In some ways, Chris Bumstead may be at a crossroads in his professional bodybuilding career. After capturing her fourth straight Classic Physique title at the 2022 Olympia — giving her more championships than all other winners combined in the division’s history dating back to 2016 — Bumstead seemed to want to take a breather. . In the middle of January 2023, the athlete revealed that he suffered a right biceps tear three days before the Olympia and that it needed some time to heal properly. As the superstar looks ahead to the next steps in his athletic journey, he gave a recent update on his current status.

On January 23, 2023, Bumstead posted a video on his YouTube where he grinds through a leg workout: one of his first filmed sessions of the new calendar year. At the same time, he revealed what happened to his body and training regimen since the biceps muscle tear.

Before diving into his usual routine, Bumstead shared how he’s been recovering in the approximately month since he extended his Classic Physique reign and tore his right biceps. The bodybuilder maintained that, apart from paying attention to his legs occasionally, he did not train regularly for almost five weeks.

With the 2023 Mr. Olympia officially set for November 3-5, 2023, in Orlando, FL, Bumstead appears content to take his time and is in no rush to return to full throttle.

“I do the legs like once a week,” Bumstead said. “Not hardworking. So, I let my body recover now. But the Olympia for nine months.

In addition to taking it easy in the gym so far, Bumstead explained that he has gained almost 12 pounds since the 2022 Olympia. He weighed about 251 pounds when the video was recorded.

With more details about his health explained, Bumstead stepped up his leg training. (Note: The athlete does not reveal the specific sets and repetitions for all the different parts of his workout.)

Leg Extension and Leg Press

To start his session, Bumstead chose to do a superset of some leg extensions and a leg press. He performs both movements unilaterally and treats them as a warm-up for his muscles before moving on to compound exercises.

Leg press

With his warm-up out of the way, Bumstead focuses on a moderately heavier leg press. The competitor maintains that he doesn’t want to push it too hard as he works back into a quality groove.

“… Because I don’t want to put on sheets right now,” Bumstead said. “Partly because my knees feel unstable right now, and I want to make sure they’re equally strong.”

Back Squat

For the “meat and potatoes” part of his workout, Bumstead performs some traditional back squats. The athlete showed up with a plate on each side of his barbell for a warm-up before slowly increasing his weight through a few more sets. As a closer, Bumstead seems to have two plates emblazoned on both sides, which equates to 225 pounds (assuming Bumstead uses a standard 45-pound barbell.)

Walking Dumbbell Lunge

As he begins to slow down his leg session, Bumstead continues to attack his lower body with a few sets of walking dumbbell lunges. The athlete appears to be holding 70-pound dumbbells in each hand for the entirety of this segment.

Seated Calf Raise

To finish his workout, Bumstead did seated calf raises. It looks like he attached two 45-pound plates to his machine for each set while he put a cap on the overall session.

At the time of writing, it appears that Bumstead will be aiming for a fifth straight title at the Classic Physique Olympia this coming November. While bodybuilding legends like Samir Bannout have suggested that the athlete should try his hand at competing in the Men’s Open division – even as early as the 2023 Arnold Classic in March – Bumstead has previously made it clear that he is not considering a change. -or until 2024 at the earliest. Not to mention that progressing up a division is probably unwise for someone still recovering from an upper body injury.

Whatever the near and long term future holds for Bumstead, it’s likely he’ll continue to share in-depth looks at what’s next in his bodybuilding endeavors.

Featured image: Chris Bumstead on YouTube

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