Regan Grimes will not participate in this year’s upcoming 2022 Mr. Olympia. On Sept. 15, 2022, the bodybuilder announced the decision during an episode of four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler’s podcast, the Cutler Cast. Grimes will shift his focus to 2023 in a mission to build more mass.
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Grimes made the appearance on Cutler’s podcast alongside his coach Miloš Šarčev. The pair outlined Grimes’ upcoming strength training plans, maintaining that Grimes’ new goal is to add 15 pounds of muscle mass before returning to compete at the 2023 Olympia. Grimes finished in 15th place in each of the last two Mr. Olympia contests and would like to improve his results the next time he steps onto the Olympia stage. (Note: Šarčev also coaches Grimes’ fellow Men’s Open competitors Samson Dauda and Joe Mackey.)
“I want to really get in the top five, and I don’t think, right now, I’m just not there yet,” Grimes says. “So this year, we’ve decided to take it off and continue this rhythm of putting the tissue on, and we’ll hit a show next year and go to Olympia.”
Grimes says he weighs 295 pounds in the clip, but after consultation with Šarčev with the contest roughly four months away — the two agreed that Grimes’ progress wasn’t where they wanted at this point in the lead-up process.
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Over the past few years, Grimes has been a consistent fixture in the competitive bodybuilding scene.
According to NPC News Online, among other notable appearances aside from the last two Olympias, Grimes won the 2018 New York Pro as a Classic Physique competitor. He also took first place in the Men’s Open division at the 2020 Romania Muscle Fest Pro. With more time on his plate instead of focusing on any pending contests, Grimes says stepping away from the Olympia will allow him more flexibility to improve his physique for the future.
Meanwhile, Šarčev was candid, saying he doesn’t believe Grimes had the appropriate size to overcome established Men’s Open stars like Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Ellsbiay, Brandon Curry, Nick Walker, Hunter Labrada, and Hadi Choopan.
“It’s still a muscle contest — it doesn’t matter what we say,” Sarcev says. “When you stand next to ‘Big Ramy,’ you have to have size. And if he doesn’t have it, he would be outclassed.”
Cutler echoed a similar sentiment about Big Ramy and any potential challengers.
“A month ago, I said okay, people may challenge [Big Ramy]. But now, I can’t see him losing being in the shape he is in.”
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Grimes earned an automatic qualification for the 2022 Mr. Olympia by winning the 2022 Cairo Pro. This past competitive year also saw respective seventh-place results at the 2022 Arnold Classic and 2022 Boston Pro.
At the time of this writing, Grimes has not clarified when he would compete next as he resets his sights on the 2023 Olympia. In the next instance that Grimes is seen on a stage, his physique could look dramatically different.
Featured image: @regangrimes on Instagram
