“My mind’s been in a different place this year now that I have a child,” bodybuilder Chris Bumstead says. On Jun. 3, 2024, Bumstead got candid with the camera for a YouTube interview about his mindset ahead of the 2024 Olympia.
The five-time king of the Classic Physique division discussed how fatherhood has impacted his bodybuilding career, his mindset compared to years past, and why he wants 2024 to be his “Michael Jordan year.”
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Chris Bumstead 2024 Olympia Prep
Bumstead and partner Courtney King welcomed their daughter, Bradley, on Apr. 22, 2024 — six months before he’s expected to defend his title on stage at the Olympia in Las Vegas, NV.
“Every year, I’ve had something come up during prep,” Bumstead says. Prior to the 2023 Olympia, Bumstead had torn his lat during a set of touch-and-go deadlifts. The year before that, he partially ripped his biceps tendon. Bumstead won the 2022 and 2023 Classic Physique Olympias regardless. “This year, it’s [Bradley].”
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For 29-year-old Bumstead, parenting while in the midst of a bulked-up off-season is both a blessing and a curse: “It’ll be a cool story to tell her someday,” he jokes of the many idiosyncratic rituals of the pro bodybuilder, including hours atop hours of practicing poses, donning spray tan, or assembly-line meal prep.
Bodybuilding is a lot tougher with a newborn.”
Chris Bumstead
“It’s a lot tougher with a child. Courtney is taking the brunt of it,” Bumstead continues. “[Bradley] got sick last Friday night, and we had to take her to the hospital — she’s fine, but it took me two or three days to recover from that.”
Bumstead describes the “precision” required to excel in bodybuilding at the highest levels. “You need to be calm when you eat so your digestion’s good,” he remarks of the delicate balance between full-time physique training and the stresses of caring for a newborn.
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Still, the world’s most famous contemporary bodybuilder — Bumstead leads a pack of nearly 24 million devotees on Instagram alone — has his eyes on the prize at the 2024 Olympia.
I want to be the Michael Jordan of bodybuilding.
Chris Bumstead
“People talk about 2013 Phil Heath, 2008 Dexter Jackson, 2007 Victor Martinez … I want this to be my year,” Bumstead says, itching to join the select few athletes who have singularly defined competitive bodybuilding in years past.
The Canada-born superstar indicates he no longer feels the same sort of fear after having climbed the mountain five times over. In fact, Bumstead’s got his sights locked on win number six.
“I’m going for that Michael-Jordan-six-rings thing,” he says. Bumstead chuckles a bit as he says it, but it doesn’t sound like a joke.
Clips of Bumstead’s interview are woven in with shots of the five-time champ performing a bodybuilding chest workout in his home gym. Here are a few of Bumstead’s go-to exercises:
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“There’s nothing you can achieve that will create infinite happiness. It’s about showing up every day; the process,” Bumstead closes. “Right now, it’s about being the best dad I can be.” But the Olympia looms larger, even, than the massive men and women who populate its stage. Bumstead notes that his 16-week bodybuilding contest prep diet will begin sometime in July.
Until then, it’s “…training at 100%. Diet at 100%. Sleep at 100%.” To be both the world’s best bodybuilder and the world’s greatest dad will require 110% — we think Bumstead’s got plenty left to give.
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Featured Image: Calvin Youttitham / @cbum on Instagram
