For the past six years, Chris Bumstead dominated the Classic Physique division, racking up six consecutive Olympia titles from 2019 to 2024. Though he has enough championship hardware to last a lifetime, it’s too late to try something new.
Despite announcing his retirement after winning the 2024 Classic Physique Olympia in October, Bumstead isn’t completely calling it quits. Rather than rest on his laurels and bask in his Gymshark glory, “CBum” will soon experience another unfamiliar feeling: competing in the Men’s Open division for the first time at the 2024 Prague Pro.
Does Bumstead have a legitimate shot at winning? Or will his debut emphasize the sizable difference between the two most popular divisions in men’s bodybuilding?
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Difference Between Classic Physique and Men’s Open Bodybuilding
Take one look at 2024 Mr. Olympia Samson Dauda, and instantly see why Bumstead faces a steep challenge going pose-for-pose with the mass monsters of Men’s Open. However, it isn’t just sheer size that separates the athletes in one division from another.
- Classic Physique competitors only have to hit five mandatory poses for judges: front double biceps, side chest, back double biceps, abdominals and thighs, and their favorite Classic pose.
- Men’s Open competitors have eight mandatory poses: front double biceps, front lat spread, side chest, back double biceps, back lat spread, side triceps, abdominals and thighs, and most muscular.
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Perhaps the most significant difference — especially from Bumstead’s perspective — is the absence of height and weight rules in Classic Physique. While the aptly named Men’s Open division allows athletes to push their muscle-building potential to the max, Classic Physique institutes weight limits based on height.
- For example, Bumstead measures 6 feet, 1.5 inches tall, so he can’t tip the scales beyond 242 pounds. While the six-time champ clearly found a strategy that worked, cutting weight certainly plays a bigger role in Classic Physique than Men’s Open.
On the other hand, having no weight restrictions allows someone like Dauda to carry significantly more mass and cut weight mainly for aesthetics.
At 5-foot-11, the “Nigerian Lion” weighs over 300 pounds during the off-season, typically competing on stage around the 275 mark. However, if Dauda competed in Classic, he’d face the unenviable (and perhaps impossible) task of trimming nearly 60 pounds off his frame to meet the 219-pound weight limit.
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How Can Chris Bumstead Adapt?
Luckily for Dauda, he doesn’t have to worry about adding size to stay at the top of the Olympia mountain. Bumstead’s biggest hurdle to succeed in a new division is he has to get bigger.
While it’s no secret that one of the biggest keys to a successful bulk is eating more, simply pounding extra calories isn’t necessarily the most optimal route. After all, dirty bulking — a slang term that essentially means eat everything you can — can lead to more body fat, worse performance in the gym, and even disrupt your sleep.
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Still, Bumstead would have to increase his overall caloric intake and adjust his training regimen significantly over a long period of time to make the leap from the 240s to somewhere between the 255-260 mark. This obviously won’t happen in the time he has to train for the show.
Without sufficient time for a proper Men’s Open contest prep, the longtime Classic Physique competitor has been open about the unique process heading into the Prague Pro:
- While following muscle-building hacks — such as including drop sets and supersets — could help hasten gains, Bumstead’s gone back to basics. In a Nov. 11 Instagram post, he shared that he’s been performing some favorite bulk-building moves that he “hasn’t done in a while,” including the Smith machine incline bench press and barbell rows.
- In a recent workout with fellow Men’s Open competitors Martin Fitzwater and Brett Wilkin, Bumstead revealed he hit the 251-pound mark. However, he emphasized that he’ll let his body “do what it does while not trying to bulk,” so he won’t be as meticulous with his diet as he was in Classic.
- Bumstead’s weight gain can be attributed to a directive from coach Hany Rambod to increase his carbohydrate and overall calorie intake to help regain muscle loss from cutting weight for the 2024 Olympia.
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Though he’s allowing himself to see what a Men’s Open prep would look like for a few weeks, it’s something Bumstead has said in the past he would never do full-time for longevity reasons.
In a 2021 interview with BarBend, back when he was “just” a two-time Classic Physique Olympia winner, CBum opened up about his concerns regarding the extremes of Men’s Open.
“I’d be lying if I said I never thought of [competing in Men’s Open], but I have had health complications in the past,” Bumstead explained after his 2020 Olympia victory. “I know at Classic Physique that I’m not pushing my limits very hard. I can stay super healthy, and I know my body can handle it.”
The health complication Bumstead was referring to is an autoimmune disease called IgA Nephropathy that affects the kidneys. He was diagnosed with it in 2018.
Men’s Open competitors are typically accustomed to taking things to the extreme —including calories, training, and performance-enhancing drugs. For someone like Bumstead, who is concerned with his quality of life after bodybuilding, training full-time for the Men’s Open division was something he shied away from early on.
“Like we spoke about before, my attention to detail extrapolated when these conditions were presented to me,” he told BarBend regarding his autoimmune disease. “I had to keep everything really close to perfect and focus on a healthy lifestyle. I’ve done such, and it’s paid off.”
Realistic Expectations Moving Forward
Let’s be real: adding around 20 pounds of lean muscle isn’t something Bumstead will be able to do in time for the 2024 Prague Pro, which is scheduled for Nov. 16-17.
Where does that leave the Classic Physique legend? He already made it clear that he doesn’t expect to win his Men’s Open debut. His latest endeavor has more to do with having fun and entertaining bodybuilding fans than actually vying for a victory.
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At the very least, fans will finally see how Bumstead compares on stage against some of the biggest competitors in the world, including Fitzwater, who landed in the top four at the 2024 Mr. Olympia.
Are Bumstead’s Golden Age-style shape and symmetry enough to help him compete against Men’s Open competitors who have trained for years without a weight cap? Given his penchant for winning shows and wowing judges, maybe Bumstead can surprise some folks.
But even if his Men’s Open debut is more of a one-off than the start of a new journey, Bumstead deserves tremendous credit for keeping his competitive juices flowing after cementing his case as the greatest Classic Physique competitor of all time.
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Featured Image: @cbum / Instagram
