Chris Bumstead has taken on different priorities during his retirement.
Classic Physique legend Chris Bumstead is working to strengthen and rehab his shoulder following surgery. Last week, he shared a video explaining his recent diet plans and new arm and shoulder workout.
“Nothing better than a nice hot, humid day training arms. My shoulder has been feeling a lot better. Literally since starting the peptides in there, I’ve noticed a significant difference.”
After winning his sixth Classic Physique Olympia title in October 2024, Bumstead announced that he would be retiring. He took the stage one final time during the EVLS Prague Pro in Men’s Open and finished as the runner-up. Bumstead has not competed since. He has spoken about his new regime in retirement and that includes remaining in great shape. Now, he is taking on new challenges and goals while remaining as big as possible.
Chris Bumstead’s New Shredding Diet
Chris Bumstead has been cycling carbs to avoid plateaus in his diet. Right now, the baseline is to take in 2,600 calories, 90 grams of fat, 186 grams of carbs, and 253 grams of protein.
“I was in a phase of my training where I wasn’t pushing heavy super hard so that was the reason why I was doing that for myself.”
Bumstead has messed around with different strategies regarding carbs. On low-carb days, he increases fat to spare protein. There are other days where he will avoid carbs for breakfast because of his intake from the night before.
“I almost always have carbs in the morning, especially if I’m in a high-volume, heavy-push phase. If I have a crazy amount of carbs and just chill all day, it does make me feel less focused, a little more fatigued all day.”
Chris Bumstead’s Arms & Shoulder Workout
Bumstead opened up the workout with supersets before settling in with different movements:
- Incline Curls: 3-4 sets
- Cable Overhead Tricep Extensions: 3 sets
- Lateral Raise Superset: 12 full reps, 30 stretched bottom partials
- Dumbbell Raise Complex
- Dumbbell Rear Delt Flyes: 3 sets, 20 reps
- Dead Hangs
Incline Curls
Bumstead starts the workout with incline curls and focuses on the external rotation. Here, he wants to get a stretch in the muscle to begin the workout.
“Pretty far, trying to rotate and be in a real wide stretch position. Starting out getting a deep range of motion on these, get a nice pump to start this workout.”
Cable Overhead Tricep Extensions
This is another exercise where Bumstead can pump blood into the muscle to start the workout. At this point, he is not using as much weight as he has in the past.
“I have no idea where my weights are at. I’m so much weaker than I’ve been.”
Lateral Raise Superset
Chris Bumstead goes into a massive triple set of lateral raises. It begins with 12 reps of seated raises before heavier partials for 30. The final movement is similar to Meadows six-way shoulder complex.
“This is a nasty little shoulder complex, triple superset. Partials with heavier dumbbells, just moving at the bottom what I can. I didn’t make it through all the reps but that’s a nice way to get a nice shoulder burn right there.”
Dead Hangs
Dead hangs were done in between his sets of dumbbell rear delt flyes. This was a chance for Bumstead to stretch out as he works to strengthen his shoulders.
“I’m going to do my dead hangs in between to try and fix my shoulders and give my spine a break.”
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