I think we can all agree that Chris Bumstead knows a thing or two about getting stage lean.
The Canadian bodybuilder dominated the Classic Physique division for years, winning six Mr Olympia titles before retiring from the category in 2024.
And in a recent YouTube video, CBum went back to the diet that helped him get into winning shape, recreating the meals he ate during Olympia prep.
So let’s take a look at what it took to get in stage-ready shape.
Chris Bumstead’s Olympia meal plan
During prep, Chris would usually eat around six meals a day, plus a protein shake. As he got closer to the show, even the shake would eventually be taken out.
His first meal came after morning cardio and was very much food for fuel rather than fun.
It was 375g of egg whites and one whole egg, coming in at 267 calories with 50g of protein. Chris even described it as a “sad looking meal”, which tells you pretty much everything you need to know.
Meal two was his favourite because it was the one he ate before training.
Chris would have 90g of ground turkey with a little tomato, alongside a separate bowl of 45g of oats mixed with a scoop of protein powder. That gave him 362 calories, 49g of protein, and 31g of carbs.
And towards the end of prep, that was a seriously big chunk of his daily carbs. There were periods of time when Chris Bumstead was eating around 40g of carbs across the whole day, with most of them built around his workout.
Lots and lots of white fish
After training, Chris would eat 100g of white rice, more than 200g of cod, and some asparagus. That worked out at around 300 calories with 47g of protein.
Later in the day, things got even simpler.
Another meal was 220g of cod with asparagus and no added carbs, while his final meal was 150g of ground turkey, one egg, and four egg whites.
By that point in prep, the whole idea was basically to keep protein high while gradually cutting back carbs and fats.
Chris also makes it clear that this isn’t a diet most people need to copy. He describes it as an extreme approach built around getting as lean as possible for bodybuilding competition.
Which is probably good news, because after seeing that much cod, we’re happy to leave this kind of Olympia prep diet to Chris Bumstead!
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