Wesley Vissers’ dedication to his craft is palpable. In recent years he’s become a key figure in bodybuilding, with his 2024 and 2026 Arnold Classic physique wins helping raise his profile – that and the 1 million Instagram followers he’s cultivated through his honest insight into competing at the discipline’s highest level.

But it’s not been all plain sailing. In 2025, the 33-year-old took an extended period of time off to rediscover his fire for bodybuilding, give his body a chance to rest and to enjoy time with his young family. With all that banked, ESN athlete Vissers is now aiming to reign supreme at the 2026 Mr Olympia. But first, prep…

Men’s Health: Wesley, what did you have for dinner last night?

Wesley Vissers: Tuesday was the official start of my Olympia prep, so my dinner was chicken breast mince, mushrooms, courgette, aubergine and some jasmine rice with turmeric to add some more healthy antioxidants. It looks delicious and it fills me up because of the vegetables, but most importantly I’m able to enjoy that specific plate at the table with my family, even though they eat something different. I think it’s important to sit down together at the table.

MH: How long does your competition diet last for, and do you look forward to it?

WV: It’s about 16 weeks in total. I look forward to it because I am in the classic physique class, which means you have a weight limit. If I gain too much weight in the off-season, all that means is I have to lose it anyway to be allowed to compete. I just came back from at a one-week all-inclusive resort in Turkey with my family. It was the first time I’ve ever done that, so we enjoyed ourselves a lot, but that only motivates me more to get back to the diet once I’m back home.

MH: How many calories are you eating at the start of your prep compared to closer to competition time?

WV: I’m coming from above 5,000 calories, which is, if you want to do it clean, quite a struggle if you’re not planning everything correctly. But right now, it’s about 1,000 calories less, which is quite a big jump. But I can afford this big of a cut at the beginning of prep because I still have my body fat reserves and I still have all the energy from the off-season to work with. If you do it too gradually, you might find that you are behind after a while. So, I’m a fan of starting out quite quick, losing a chunk at the beginning and then gradually moving down as needed the closer to competition day I get.

MH: Do you take any supplements?

WV: Creatine is one supplement I believe almost everyone can benefit from. It’s the most researched supplement available and has consistently been shown to support performance, regardless of age or training goals. For me, it helps with muscle fullness, strength and explosiveness in the gym, but what’s equally exciting is the growing evidence around its cognitive benefits. It’s one of those supplements that supports both short-term performance and long-term health, which is why it’s a non-negotiable part of my routine.

MH: What do you miss the most when you’re preparing for competition?

WV: It’s not necessarily a certain food, but it’s the freedom to choose something else when you want to. Because now the plan is very strict. It’s still a lot of food for a normal person, but it’s the fact that you don’t have freedom to choose anything else – the only choices I have are the different kinds of vegetables, because the difference in calories is negligible. And it’s also healthy to swap them out with different ones. But in terms of the type of carbohydrates, fats or protein, it’s pretty much static.

MH: So it’s about making those 1% changes to become successful?

WV: If you take away salmon, for example, a lot of people just think, ‘Oh, I can’t eat something I like anymore.’ But you’re also taking away some health benefits like the omega-3s, for example. So, if you want to really be the best, you have to replace the benefits and take away the disadvantages. So, I take away the calories but keep the omega-3s. And the only way to do this is by supplementation.

In the off season, when I do have salmon, I only take two to four capsules. But now I add at least two to three extras, in order to make up for the omega-3s loss from the salmon. And these are little things that a professional does to be at the very top. That’s the 1% every single time that you think about whenever you make a change – you have to make sure you take away the necessary stuff, but you keep the healthy and important stuff in your diet.

MH: What does your weekly training split look like?

WV: I used to have a split where I knew what I was going to train on Monday and Tuesday. But now it’s a rotating split, which means I always start out with legs. That’s number one. I’m a tall guy, so for me, bringing up the legs and maintaining their size is the utmost priority. Then I do a chest and triceps on day two. And day three is back and biceps, with shoulders sprinkled in here and there. And then the fourth day is a rest day. And then it starts back again – it’s three days on, one day off.

MH: How do bodybuilders notice specific body parts that might be lagging when they’ve got so much muscle?

WV: That’s relatable to somebody that’s just training to be a more muscular person, but not necessarily a bodybuilder. Because for them, they usually compare themselves to others and then they see, ‘Wait a second, my abs are not as defined as that other person, or my legs aren’t as round as that guy.’ But for bodybuilders, you’re usually the biggest guy in the gym, so you can’t really compare yourself to others. It’s only until you get on stage, when you’re together with like-minded people who have the same physical appearance, but a different distribution of muscle, where you notice a difference. It’s where I might see a difference in my legs in comparison to the other guys – proportionally they might be a bit smaller, so I know I’ve got to train them more to be number one.

MH: Who are your bodybuilding inspirations?

WV: My biggest bodybuilding inspiration is, of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger himself. I grew up watching his movies. I watched the documentary Pumping Iron. He has, in my opinion, the ultimate classic physique. And when I met him for the first time, by receiving the award from his own show by winning, that was just a surreal experience and one I never even dared to dream of.

And, secondly, Ronnie Coleman, who’s a very different bodybuilder with a very different mindset. I really liked the contrast between his physique and his personality. I did work out with Ronnie Coleman – and though nowadays, unfortunately, he’s more times in a wheelchair because he trained so heavy back in the day, the amazing thing is he still works out just as hard within the context of what he can do. He just gets up from his wheelchair, gets in the machine and still pushes very heavy and hard weight. I could be at the top of my strength, and he’s still hanging with me. It’s still very unexpected and that’s why he’s so respected within the community that he’s still so active and still loving bodybuilding so much, even though he doesn’t really need to anymore.

Wesley Vissers is an ESN athlete.

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