Chris Bumstead Workout Routine & Diet in 2025

The golden era of bodybuilding was defined by aesthetic physiques and larger-than-life personalities—an influence that lives on through the Classic Physique division. Leading this resurgence is Chris Bumstead, six-time Olympia Classic Physique champion (2019–2024). 

With over 23 million Instagram followers and 3 million YouTube subscribers, he’s become the face of modern bodybuilding. Bumstead’s physique is considered one of the most aesthetic of all time, inspiring lifters around the world. While few can match his results, many look to his training style for guidance. Here's what you can learn from how Chris Bumstead builds his iconic physique.

Table of Contents:

• Chris Bumstead's Training Split

• Chris Bumstead's Workout Routine

• Chris Bumstead Programming Tips

• Bumstead Brief Bio

• Chris Bumstead Diet & Supplementation

Chris Bumstead Workout Routine: Off Season Training

Admittedly, Chris Bumstead's workout plan doesn't always follow super strict guidelines. 

Therefore, exercises are subject to change slightly. But one thing that remains consistent is that Bumstead follows an 8-day workout split, following a 3-day on, 1-day off, format.

Chris Bumstead's workout routine hits the different muscle groups once per week except his back, which he trains twice. Bodybuilders have had great success with similar bro split style workout routines for decades. 

It's also notable that the Cbum workout plan breaks his lower body parts into two sessions: one quad-focused and the other hamstring based. 

With that said, the overall structure of his bro split training style is very consistent. One thing you will notice watching Chris Bumstead train is his emphasis on the basics. He uses a variety of movements, utilizing both free weights and specialized machines.

Day 1: Quads and Calves 

• Leg Extension (Drop Set): 2x20

• Smith Machine Squat: 2x6-10

• Leg Tri Set
  -Unilateral Leg Press: 3x8-10
  - Sissy Squat: 3x12-15
  - Seated Calf Raise: 3x10-12

Day 2: Chest (Plus Some Triceps)

• Incline Dumbbell Press: 2x8-10

• Incline Dumbbell Fly: 2x8-10

• Hammer Strength Machine Incline Press (Drop Set): 2x6-10

• Pec Deck: 3x15

• EZ Bar Skull Crushers: 2x8-10

• Pushups: 2xFailure

Day 3: Back (Thickness, Plus Some Biceps)

• Close-Grip Underhand Lat Pulldown: 3x10-12

• Chest Supported Dumbbell Row: 2x8-10

• Chest Supported T-Bar Row (Drop Set): 2x8-10

• Machine Chest Supported Row: 2x10-12

• Cable Lat Extension: 2x10-12

• Machine Preacher Curls: 2x10-12

Day 4: Rest 

Day 5: Shoulders (Plus Some Chest)

• Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 2x6-10

• Machine Shoulder Press (Drop Set): 3x6-10

• Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise (Drop Set): 2x8-10

• Machine Lateral Raise: 2x10-12

• Superset
  - Reverse Pec Deck: 2x10-12
  - Machine Fly: 2x10-12

Day 6: Hamstrings and Back Width 

• Lying Leg Curl: 2x8-10

• Deadlift: 2x4-8

• Seated Leg Curl: 2x8-10

• Standing Leg Curl: 2x8-10

• Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns: 3x8-10

• Cable Lat Extension: 2x10-12

Day 7: Arms 

• Rope Cable Triceps Pressdown (Drop Set): 2x8-10

• Incline Dumbbell Skull Crusher: 2x8-10

• EZ Bar Preacher Curl (Drop Set): 3x8-10

• Dumbbell Curl: 2x10-12

• Cable Cross Body Triceps: 2x10-15

• Low Pulley Cable Curl With V-Bar Handle (Drop Set): 2x10-12

Day 8: Rest 

Chris Bumstead’s Workout Routine And Favorite Exercises

We’re now going to walk you through Cbum’s entire workout routine he uses to put on mass.

Day 1: Quads and Calves 

Day one of the Chris Bumstead workout is quads and calves. This is his major leg development day of the week. 

Leg Extension:  2x20

Start by getting a good warm-up with a superset of leg extensions and the adduction machine. Bumstead feels the adduction machine is the secret to warming up for squats.

After a few warmup sets, stay on leg extensions for two working sets. Then, on the second set, perform a drop set – perform the set to failure, decrease the load, and continue.  

Smith Machine Squat: 2x6-10

Next up is the main exercise of the workout: smith machine squats. 

Chris Bumstead first performs a few warmup sets with low reps to not waste energy. Then, going up in weight, he’ll up to the heaviest weight possible for six to ten reps. 

After the top set, drop the weight by about five percent for the second set. 

During squats, he wears a belt and a pair of knee sleeves. Interestingly, he performs the entire workout without any shoes on.

Unilateral Leg Press: 3x8-10

You’ll finish up this session with a triset including;

• Unilateral leg press

• Sissy squat

• Seated calf raise

The unilateral leg press takes some pressure off the lower back and allows you to focus on one leg at a time. It can feel a bit challenging the first time you use it but that means big gains!

Sissy Squat: 3x12-15

Sissy squats are an awesome bodyweight exercise to isolate the quads – but they’re tough! 

If you’ve never done these, check out our article to see how to kill your quads!

Seated Calf Raise: 3x10-12

You’ll finally finish this session with killing your calfs!

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Day 2: Chest (Plus Some Triceps)

The second session of the week is everyone's favorite: chest day with some tricep training mixed in!

Incline Dumbbell Press: 2X8-10

Chris Bumstead's chest workout starts with him lying prone on an incline bench and performing light dumbbell Y-raises. The workout begins with an incline dumbbell press. The goal is to work up to two heavy sets of near-maximal weight in the 8 to 10 rep range.

Incline Dumbbell Fly: 2X8-10

Next up, stay on the incline bench for two sets of dumbbell incline flies. Get a good stretch at the bottom and a hard contraction at the top – be sure you feel it!

Hammer Strength Machine Incline Press (Drop Set): 2x6-10

The third movement is the Hammer Strength machine incline press. 

Perform two working sets, with a drop set on both. Start the second set on the same weight as the drop set from the first set. For example;

• Set 1: 180lbs →. 160lbs

• Set 2: 160lbs → 140lbs

Pec Deck: 3x15

You’ll finish up the primary part of your chest training with some chest flys on pec dec. Use these to really isolate the pecs to get a good stretch followed by a tight squeeze.

EZ Bar Skull Crushers: 2x8-10

Time for the triceps! You’ll knock out the sets of skull crushers using the EZ-bar.

Pushups: 2xFailure

Last, Cbum likes to finish up his workout with two sets of push-ups to failure – each set is a burn out set so don’t step until you can’t do another rep!

By the end of the pushups, your chest and tris should be smoked. If you're following his plan but want some push-up variations to play around with, there are plenty of options. 

Day 3: Back (Thickness, Plus Some Biceps)

Day three is the first Chris Bumstead back workout of the week. In this workout, the focus is on back thickness. In addition, the biceps are getting worked in the majority of these movements as they work to pull alongside the back. 

Close Grip Underhand Lat Pulldown: 3x10-12

With no specific warmup, Chris Bumstead jumps right into the first exercise of the day, a lat pulldown using an underhand close grip. This will be the only pulldown variation of the day. 

Chest Supported Dumbbell Row: 2x8-10

Next up is a chest-supported dumbbell row using an incline bench. 

This is a highly underrated exercise and often takes a backseat to bent over barbell rows and the seal row. However, the dumbbell chest-supported row is a great alternative to bent over rows.

Chest Supported T-Bar Row (Drop Set): 2x8-10

The third exercise of the day is a chest-supported t-bar row with a neutral grip. 

The key is getting a full scapular retraction as you pull the weight into your chest. On the second set, perform a drop set and rep em out!

Machine Chest Supported Row: 2x10-12

After that, move over to the machine chest supported row. 

Each chest-supported row variation hits the back from a different angle. You change how the movement targets the muscle by changing your;

• Grip

• Angle of pull 

• Elbow position 

Cable Lat Extension: 2x10-12

You'll end this back training program with a lat extension using a Vulken cable attachment. Really focus on those lats!

Machine Preacher Curls: 2x10-12

Last, you’re going to blast your biceps using machine preacher curls. 

Day 4: Rest 

Note that day four is a rest day, so we aren’t including much information here. Take it easy, and let your muscles heal. Make sure you determine how much protein you need to build muscle, and keep your intake just as high on rest days.

You can't go wrong with adding chocolate whey protein to your daily diet, but there are tons of great protein powders to choose from.

Day 5: Shoulders (Plus Some Chest)

Chris Bumstead's shoulders workout starts with an extensive warmup of band dislocations and internal and external rotations. 

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 2x10

The first exercise of the day in Chris Bumstead's shoulder workout is a seated dumbbell shoulder press. 

Slowly work up in weight, performing multiple light warmup sets. The two working sets should be as heavy as possible. Chris puts a lot of emphasis on shoulder press strength in the offseason.

Machine Shoulder Press (Drop Set): 3x6-10

The second exercise of the day is a machine shoulder press. On the third set, do a drop set to get in some more volume and build a pump.

Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise (Drop Set): 2x8-10

Next up is a seated dumbbell lateral raise, and you'll perform a drop set on the second set. Doing these seated helps eliminate cheating.

Machine Lateral Raise: 2x10-12

Once you are done, jump over to the lateral raise machine to finish off your lateral delt exercises. 

Superset Reverse Pec Deck: 2x10-12 & Machine Fly: 2x10-12)

Chris Bumstead's workout concludes with two supersets of the reverse pec deck and the fly machine to hit the rear delts and chest. Really concentrate on the concentration with mind-muscle connection.

Day 6: Hamstring & Back Day

The second leg workout of the week focuses on Chris Bumstead's hamstring exercise routine with a bit of back work sprinkled in at the end. 

Lying Leg Curl: 2x8-10

Cbum is unique as he starts this session with some hamstring isolation using lying leg curls. Doing the leg curls before deadlifts act as a pre-exhaust for the hamstrings. 

Deadlift: 2x4-8

Chris loves deadlifting heavy. Plus, having quantitative goals is a great way to maintain motivation during the offseason. So work up to the heaviest weight you can handle for 4 to 8 reps. 

Seated Leg Curl: 2x8-10

After deadlifts, hit the hamstrings again with some seated leg curls.

Standing Leg Curl: 2x8-10

Your hamstrings aren’t done yet! One last exercise – standing leg curl.

Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns: 3x8-10

The first back exercise is wide grip lat pulldowns. You can rotate in wide-grip pull-ups in this spot as well. 

Cable Lat Extension: 2x10-12

Finish the workout with two quick sets of cable lat extensions using a double grip v-bar attachment.

Day 7: Arm Day 

Last but not least: Arms. It's important to mention that his biceps and triceps were both worked earlier in his training week during his back and chest days, and on top of this, he layers on an entire session dedicated to growing these specific muscle groups.

Rope Cable Triceps Pressdown (Drop Set) 2X8-10

Begin Chris Bumstead's workout routine with rope press downs. Really focus on getting full extension at lockout.

Incline Dumbbell Skull Crusher: 2x8-10

You’ll then move onto incline, dumbbell skull crushers.

Start these with your elbows pointing directly up at the ceiling to keep the focus on the triceps. You can drop your elbows at the end of the set to get in a few extra reps. 

As an alternative, you can perform one or two handed grip barbell skull crushers, ez bar skull crushers, or reverse grip barbell skull crushers.

EZ Bar Preacher Curl (Drop Set): 3x8-10

After two triceps exercises, EZ bar preacher curls are the first biceps movement. As an alternative to using the EZ bar, you can also opt for machine preacher curls.

Dumbbell Curl: 2x10-12

Next up is good old-fashioned dumbbell biceps curls. Again, focus on rotating the wrist outward at the top. If you're following this program but want variation, hammer curls are another great option.

Cable Cross Body Triceps: 2x10-15

The last triceps exercise is a cable cross-body triceps extension. Set the cable at about head height. Using one arm at a time, extend your hand from the opposite shoulder horizontally to full extension. 

Low Pulley Cable Curl With V-Bar Handle (Drop Set): 2x10-12

Finish CBums workout with a low pulley cable curl using a v-bar handle.

Day 8: Rest 

Again, here’s your reminder to hit your protein goals, get adequate rest, and let your muscles rest and repair.

Chris Bumstead Workout Programming Tips

Want to train like a professional bodybuilder? Follow Chris Bumstead's programming tips.

• Train hard and heavy with moderate volume utilizing a double progression loading scheme. During a Chris Bumstead workout, he aims to get at least ten reps before increasing the weight.
• For double progression, work in a programmed rep range (8-10, for example) and stick with the same weight for as long as needed to reach the top of that rep range. It's a simple way to build progressive overload into your training for muscle hypertrophy and follow the same principles as the Chris Bumstead workout.
• Once you hit the top of the prescribed rep range for the programmed number of sets, increase the weight by 5 to 15 pounds and repeat the process. Essentially, you always try to increase reps first, and then once you are capable, increase the weight. This is why it is called double progression.
• Utilize drop sets to increase training intensity and maximize muscle growth. Drop sets are when you do a set close to failure with a given load, and with minimal rest, perform as many reps as possible with reduced weight.

Who Is Chris Bumstead? 

Chris Bumstead, age 28, was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. At six feet tall, he has a contest weight of 225 pounds. In the offseason, he typically gets up to 260 to 265 pounds. Bumstead is the current champion of the Mr. Olympia Classic Physique division.

Chris Bumstead is the first Mr. Olympia who could just as easily be classified as a fitness influencer. He documents his training and nutrition on his YouTube and Instagram accounts, like this shoulder workout, giving a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to be a champion. 

In addition to competing, he is part owner of a supplement company called Raw Nutrition.

Chris Bumstead Diet and Supplementation

Even in the offseason, Chris Bumstead's diet is spot on nutrition-wise and filled with healthy foods. Based on his full day of eating videos on YouTube, he tracks his food using My Fitness Pal. 

1) Offseason Diet:

In the peak of Bumstead's offseason, he eats roughly 5,000 calories broken up into 265 to 290 grams of protein, 550 to 650 grams of carbs, and around 150 grams of fat. His diet consists of mostly minimally processed whole foods he cooks himself. However, he also takes advantage of a meal prep service called Trifecta Nutrition for convenience.

Notice it's a decent amount of food. It's important to realize that even if you're following the Chris Bumstead workout, most people likely still won't need as many calories as him.

Even Bumstead doesn't stay at 5,000 calories year-round. As he gets closer to his pre-season training, he tapers to between 3,000 and 4,000 calories per day. And in his competitive season, this decreases even further, with Bumstead eating just over 2,700 calories when he's 6 weeks out from Mr. Olympia.

A day of eating for Chris Bumstead in the peak of his offseason looks like the following:

Looking for more information on the Chris Bumstead bulking diet? Check out the video below as he discusses it in detail.

2) Supplements:

We just mentioned a few key supplements that Chris Bumstead includes alongside his workout routine and diet. One key supplement he adds to his shakes is glutamine, which helps with everything from aiding your immune function to promoting digestive health to supporting muscle recovery.

If you want to further boost your muscle recovery, be sure to add one of these 8 Best Glutamine Supplements to your supplement stack!

Two other tried and true favorites of Bumstead's are whey isolate protein powder and pre-workout (trust me, you'll want the energy before tackling a Chris Bumstead workout!).

For some awesome muscle-building protein powder options, check out these 7 Best Whey Isolate Protein Powders. And, any one of these Best Pump Pre Workouts will ensure you're bringing maximum effort to your training sessions.

You'll be training, eating, and supplementing like CBum in no time! 

Chris Bumstead's Workout Routine: Simplicity & Consistency

Following Chris Bumstead's training and diet plan won't guarantee a Sandow trophy, but it'll certainly get you gains. And if you're not ready for an 8-day training schedule, there are plenty of other great workout splits based on how often you train to help you see results.

Remember, Chris Bumstead's workout and diet follow very basic training principles, focusing on consistency, progressive overload, and proper diet.

You may be surprised by the simplicity of the Chris Bumstead workout and diet. The truth is, there are no secrets or special techniques to what the famous bodybuilder does in his training routine that isn't semi-common knowledge.

It all comes down to consistency and effort. There is no substitute for the work.

Looking for more great routines similar to the Chris Bumstead workout? Check out the Ronnie Coleman Workout Split, Dorian Yates Workout Routine & the Big Ramy Workout Split & Diet!

Images courtesy of Chris Bumstead's Instagram

Disclaimer: This post, focusing on Chris Bumstead's workout and diet, is derived from our detailed research and offers a general overview, not our direct opinion. We have no affiliation with or endorsement from Chris Bumstead.