Chris Bumstead keeps busy at the gym this off season. The 28-year-old phenom recently underwent intense back training and shared glimpses of his commitments outside of training and the trophies won.
The Classic Physique division of the IFBB Pro League is home to one of the biggest superstars and a dominating champion in Chris Bumstead. Since winning the Classic Physique Olympia title at the 2019 Olympia, CBum has held it tight and defended it at the 2020, 2021, and 2022 Olympia. Ahead of his final title defense, Bumstead had to face a lot of adversity. In addition to suffering knee, back and quad injuries during the preparation, the Canadian bodybuilder had to deal with coaching changes.
Bumstead and his longtime friend and trainer Iain Valliere decided to end the trainer-client relationship so the latter could focus on his own bodybuilding career. Under the tutelage of famed bodybuilding trainer Hany Rambod, CBum competed in Olympia 2022 and brought the Classic Physique Olympia title back to Canada. The 28-year-old later revealed he entered the competition with a torn bicep but still managed to stand head and shoulders above the rest of the division.
With the biceps now fully healed, Bumstead is now fueling his off-season training with a 3500 calorie diet to improve his physique for Olympia 2023. In the recent video posted on his personal YouTube channel, CBum can be seen performing hellish back workout. So let’s review the training session and the tips that CBum shared as we went along.
Chris Bumstead’s Back Workout
Wide Lat Pull Neutral Grip
CBum warmed up the back muscles with side pulls. This movement mainly targets the latissimus dorsi muscles of the back, but also activates the main pulling muscles such as the trapezius, the teres major and the minor teres, the infraspinatus, the posterior deltoids as well as the biceps. He performed the exercise with a shovel handle that allows for a neutral grip. After doing four to five warm-up sets, CBum got a few working sets below the belt and did a drop set to complete the warm-up exercise.
Incline Dumbbell Rows
The horizontal rowing motion followed the side pulls as the reigning Classic Physique Olympia champion performed a few good sets of them to work the pulling muscles as well as the sternal head of the major pectoral muscles. Horizontal pull-ups or rowing movements are essential for building a thick back and therefore should be an integral part of the back training routine for full development. CBum said the incline rows help him practice breathing and improve. He explained:
“It’s one of the things where it’s hard to breathe with your chest on the pad but requires you to practice the correct breathing techniques. You should do it every exercise, but you have to do it here… Something I try to get better at with each rep breathing the same consistency.
Bumstead landed a few good sets of incline dumbbell rows. He inhaled before launching the lift for each rep and slowly exhaled as he lowered the dumbbells. After holding the dumbbells for a few seconds at the bottom, he kicked off the rep with the same breathing technique. The 28-year-old performed all sets to practice breathing and build the back before moving on to the next exercise.
One-Arm Chest Supported Lines
Bumstead then took the chest-supported rows on the plate-loaded machine to further stimulate the back. He did the exercise unilaterally to really focus on the movement and build the mind-muscle connection.
“With the one-arm rows where you can actually get the full stretch, they look nice or much better than a barbell row from the floor. You just get a much better stretch and contraction,” Bumstead explained.
CBum also explained the correct technique for doing the one-arm rows to maintain maximum focus on the back muscles. He added:
“The same arm we do, keep that foot (on the same side) planted forward. Many people put that foot back and the (working) arm forward. This way you open your hips and then rotate your body. Your core is moving away. But if you keep your foot forward, your hips are forced to stay forward and you have to pull on your lats rather than your core. So keep it on your back.
Bumstead got a few solid sets of this move under his belt and moved on to the next exercise.
Seated rows
Chris Bumstead then jumped into seated rows and created heavy sets of seated rows on the Prime Fitness Seated Rows machine. The machine has three plate horns and different levels. Bumstead noted that keeping the weight on the uppermost horn makes it difficult to lock in motion during contraction. Therefore, adding weight to the bottom and middle plate horn suits him best where he can get a good contraction while lifting heavy loads.
Reverse Grip Lat Pulldowns
After doing a good amount of work with horizontal rows, the Canadian bodybuilder went back to working with the vertical pulling motion and did the reverse-grip side pulls. The reverse grip targets the lower lats more because the upper arms are closer to the body. Also, you use the biceps more to pull the weights. This allows training with heavier weights. After throwing a few sets of this exercise, CBum performed the last exercise of the day.
Banded Bent Straight Arm Pulldowns
Bumstead concluded the training session with this exercise. It targets the latissimus dorsi, teres minor, posterior deltoids, triceps brachii and levator scapula muscles. CBum performed four sets using moderate weights. He maintained short 20-second rest periods between sets and performed each set to failure without changing the weights. As a result, the rep range continued to decrease as the sets progressed.
Overall, the workout included:
Chris Bumstead is still the most dominant contender in the Classic Physique division. Although he has retirement in sight, the defending champion is looking to defend the title a few more times before hanging up the posing trunks. It will be interesting to see how he maintains the lead at Olympia 2023.
You can watch the full workout video here, courtesy of Chris Bumstead’s personal YouTube channel: