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Train Like Chris Bumstead With These 2 Classic Moves
Have you ever seen six-time Classic Physique Mr. Olympia Chris Bumstead? The man's an absolute unit. Standing 6'1" and tipping the scales at around 240 pounds on stage, he's brought that iconic 'golden era' aesthetic back into the spotlight—again and again. His long legs and full six-pack give him the statuesque look associated with some of the greatest legends of our time, like Frank Zane and Arnold Schwarzenegger. And even though he's technically retired, the guy's still in peak form.
If you're going to steal a page from anyone's playbook, his isn't a bad place to start. Sure, not everyone's job is to be an Olympian, but that doesn't mean you can't train like one.
Below, Bumstead shares the two moves he swears by for building a bigger, leaner physique. No, doing just two exercises won't make you look like him, but it certainly won't hurt."It's tough to pick just two, because honestly, there's no one-size-fits-all," he says. "Everyone's built differently and needs different tools at different times. But two exercises I personally love are the incline dumbbell press and the hack squat."
Set an adjustable bench to a 30°-45° angle and lie back on it with a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder-level.
Press the weights over your chest before lowering back to the starting position.
That's 1 rep.
"The incline dumbbell press lets you move heavy weights with a full range of motion and hits both chest and shoulders without putting your body in a risky position," Bumstead says.
Stand on a hack squat platform with your back against the pad and shoulders under the supports.
Place your feet shoulder-width apart, unlock the safety handles, and lower into a squat.
Push through your heels to return to the starting position.
That's 1 rep.
"The hack squat, especially the 45-degree version, is amazing for loading your legs while still staying safe and controlled," Bumstead says. "If you're able to get a deep range of motion with it, where your hamstrings touch your calves, it's one of the best tools out there for quad development."When you watch top athletes train, it's easy to assume you need to spend hours in the gym to see results. Sure, some of that time goes to mobility work—and let's be honest, some socializing—but the workouts themselves can be long too. According to Bumstead, that doesn't have to be the case for the average lifter. If you train with purpose and intensity, you can get a solid workout done in under an hour. Take a chest workout for example.
"Start with a quick warm-up, then go right into incline dumbbell press, three sets [of] eight or so reps," Bumstead adds. "The aim here is to have a descending load, which means if you are pushing yourself hard enough, you will not be able to use the same weight for each set in order to hit the rep range. Then move to a flat machine chest press, do two working sets here, aim for 12 reps, on the first six reps do a slow controlled five-second eccentric, and then for the last six speed it up slightly but still controlled with a two-second eccentric."
If your chest is on fire at this point, good, that means the workout's working. When you're finished with the first two exercises, move on to a chest fly and pushup superset.
"Do four sets of flys for 12 reps with a slow five- to six-second eccentric, on the last rep hold the stretch for 15 seconds, and try to do a few quarter reps," Bumstead suggests. "Then go straight into pushups to failure. Keep rest under 60 seconds and don't slack on intensity."If you're new to lifting, you've probably heard the word hypertrophy tossed around like everyone's supposed to know what it means. In simple terms, it's just the process of your muscles getting bigger. And according to Bumstead, building muscle isn't nearly as complicated as most people make it out to be.
"It comes down to time under tension, progressive overload, and a full range of motion," he explains. "The lifts I mentioned work because they check all the boxes: good tempo, large range of motion, heavy enough to push you. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. Most people just need to train hard, be consistent, and keep showing up."
Train Like Chris Bumstead With These 2 Classic Moves first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 1, 2025
