Chris Bumstead is known as a professional 23 years old IFBB bodybuilder who originates from Canada and is making a little bit of a name for himself on social media (nearly one million of followers on Instagram) especially after Generation Iron has called him as a potential future Mr Olympia winner. I would call Chris being a “different” bodybuilder from what we are being familiar with when thinking about current mass monsters that are targeting to get the Mr Olympia title. Chris has an obvious passion for what we would call the “classic” look compared to the mass monsters we know who are bloated, who could take a pregnancy test and nobody is going to ask any questions. With all of this being said, I think that this young bodybuilder does have a breath of fresh air in a sport that is currently being dominated by all those giants.
That’s all mostly due to his tiny waist while he is really jacked up. To be honest, this young bodybuilder remembers me of Calum Von Moger as they have some resemblance, Chris only seem to have less mass. Due to the fact that this young bodybuilder is not having a steroid gut that we are familiar to see at other bodybuilders, he got a huge respect from his fans and that’s why he is very often seen showing off his physiques by uploading pics of him on his social media account while performing stomach vacuums. Take a look at his photo below doing it – many of the nowadays pro bodybuilders (like Phil Heath) won’t even think doing anything similar.
Although he seem to be different from what the current Mr Olympia champions are looking like, there still is speculation about whether Chris has used steroids to get his aesthetics or not. We will try to find it out.
Chris is still young so we are not able to do the usual check of a subject’s gains timeline. That’s a good way to determine if a person takes steroids or not but we need to use other methods to determine this for Chris Bumstead. In addition to that, since Chris is not as popular as other bodybuilders and I assume that since he is young, he haven’t got too many accusations of him being on steroids – I guess these are some of the reasons why I couldn’t find any words of his known about steroids. We are only left with 2 options – checking his body composition and competition history.
Contents
Competition History
By checking Chris’ competition history we are trying to find information about has he ever been drug tested? Obviously, drug tests is the only 100% method to determine if a person uses steroids. with all of this being said, I can mention that in order to earn his pro card, Chris needed to compete in the CBBF (Canada’s BodyBuilding Federation).
I checked what info CBBF is offering about their Anti Doping Policy and on their official site I have found the anti doping policy page where you can find information explaining that this federation is complying with the world anti doping agency code and this is requiring the bodybuilders to be drug tested before they step out competing. But, while doing my research I have found some disappointing information as I have found a few forums with people explaining that this anti doping agency is not taking it all very seriously. That’s because a bodybuilder who has competed in the federation has explain that only some bodybuilders are getting tested and I honestly think that this is a mistake as everyone competing, obviously, should be tested. Check what the bodybuilder said in the screen below.
As much as he explained, the testing is done absolutely randomly and this means that you don’t know who is going to get tested but it also means that not every single bodybuilder is going to get drug tested. With this being said, the CBBF drug testing policy has big flaws that bodybuilders can find pretty handy. That’s because, as much as you can understand, with such a type of testing, there are a lot of steroid users that are able to slip through the test without getting caught simply because they might use steroids or other PED’s and simply not get tested, then competing. They claim that those athletes that are lucky enough to get tested and caught using something are named and shamed on the CBBF website. That’s definitely not seriously enough because in the same time there could be some steroid users who are competing in the exact same federation, slide off through the drug test and win the trophy and get the IFBB pro card. Is there anyone who really think this is serious enough? You just take the chances – you might use steroids, never get caught and win the trophy. As if you’re playing Russian roulette.
In addition to that, it seems that a lot of people took the chance and played this game as on the CBBF official website I did found the “shame page” and there are several bodybuilders that failed the drug tests within a short period of time as they were caught using something. They simply didn’t got lucky. But what about those lucky ones? What I am trying to say is that as much as we can see, that’s not so uncommon for their competitors to test positive and they have tested SOME of them who were positive, what’s the guarantee that those who are still “in the game” won’t test positive either?
As a conclusion, I think that it is a pretty clear fact the fact that CBBF are only performing some “drug tests” in order to try and to look clean, while big flaws in the anti doping agency indicate that many might slip through their tests.
With this being said, it doesn’t prove that Chris Bumstead is absolutely all natural but in the same time, it also doesn’t prove that Chris isn’t among the “lucky” ones who did used steroids but never got tested. So the question – Is Chris Bumstead Taking Steroids or all Natural is still on. The only other way and last method to determine if Chris is taking steroids or not is checking his body composition and symptoms.
3D Shoulders
Very often, steroid users are very easily identified by checking their 3D shoulders which is very commonly a sign of steroid users and it is extremely rarely a sign of a natty. The 3D shoulders of steroid users are popping out a lot much more compared to a natural bodybuilder, in fact, it pops out that much that it doesn’t even look natural. As I have already explained this in few of my other articles – the reason this happens is because the deltoids are containing much more androgen receptors if comparing them to any other muscle groups. Now, the steroids are known to be very androgenic and this means that when steroids are taken, the muscle group with the most androgen receptors are going to pop up and the user is going to notice the most growth in that part. Since deltoids are containing more androgen receptors they are growing much more and much faster compared to all other body parts.
There are a lot of famous bodybuilders seen with this side effect that seem to have it much more pronounced compared to Chris, nonetheless, as much as we can see in the photo above, it does seem that Chris does have the 3D shoulders popped up as well. The 3D shoulders are possible to be achieved by an absolutely all natural bodybuilder who has won the genetic lottery and is doing a lot of hard work in gym, but that’s extremely hard. In the same time, that’s something pretty easy for a steroid user as it is a common side effect.
Acne
Acne is a pretty common side effect of steroid users and as much as we can see in the photo shared above, Chris does seem to have this side effect either. Obviously, that’s not the only photo of Chris where it seems that he is having a mild acne. It is obvious that having a mild acne doesn’t automatically means you’re taking steroids as there are many people suffering from it and they never even looked at steroids, but there are just too many coincidences (acne, 3D shoulders and others) because, as I said, the steroid users are often suffering from acne (and that’s especially if they are using highly androgenic compounds). This is due to the fact that the steroids are stimulating more oil production of the body in the skin via the sebaceous glands. When these glands are producing more oil, it often results in oily skin, acne and/ or blemishes. That’s why, very often, people suffering from acne are given products from their doctors that inhibit the actions these glands trying to reduce the oil production in the body.
In addition to that, as much as we know, puberty is usually the period where most people are experiencing most of their acne related issues. The reason behind that is because the puberty is the time where a person goes through the change of hormones. That’s the reason why, if a person has ever had acne issues in the past at any point in their life (and it stopped), then the chances are considerably higher to get these acne issues once again by taking anabolic steroids compared to people who haven’t ever had any acne related problems.
Plus to that, it is not very common to have such a body composition being all natural and having mild acne issues because usually acne related issues disappear.
Flushed Skin
The flushed skin it is an extremely common side effect of a person who is using steroids and that’s due to the fact that the steroids are increasing the body’s temperature. This effect is being known because the steroids are raising the LDL cholesterol levels and since these cholesterol levels are going up, the body has a higher body temperature so trying to cool it down to its normal temperature, the body’s system is working hard to cool it down so the blood pressure is getting higher.
The natural bodybuilders are seen with a pink color on their chest when they are working out or in a sauna, steroid users are seen with a red color on their chest (and maybe at other body parts as well), often even when they are not even working out. A very good example is Josef Rakich that it is very often seen to have an extremely flushed skin.
In the photo above we can also notice that Chris is also having this side effect as his upper chest in particular is having quite a red/ flushed color of the skin which is uncommon for naturals, but common for steroid users. This side effect is not very severe, but it is still visible with naked eye.
Once again, every of these side effects by themselves doesn’t prove that a person is actually using steroids, but when all of these side effects are together being visible on the same person then there are way too much of coincidence. 3 very common side effects of using steroids (and not common for naturals) are seen on a guy that is natural. That’s pretty strange to my opinion.
Verdict
In the end, I do think that there are some pretty big chances that Chris Bumstead has taken some steroids despite his young age. That’s based on the evidence that I have found which include: he has competed in federations that are having big anti doping policy issues and 3 common side effects of steroid users that can be seen on his body: capped shoulders; acne and flushed skin.
With all of this being said, I have to mention that to my opinion, Chris Bumstead does seem to have been taking some gear. I think that very few people would be surprised about this due to the fact that he has an indeed epic physique, especially for a 23 years old guy. To be honest, he has such an amazing body that it looks nearly like it is photoshopped.
So, what Chris likely has Taken?
To my opinion, based on the evidences that I managed to find, it seems that he has used 2 compounds (I doubt that he has used anything else other than that) which includes: trenbolone and testosterone. Let me explain.
The young bodybuilder is having an extremely dry and shredded look and this is the reason why I believe that he is using trenbolone. It is possible to achieve this dry physique naturally, but it would be extremely hard, especially maintaining such a muscle size, especially for a long period of time. Trenbolone is a steroid that is cutting off fat and is building muscles without any water retention whatsoever. But in the same time trenbolone users can get the acne, 3D shoulders and flushed skin that is present on Chris’ body. In fact, Trenbolone is very well known for getting their users to experience acne, even those who never had acne before, but especially those who are predisposed to acne issues (those who had this issue in the past). Since it helps cut off fat, it is a steroid that raises your blood pressure – hence the flushed skin. Plus, this is a steroid that’s very well known for making the delts to pop out much more compared to natural builders. Another sign – the muscle striations that are insane on Chris’ chest and all over his body are also easier achieved when taking trenbolone.
Except for trenbolone, I think that Chris may be using testosterone as well, which is a very good compound that allows him to get jacked up on serious size that he seem to have achieved. But to be honest, I think that he is very likely to only use some pretty low doses of testosterone. The reason is because he wants to remain aesthetic and natural while avoid bloating. Using high doses of testosterone won’t allow him achieve this.
In the end, I do think that this guy is going to need to add a lot of muscle mass to his size if he’s planning to go competing with those monsters that we know such as Phil Heath that is the current Mr Olympia Champ x7 in a row. In the end, Chris Bumstead is a young bodybuilder who deserves all of our respect – there are extremely few people looking like Chris at the age of 23. I wish him good luck in his further competitions and respect the fact that he’s working that hard to keep his classic natural look.
What do you think about Chris Bumstead – the 23 years old Canadian bodybuilder who seems to have big plans for his future?
As usual, thanks a lot for all the sources helping me in writing of this article. Although I might not mention all of them, the following helped me the most:
https://www.cbbf.ca/rules-regulations/anti-doping-policy/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testosterone
https://fitnessonsteroids.com/category/celebrities/
https://www.instagram.com/cbum/?hl=en
Duh obviously he is on juice. Thats fine because it’s allowed in his federations but hes done way more than some tren and test blasted all his life