Classic Physique and Men’s Open are currently the most popular divisions of the Mr. Olympia contest. However, there was once a time when these divisions did not exist. In fact, the Classic Physique division was created as recently as 2016. But was the split necessary? According to the legendary bodybuilder, Arnold Schwarzenegger, it was not.
The Austrian Oak believes that the Classic Physique should be the main event for the said bodybuilding contest. Recently, on the podcast, Nick’s Strength and Power, Arnold shared his views about the splitted divisions of the Men’s Open and Classic Physique categories.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger prioritizes the Classic Physique category from the rest
Schwarzenegger finds it crazy to have a separate Classic Physique category. That’s because he believes the same should be synonymous with the title of Mr. Olympia. He shared that having separate divisions reflects that the main event does not care about the physique anymore, which was once the main standing of the contest.
“I think it’s odd they had to literally create a Classic Physique competition to give to the person who has the best quality body, the most well-balanced body, also a trophy. Because he couldn’t compete where the monsters were competing. That’s actually wrong because like I’ve said, bigger is not always better. I don’t think it’s going in the right direction,” said the 7x Mr. Olympia winner.
The Terminator actor further added that he believes that the judges and insiders pick their favorites, as does the audience. He added that based on the opinion of the masses, the 4x classic physique winner is currently the most popular bodybuilder. Talking about Chris Bumstead, Schwarzenegger said, “He’s the most popular if you think about that. He’s the most popular bodybuilder right now.”
The legend praises Chris Bumstead
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Arnold Schwarzenegger went ahead and praised the 4x champion, Chris Bumstead, for his spectacular physique. Arnold went as far as comparing Bumstead’s popularity to that of the legendary bodybuilder, Steve Reeves. He shared that Bumstead makes people wish they had a body like his and that is what bodybuilding is about.
Arnold believes that Chris Bumstead is what people would want to see at the Olympia. He shared Chris Bumstead would definitely win the Arnold Classic if and when he decides to compete. He further expressed that he hopes one day Bumstead would participate in the Arnold Classic too.
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Do you agree that Chris Bumstead is currently the most popular bodybuilder? Let us know in the comments!