Skip to content
Modern WisdomModern Wisdom

Chris Bumstead - The Dark Side Of The Road To Greatness (4K) | 6X Mr Olympia

Chris Bumstead is a professional bodybuilder, 5X Mr. Olympia Classic Physique title holder, and a business owner. Chris is one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. He's been called the Arnold Schwarzenegger of his era. But just what does it take to become the best in the world? What is the inner texture of a world champion like when he's as open as Chris about his failings and vulnerabilities? Expect to learn why pressure is a privilege, what it means to have a champions mentality, how Chris overcame his battle with anxiety, why he broke down sobbing on the bathroom floor 6 weeks before he won a world championship, how Chris thinks the modern world of bodybuilding compares to the golden days with Arnold, which steroid is so toxic that even Chris refuses to take, his top 10 exercises to build more muscle and much more... Sponsors: Get £150 discount on Eight Sleep products at https://eightsleep.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied) Get a Free Sample Pack of all LMNT Flavours with your first box at https://www.drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom (automatically applied at checkout) Get 5 Free Travel Packs, Free Liquid Vitamin D and more from AG1 at https://drinkag1.com/wisdom Extra Stuff: Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/ To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom #cbum #chrisbumstead #motivation - 00:00 Intro 00:49 Why Pressure is a Privilege 05:08 Are Winning & Success the Same? 09:32 Using Cynicism as a Safety Blanket 13:09 What is Chris’s Inner Voice Like? 19:18 The Principles of a Champion Mentality 25:44 Why Chris Cried on the Bathroom Floor 34:23 Reacting to the ‘Arnold’ Documentary 37:52 Changing Physique for Different Contests 43:52 Chris’s Morning Routine 49:54 If Chris Could Only Keep 10 Exercises 1:00:24 Biggest Levers for Recovery & Rest 1:05:07 Learning to Say No 1:09:34 Concerns About Longevity & Health 1:14:34 Chris’s Experience with Social Media 1:21:04 Dealing with Self-Doubt 1:31:49 The Biggest Challenges Facing Young Men 1:41:30 Debunking ‘Meme First, Explain Later’ 1:45:51 Has Chris Ever Tried Psychedelics? 1:47:58 Your Dreams Should Dictate Your Objectives 1:54:45 When Does Chris Plan to Stop & What’s Next? 2:02:18 Where to Find Chris - Get access to every episode 10 hours before YouTube by subscribing for free on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2LSimPn or Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/2MNqIgw Get my free Reading List of 100 life-changing books here - https://chriswillx.com/books/ - Get in touch in the comments below or head to... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact/

Chris Williamsonhost
Jul 10, 20232h 2mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:00 – 0:49

    Intro

    1. CB

      I was in the hospital for my Olympia prep at about four weeks out for a week, and I thought everything was gonna be taken away from me.

    2. CW

      Still Olympian.

    3. CB

      Let's go, Chris!

    4. CW

      Chris Bumstead! (audience cheering)

    5. CB

      I have this thing, I say, "Champion mentality." It's not about winning, it's not about a trophy, it's about having no quit. (dramatic music) I could have a thousand bullet points on a champion mentality, but I used to look up to people. And they said, "Do you like Michael Jordan?" But that's not fucking me.

    6. CW

      Four-time Olympian.

    7. CB

      There's no rules to being a champion. Breaking that stigma that, like, both can co-exist in a alpha male, too, for men. You know? Like, you can be this fucking killer who cries. (laughs) You know? Like, you can. You know, a champion makes his own rules and rides out the wave like that. (logo buzzes and beeps)

    8. CW

      Chris Bumstead, welcome to the show.

    9. CB

      Thank you. Grateful to be here. Very excited.

    10. CW

      What does,

  2. 0:49 – 5:08

    Why Pressure is a Privilege

    1. CW

      "Pressure is a privilege," mean? (laughs)

    2. CB

      Oh, you really dive into this quick, eh? So casual, and then you just stare me in the eye and ask your first question.

    3. CW

      (laughs)

    4. CB

      Pressures of privilege is definitely something that, like, evolved over, uh, time. I think I first heard it from Tim Grover, which is someone who kind of, like, his book, Relentless, put my mindset into, like, the focus on my mindset in competing, rather than just my physical body, 'cause I knew that's what it would take to, like, get to the next level. And I think after winning in Olympia, I was like, "Oh, fuck." Like, I just showed my cards. I had people know what I'm capable of. Now there's no one I gotta beat. There's no, like, second place, third place, like, flow. It's like, "No, you're the best, and unless you're the best, we just forget about you." So it was like this pressure I felt on myself, and it was coming externally for a while. And I was trying to, like, understand how I could gravitate that a little bit better without it kind of bringing me down and slowing down my progress. And I had to kind of function to the reality that the pressure was really coming from myself rather than externally, and that it's a good pressure. It's a pressure to be better and to become the best version of myself, and it's something that if I choose to use it properly, it's gonna push me to be a better version of myself, to grow mentally, physically, my relationships, however I want it to gr- let me grow if I choose to take control of the aspects I have control over. So in e- essence, it's a... The more pressure you have on you, and if you take it as a privilege, it's a choice to put your perception of the privilege rather than a burden. And then by taking the power back in that choice, it pushes you in a direction of being better rather than holding you back.

    5. CW

      Yeah, there's a pain that comes from the expectation of success-

    6. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    7. CW

      ... I suppose, which is different to your first time.

    8. CB

      Yeah.

    9. CW

      You know, when you've got nothing to prove, you have nothing to lose.

    10. CB

      The underdog's always the funnest.

    11. CW

      Is that the way that you've found it?

    12. CB

      I mean, I definitely... The beginning of my career was just... I never h- even had aspirations to be Mr. Olympia when I started. I just loved to train, loved to body-build. And then once that I started to get that pressure on me, that started to fade a bit, because I was taking in so much outside noise, and I stopped doing it for the right reasons of why I started, and just the fact that I love it and I enjoy it and I enjoy pushing my body to the limits. So that affected me for a bit. But even, like, my first ever Olympia win, because of other stuff I had gone through, I actually didn't even really enjoy it, because of, like, stress of my health and pressure, something I'd gone through the year before. All this, like, not being present and suppressing all my, like, fears I had around it, I just, like, battled through it, got there, and I was like, "It's over." Like, "I just won at Olympia. This is the goal I've been chasing, like, for six, seven years specifically in the league. I have it, and now why, why do I feel like I'm missing something?" And I think I kind of uncovered that I w- suppressing all this pressure, all this fear of my health, all these other aspects, and in doing so, I was also s- suppressing my ability to fear joy, feel joy and excitement and the, the positive side of things. 'Cause you always hear you can't, like, selectively numb emotions. You either pretty much numb everything, or you feel all of it. And I was definitely a numbing kinda guy. I was like, "Fuck it. Don't feel it. Push it aside, compartmentalize, and get to work." And I was just like, "Okay, no, this isn't right. Something's gotta change." And those two years, my... Just came second the only year before I got sick. Won that Olympia and did enjoy it. This was like, "All right, physical stuff is down. I won. I gotta focus on my mental side right now, because I wa- If I'm doing this, I wanna love it." I started because I love it, and I wanna keep doing it because I love it.

    13. CW

      I'll remember the, uh... Conor McGregor was talking about, I think, the first time that he won the interim title.

    14. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    15. CW

      And then the second time that he beat Aldo in 13 seconds, and before that fight, which seemed to be kind of peak McGregor, right?

    16. CB

      Yeah.

    17. CW

      He was just this savant, like an artist of war.

    18. CB

      Yeah.

    19. CW

      And, uh, someone was asking him, "What are you going to do differently this time that you didn't do last time?" And he said, "I'm gonna enjoy it."

    20. CB

      Yep.

    21. CW

      Because he stepped out on stage, and there's that famous photo of him, and he stood like this-

    22. CB

      Yeah.

    23. CW

      ... looking out at the weigh-in, and just-

    24. CB

      Just feel it.

    25. CW

      And he said he can barely remember it.

    26. CB

      Like a children

    27. NA

      (laughs)

    28. CW

      Yeah, it's fucking amazing. You know the photo? I mean, he stood there-

    29. CB

      Yeah.

    30. CW

      ... and he's got that tattoo up the back of his-

  3. 5:08 – 9:32

    Are Winning & Success the Same?

    1. CW

      I've heard you say that, "Winning is not what I once thought it was. I have found it to be much more complex than our traditional definitions of success." What's that mean?

    2. CB

      It comes from when I was younger, just, like, wanting more stuff, a lot of external stuff, a lot of success. Again, things out of your control. I wanted, like, circumstances and objects. I wanted success, thinking of something I could, like, the world could give me, rather than something I could give myself. And I have to look at winning as success as kind of one and the same. And there's this awesome quote by, I think it's Jim Carrey, Jim Carrey, and it goes, "I wish for the world to realize all of their dreams so that they can realize they don't make them complete." And he's talking about that most people's dreams are very, like, external, like, champions. Like, they wanna win a medal, they wanna win a trophy, they want a nice car and all this stuff. Then you get it, and when you have everything, you realize, "This isn't what I wanted. I don't feel complete right now." And I have the amazing opportunity in my life to have accomplished so many of my dreams and realized that there's still a void missing there. The more money I get, the more titles I get, the more I get, it's not filling me up more. But then I discovered that over time, like-It's the effort, it's the journey. It's, like, suffering through times that I don't wanna be at the gym, or why I wanna quit on my diet, and I push myself. And every single moment, every day leading up to the show, and I win all those moments, that's winning. That's like winning in life, continuously every day. And through that journey, being able to build my relationships, not sacrifice them for winning, be able to make myself a better person, not a more stressed-out, anxious person. All that stuff coming together, I've already won before I have a trophy in my hands. When I stand on stage, I haven't quit on a workout, I haven't quit on a cardio se- session, my girlfriend still loves me in the background, she doesn't hate me for neglecting her for the last three months of prep. I'm like, "I won." You know? Like, I feel fucking good right now. And am I g- if I lose, am I gonna leave and be really sad, and, like, cry, and, like, grieve that loss? Absolutely, but I'm still gonna be proud of everything I've put in. And at the end of the day, that's all I can control, and to me, that's winning.

    3. CW

      How much do you think the joy of winning is just relief and a brief respite from fear of not being enough?

    4. CB

      A lot of it. A lot of it. And I've talked to other people who have won things before, and myself. And that first Olympia was a test of that. Like, the biggest thing I felt was just relief. I'm like, "Fuck, I did it. It's over. Okay, you can relax."

    5. CW

      "I'm not a loser."

    6. CB

      It's like-

    7. CW

      "I'm not a piece of shit."

    8. CB

      Yeah, it's like that (sighs) exhale. And then, a day or two goes by, or a week or something, and you're like, "I gotta do that again, but better." If I ever wanna feel like that again, this expectation's on me now, I have to do more and I have to do better. I have to be better, I have to work harder, I have to take myself to those limits and further, because now that's my standard. And now I need to overcome that standard to really impress anyone. Like, that whole thing is showing your cards. As soon as someone knows you're good, what y- how good you are, that's a baseline. You have to be better than that to be, like, okay.

    9. CW

      So how ... W- what is your advice to someone that is struggling with the pressure of success? Perhaps, you know, for a long time they've been thinking that they want to get to a place, then they set a standard, and now they realize there's pain of having to meet that standard again.

    10. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    11. CW

      How have you managed to balance these two, uh, these two worlds? The desire to continue to be better-

    12. CB

      Yep.

    13. CW

      ... and also the requirement to be able to be grateful and enjoy the present moment?

    14. CB

      I think on one aspect, and something that is very strange, I think, for people to hear, 'cause a lot of champions we hear are just, like, killer mentality, like, win at all costs. I think on one aspect, I've accepted that I'd be okay with losing. I accepted that if I lost, like I said, I would grieve, I would be sad, it would suck, but, like, life would go on. I would be okay. And the Olympia's a huge part of my life, but it's not everything part of my life. So kinda giving myself permission to fail, in essence, almost gives myself permission to try harder. And that maybe it's not like that for everybody, but for myself, as soon as I was like, "Okay, if this happens and I lose, what then?" Like, I either quit and leave and move on with my life, or I come back and I try harder and that motivates me for more. But either way, I'm still me. I still h- have who I am as a person, that I'll always control. I have my relationships, people I love around me, and a lotta beautiful stuff going on in my life, so, like, I'm gonna be okay. And that really just kinda alleviated a lotta pressure and gave me permission to perform even more. 'Cause a lotta people are afraid to even try hard because then if you try hard and you fail, you feel like a failure.

    15. CW

      Mm.

    16. CB

      But the aspect of being a failure doesn't come from the success in the end. It comes from if you really quit on yourself, or if you don't put in the effort you know you can put in and you're kinda holding back on your true potential. That's when I think you really, deep down, feel like a failure, like, underneath your soul.

    17. CW

      Yeah, there's some interesting, uh,

  4. 9:32 – 13:09

    Using Cynicism as a Safety Blanket

    1. CW

      trends at the moment that I'm noticing, uh, and one of them is something I've called the cynicism safety blanket, and that's what you're talking about now-

    2. CB

      Yeah. Yeah.

    3. CW

      ... I think. Cynicism is a guarded response which sets yourself up against disappointment. Its role within the system is to protect you against experiencing anything bad. It is a preemptive strike against a perceived threat.

    4. CB

      Yep.

    5. CW

      If I tell myself that all women are bad, then I'm less likely to seek a relationship with women, and as a consequence, I'm never going to feel the pain of rejection. If I tell myself that everything is shit, or that things will never get better, then I'm excused of ever having to try at anything. It is more comfortable to get fatalistic and call it pragmatism. To cope is framing hope as pathetic and embarrassing, and optimism as delusion. It's sour grapes at an existential level. If everything sucks and everyone is terrible, and reality is disappointing, and you know that for a fact, then it's the people acting like things can be better that are dumb, delusional, and the problem. The upside of never having to try is never having to feel the pain of failure. And I think that's what you're talking about there.

    6. CB

      Yeah, very much so. And I think that even ... that applies to all aspects of life. And th- what really pushed me to, like, learn these lessons ... Again, I'm not, like, a psychologist or educated like that, but I've lived a lot of life, and I've had a lot of ups and downs. And in 2018, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. I was in the hospital for my Olympia prep at about four weeks out for a week, and I came out and I didn't know if I was gonna be able to compete. I didn't know if I'd be even healthy ever again. I thought everything was gonna be taken away from me. And I got through it, I came second at that Olympia somehow, and it was, like, a battle to the death of numbing everything and just suppressing anything I feel, and just trying to focus on bodybuilding. And I did that for about a year and a half, and this whole mindset I built around it was this fear that I'm gonna get sick again. I need to quit bodybuilding 'cause I'm gonna get sick. I don't have control over my health. I'm gonna get sick. And then just this constant fear was looming over my head, because if I got sick, then I could be like, "I knew I'd get sick." You know? Like, it was g- it was bound for everything to be taken away from me. It almost happened last year, it's gonna happen next year. And I was just living in that to create, and almost prepare myself, to create a little safety blanket, like you said, to just be like, "Okay, when it happens, I can say I told you so, I was right, and I'm ready for it."

    7. CW

      Mm.

    8. CB

      Rather than leaning into actually enjoying life and kinda moving past that. So I had to really, like, reframe my mindset. And I started to ... I went through this whole journey of, like, after that I turned into, "You won't get sick," trying to convince myself, "I'm not gonna get sick. I'm not gonna get sick."

    9. CW

      Denial.

    10. CB

      Denial, exactly. But then you're living in a sense of lack and avoidance, and then you're also constantly thinking of that. And when you're thinking of that constantly, it puts y- your body in this state of reaction, where you're waiting for something to happen. And when something happens, you're like, "Ah." You know? Like, "Fuck. It's against what I keep telling myself." And then I switch to telling myself, "No, you are healthy." Instead of thinking not and in lack, "What do you want?" Be like, "You are healthy. You are going to be okay," all this stuff. And then that still didn't really make me feel better, 'cause I'm still kinda unknowing. And then I literally came to the conclusion that I don't fucking know.I was like, "The only truth right now is that I don't know what's gonna happen, but there are measures I can take to take control of my health as best as I can, and the rest is up to the universe." But e- the more I stress about it and the more I think about it, it's creating more of this state of reaction myself. It's taking me out of the present moment to be able to enjoy and perform the way I know I can, and I'm not able to enjoy it. And I still battle, s- of course, sometimes. I didn't just forget about it. But just the understanding and baseline that I don't know the future, so I have to let go of some of those things, is the only thing that really helped my mind get through all that times. And I mean, it's continuously now when I compete and I'm like, "Am I gonna get sick?" Be like, "I don't know. But when it happens, you're gonna deal with it and you'll be okay, so just enjoy this moment right now."

    11. CW

      What's your inner voice like now?

  5. 13:09 – 19:18

    What is Chris’s Inner Voice Like?

    1. CW

      Because I've heard you talk about battles with depression and anxiety in the past. That's something that I dealt with throughout all of my 20s as well.

    2. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    3. CW

      And me reflecting on the change in the texture of my own mind-

    4. CB

      Yeah.

    5. CW

      ... through a lot of self-work and a lot of external work too. Like, I can't pretend like the external accolades of the world, me proving to the world and the world saying that, "Yes, you are good enough because the things that you have applied yourself to have been, uh, y- you've been given the, the rewards that you wanted."

    6. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    7. CW

      Um, but yeah, what, what's your inner voice like now as someone who used to deal with depression and anxiety?

    8. CB

      I was definitely more leaning into the anxious, more th- rather than depressed, and that was more, like, just projecting the future based off unhealed wounds from the past and fears of what happened in the past was gonna repeat itself. But now I think my inner voice is just... And it's a constant work I'm doing. I think mental health in general is like putting in reps. It's not just like, "Oh, I'm good." It's, like, continuously giving yourself the love you need mentally and physically. And I'm just trying to build a lot more empathy and compassion for myself, 'cause I didn't directly shame myself being like, "You're not good enough. You're a piece of shit, all this shit." But I would be like, I expected more of myself. Like, we were talking with public speaking, I'm like, "You just won four Olympias and now you're literally, like, heart racing, can barely breathe 'cause you're about to talk in front of, like, a few hundred people? Like, you should be able to do this. You're better than this." And that's a form of shame in itself, of expecting something out of myself that maybe I'm not ready for or, or just rather than accepting who I am and where I'm at in my life. So I think just building that compassion and being, like, accepting who I am, and who I am isn't what this, like, this perception that maybe people have built with me. And, you know, I believe... You had this guy on, Peter Crone. I love that guy.

    9. CW

      Yeah, he's beast.

    10. CB

      He has this quote and he says, "Life presents you with people and circumstances to show you where you're not free." And I think that the way I spoke about my inner voice and this expectation of myself with where I wasn't free, and then life put me in this position of millions of people with this idolized perception of someone they look up to as calm, cool, collected, has their shit together, sibum. He's so good, he's up there. And I was like, "I really have to be that now. Like, I better be fucking perfect now." You know, my dad was like that growing up too, so I had this like, "Okay, men are stoic and they don't feel anything and they can, they weather the storm and they're good." And I just was like emo- a very sentient being, like emotional. And I was like, "Fuck." So I kinda denied that part of myself for a while, but now being able to just integrate that and accepting it is who I am, and being able to show it more and allow it to come up more in situations. Like, I almost try and twist some conversations, like allow myself to be like, "I'm not perfect. I have anxiety." Uh, just to, like, show that it's there and then being like, "Well, now this facade's kind of gone. The presentation isn't to be what people want me to be, it's just to be myself, and whatever happens after that can fuck off." So, I guess overall, the inner voice and myself I'm building is just more compassion and empathy.

    11. CW

      I would say so too. I remember, um, I did this workout, uh, the high-intensity interval workout thing on a, uh, an Assault bike.

    12. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    13. CW

      And this guy that was coaching me at the time asked me to try and remember where my mind went to when my heart got into zone five.

    14. CB

      Yeah.

    15. CW

      So whatever, like, 160, 170 BPM and above. And the voice... This is probably six or seven years ago. And, uh, the voice that came back was fucking awful.

    16. CB

      Yeah.

    17. CW

      Like it was so just, "This sucks, you're not good enough." Uh, panic, uh, uh, like, tightness, and, and, and terror.

    18. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    19. CW

      And I did a workout again a couple of months... A- actually no, it was two weeks ago with Tim Kennedy.

    20. CB

      Yeah.

    21. CW

      You know Tim? UFC guy?

    22. CB

      Yeah, I know.

    23. CW

      He's like, like a professional bad guy, but he works for the US government.

    24. CB

      Okay.

    25. CW

      Anyway, uh, I did this workout with him and my heart rate must have got to that same place.

    26. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    27. CW

      And it's the first time I've done it since then, and the words that came back to me were so different.

    28. CB

      Yeah.

    29. CW

      That I couldn't believe it. I was like, "Oh my God, I thought that was the..." I, I genuinely thought that was the physics of my own, uh, inner experience.

    30. CB

      Mm-hmm. Like that who you were.

  6. 19:18 – 25:44

    The Principles of a Champion Mentality

    1. CW

      I know that you talk about this a lot.

    2. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    3. CW

      What are the principles that you rely on for that?

    4. CB

      Again, something that definitely elevated over time. I literally just put that on a shirt once because it sounded cool, and I was like, "Oh, fuck. Like, this, there's more to this." And I think the biggest thing was, originally it was, like, just winning, and it evolved into just, like, a no quit mentality. It's accepting these fears I have, this doubt I have, this, everything that goes through my mind. But regardless of that, not quitting and not giving up on myself. No matter how hard is the time or what I'm going through and whatever shit I feel, it's, I'm gonna still put in the same work regardless of how I feel. And that's a champion mentality, because a champion's not controlled by their outside circumstances, they're, they control their own mind inside and how they act, and then the world goes on around them. There's a huge aspect of that. And I'm also now leaning into, I really think, like, greatness and champions not only elevate themselves, but the people around them. And I think it's, you are put into a position where you can help other, your l- close people around you, people who follow you, people who look up to you, whatever it might be, anyone in your life, you're in a position now of greatness where you can elevate others up to a higher level. And being able to inspire them, bring them up to be better people, is part of what makes you great, rather than just this selfish act of being you, being the best for yourself.

    5. CW

      Why is it important to not let anyone hear you complain? I've heard you talk about this.

    6. CB

      It's more so, that's a quote I t- took, that was an old quote. (laughs) I think I've accepted that one a little bit more, but it's more so just not living in the, in the negativity. You know, life's gonna get suck, but the more you focus your perception on it, you know, the way you see the world is what the world is. If I choose to be like, "You know, today sucks. I'm tired. I don't wanna do cardio. I'm fucking two weeks out eating 1,500 calories. Like, this sucks." If that's what I'm talking about, that's all I'm gonna live in. I'm gonna be like, "Bodybuilding sucks. Prep sucks. Why do I do this?" But if I'm like, "This suffering is literally what's gonna make me great, and it's gonna bring me that amazing moment on stage, and all these memories of everything, and this, like, it's pushing me to these limits that I know make me feel proud of myself and all these things." If I focus more on the positive side of things, I'm going to enjoy the reality regardless of the change. The circumstances can be the exact same, but your perception changes everything about how you feel about it. And I think a lot of people who are successful or who are bodybuilders usually kinda tap out because they make it seem like this miserable thing. Like, "Oh, fuck, I have to start dieting. Oh, I gotta do cardio." And then you're just, like, complaining about it, and why would you wanna do anything you complain about every day?

    7. CW

      Hmm.

    8. CB

      Rather than understanding that the choice and the beautiful things that come from it are what you should be focusing on and lead some more progressive growth.

    9. CW

      Well, I mean, think about any champion that you imagine in your mind. Do they complain? Like, is, is a champion the person that complains?

    10. CB

      Yeah. No.

    11. CW

      There's a guy called Josh Waitzkin. He was the guy that the film Seeking Bobby Fischer was written about, so he was a chess prodigy at a young age.

    12. CB

      Okay.

    13. CW

      And he decided to just abscond che- He was seen as the new American phenom, right?

    14. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    15. CW

      Wonder kid, absolute beast as a child, and he gets basically to the top of the game of chess and then decides to leave. He goes into Chinese push hands. It's like, like fighting tai chi, kind of.

    16. CB

      Okay, yeah.

    17. CW

      Gets to the top of that sport and then exits again.

    18. CB

      Yeah.

    19. CW

      Like, you can't contact him on the internet. He doesn't have a website. But this guy's a savant.

    20. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    21. CW

      And he did an episode with Tim Ferriss, and he was talking to Tim about the way that him and his son reframe the weather, and he was saying that, uh, a lot of parents will say to their, uh, son or daughter, uh, "We can't go outside to play today because it's raining. Isn't it a shame that we can't go outside to play because it's raining?" Which puts all of the power outside.

    22. CB

      Into the weather, yeah.

    23. CW

      Correct. All of the power is outside. So him, him and his son have worked very hard on saying things like, "What a beautiful day. It's raining outside. We should go outside and play in the rain."

    24. CB

      Yeah.

    25. CW

      And I think that there's so much, uh, wonderful insight in that reframe that he's giving.

    26. CB

      Mm-hmm. Yeah.

    27. CW

      And i- it seems like it's the same-

    28. CB

      Definitely, yeah. And there's (clears throat) one example. I don't really talk about it 'cause it sounds a little fucked up to say, but when I was young, I used to always look at the clock and see 9/11. I don't know why.

    29. CW

      (laughs)

    30. CB

      But I would look at it, and it would say 9/11, and I would be like, "Fuck, like, something bad's gonna happen." So, e- and I would worry like that. I'm like, and I was a little kid at the time. And I don't know if it was just, like, manifesting it, but I would, like, every day for a while, I'd look at the clock, and that would be the time. And then when I was growing up, I was like, instead of, like, constantly living and, like, thinking this is bad, why don't I switch that? That kid, something horrible happened on that date, and I'm like, terribly grieving of all the people, and that's horrible, but then-

  7. 25:44 – 34:23

    Why Chris Cried on the Bathroom Floor

    1. CW

      You mentioned it earlier on, six weeks out from the Olympia, you were on the bathroom floor crying.

    2. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    3. CW

      Can you take me through the story of that day, where your mind was at, what life was like at that time, and sort of what the texture of your own existence was like that led up to that point?

    4. CB

      Yeah, for sure. (sighs) I mean, there's part of it I actually can't touch on. It's just too private. But it was Olympia, I'd been prepping for weeks, lot going on in my life. Something happened within my family that was really stressful that I'm not gonna touch on, but it wa- greatly impacting us going forward and causing a lot of stress and anxiety in myself and my whole family. And we had just moved to Florida, all this shit going on, still fears about my health, and I had gotten ... A sign of my health going wrong is inflammation in my shins, I get edema. And I started to get that a little bit.

    5. CW

      Fat shins.

    6. CB

      Fat shins?

    7. CW

      Fat shins, yeah.

    8. CB

      Cankles.

    9. CW

      Fat shins, ankles, right. Okay.

    10. CB

      Yeah. (laughs) They're not quite cankles but they're ... just my shins get fat, you know?

    11. CW

      Okay.

    12. CB

      So I'm getting this edema and i- and all this personal stuff on the side and it was just ... I didn't speak about anything. It was just like, "Okay, wake up, do cardio, you know, go to the gym, go to work, do this, do that, just don't think about it, put it down, push it down, push it ..." And I kept doing that. And then I just ... I think b- with my fiance she was noticing I was little bit off and this is why, like, having good people around you is fucking everything when you have, like, a stressful life. And she just knew something was off and she's like, "H- are you good? Like, how are you doing?" I'm like, "I'm good." She asked me again, she's like, "Are you good?" And I'm like, "Yeah, I'm okay." Like, she's like ... And then I was, like, in the bathroom, she came in and she's like, "Are you okay?" I'm like, "Yeah." And she asked me one more time, she's like, "Are you ... like, look at me. Are you okay?" And I just started bawling and I had no idea. I didn't know I was that stressed out, I just was, like, numb. And I just, poof, started bawling, like hit the floor, I was just sobbing. I was just like, "I just feel like the world's crashing in on me right now. I feel like all this shit's going on externally and I'm just trying to focus on the Olympia. I have won two, I have to be better. I'm getting so close, I feel behind. Like, all this shit's going on, now I have this business, all this chaos going on in my life and I just, like, I don't know if I can handle this." And she's just like, "Yeah. Fuck yeah. Like, of course you feel like that." Like, no shit. And she's like, "I don't know why, like, you can share this with me. Like, the world is on your shoulders. You're fucking stressed out right now and it should be. This is a b- a lot of opportunity in front of you, and if you wanna quit you can but I know you and I know you won't. And right now, j- you just need to sit in this, cry, let it out, I'm here with you. But I know you're gonna get out from this. You're gonna go to the gym, you're gonna kill your workout, you're gonna wake up and you're gonna keep doing that. But this is a normal part of what you're going through." This is ... h- she was literally like, "You don't think Michael Jordan ever broke down and felt like he couldn't handle the stress that was on him b- like, building the NBA into what it was? N- not even just his team." I was like, "Fuck, like, yeah. He didn't talk about it, though." And she was like, "Well, fuck yeah, like, none of them knew how to ... No men know how to talk about their emotions properly." And it was just f-... like, it just, she just, like, built this confidence in me. I was just like, "Fuck yeah, of course, like, this is a huge pressure, there's a lot going on and I'm stressed. What's wrong with that? I'm not gonna let it control me but I'm allowed to feel this moment right now." And that was just, like, wow, (laughs) you know? Like, I can lean on people, people are there to help me, I can share how I feel, and someone's gonna actually make me feel better. 'Cause my whole life it was just, "Bottle everything up, you can handle it all by yourself. You know you're a man, you can handle this shit." And I was just like, "No, you know? Like, I'm allowed to feel, but who I am is not gonna be controlled by these feelings." So, it was just a huge moment, um, in, uh, in our relationship, too. You know? Like, I'm s- ... everyone ends up with a family, alone. Like, I have stress f- h- having to provide for a family is, like, the ultimate, and the men who feel like they have to provide and, like, the world is on their shoulders, they don't understand that, like, their wife and their family wants to help them.

    13. CW

      Mmm.

    14. CB

      Like, they might not make it easier but, like, they'll get under that weight with you and they'll hold that with you. And it's not a burden to them, 'cause I always felt like asking for help would make me a burden. I'd be like, "I'm just gonna make someone else's life harder, so, like, they're stressed out over there, I don't wanna add to that, I'm just gonna be okay over here."

    15. CW

      Mm-hmm.

    16. CB

      But it actually makes them feel close to you, it makes them ... it gives them purpose.

    17. CW

      People want to be wanted in that regard.

    18. CB

      Oh, my God, yeah. You ask someone for help, they're like, "Fuck yeah, like, I feel good about myself today 'cause I helped this person." And it, it really brought our relationship closer in that moment, it made her feel like I just helped him in this part where he said he can do it all by himself all the time. And now, uh, like, I'm like, "Fuck yeah, like, I really needed that." And it was a really important moment for my personal growth, champion growth, relationship growth.

    19. CW

      There's a, a meme at the moment of this sort of lone wolf sigma male guy that's making great things happen on his own.

    20. CB

      Yeah.

    21. CW

      I'm pretty sure that you are the footage that's used over the top a l- of a lot of these sigma...

    22. CB

      Oh, really? (laughs)

    23. CW

      ... man memes in any case.

    24. CB

      Yeah.

    25. CW

      Could you do this on your own?

    26. CB

      Fuck no. No, none of it. I couldn't do my YouTube without Calvin, I couldn't have started my businesses without Maddi, I couldn't be doing RAW Supplements without Dom and Matt, who are my partners in that. I wouldn't be the man who I am without my dad. I wouldn't be able to have gotten through my stress as a teenager without my sister. I wouldn't have gotten through the last four Olympias without Courtney. Like, it's just ... Like, I almost get emotional thinking about it. But when I, like, reflect back on, like, what I'm most grateful for, it's always the people in my life and I'm so fucking lucky. It's, like, crazy. Like, the people I have in my life for everything and the relationships I, like, built mean the world to me. And I literally (laughs) will, like, cry sometimes by myself, like, doing, like, a gratitude reflection or something. But it's, it's ... Relationships in my life are everything and I just, I know I wouldn't be where I am without it, and I would never be the one to think I could do it all by myself.

    27. CW

      Wasn't there a story of your parents waiting in line to get your autograph-

    28. CB

      Yeah, yeah. (laughs)

    29. CW

      ... one time?

    30. CB

      They've been to every Olympia and they go to the athlete meet-and-greet and they waited for, like, an hour in line or something.

  8. 34:23 – 37:52

    Reacting to the ‘Arnold’ Documentary

    1. CW

      documentary, talking about champions?

    2. CB

      I haven't yet, no.

    3. CW

      Wow. I mean he's... It, it, it's very interesting, especially 'cause you'll have seen Pumping Iron-

    4. CB

      Yeah.

    5. CW

      ... I'm gonna guess. So, um, I probably haven't watched that for about 10 years now, but, um, reflecting on that era of, not only bodybuilding, but America in general-

    6. CB

      Mm-hmm.

    7. CW

      ... it's so romanticized.

    8. CB

      Yeah.

    9. CW

      Like it's so cool. I told one of my friends this. We were driving from Austin to Houston to go to a bachelor party, and as I was going past, it's just endless freeways and huge factories with flags that are 100 feet in the air, and the flag's 40 feet high-

    10. CB

      Yeah.

    11. CW

      ... and it's slowly waving. It's a pretty... You know, it's not a country that I even, like-

    12. CB

      Yeah.

    13. CW

      ... I, I'm from, but it's pretty patriotic, and you think-

    14. CB

      Yeah.

    15. CW

      ... "Well, that's cool." But it made me nostalgic for an era that feels like it's almost sort of fallen away. And watching, um, the Arnold doc really reminded me of that sort of unbounded, blue sky vision that everybody had-

    16. CB

      Yeah.

    17. CW

      ... and it was pretty fucking cool. But 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?

    18. CB

      Like physically?

    19. CW

      Yeah.

    20. CB

      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 sport pretty much.

    21. CW

      The open class is no limitation.

    22. CB

      The open class is no weight limits.

    23. CW

      Yep.

    24. CB

      Dudes are on stage at 300 pounds, like three percent body fat, just fucking monsters. Like huge, stuff you can't even fathom. Like, when I see them in person still, 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 ass is just striated 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.

    25. CW

      So if you put, uh, Arnold and Serge Nubret, uh, on stage now, they would look aesthetically pleasing, but their condition would be significantly different-

    26. CB

      Yeah.

    27. CW

      ... to the guys that are up there now, you think?

    28. CB

      Yeah. They would be... Yeah, it 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.

    29. CW

      Those genetics.

    30. CB

      And those... With all the stuff now, what would he look like? Serge Nubret would be a even bigger freak. Arnold's the GOAT 'cause he did it first, but I think Serge Nubret would be, like, insane to see in our generation.

  9. 37:52 – 43:52

    Changing Physique for Different Contests

    1. CW

    2. CB

      (laughs)

    3. CW

      Is this true?

    4. CB

      I d- I did, but it came in... It came with is a 100, like, page pamphlet, and, like, 500, like, instructions to put it together, and I never put it together.

    5. CW

      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 pounds weight limit in your category.

    6. CB

      I tried. Yeah, I did. But I didn't put it together. I went to a chiropractor consistently, and they have a machine-

    7. CW

      (laughs) I was gonna ask you about the story.

    8. CB

      ... that stretches your spine.

    9. CW

      Is that not called-

    10. CB

      They have a machine that just pulls you.

    11. CW

      Is that not just a medieval rack? Is that not a torture thing? Like they-

    12. CB

      It looks like it.

    13. CW

      ... you've got a peasant with one of those floppy caps on-

    14. CB

      Yeah.

    15. CW

      ... like, "Here we are m'lord."

    16. CB

      It's actually more like-

    17. CW

      "We'll get you one inch taller."

    18. CB

      (laughs) 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.

    19. CW

      Right.

    20. CB

      And I did that for a while, but I'm, like, I'm just over 6'1", so I'd have to gain a full inch to be over 6'2". So I'm like-

    21. CW

      Wow.

    22. CB

      ... it w- 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.

    23. CW

      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.

    24. CB

      Definitely thought about it, yeah.

    25. CW

      Have you really?

    26. CB

      I have y- But there's no open shows after the Olympia. There's, like, one in Japan. But I would want to do, like, a, a decent show. I'd rather stack up beside, like, a top 10 Olympian and see, like, how that would go.

    27. CW

      How do you think you'd get on?

    28. CB

      It depends on the show. If you were to put me in the Olympia... If you put me in 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... 'Cause 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 fuck... 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 gonna bodybuilder 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 I could be top 15 in, like, Olympia. But-

    29. CW

      Is there no, there's no part of you that's like, "Fuck, I should give that a crack."

    30. CB

      No more than just that, like, thes- this banter, like-

  10. 43:52 – 49:54

    Chris’s Morning Routine

    1. CW

      to me about your morning routine. What does that look like, typically?

    2. CB

      (sighs) It depends on the time of year, really.

    3. CW

      Okay, so let's say off-season and prep.

    4. CB

      Off-season, I wake up and I usually just do a bit of light cardio. Just-

    5. CW

      What sort of time do you typically get up?

    6. CB

      (sighs) It's been brutal lately. I've been in different time zones for the last six months, so it's just whatever time zone I'm on.

    7. CW

      Okay.

    8. CB

      But lately, I've just been not putting an alarm, and I've been waking up at about 7:30, 8:00 or so, lately, and I normally wake up and I just do, like, a little bit of cardio, just, like, 20 minutes, just to make sure my appetite's going. And then I have a cold plunge. I usually dip my legs in there, at least, if not my full body, and just, like, or up to my waist, then shower, eat, go to work. Speaker 2: So-

    9. CW

      What will you tend to have off-season? What will breakfast look like? (laughs)

    10. CB

      It, again, it varies. Consistently, I get sick of food really quick, especially breakfast foods, so-

    11. CW

      Hmm.

    12. CB

      ... I usually don't like eating eggs when I'm eating a lot of food, so I normally just make a smoothie, and then I'll have, like, oatmeal, like, blended into the smoothie, and some, like, Ezekiel bread toast and almond butter.

    13. CW

      Hmm. Okay, and then what about prep, which I'm guessing is significantly more dialed, like-

    14. CB

      Prep evolves, and, like, I just, I'm not trying to, like, I evolve, s- I'm very fluid. Like, I, my routines are like, "What time do you train?" Depends on the time of year. Like, it's just wherever I, I feel natural, I just kind of flow into that state-

    15. CW

      Hmm.

    16. CB

      ... and do what I can, and I s- kind of thrive in that structure rather than really regimented. But in prep, I'll wake up in the morning, and I usually will, like, do, like, a breath work thing, 'cause I get sucked into that. And it's not even for, like, at first, I tried to do it for, like, mental, to, like, kinda, like, tap deep into my mind, and now it's just literally to oxygenate my body before, like, waking up and doing cardio, 'cause I realized if I did a little bit of breath work, and, like, just, like, you know, like, Wim Hof style?

    17. CW

      Mm-hmm.

    18. CB

      Like, three rounds of 30 breaths, and a hold and exhale, repeat, three rounds in the morning, and then I went and did cardio, I didn't need caffeine, I was wide awake, and I could, like, blast through my cardio way easier, and I just felt way better.

    19. CW

      Wow.

    20. CB

      And then after that, I'll usually sauna or cold tub, combine it. I'll always cold tub if I sauna, 'cause I like finishing with cold, and then cardio will be higher at that point, and then I'll go shower and eat. And the goal that I do in the mornings, it's nothing crazy, like, it's just simple as that, but I usually try and put my phone on airplane mode when I go to bed and not look at it until this shit's done.

    21. CW

      Yeah, that's such a hack.

    22. CB

      Yeah.

    23. CW

      Do you sleep... Well, if it's on airplane mode, it doesn't matter, but I'm gonna guess you sleep with your phone outside of your bedroom as well.

    24. CB

      Um, no, I still usually keep it, I use it as an alarm still, or I just have it in the corner of the room and it's on airplane mode, but I just don't check it.

    25. CW

      It's basically a brick until-

    26. CB

      Exactly.

    27. CW

      ... airplane mode gets turned off.

    28. CB

      Yeah.

    29. CW

      Are you not concerned at all? There's a lot of talk on the internet about reducing inflammation through using cold plunge when you're trying to maximize hypertrophy.

    30. CB

      Mm-hmm.

  11. 49:54 – 1:00:24

    If Chris Could Only Keep 10 Exercises

    1. CW

      for the rest of time-

    2. CB

      Yeah.

    3. CW

      ... that's all you have in your library (huffs) to stay as muscular as possible...Give me the list.

    4. CB

      So, the g- the goal is to be as muscular as possible?

    5. CW

      Correct.

    6. CB

      If I were to... Let's say I'm competing and I have 10 exercises, or-

    7. CW

      Sure.

    8. CB

      All right. Shit. (laughs) Sorry. I'm gonna have to count it on my hands. Um, squats.

    9. CW

      Why?

    10. CB

      Just overall leg growth. They help glutes, quads, like, a large portion of the leg that ƒ’ing helps-

    11. CW

      Barbell back squat?

    12. CB

      Barbell back squat.

    13. CW

      Okay.

    14. CB

      Super simple. If it's my whole life, I might actually do Smith Machine squats, because it'll help my knees in a little bit, be a little bit easier.

    15. CW

      Okay. Okay.

    16. CB

      More stability. And people hate me for that, but I love squatting on the Smith Machine.

    17. CW

      All right.

    18. CB

      I get a lot of shit for that.

    19. CW

      (laughs)

    20. CB

      Um, deadlifts.

    21. CW

      Okay.

    22. CB

      Just to get something that'll target the- my hamstrings, and so I don't have to take out another 10 of too... Something too hamstring-focused, and glute and back-focused. Um, pull-ups, so I can hit my back and biceps in one.

    23. CW

      Overhand? Underhand?

    24. CB

      Neutral.

    25. CW

      Oh, neutral grip?

    26. CB

      Neutral, probably, yeah.

    27. CW

      Okay.

    28. CB

      It's a little bit more lat and biceps.

    29. CW

      Yep. Yeah.

    30. CB

      Make sure my arms are going. Um, incline dumbbell press.

  12. 1:00:24 – 1:05:07

    Biggest Levers for Recovery & Rest

    1. CW

      do you prioritize recovery and rest in your program? What is it that you're focusing on for the biggest winners?

    2. CB

      I mean, there's a huge avenue, but sleep is probably, like, the number one thing. And, and whether brain health, aging, or just, like, high performance, sleep is, like, one of the most important aspects anyone can have. You lose any bit of sleep than you're used to and your body just suffers more than you can even, like, understand. So, I think being super regimented on sleep, and that's why, like, when I'm in different time zones, I'm like, "I'm not setting an alarm." Some people believe you should create your circulating rhythm as fast as possible. I'm like, "No, I'm just gonna get eight hours no matter what." Like, "I'm tired, I'm just gonna sleep." So, I let myself just get at least eight hours of sleep, and I usually aim for nine, because I don't sleep through the whole night fully. But I think sleep has been absolutely huge. And honestly, at a point in my career when I was 21 and I started to get a more, bit more injuries and just, like, starting to feel like adrenal fatigue almost, I was, like, I was training, like, six, seven days a week for, like, three hours. I was like, "I feel like I need to tone this back a bit." And then I started training five days a week for three hours, and then I realized I had a little bit more progress. And then a year later, I was like, that was catching up to me. So, I'm like, "Okay, what if I train, like, three days on, one day off, but I'm only in the gym for, like, an hour and a half or two, max two hours, including warmup and stuff." And I just noticed as I was pulling away from that kind of, like, volume, essentially, I actually started to progress more and feel better. I started to feel like I was, like, going the reverse way of aging. So, allowing myself to have more time to recover actually made me stronger. Which I don't even... Even when I say that, I try and, like, pre-emphasize, if you're 19 years old, don't listen to me, just fucking go-

Episode duration: 2:02:48

Install uListen for AI-powered chat & search across the full episode — Get Full Transcript

Transcript of episode AncMbHY6b2A

Get more out of YouTube videos.

High quality summaries for YouTube videos. Accurate transcripts to search & find moments. Powered by ChatGPT & Claude AI.

Add to Chrome