It’s been an eventful week for top Men’s Open Pro Iain Valliere, who announced his retirement from the sport on September 7, 2023. In a recent Q and A segment on his YouTube channel, Valliere talked about a range of topics related to his career, as well as Chris Bumstead, and becoming a bodybuilding judge.
Before diving into Iain Valliere’s plans for the future, it’s important to understand how he got here. With an IFBB Pro League tenure of almost 10 years, Valliere’s combination of muscle hardness, work ethic, and symmetry guided him to success in the Men’s Open class on multiple occasions.
The Canadian native boasts several Pro show victories and appeared on the Mr. Olympia stage four times throughout his career. Valliere’s best Mr. Olympia finish came in seventh place, which saw Mamdouh ‘Big Ramy’ Elssbiay ultimately claim gold in 2020. All the while, Iain Valliere was helping train his brother-in-law, Classic Physique superstar, Chris Bumstead.
Last year, months before the sport’s biggest event of the year in Las Vegas, Valliere revealed he was no longer training “Cbum.” But when it was time to make good on the 2022 Mr. Olympia stage, Valliere dropped to 11th place, the lowest finish of his career.
With redemption weighing on his psyche, Valliere bounced back successfully in his backyard at the 2023 Toronto Pro Supershow, defeating Hassan Mostafa to claim gold. While fans assumed Valliere would be present on the upcoming Olympia stage, those plans changed after he retired. However, some of Valliere’s followers are still curious if he’d ever change his mind about training Bumstead.
“No. I Don’t Think So” – Iain Valliere Doesn’t Plan to Train Chris Bumstead Again
Under the guidance of Hany Rambod, Vallliere underlined that Bumstead no longer requires his coaching expertise.
“No. I don’t think so. I think Hany is one of the best coaches ever. Not just currently. I mean of all time in the sport of bodybuilding. He has the accolades to support it and I’ve seen his work firsthand with Chris. Chris was absolutely the best he’s ever been last year. Sure, I won three Olympias with Chris and Chris is a very genetically gifted human and I didn’t know his body well.
Some years like 2020 or 2019 whatever the year was, we did really good work. He came in blasting full, conditioning was good. But you look at the process that Hany has. He’s so intricate. He knows how to problem solve so well. He just really has his process dialed in.
Chris was like dry as a bone, full as a house. You really could not have peaked him a whole lot better than he was peaked last year and that was 100% Hany. I don’t see why he would go back to me because he’s getting the best coaching in the world. I’d like to be there more as a fan and a supporter, and just as his brother.”
As for life after bodybuilding, Valliere plans to downsize, run more, eat clean, and focus on functional strength rather than muscle-building hypertrophy-based workouts.
“No, I haven’t, it’s been years since I’ve tested my max lifts. Obviously, that doesn’t really hold any place in bodybuilding. The risk for injury completely outweighs any benefit that they hold which is none in bodybuilding. I have been doing a little lower rep work but definitely nothing close to my one-rep max. Just because I’m trying to steer away from work that’s very hypertrophy-based.”
“I’m just eating intuitively. I’m eating when I feel hungry. I’m eating when my body feels like it needs fuel. I’m definitely obviously trying to still eat very healthy as part of this process and part of my goal was to improve my athletic performance, improve my longevity, improve quality of life, sleep, everything like that.”
“Right now, I’ve probably been eating between three and four meals,” added Valliere.
Seeing that growth will no longer be his top priority, Valliere doesn’t believe he needs to train to failure anymore.
“No [I won’t lift to failure] not really. I’m trying to stay away from as much failure-based-hypertrophy work as possible, at least for the time being until I get my muscle down a little bit more especially in places like my legs.”
Looking ahead, Iain Valliere plans to test the waters as a bodybuilding judge and coach.
“Yes, I would definitely be a judge. I’m actually going to be test-judging at my first show in Ottowa at the end of October. I’m definitely going to pursue that for a little bit.”
With 2023 Mr. Olympia abound, Valliere laid out some of his top picks and favorite physiques.
Guys like Brett Willkin, Justin Shier, Nick Walker,” said Valliere.
“I have favorites based off physiques and favorites based off who I am actually personally friends with. I know all of these guys to some degree. Some obviously, I talk to on a more regular basis than others.
But I have guys whose physiques I’m fans of like Andrew Jacked, has one of the most incredible physiques we’ve seen in a long time. Derek Lunsford looks crazy. These are guys I obviously want to see do well because I appreciate their physiques from an aesthetic and bodybuilding standpoint.”
Considering Valliere was qualified for 2023 Mr. Olympia, fans were taken aback by his swift decision to retire. To elaborate on his mindset and decision-making process, Chris Bumstead appeared in a recent The Truth Podcast with his coach Hany Rambod. Bumstead said he was happy for Valliere following his decision to stop and said he could tell in his heart that he “knew he was done.”
Even though his decision to retire seemed abrupt, Iain Valliere emphasized that it was looming in the back of his mind for a while. Moving forward, Valliere is focused on his health but plans to stay connected with the sport through either judging or coaching.
RELATED: Chris Bumstead Teams Up With Iain Valliere For A ‘Big Boi’ Shoulder Workout
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