Chris Bumstead Shares New High-Volume Back and Arm Routine

The newly-crowned father performs supersets to kick off his recent training regime.

Last updated on May eighth, 2024

Five-time reigning Classic Physique Olympia champion Chris Bumstead and former Bikini Olympia champion Courtney King recently shared the news of their recent baby girl, Bradley Shay Bumstead, born on April 22, 2024.

Bumstead has since resumed training with a brand new workout program consisting of high-volume supersets to maximise muscle pumps and increase strength.

Bumstead’s Back and Arm Workout Routine

Below are the exercises performed so as by Bumstead during his back and arm workout.

Watch as “Father Bum” unlocks his newfound dad strength to beat a giant set of pull-ups and a brutal biceps curl circuit within the video below:

Pull-Up Giant Set

Dreading his first exercise, Bumstead aimed to enhance his admittedly poor pull-up performance.

If I don’t do pull-ups, I lose all my strength in pull-ups.

The sleep-deprived bodybuilder scored a decent six reps for his first set but found he quickly burned out during subsequent sets.

While Bumstead could train on machines or with free weights, body weight pull-ups offer functional and potentially superior lat-activating advantages (1).

Bumstead utilized a large, shoulder-width, semi-supinated, neutral grip during his giant set. He took 10 seconds of rest between variations. Bumstead’s recent program calls for 3 sets of this exercise.

Standing Cable Triceps Pushdown/Overhead Extension

Bumstead trains his triceps via tight contractions and slow eccentrics with deep stretch at the underside of the position. Pushdowns angle the body for higher mind-muscle connection; overhead extensions fully stretch the triceps under a load. Bumstead stabilized his legs and core, hinging on the hips to transfer strength forward.

Grip variations were narrow and shoulder-width to emphasise inner and outer head stimulation. The movements were performed back to back for 3 sets, each with one minute-and-a-half breaks in between each.

Dumbbell Hammer Variations and Cable Curl Circuit

Hammer curls are a staple in Bumstead’s arm training. He finds his biceps insertions to be lower than ideal. While short biceps are generally an aesthetic drawback, everyone has genetic “flaws.” The Classic Physique GOAT (best of all time) has few. Bumstead hopes hammer curls help construct his brachialis to fill the gap near his lower biceps.

Bumstead first angled himself on a 45-degree weight bench. He performed two-arm dumbbell curls with 40-pound weights per hand, alternating between full and partial reps. The sets combined low reps with high intensity.

Bumstead selected cable curls using a curved bar and semi-supinated grip. He leveraged crossbody hammer curls to further promote brachialis hypertrophy.

I’ve never really done so many supersets for arms. I feel mind-muscle connection and pump in my arms so far more than I ever have”.

Lying Cable Face Pull/Poliquin Lateral Raise

Finishing with precision, Bumstead attached double straps to a high pulley and performed face pulls lying on a flat bench. This targets the traps and upper back while enhancing lifting posture.

For his last superset, Bumstead injury-proofed his delts using a tri-technique named after famous strength coach Charles Poliquin. The Poliquin lateral raise starts with a hammer curl right into a bent-arm lateral raise, extending the arms before lowering the weights. That’s one rep, then repeat.

Although the precise variety of sets and reps weren’t specified, the video captured each exercise performed twice. The previous couple of minutes of the video included a day within the life content and a visit to the Raw Nutrition headquarters. Forgetting to outro his arm workout the day prior, Bumstead snuck it in after his leg session.

Olympia Defense as a Dad

Bumstead’s 2024 off-season is tougher now with a newborn at home. However, he still has time before stepping on stage again since the qualifying cutoff for competitors into the 2024 Olympia is on Sept. 15, 2024.