?Muscle Memory but With Too Much Muscle?: Freshly Retired Bodybuilding Beast Struggles to Reconnect With His Long Lost Skills as a Track Athlete

Last week, a bodybuilding icon’s decision to retire despite qualifying for the 2023 Mr. Olympia shocked fans. What was even more surprising was the fact that the retirement followed his victory in the 2023 Toronto Pro. While the 32-year-old Iain Valliere is grateful to the fans he earned throughout his bodybuilding career, he is determined to head in a new direction.

In fact, the athlete has already started his transition towards a new career. Earlier, the Canadian bodybuilding beast had posted about rediscovering a sport he left behind years ago.

Iain Valliere is now ready to take on a different challenge

The other day, the two-time Toronto Pro winner posted a selfie with his wife Melissa Valliere at the track.?”First day back at the track with the @ottawalionstfc since 2007!” he wrote. Despite having not sprinted in nearly a decade, Valliere was into track-and-field before jumping into bodybuilding, where he excelled.

“One of the hardest but most gratifying feeling things I?ve done in a long time,” wrote the bodybuilder. When Valliere trained for track-and-field regularly, his physique was different and he didn’t carry nearly as much muscle. Due to this, Valliere thought the training felt awkward. “It?s such a strange feeling doing so many things that you know so well and did everyday for years but in a completely different body,” he wrote.

“It?s like muscle memory but with too much muscle,” he joked. However, the former competitive bodybuilder is determined to stick to his training. Iain Valliere wrote that rediscovering track-and-filed was one of his “new goals.”

While his bodybuilding career is well-known, not much is known about his track-and-field career. Back in 2007, Iain Valliere’s name was mentioned under ‘Ottawa Sports Awards’ for winning Championships. He and his team (Oliver Gauthier-Kwan, Iain Valliere, Philippe Bisson, Gordon Cave) won the Lion?s Men?s Provincial Champions Senior Relay ? 4 x 100m.

In the same year, he won the Lions Juvenile Boys Relay ? 4 x 100m: Provincial Champions (Iain Valliere, Oluwasegun Makinde, Gordon Cave, Ramon Monsour).

However, his contribution to bodybuilding is huge. While Valliere did not win a Mr. Olympia, he did help create a champion.

Valliere’s contribution to Mr. Olympia

The Canadian bodybuilding icon is married to Chris Bumstead’s sister. After getting to know ‘CBum’, Valliere realized the Bumstead’s prowess. However, what struck the bodybuilder was Bumstead’s elite genetics. Despite not training for bodybuilding, Bumstead had already built an athletic physique.

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So it was Valliere that introduced Bumstead to bodybuilding. The bodybuilding beast mentored ‘CBum’ and led him to the Mr. Olympia Classic Physique stage. Pushing through all the difficulties he faced, Bumstead became the Classic Physique Mr. Olympia under Valliere’s tutelage. When Valliere retired, Bumstead wrote a heartfelt tribute to his mentor.

Even as Iain Valliere has left the competitive bodybuilding world behind, he has no plans to leave his athletic pursuits behind entirely. Do you think he will succeed in them? Let us know in the comments.

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