Ryan Terry is a professional bodybuilder and model from the United Kingdom. He is one of the foremost competitors in the Men’s Physique division of the IFBB Pro League. Ryan Terry achieved the goal of winning the coveted Men’s Physique Olympia title in 2023 and cemented his place in the history of the sport. This article explores his biography, competition history, training routine and diet as well as statistics.
Ryan Terry Statistics
| Full Name: Ryan Terry (Bodybuilder) | ||
| Weight | Height | Age |
| ~190 lbs (86.1 kg) | 5’10” (177.5 cm) | 35 years |
| Date of birth | Era | Nationality |
| November 17, 1988 | 2010s, 2020s | British |
Ryan Terry Biography
Early life
Ryan Terry was an average kid in the UK that started training in teenage years to build confidence and get healthy. But as time went by, he became passionate about bodybuilding and got incrementally aggressive with his training. With consistent efforts and intense training, Terry built an impressive physique. He started getting modelling assignments and also worked as a plumber.
Things took a major turn when the Brit decided to compete in a bodybuilding show. He performed surprisingly well in local competitions, which gave him the confidence to pursue the career in this industry.
Early career
Ryan Terry emerged on the bodybuilding scene with a bang when he won the 2010 Mr. Great Britain competition. He was only 21 years old at the time and displayed great proportions, conditioning and muscle mass. He represented the United Kingdom in the Mr. International competition and defeated competitors from 40 nations to take home the Mr. International trophy.
By this time, Terry had still not made competitive bodybuilding his full-time career. However, continued success in the sport compelled him to focus on bodybuilding as a full time career. Terry became the 2013 Arnold Classic Europe Men’s Physique champion and never looked back after that.
Professional bodybuilding career
He earned the IFBB Pro card in 2013 and made the IFBB Pro debut at the 2014 IFBB Grand Prix. His first pro win came in the year 2015 when he won the IFBB Atlanta Pro. Ryan Terry has since competed in over 20 professional bodybuilding competitions and won several of those. Most notably, Terry has won the Arnold Classic multiple times and has never finished outside the top eight at any of the Mr. Olympia appearances.
Ryan Terry had a bit of a setback in 2019 when he had to undergo a hip surgery due to excess bone impinging on his nerves. However, he continued to impress with his performances. Terry returned to the stage at the 2020 Olympia but found little success, finishing eighth in the Men’s Physique division. He bounced back with a strong showing in the next competitiv season and bagged the 2021 Arnold Classic UK trophy.
Terry made slight improvement in his Olympia standing in 2022 and walked away with a seventh place finish.
Crowing as the 2023 Men’s Physique Olympia champion
Ryan Terry breathed new life in his professional bodybuilding career in the 2023 competitive season. He started out with a runner-up finish at the 2023 Pittsburgh Pro and emerged victorious at the 2023 New York Pro, securing a direct qualification to the 2023 Olympia.
The Men’s Physique division has witnessed some of the most bitter and fiercest rivalries in the sport and trash talking was at its peak between top contenders of the division heading into the 2023 Olympia.
Defending champion Erin Banks, former champion Brendan Hendrickson and 2023 Legion Sports Fest Pro winner Kyron Holden were in the discussion for the top spot. Additionally, returning former champion Jeremy Buendia’s addition ensured a tough battle on stage.
However, Ryan Terry silently creeped up to the top and dominated the stage from the get go. In the end, he emerged victoriously with phenomenal conditioning, muscle density and arguably the strongest standing back relax pose. With the thumping victory, Ryan Terry became the sixth man in Men’s Physique history to win the Coveted Men’s Physique Olympia title.
Competition History
2010
- Mr. Great Britain – 1st place
- Mr. International – 1st place
2013
- UK National Championships – 1st place
- British Championships – 1st place
- Arnold Classic Europe – 1st place
- Arnold Classic Europe Overall Championships – 1st place
2014
- IFBB Grand Prix – 16th place
- IFBB Europa Super Show – 10th place
2015
- Miami Muscle Beach Pro – 2nd place
- Pittsburgh Pro – 1st place
- Atlanta Pro – 1st place
- Mr. Olympia (Men’s Physique) – 4th place
2016
- Mr. Olympia (Men’s Physique) – 2nd place
- Arnold Classic – 4th place
2017
- Arnold Classic – 1st place
- Asia Grand Prix – 1st place
- Mr. Olympia (Men’s Physique) – 6th place
2018
- Mr. Olympia (Men’s Physique) – 3rd place
- IFBB Pro Asia Grand Prix – 1st place
2019
- Mr. Olympia (Men’s Physique) – 5th place
- IFBB Asia Grand Prix – 1st place
2020
- Mr. Olympia (Men’s Physique) – 8th place
2021
- Arnold Classic UK – 1st place
2022
- Mr. Olympia (Men’s Physique) – 7th place
2023
- Pittsburgh Pro – 2nd place
- New York Pro – 1st place
- Mr. Olympia (Men’s Physique) – 1st place
Ryan Terry Workout
Ryan Terry has been training for over two decades and his career trajectory speaks volumes about his dedication and hard work in the gym. Terry suggests seeking expert guidance to correct the basics of training in the early stages of development. Those who cannot afford to hire a trainer can always learn from the material available online.
The 30-year-old has amassed vast amounts of bodybuilding knowledge over years of training and implements it in his training routine. Ryan Terry constantly innovates his training routine to address the issues and make consistent progress in the training journey.
His training routines constantly undergo changes and evolve to suit his requirements better. However, mentioned below is a sample of Terry’s training routine based on the latest information revealed on his personal YouTube channel:
Typical Training Week
Chest
Ryan Terry’s chest workout changes from time to time. But irrespective of the changes, things that remain constant are the synergy between machine and free weight exercises as well as inclusion of pressing and flying exercises for complete chest development.
He typically starts the exercise with cable crossover or pec deck flyes to activate the pectoral muscle fibers and proceeds to do heavy pressing exercises to build the pushing strength. Terry weaves flyes variations in the workout to build the adduction strength and bring about complete overall development in terms of muscle and strength gain.
Typically, Ryan Terry’s chest workout looks like this:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Pec Deck Flyes | 4 | 12 to 15 |
| Flat Chest Press Machine | 4 | 12 to 15 |
| Incline Chest Press Machine | 4 | 12 to 15 |
| Hammer Grip Incline Dumbbell Chest Press | 4 | 12 to 15 |
| Incline Push-Ups | 4 | 12 to 15 |
| Incline Dumbbell Flyes | 4 | 12 to 15 |
| Chest Dip Press | 4 | 12 to 15 |
Back
Depending upon the goals and the stage of prep / off-season, Ryan Terry includes one or two back days in his training routine per week. He has made several changes to the training program over the past couple of years. Terry had started to rely extensively on machine exercises over the last few years to bring his back up. However, he feels that the density in his back started to wither away as the reliance on free weight exercises reduced.
As a result, Ryan Terry makes sure to include free weight movements in his back workout. Additionally, growing age has made it difficult for him to do deadlifts in high volume. Terry compensates some of that volume through hyperextensions.
Here is what Ryan Terry’s back workouts look like:
Workout 1
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Incline One Arm Cable Pulldown | 4 | 10 to 12 |
| Straight Back Seated Cable Rows | 4 | 10 to 12 |
| T-Bar Rows | 4 | 10 to 12 |
| Wide Grip Seated Cable Rows | 4 | 10 to 12 |
| Superset – High Cable Rows and Machine Rows | 4 | 10 to 12 |
| Lat Pulldown | 4 | 10 to 12 |
Workout 2
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Superset – Weighted Hyperextensions and Deadlifts | 4 | 8 to 10 |
| Superset – High Rows and Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns | 4 | 8 to 10 |
| T-Bar Rows | 4 | 10 to 12 |
| Bent Over Barbell Rows | 4 | 10 to 12 |
Shoulders
Ryan Terry targets the shoulder holistically to work all three shoulder heads – anterior, lateral and posterior deltoids. Apart from these three muscles, he also stimulates traps on a shoulder day with one or two isolation exercises. For anterior delts, Ryan Terry typically performs the overhead press variations and works the lateral and posterior delts with specific isolation exercises.
Here is an example of Ryan Terry’s shoulder workout:
| Exercise | Feeder Sets | Working Sets & Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Barbell Shoulder Press | 3 | 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps |
| Dumbbell Lateral Raises | 3 | 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps |
| Incline Dumbbell Shoulder Press | 3 | 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps |
| Cable Rear Delt Flyes | 3 | 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps |
| Barbell Shrugs | 3 | 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps |
Legs
The Men’s Physique competitor trains legs once or twice every week depending upon the goals. He ensures that all the major muscles like quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves along with other supporting muscles are sufficiently stimulated.
Ryan Terry’s leg training session includes following exercises:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Leg Extensions | 4 | 12 to 15 |
| Trap Bar Deadlifts | 4 | 12 to 15 |
| Barbell Walking Lunges | 4 | 12 to 15 |
| Leg Curls | 4 | 12 to 15 |
| Seated Calf Raises | 4 | 12 to 15 |
| Smith Machine Standing Calf Raises | 4 | 12 to 15 |
Abs
Ryan Terry takes abs training extremely seriously and dedicates one full training session to developing the mid-section every single week of training. According to him, his abs workouts are ‘hurtful’ and ‘difficult’ but unquestionably effective as witnessed on stage so many times. Terry utilizes two different abs training routines. The first routine is a standard circuit that he has followed for decades and includes a few sets of different exercises in a linear manner like most workouts. It looks like this:
Routine 1
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Hanging Leg Raises | 4 | 15 |
| Cable Crunches | 4 | 15 |
| Oblique Twists Machine | 4 | 15 |
| Crunches | 4 | 15 |
| TRX Knee Crunches | 4 | 15 |
Meanwhile, Ryan Terry has started experimenting with his core training to add more variety in training, avoid boredom and break out of regular patterns. The second abs training routine follows a crossfit-style HIIT circuit and include following exercises:
Routine 2
Abs
- Hanging Leg Raises
- Weighted Abdominal Crunches
- Reverse Abdominal Crunches on Rower
- Bicycle Crunches
- Toe Touches
- Wheel Roll Out
HIIT Circuit
- Rope Skipping
- Sled Pushing
- SkiErg
- Deep / Full Squats into Box Jump Full Squats
Arms
Ryan Terry tackles arms once every week. Interestingly, he starts most of his arms workouts with close grip pull-ups. While explaining the logic behind this, Terry explained:
“Secondary muscle when you’re doing close grip pull-ups is your bicep. So I want to bring my back up as well as hitting my biceps. So start every session with close-grip pull-ups.”
Preacher curl is Ryan Terry’s go-to exercise and he gets great results with this exercise irrespective of other factors. As a result, it is the primary movement in his arms training routine and serves as the first major bicep isolation exercise in all of his arms workouts.
The 30-year-old’s arms training philosophy is simple. He performs four to five sets of every exercise with incrementally heavier weights. The focus in the initial, lighter sets is on building the mind-muscle connection while the heavier sets are meant for building strength and endurance.
He also employs techniques like drop sets and supersets to push beyond failure, getting the most out of the workouts.
Overall, the arms training session in Ryan Terry’s workout routine looks like this:
- Close-Grip Pull-Ups – 4 sets of 12 reps
- Preacher Curls – 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps
- Dumbbell Curls – 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps
- Reverse Grip Cable Triceps Pushdowns – 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps
- Superset – Mag Pushdown and Triangle Press – 4 sets of 12 reps on each exercise
- Rope Triceps Pushdown – 4 sets of 12 to 15 sets
Ryan Terry Diet
Ryan Terry follows a simple whole food diet that focuses on balanced intake of all the macronutrients as well as micronutrients. He stays arm’s length away from highly processed foods and relies on natural ingredients and organic foods.
Terry has been training for more than twenty years and insists on the importance of consistency in bodybuilding whenever he talks about diet.
“As a bodybuilder, it’s all about consistency. For me, for the last 13-14 years, I’ve had the same meals every day. It’s just consistency…” Ryan Terry revealed.
He does make some crucial changes to his meal composition as the competition date draws closer. However, the composition of ingredients largely remains similar.
“I typically eat similar meals whether I am on-season or off-season. The amount obviously differs and I’ll add more calories to it through sauces, and just enjoy it a little bit more. Because obviously, when you’re dieting for Mr. Olympia, it has to be very strict, very bland. You just don’t want to do that 365 days of the year.”
Ryan Terry is generally not very rigid about the calories when he is not preparing for a contest. The goal is to gain muscle and get as big as possible. Increased caloric intake can definitely help with that. However, competition prep diet is a different story altogether.
Ryan Terry’s Olympia prep diet
During the competition prep, Ryan Terry typically follows a six-meals-per-day diet plan. He starts out with a balanced meal consisting of oats, banana, peanut butter and berries along with whey protein to sustain throughout the workout. He prepares the chicken and rice meals for the day in advance to avoid dedicating a lot of his time in the day to cooking.
Chicken breast is a lean meat and eating it all year long can be a little bit boring. Ryan Terry fries the chicken or grills it with oil during the off-season. However, he uses a barbecue or air fryer when in competition prep.
For variety, Terry eats steak in the form of wrap instead of consuming it with rice. Typically, a full day of eating during competition prep looks like this:
Meal 1
- Banana – 1 whole
- Blueberries – 40 grams
- Oats – 120 grams
- Peanut Butter – 50 grams
- Whey Protein – 2 scoops (approximately 66 grams)
Post-workout shake
- Carbohydrates – 100 grams
- Protein – 40 grams
Meal 2
- Eggs – 3 whole
- Smoked Salmon – 100 grams
- Toast – 2 slices
- Avocado – 1/2
Meal 3 and Meal 4
- Chicken Breast – 200 grams
- White Rice – 250 grams
Meal 5 and Meal 6
- Fillet Steaks – 300 grams
- Vegetables – Onions, Peppers and Mushrooms
- Meal Wraps – 3 whole
- Dressing – Mayonnaise and chilli / mustard sauce
To Conclude…
Ryan Terry has remained in the top echelons of the professional bodybuilding world for a long time without winning the ultimate prize – the Olympia trophy. One of the most difficult aspects of pursuing a career in bodybuilding or any other sport is to be able to face the mental and physical challenges without losing hope. Ryan Terry handled these challenges in an excellent way and eventually climbed to the top spot, setting a perfect example for those struggling to realize their full potential.
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