Would Peak Arnold Schwarzenegger Stand A Chance Today? - Mr Olympia Chris Bumstead

Duration: 8:38 1963 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

In this discussion with Mr. Olympia Chris Bumstead, significant distinctions are drawn between the bodybuilding eras of Arnold Schwarzenegger and modern competition. The primary evolution lies in efficiency across nutrition, dieting protocols, PED usage, recovery methods, and rest periods, all contributing to athletes pushing physical limits further than ever before. While classic physique was introduced to address aesthetic concerns regarding massive upper bodies and legs that lacked the roundness of previous decades, it still demands a level of leanness far exceeding the Arnold era. Modern competitors at 240 pounds with roughly three percent body fat appear as "huge monsters" compared to their predecessors; whereas Arnold's day focused on being full and round, today's athletes display shredded glutes and feathered quads that suggest an absence of visible body fat despite maintaining similar stage weights. The conversation explores the hypothetical scenario of transplanting Arnold Schwarzenegger into the current era versus Serge Nubret in a modern context. Bumstead suggests that while both legends would look aesthetically pleasing, their physical condition would differ significantly from today's top-tier athletes due to advancements in conditioning technology and nutrition. Conversely, if Arnold were born in 1990 and raised with contemporary resources, he might have developed into an even larger freak than his historical self. Bumstead expresses no regret about missing the Golden Era, viewing his current time as perfectly suited for him after successfully navigating a crisis point where he considered retiring from bodybuilding in 2016 upon turning pro because he could not meet the weight requirements of open division or achieve the specific look required without board shorts. Bumstead addresses various rumors and personal anecdotes regarding physique manipulation, including buying an inversion table to gain height for extra weight class eligibility and utilizing chiropractic machines that stretch the spine. He admits to trying these methods but notes he is over 6'1" and would need a full inch to reach 6'2", making such drastic measures unnecessary or undesirable as they might shrink him rather than help him grow. Regarding his potential transition from classic physique to open bodybuilding, Bumstead estimates that if given a year to bulk up without the strict dieting required for competition, he could potentially place in the top 15 at Olympia. He acknowledges that currently, he must cut about five pounds of muscle just to make weight, which limits his size on stage compared to what is possible with more consistent eating and less aggressive conditioning. When asked about body fat percentages, Bumstead refuses to guess but estimates conservatively around four or five percent if forced to speculate, noting that structural differences in classic physique competitors might mask their true condition levels. He contrasts this with internet rumors of Ronnie Coleman having zero percent body fat, which he dismisses as impossible. The dialogue also touches on the logistical challenges of competing in multiple divisions simultaneously; Bumstead explains that there are no open shows immediately following the Olympia except for one in Japan, and even if allowed to compete in both, his current need to diet down severely would make him look small in an open show environment. The interview concludes with a promotional segment for Element electrolytes, which Bumstead uses daily as part of his hydration routine since 2019. He highlights the product's science-backed ratio of sodium, potassium, and magnesium without gluten or artificial ingredients, emphasizing its role in reducing muscle cramps, fatigue, optimizing brain health, and regulating appetite. The segment notes that Element offers a no-questions-asked refund policy with unlimited duration to demonstrate confidence in their formula, providing viewers with a link to receive free sample packs of all eight flavors when purchasing any product from the brand's website.

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for the people who have seen the Arnold stuff and are maybe less familiar with what's happening in your world of bodybuilding at the moment what are the differences between Arnold's era and yours now in classic physique like physically yeah essentially I mean obviously you look back at sports too everything progresses over time we get more efficient with nutrition with dieting with Peds with rest with recovery everything just gets more efficient and everything excels and you push limits further and further so now I mean open bodybuilding is just you look at it and you don't even question that they're even the same as sport classes no li no weight limits do their on stage at 300 lb like 3% body fat just [ __ ] monster it's like huge stuff you can't even fathom like when I see him in person so I'm like wow that's a real person which is insane but back in back in the Arnold days it was purely like it was bigger upper bodies legs weren't massive you weren't shredded it was more about being full and round and just like aesthetic and which is what classic physique was brought in for but even still the contrast classic physique versus like the Arnold era it's way leaner now it's still it's getting to just as lean as the open bodybuilders it's like shredded glutes you know your asses just stried at the end of the day feathered quads just looks like you have no body fat on you and probably probably about the same weight I think Arnold was 240 on stage approximately and my weight cap is 240 I'm about 239 when I weigh in so we're about the same weight just like now it's required to be a lot less body fat so if you put uh Arnold and serge nu uh on stage now they would look aesthetically pleasing but their condition would be significantly different to the guys that are up there now you yeah it would be yeah wouldn't be the same but what would be interesting is if you could put Arnold to be born in 1990 and then come up in this time those genetics and those with all the stuff now what would he look like Ser would be even bigger freak Arnold's a goat cuz he did it first but I think Serge Bray would be like insane to see in our generation is there a part of you that wishes obviously you'd have to the family would have to come back and the misses and all of that stuff but is there a part of you that wishes that you could have had a crack during the Golden Era as well no I've never really thought of that honestly I really think this era right now just perfectly like where I meant to be and obviously it's been working up pretty [ __ ] great so far so I don't temp fate with that I'm just grateful for where I'm at I read a story that you bought an inversion table is this true I did but it came in it came with a 100 like page pamphlet and like 500 like instructions to put it together and I never put it together right so there's a story that says you bought an inversion table so that you could make yourself a quarter of an inch taller so that you could get an extra 10 PB weight limit in your category I tried yeah I did but I didn't put it together I went to a chiropractor consistently and they have a machine that stretches your spine machine that just pulls you is that not just the medieval rack is that not the torture thing like you've got a peasant with one of those floppy caps on like we are Lord will'll get you one inch taller literally yeah it looks more like Frankenstein you like sit in this machine like upright and then it tilts you down and they have a thing around your waist that just pulls your spine right and I did that for a while but I'm like I'm just over 61 so I'd have to grain a full inch to be over 62 so I'm like it I would never do it but I also don't want to shrink so I I've definitely tried a few things I hang from bars all the time to elongate my spine it's also just good for your spine but yes classic physique is just a battle to be taller essentially to make your weight I've seen a bunch of rumors on the internet saying that if the timing was right you would roll straight from a classic physique show potentially into an open show definitely thought about it yeah have you really I have but there's no open shows after the Olympia there's like one in Japan but I would want to do like a decent show I'd rather Stack Up Beside like a top 10 Olympian and see like how do you think you get on it depends on the show if you were to put me in the Olympia if you put me in the Olympia the way I look in classic right now I don't think I would do top I would hit the top 10 but I think if I was able to like be a little bit less leaner and Fuller and like I always have to diet down about five pounds of muscle just to make my weight so if I were able to be like full as [ __ ] like sometimes some of my check-in pictures when I'm four weeks out and I have a high carb day I'm like I'm on open bodybuild right now this is crazy I would love to just see what this looks like on stage I think I could be like top give me a year and I think think I could be top 15 in like Olympia but is there no there's no part of you that's like [ __ ] I should give that a crack no more than just that like the this banter like I just really truly like I love classic physique and I love what it like pushes what it inspires people to be more so then like when I was young I literally was about to quit bodybuilding in 2016 because there I turned Pro and I was like I either have to be 300 lb or go down to Ben's physique and I wasn't wearing board shorts and I wasn't getting 300 lb so I was going to retire but then literally that year classic physique came out and I was like this is for me I'll give it a shot and then it just ran with it yeah it seems so perfect in terms of the timing for you in terms of being able to find a spot that you actually enjoyed that wasn't going to make you go too freaky so what would you need to do let's say that you did go across to open what would you have to do to your Physique in order to be able to uh improve a lot of it would be so right now I give my body a lot of rest after the Olympia I compete once a year and I take like three months off the Olympia and then coming back it's just like relearning proper training patterns perfecting my form like making sure I'm healthy and so if I were to really want to do the open I'd have to like take like a week off the rest and then get back to work hold all that weight and just start growing for a full eth month and I don't push food hard right now I go like I'll cycle my calories if I start to get too fat I'm like oh no pull it back down I would just have to like lean into the fat put on a little CH I wouldn't be like fat fat but I like being lean consistently lean enough so like feel good I'd have to put on a lot of weight and just eat consistently my training would would be the exact same it would be mainly food a little bit more PS of course but just kind of dabbling around that I think I could do it with just food though that would be [ __ ] great man i' would love to say it's such a shame that you can't do that there's um the 100 mile record for endurance racing running and the 24-hour record for a while when it was still a relatively new title were often broken together yeah because I think it takes I might be wrong let's say it takes like uh 14 hours or 12 hours or something to get 100 and then people would just continue that pace or try and continue that pace and break the 24 Zack bitter this guy from Austin did it he broke both records in one it'd be so [ __ ] cool for somebody to like break through one and then go place a really great show I don't want to even think like like I said if they let me do both in the same day it wouldn't be good cuz I'm too sucked down to make weight so I think I would look pretty small up there what body F do you step on stage at you got any idea you ever been in a dexa I haven't know I don't even try and guess because everyone on the internet's like oh Ronnie Coleman came on and said he was like 0% or something and people were like I don't think that's possible if I had to guess I think it would be like four I think it was just [ __ ] around but people took it seriously but I think I would be around four or five if I had to like be conservative and to get into the open category you'd have to you would be able to lose a tiny bit of condition yeah a little bit Yeah my like because my structure it would kind of make up for my conditioning I think we'll get back to talking to Chris in one minute but first I need to tell you about element I'm going to look there you're going to throw it and I'm just going to catch it cuz I'm a I'm me I'm epic right we'll get back to talking to Chris in one minute but first I need to tell you about element element is a science-backed electrolyte ratio of sodium potassium and magnesium with no gluten no coloring no artificial ingredients or any other BS it is the way that I have started my morning every single day for over three 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