Ever since winning the 2022 Tsunami Nutrition Cup Pro show, James Hollingshead has been full speed ahead toward the 2022 Olympia, scheduled for Dec. 16-18, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV. He will compete in the Men’s Open division for the second straight year and will attempt to dethrone two-time reigning Mr. Olympia Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay.
Hollingshead has voiced how he puts nutrition before training on his priority list, and his cheat meals are not something he shies away from when packing on muscle mass deep into his Olympia prep. However, with the 2022 Olympia just three weeks out from this article’s publication, Hollingshead has traded his cheat meals for 1,000-carb refeeds.
Hollingshead’s 1,000-carb days are spread out over eight meals instead of his typical six to help ease the stress on digestion while keeping his energy levels elevated. Check out the video below from Hollingshead’s YouTube channel, wherein he breaks down where those carbs come from:
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Breakfast
Hollingshead’s day of clean carbs begins with 150 grams of baby rice in his breakfast weighed out on his food scale. He mixes that with hot water, 60 grams of hydrolyzed protein powder, eight grams of salt, and 100 grams of blueberries.
Digestion is at top of mind for Hollingshead as the Olympia approaches, and he leans out. Thus, he takes two digestive enzymes before eating his breakfast.
Meals Two & Three
Hollingshead has 200 grams of chicken prepped for each meal as his protein source of choice. He doused the chicken breasts in Nando’s mild sauce to recreate the Indian cuisine restaurant’s “butterfly chicken” dish.
Paired with the chicken is 150 grams of rice, which Hollingshead scoops out of his rice cooker. He dabs his meal with another eight grams of salt and pepper, and it’s time to eat. Hollingshead’s meals are noticeably devoid of vegetables, but that is by design.
Hollingshead gets his micronutrients from greens powders instead of vegetables because the latter makes him bloat. He ingests additional vitamins and minerals from supplements that don’t disrupt his digestion, which is already under high duress with so many carbs.
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Post-Workout Meal, Meals Five & Six
Hollingshead’s post-workout meal is similar to his breakfast. It contains 150 grams of baby rice mixed with protein powder. His fifth meal is, again, 150 grams of rice with two chicken breasts. While the redundancy is something Hollingshead brought attention to, he admitted that it’s par for the course at the highest level in the sport.
Meals Seven & Eight
At 1:00 a.m., Hollingshead is still cramming food. Again, 150 grams of baby rice fall onto his food scale with some protein powder. This time, he adds some additional fats via a drizzle of nut butter. His eighth meal is the same as his seventh, except he adds sliced bananas.
Hollingshead will aim to improve upon his 12th-place finish at the 2021 Olympia in 2022. The consistency with his diet while seemingly in high spirits bodes well for him less than a month before the big show. We’ll see if the added carbs so close to showtime add fullness to his physique that the judges will reward.
Featured image: @hollingshead89 on Instagram
