It’s not often that bodybuilding fans get to experience the equivalent of a royal baby announcement, but that’s exactly what they got in November 2023 when five-time Classic Physique Olympia champion Chris Bumstead announced that he and his fiancée Courtney King were expecting their first child.
Newer bodybuilding fans may only know King as the future wife of the man known as “CBum,” but longtime followers of the sport are aware that King forged her own path in the sport with a Bikini Olympia championship back in 2016.
King was an active competitor throughout most of the 2010s and she saw significant success during that time. Whether you’ve been a fan of King’s since her competitive days or are just learning about her, here’s a glimpse at her life and career.
[Related: The Best Glute Exercises]
Courtney King’s Early Life and Amateur Career
According to Greatest Physiques, King was born on Sept. 30, 1993, and grew up in Chicago, IL. She got into bodybuilding as a teenager and found success early by winning the 2011 NPC Teen National Championships in the Bikini division and taking first overall at the 2012 Jay Cutler Classic. She won her IFBB Pro League card at the 2012 NPC USA Championships.
Pro Career
King’s pro career began in 2013, when she won two of the five shows she entered, which qualified her for that year’s Bikini Olympia. She placed seventh at the biggest show of the year, which was won by Ashley Kaltwasser.
Three years later, King would not only win her first and only Bikini Olympia championship, but she defeated the then three-time champion Kaltwasser to get there. Even though King was the Bikini Olympia champion, she never defended that title. After three shows in 2017, she walked away from the stage for that entire season and retired in 2018, citing personal health issues.
Her career record is six wins out of 18 pro contests between 2013 and 2017, never finishing below seventh in any of those shows. Her full career record is below, as documented by NPC News Online.
2013
- Battle at the Beach Pro Bikini – 2nd
- Europa Show of Champions – 1st
- Powerhouse Classic – 3rd
- Tampa Pro – 1st
- Bikini Olympia – 7th
2014
- Bikini International – 7th
2015
- Pittsburgh Pro – 5th
- New York Pro – 3rd
- Puerto Rico Pro – 2nd
- Bikini Olympia – 3rd
- Prague Pro – 2nd
2016
- Bikini International – 5th
- Arnold Classic Australia – 1st
- Arizona Pro – 1st
- Bikini Olympia – 1st
2017
- Bikini International – 2nd
- Arnold Classic Australia – 2nd
- Hawaii Pro – 1st
Courtney King’s Glute Workout
Back in 2017, Courtney King provided Muscle & Strength with one of her go-to glute workouts from her competitive days. The entire session spans eight exercises, all of which are broken up into supersets. The key is to not rest between the exercises and to only take 30 to 90 seconds off between the supersets themselves. Check it out below.
- Single-Leg Deadlift + Goblet Squat: 3 x 10
- Hyperextension + Reverse Hack Squat: 3 x 15, 3 x 12
- Cable Glute Kickback + Stiff-Legged Deadlift: 3 x 10 (per leg), 3 x 15
- Bodyweight Hip Thrust + Single-Leg Bodyweight Hip Thrust: 3 x 10, 3 x 5 (per leg)
[Related: The Best Leg Exercises and Workouts]
Business Ventures and Social Media
King is active on social media and regularly shares insights into her life away from the stage as well as occasional fitness-themed content. She has 1.4 million followers on Instagram and more than 85,000 subscribers on YouTube.
The only companies that she has tagged on her Instagram profile are Alphalete and the GIVR Podcast, which she co-hosts with Melissa Valliere.
Personal Life
King and Bumstead have been in a relationship since 2018, and he proposed to her in 2022. No wedding date has been publicly shared as of this writing. The couple announced that they were expecting their first child in 2024 following Bumstead’s fifth Classic Physique Olympia win in November 2023.
King hasn’t competed on stage since 2017, but her ventures in bodybuilding and her connection to Bumstead help her remain one of the most popular physique athletes — past or present — in the fitness world.
Featured Image: @courtneykiing on Instagram
