The hardest part of Jay Cutler's legendary bodybuilding career wasn't the weights. In a recent podcast, the 4-time Mr. Olympia revealed his biggest struggle was a daily, constant grind that had nothing to do with the gym.

Cutler is the one who defeated The King, Ronnie Coleman, on the Olympia stage in 2006 and ushered in a new era of competitiveness.

But very few know that the 4-time Mr. Olympia had to go through grueling workouts, and that grueling did not come only from intense training. There is something else that Cutler considers the hardest part of his bodybuilding career.

Cutler revealed part of his life during a podcast with Bradley Martyn, which Martyn shared on his Instagram on April 8, captioning the post “The biggest struggle for @jaycutler.”

According to the former professional bodybuilder, the hardest part of his bodybuilding career is eating. He said:

“I used to buy a whole cow. I would buy 140 pounds of chicken at a time. I'd buy 30 dozen eggs at a time.

I just stayed in and ate the meals, cooked the meals. I was eating six times a day. You wake up hungry”.

Discussing more on the experience, he said, “You start your first meal of the day, make it your largest meal, and then you roll with it from there. But it's all force-feeding. I mean, you think I was hungry for six meals a day? Never.”

In 2021, when Cutler appeared on the podcast by Chris Van Vliet and was asked about his diet, he admitted the same thing.

He also admitted that he always told the local butcher to carve an entire cow into many cuts of meat. Cutler used to store the meat in one big freezer. He also revealed that during his preparation time, he used to eat 5 to 6 thousand clean calories daily.

He also revealed some intense parts of his diet. Cutler said, “I was eating, you know, 20 egg whites for breakfast.” However, sometimes that number became much higher.

It may sound crazy, but with this diet, he not only became a 4-time Mr. Olympia (2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010) but also secured 3 Arnold Classic titles in a row (2002, 2003, and 2004).

However, after retirement, his diet plan has changed, and he also revealed his diet and training approach in his 50s.

Jay Cutler’s Training and Diet Approaches in His 50s

In his 50s, Cutler has made some changes to his diet and training for longevity.

On July 21, 2025, YouTube video on his own channel, Cutler revealed, “I get up and do fasted cardio every morning. I’m back to doing 20 minutes, well, I fell out for a while, I stopped. Now, I’m back to doing it, and to be honest, I can go — you know me, my appetite in the morning, I can probably go till noon without eating”.

He is the same Cutler who used to eat 6 meals per day.

He added, “If you ask me what’s different in my 50s, and I feel like my body, I feel like I’m still staying in good shape. I’ve definitely lost some muscle mass, and that’s kind of on purpose, right? I don’t eat the 100-gram protein breakfast anymore.

I’m going to have the liquid egg whites, but normally, I have two whole eggs, and I just have a scoop of my protein pretty much, and that’s been my go-to. For the first time ever, I feel like my metabolism doesn’t demand because I think I lost the muscle mass. I’m only 225 now”.

So, Cutler’s career shows that professional bodybuilding is not about spending all day in the gym, but it also requires a handful of time at the dining table.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil