Chris Bumstead's a six-time Mr. Olympia champion, but there's one thing in bodybuilding even he struggles with.

Taking to Instagram, Bumstead shared, "I think I have reverse body dysmorphia because I don’t think I’m that much smaller than I used to be… then I see old videos and can’t believe that was me."

Body dysmorphia isn't uncommon, even in veterans like Phil Heath, who saw it coming up a year after his last competition, the 2020 Mr. Olympia contest.

"I have body dysmorphia. That’s right, I have it, I’ve had it for a very long time, well over 20 years. But most importantly over the last two years, how I deal with it.

"I get up in the morning and go to the bathroom, and I say, ‘Phil, I love you, I love you for everything that life has thrown at you, and you stood tall and decided you wanted to do better and although that you may have failed sometimes, you won a lot of those battles, a lot of those wars. And that you’re worthy and that you’re strong.

For Bumstead, part of that comes from a change in his workout ever since he retired in October 2024. Now, instead of focusing on competing, Bumstead is looking at overall wellness.

"I’m definitely focusing more on mobility now, especially with my goals shifting toward performance and movement...That said, I still think at least a level of mobility is super important for aesthetics and bodybuilding, too. If you can train and lift heavy in a larger range of motion, you can see more benefit."

Instead of centering around hypertrophy, conditioning, and symmetry, Bumstead is now testing around athleticism.

But it's not the first time Chris Bumstead has admitted

Just a few months after retiring, he returned for the Open class at the EVLS Prague Pro. But even then, he felt difficulties.

"Getting back into the gym after that time off has been tough. I've had one workout since and everything is achy and I'm so weak. My heart rate is shooting through the roof. I'm hella out of shape right now."

And even then, Bumstead felt like his physique wasn't what it was when he competed.

"Realistically, that means l've lost probably almost 15 pounds of muscle in a month and a half. I don't look bad. I still look great. But the drastic change of being f****** what I looked like in Prague or the Olympia to now, it's just a big variance."

Written by

Ruwa Javed

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar