Chris Bumstead has valuable advice to share with noveau and pro bodybuilders alike. The five-time Mr. Olympia feels that the most important factor in one's bodybuilding journey is one's mindset.
Having conquered the Olympia stage in young adulthood, Chris Bumstead has seen it all, especially when everyone around him was a pro bodybuilder. He said that despite following one's diet and training, there are days when the motivation is not so high, and one feels down and tends to overthink. Bumstead recently shared these thoughts via his Instagram:
"If you're following your diet to the T and your training program to T, but you're stressed out of your f**king mind? Oh yeah you're f**ked. For sure."
He went on to explain how stress affects bodybuilding:
"When you're stressed out, your body doesn't recover; you're full of cortisol. You're not sleeping, you're not recovering, your body does the same. Nothing plays out."
He then threw light on the solution:
"I mean the reality of bodybuilding is it's so simple that it all comes to your mindset, your ability to handle stress, to maintain discipline and work hard. When you don't want to come in on the sh*tty day and you do all those things properly and not overthinking, cause your body responds so heavily to your mind."
He concluded:
"When your'e at the top level, and everyone's already got elite genetics, it comes down to who's mind is on track the most times. You'll have to be able to handle it with a strong mind, and that's the only thing that's going to keep you there. And that'll keep the other people below you. If they can't handle it, build a resilient mind – resilient body is easy, it'll come. The rest is history."
At Mr. Olympia level, the competition is cut-throat; but what makes Chris Bumstead a five time winner is his strong willpower and control over his mind.
Chris Bumstead's diet for off-season bulking
Chris Bumstead will be looking to drop off body fat levels and and develop an ultra-chiseled physique with Mr. Olympia just around the corner. The 29-year-old also revealed that he doesn't enjoy overloading on food at this point in the season. He said (via Muscle & Fitness):
“When I’m at this point in my off-season, I just don’t love food very much.”
His meal plan as below:
Breakfast
Shallow-fried steak with grass-fed butter
- Oatmeal with whey isolate protein shake, almond butter, collagen and banana.
Mid-morning
Japanese sweet potato
- Ground turkey (lean)
Post-workout
Two scoops of whey isolate protein
- Carbohydrates in powdered form
Afternoon
Pasta
- Ground turkey
Dinner
Arugula
- Avacado (half)
- Wild sockeye Alaskan salmon
- Olive oil
The total calorie count for this meal is 4,551 - 37% from carbohydrates, 33% from fats, 30% from protein.