What does the Classic Physique champ keep in his home gym?
The 5x reining Classic Physique Mr. Olympia, Chris Bumstead, constructed his own private gym in 2023 to train for a fifth consecutive title away from everybody and stay locked in. The champ says that his gym is the perfect environment for him to train and stay laser-focused, free from any outside disruptions.
In a Youtube video on April 17, 2024, Bumstead took fans on a comprehensive tour of his personal gym and state-of-the-art training equipment. He stated that he wanted it to feel like a real gym instead of just stuffing equipment into a storage area. His home gym is approximately 3,000 square feet, which is not as big as some commercial gyms, but certainly provides him enough space to comfortably keep all of his equipment.
What is in Chris Bumstead’s Home Gym?
Building your own home gym is not cheap, especially the size of Chris Bumsteads, but he considers it one of his smartest investments, believing that it has greatly helped his career.
“It’s not always about putting your money into stocks and bonds to make more,” Bumstead stated. “It’s about putting your money into crazy things that make you better and allow you to enjoy life more.”
Let’s take a look at what he’s packing into this home gym.
Leg Machines
Legs are a big part of the Champ’s routine. There are two leg extension machines in Chris Bumstead’s home gym. One of them is the Icarian selectorized machine. It is lighter than the modern version, but this old-school machine offers superior quad contractions. Bumstead can easily perform drop sets, supersets and sets to failure at the end of his workout. Chris Bumstead uses a Prime plate-loaded leg extension machine when lifting heavy at the beginning or middle of a workout.
Bumstead also owns a lying and a seated leg curl machine in his home gym. The Prime plate-loaded lying leg curl machine allows for him to vary the tension curve throughout the movement. Aside from that, the gym is also equipped with a Cybex adductor and abductor hybrid machine. There is also a sled in the gym, but Bumstead does not use it as much.
The champ does not forget to do calves! His home gym consists of a seated calf raise, a tibia raise, and a Panatta standing calf raise machine that stand together, with the latter also functioning as a standing shoulder press.
The Bumstead home gym also houses a belt squat, which loads the lower body without compressing the spine. When he does this, Bumstead takes a wide stance to bias the glutes hamstrings, and quad sweeps. The champ employs his GHD machine in his lower body workouts to develop a powerful and functional posterior chain.
There are also two Cybex leg press machines, with the first is a conventional machine that moves at a 45-degree angle. The leg press is a squat press machine that descends at an angle, allowing greater depth during eccentrics.
Bumstead actually used the squat press machine in every leg workout leading up to the 2023 Mr. Olympia. But aside from that, there is also a pendulum squat and a hack squat machine in his home gym.
Cables, Smith Machine, Power and Dumbbell Racks
A good home gym is not complete without dumbbells and a power rack, but Bumstead even includes cables and a Smith machine. The dumbbell rack contains dumbbells that go in five-pound increments up to 50 pounds, with larger 10-pound jumps for heavier weights.
The gym also contains two cable machines, one being a functional trainer and the other a multi-station eight-stack machine, which he uses for exercises like bicep curls, chest presses, lat pulldowns, and cable rows.
Bumstead also likes to use a vertical Smith machines over angled counterparts, which his gym features a Cybex Smith machine. His six-post power rack also is equipped with landmine and dip bar extensions to allow for a variety of exercises. Surprisingly, Bumstead did not put a bench press in the gym and instead uses the power rack for most compound barbell exercises, such as bench presses and squats.
Arm Machines
Cannot forget arm day! Bumstead’s arm machines consist of a triceps dip machine, a Gymleco preacher curl machine, a Hammer Strength plate-loaded machine, as well as a seated preacher curl bench to top it off.
Back Machines
Bumstead sees the chest-supported T-bar row machine as one of the most crucial exercises for upper back development. The other back machines in his home gym include the iso-lateral plate-loaded back row machine, the old-school Nautilus pullover machine, the Panatta high-row machine, and the low-row machine.
Chest Machines
As far as chest machines in his gym, Bumstead has the Panatta decline machine, incline chest press machine, and flat machine chest press. He also has a pec deck, but finds himself using the 10-degree and 45-degree chest flye machines for inner chest development. The pec deck is more often used for reverse pec flyes.
Shoulder Machines
Bumstead likes the Prime plate-loaded shoulder press machine as it maximizes anterior delt activation, unlike machines with angled trajectories, which can recruit the chest muscles. The Arsenal plate-loaded press features a closer grip and utilizes a forward pressing motion, which helps Bumstead lift heavier.
Cardio
The gym’s cardio section includes a recumbent bike, treadmill, and stair climber. Bumstead also has an inversion table in his gym.
Wrap Up
Overall, Chris Bumstead’s home gym is something that many people dream of. It is reminiscent of the 8x Mr. Olympia, Ronnie Coleman’s home gym, where he took all of his favorite pieces of equipment and brought them home.
Bumstead will next compete at the 2024 Olympia, scheduled for Oct. 10-13 in Las Vegas, NV, where he will aim to secure his sixth consecutive Classic Physique Olympia title.
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