
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History was determined to repeat itself as Bumstead went into the 2023 Mr. Olympia with yet another injury. Unbeknownst to everyone, Cbum won his fifth title after having suffered a lat tear. As he did in the previous year, Bumstead waited until his acceptance speech to reveal his injury.
Chris Bumstead Reveals His Reason For Disappearing During His 2023 Mr. Olympia Prep
Not all of the struggles Bumstead has faced have been physical, rather he has had to deal with a tremendous amount of stress, anxiety, and even fear as the reigning champion. Opening up on his mental health, Cbum let fans know that each year he deals with his fear of failure. This year he revealed was even more challenging due to personal reasons, that until now, he wasn’t prepared to share.
Bumstead revealed on a recent podcast with RAW Nutrition on YouTube why he disappeared during his preparation for the 2023 Mr. Olympia and also shared what those “personal reasons” were.
“Having the right people and the right team and you can accomplish so much more than doing stuff on your own. Kind of like you said, our wives being understanding of what we’re doing. The fact that there is going to be a sacrifice. If you want to be in the top 20% in a few things, then that might work out, but if you want to be the top 1%, you can really only pick one thing.”
“Even within my scope of my year, this year when I was competing for the Olympia, you know we were traveling a lot this year. I was still coming into the office I was still trying to grow my relationship and be a bodybuilder and all these things and then my health hit me.
I tore my lat. I started going through all this shit and it was if I want to be the top one, period, in bodybuilding, I had to push everything aside. I disappeared. I didn’t come in here for a few weeks,” said Bumstead.
Chris Bumstead highlights the importance of having a good team and how it was detrimental to his success.
“People are like don’t bother Chris right now he’s got to go win the Olympia, you know everyone understood and we had the team to do it.
The only way I got through it was to focus on one thing: try to win the Olympia. When we talk about sacrifice, the people in our lives, the wives, the reason they trust us to do this is because we know it’s going to be worth it in the end.”
He underscored the significance of “making it worth it” for his support system.
“We fuck off a lot but we get the job done. We’ve proven it. We fuck off but we get the job done. The sacrifice, they trust us that it will be worth it,” shared Bumstead.
“If you actually make it worth it and there’s an understanding, then you’re winning.”
Chris Bumstead Discusses The Biggest Setback That Led To Personal Growth
According to Bumstead, his biggest setback that led to personal growth was in 2018 when he got sick and was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.
“My biggest [setback for personal growth] was I always go back to 2018 when I got sick and I got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. And I thought I was going to have to retire from bodybuilding and I was never going to be able to train the same again.”
“I didn’t know if I was going to compete if my body would be fucked, and then getting through like the most difficult prep of my life and then, now, and that was the last year I ever lost the Olympia. Since then, I’ve only done five shows, five Olympias, and I’ve gotten five titles.”
“Every year I felt like I’ve been on borrowed time because I thought I was done then. So, that’s really what led me on this journey. I always talk about it, being present and enjoying every moment because you don’t know when you’re just going to be done.”
Chris Bumstead shares how much he appreciates each title he has earned and embraces what the future holds for him whether it be hanging it up or continuing his reign.
“If I was done then, then I never would have won one Olympia but now I’ve been blessed enough to have five and I just count myself so lucky.
If I get one more, that’s beautiful, but if I’m done now, I’m grateful for every moment that I’ve gotten to experience because it could have been none.”
“So I think that was the biggest setback where in the moment I thought everything was ending and my life was over and it just led me to so much mental growth.”
Since the 2023 Mr. Olympia, Chris Bumstead has been a busy man. Less than two weeks after earning his fifth title, Bumstead announced that he and fiancé Courtney King are expecting their first baby due to arrive in 2024. Courtney King is a former Ms. Bikini Olympia champion who is excited to go on this journey with Bumstead after supporting him through his bodybuilding career.
In addition to being a soon-to-be dad, Chris Bumstead just underwent a renal stem cell injection for his kidneys just as a preventative measure. Bumstead also received a hair transplant along with his brother-in-law Iain Valliere in Turkey to maintain their full heads of hair.
Focusing on his health and well-being as well as growing his family, Bumstead has a bright future both in and out of bodybuilding and fans can’t wait to see what is next for the champion.
RELATED: Chris Bumstead Discusses Sam Sulek’s Future in Bodybuilding: “He Is Taking Over The World”
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