Jeremy Buendia revealed the issues he faced while competing at the 2025 Mr. Olympia, explaining that his planned strategy did not play out as expected.

During a YouTube discussion on Jan 28, 2026, on his own YouTube channel, the 4-time Men's Physique Olympia opened up on his stage conditioning and weight fluctuation.

“I weighed in at 186.8, but on stage I was probably around 191. We depleted down to make weight, then we started loading. As I was loading, I started flattening out, and all my lines went away," Buendia said about getting the timing wrong.

He highlighted that the same approach worked in his favour at other competitions like the Sasquatch Pro. “Carbing up on rice cakes, strawberries, and like half an avocado. And two ounces of fish every meal for the whole 24 hours leading into the show," said the former champion.

He himself explained the reason behind his loss in the YouTube video. "We didn’t account for the weigh-ins. At Sasquatch, the weigh-in was the night before. At Olympia, the weigh-in was two days before," said Jeremy Buendia.

"For some reason, that completely slipped our minds. We just didn’t think about it. So we get to peak week, and I’m like, What are we going to do? We started throwing food in, and that’s when everything started going backwards," he explained.

Following a disappointing outcome at Mr. Olympia, the former champion has other plans.

Jeremy Buendia Has a New Goal for 2026

On January 1, 2026, Jeremy Buendia revealed that since the last competition, he has not “done much”, admitting that he was unable to train “for 30 days” and did not follow a strict diet, due to a hair transplant.

“The past few weeks, I’ve been anxious to get back after it, but I also knew I needed a mental break, so I made a plan to start on the 1st of the year," revealed Jeremy Buendia.

His new year plan is to focus more on his cardiovascular health, functionality, and challenge himself mentally, and with that aspiration, he hit the gym and did:

• Battle Bike HIIT cardio
• Stretching & Mobility Work
• Cold plunge & infrared sauna.

Just like Classic Physique Olympia legend Chris Bumstead is training to become more athletic. Buendia wants to be fit enough to play a basketball game in the next six months. He also desires to be a role model to his children. “Discipline, accountability, determination, and most importantly, my faith will be the priority this year!" added the bodybuilder.

Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi