Keone Pearson is the king of the 212 division. 👑 The Georgia-born bodybuilder has won the Mr. Olympia 212 title four times in a row — 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026.
Fans always ask the same question: what does he eat? This article lays out his diet plan and workout routine exactly as he has shared them himself — in his own full-day-of-eating video and interviews.
Nothing here is guessed. Every meal, portion and supplement comes from a named source, listed as we go. Where Pearson has not shared a detail, we say so.
Keone Pearson Diet Plan
Photo via Instagram (@keone_prodigy)
Pearson shared his full contest-prep day of eating on his own YouTube channel, filmed on day one of his 16-week prep for the 2023 Texas Pro. That plan is the heart of this article. He won the Texas Pro, then his first Olympia 212 title that November.
Fitness Volt puts the day at 3,509 calories — 303.2 g of protein, 81.7 g of fat and 390.4 g of carbohydrates — spread over six meals. His coach sets high and low days around his training: chest and back days are high days, and leg days are low days.
Pearson keeps the food simple and repeats it. As he put it himself: “Honestly, you can do it however you want it. If you wanna eat it in one sitting for your one meal or three just do it as you get the same food.”
His day starts with 45 minutes of fasted cardio, then a light abs or calves session, before the first meal. The second meal is his pre-workout meal, eaten a couple of hours later, before the day’s main session.
Keone Pearson Meal Plan
Photo via Instagram (@keone_prodigy)
Six meals, eaten in the same order every prep day. The portions below are the ones Pearson showed in his video, as reported by Fitness Volt. Rice is weighed in 75 g portions.
One honest note: the daily totals Fitness Volt prints (3,509 calories) do not add up exactly from its own per-meal figures. The meals below are printed as reported.
Meal 1
The first meal follows his morning cardio and a light abs or calves session.
- Oats — 80 g
- Banana — 1 full
- Beef — 100 g
- Whey protein — 30 g
718 calories, 66.6 g protein, 18.1 g fat, 83 g carbs.
Meal 2 (Pre-Workout)
Eaten a couple of hours after meal one, before the gym.
- Chicken — 200 g
- Jasmine rice — 75 g
426 calories, 64.8 g protein, 7.6 g fat, 20.8 g carbs.
Meal 3 (Post-Workout)
The post-workout meal — a shake, fruit, rice and beef.
- Whey protein isolate — 30 g (1 scoop)
- Pineapple — 50 g
- Jasmine rice — 75 g
- Lean ground beef — 200 g
756.7 calories, 80.9 g protein, 18.3 g fat, 35.9 g carbs.
Meal 4
Cream of rice and chicken.
- Cream of Rice — 75 g
- Chicken — 200 g
588 calories, 67.2 g protein, 3.9 g fat, 58.5 g carbs.
Meal 5
The last meat or fish meal of the day.
- Salmon — 200 g
- Potatoes — 200 g
598 calories, 49 g protein, 24.2 g fat, 42 g carbs.
Meal 6 (Bedtime)
A bedtime snack of oats, whey and almond butter.
- Oats — 50 g
- Whey protein isolate — 30 g
- Almond butter — 30 g
466 calories, 41.2 g protein, 22.3 g fat, 41 g carbs.
Daily totals (as reported by Fitness Volt): 3,509 calories, 303.2 g protein, 81.7 g fat, 390.4 g carbs.
A Second Day: Chicago Pro Prep
Pearson has shared a second prep day too — an eight-weeks-out full day of eating ahead of the Chicago Pro, totalling 4,170 calories. It comes from thebodybuilder.net, a weaker source than his own video, so treat it as a second documented day, not the main plan.
He woke at 5:00 am and did 30 minutes of cardio at 5:45. The day’s six meals were built on the same foods — cream of rice, chicken, tilapia, ground beef and jasmine rice — with blueberries, eggs and a green apple alongside.
- Meal 1: 90 g cream of rice, ½ cup blueberries, 1 scoop protein, 2 whole eggs, 5 caps VITA HD (multivitamin)
- Meal 2 (11:00 am): 6 oz chicken, 200 g jasmine rice
- Meal 3: 6 oz tilapia, 250 g jasmine rice, 1 green apple
- Meal 4: 6 oz 90% ground beef with Rib Rack seasoning, 200 g jasmine rice
- Meal 5: 6 oz tilapia, 200 g jasmine rice, mustard
- Meal 6 (before bed): 6 oz chicken, 200 g jasmine rice
That day also included a back workout and two scoops of a carb drink after training. The page names Blackstone Labs products — VITA HD and CARB HD — and notes Pearson was working with the company’s CEO, PJ Braun.
Keone Pearson Supplements
Pearson keeps his supplement list short, and it sits around his training. Before the workout he takes a stimulant-free pump pre-workout — two scoops, with 5 g L-Citrulline, 3 g GlycerPump, 1 g Agmatine Sulphate and 1 g L-Tyrosine — plus one scoop of caffeine and sea salt.
During the workout he sips an EAA and BCAA formula. His whey protein isolate also does duty as food — 30 g in meal one and again in meal three — rather than as a separate supplement stack.
On the Chicago Pro prep day he also took a multivitamin (VITA HD, five capsules with meal one) and a carb drink (CARB HD, two scoops after training). Both are Blackstone Labs products. No other supplements are named in the sources we checked.
Keone Pearson Workout Routine
Photo via Instagram (@keone_prodigy)
Pearson trains five to six days a week, hitting every muscle group at least once. He mixes compound and isolation work, uses free weights for the stabiliser muscles, and leans on machines more as a contest nears.
He warms up with two or three sets before his working sets — and he takes warm-ups seriously. His knees are bad, so the knee joints get warmed up properly on leg days.
As he put it: “I like to do side laterals to make sure I am completely warmed up. I can’t have no injury in the prep.”
Shoulders and Arms
Supersets lead the day: lateral raises with front raises, then face pulls, shoulder presses and upright rows. Arms finish with curls and pushdowns, then preacher curls and overhead extensions.
| Exercise | Sets × Reps |
|---|---|
| Superset: incline dumbbell lateral raises + front raises | 3 × 18–20 |
| Cable rope face pulls | 3 × 15–20 |
| Incline Hammer Strength shoulder press | 3 × 12–15 |
| Incline prone shoulder press | 3 × 12–15 |
| Superset: barbell upright rows + cable lateral raises | 3 × 12–15 |
| Superset: dumbbell curls + cable rope triceps pushdowns | 3 × 12–15 |
| Superset: preacher curls + overhead cable triceps extensions | 3 × 12–15 |
Back
Back day is built on rows. He does two or three warm-up sets, then two working sets of each move, with slow eccentrics and a hard squeeze — weight comes second to the contraction.
| Exercise | Sets × Reps |
|---|---|
| Wide-grip lat pulldowns | 2 × 12–15 |
| Barbell bent-over rows | 2 × 12–15 |
| Chest-supported T-bar rows | 2 × 12–15 |
| Neutral close-grip lat pulldowns | 2 × 12–15 |
| Seated cable rows | 2 × 12–15 |
Legs
Legs get high volume and high intensity. As Pearson put it: “My whole goal is to put as much blood as possible into the muscles that I am working with.”
| Exercise | Sets × Reps |
|---|---|
| Leg extensions (after 3–4 warm-up sets) | 4–5 × 12–15 |
| Leg presses | 3–5 × 15–20 |
| Reverse hack squats | 3 × 15–20 |
| Sissy squats (with a 45 lb plate) | 2 × 15–20 |
Chest and Shoulders
Chest gets four exercises a session and is trained twice a week during prep. Flyes open the day, then incline presses and cable flyes, with lateral raises and triceps work to finish.
| Exercise | Sets × Reps |
|---|---|
| Chest flyes | 3 × 12–15 |
| Incline Hammer Strength chest press | 3 × 15–20 |
| Seated cable chest flyes | 3 × 12–15 |
| Iso-lateral plate-loaded incline chest press | 3 × 12–15 |
| Dumbbell lateral raises | 3 × 12–15 |
| Tricep dips | 3 × 12–15 |
| Cable triceps pushdowns | 3 × 12–15 |
Keone Pearson Diet Plan in 2026
Weeks after his fourth Olympia win, Pearson shared another full day of eating on his own YouTube channel — a 4,000-calorie diet, three weeks into a growth phase after the contest. The video’s description gives the calorie figure, but no meal-by-meal list in text form.
So this article does not print meals from that video. If Pearson publishes the details, this page will be updated. For now, the Texas Pro plan above is the most complete diet he has shared.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I follow Keone Pearson’s diet plan?
This is a professional bodybuilder’s contest-prep diet, built for a 210 lb athlete weeks out from a show — not a plan for everyone. Do not copy it as your own diet.
If you want to change how you eat, talk to a doctor or a registered dietitian first, especially if you have any medical condition. This article reports what Pearson eats; it is not medical advice.
How many calories does Keone Pearson eat a day?
On the Texas Pro prep day he shared, 3,509 calories. A second documented prep day, ahead of the Chicago Pro, totalled 4,170 calories. In his November 2026 offseason video, he put his current diet at 4,000 calories.
How many meals does Keone Pearson eat a day?
Six meals, plus a pre-workout drink and an intra-workout drink. The first meal follows 45 minutes of fasted cardio, and the last is a bedtime snack of oats, whey and almond butter.
What does Keone Pearson eat before a workout?
Chicken (200 g) with jasmine rice (75 g), eaten a couple of hours after his first meal. Then a stimulant-free pump pre-workout with caffeine and sea salt, and an EAA and BCAA drink during the session.
Does Keone Pearson use high and low calorie days?
Yes. His coach sets them around training: chest and back days are high days, and leg days are low days. The exact calorie split between high and low days is not something he has shared in detail.
How many days a week does Keone Pearson train?
Five to six days a week, with every muscle group trained at least once. Chest is trained twice a week during contest prep, and leg day is high volume and high intensity.
Related: Keone Pearson biography
Related: 2025 Mr. Olympia results
Related: 2026 Mr. Olympia results
This article reports what Keone Pearson has shared publicly about his diet and training. It is not a recommendation — what works for a four-time Olympia champion in contest prep is not a plan for everyone.