Courage Opara is an American IFBB Pro bodybuilder who competes in the 212 division. He has nine pro wins, and his best Olympia finish is fifth, at the 2025 Mr. Olympia.
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 Instagram posts and contest results.
Nothing here is guessed. Every fact comes from a named source, listed as we go. Where Opara has not shared a detail, we say so — and on diet, he has shared less than almost any athlete in this series.
Courage Opara Diet Plan
Opara preps himself. After his fifth-place finish at the 2025 Olympia he wrote that he was “prepping myself this go around” — and no coach has been named for him anywhere in the sources we checked.
That is unusual. Most Olympia-level bodybuilders name a coach; Opara’s training partners appear in his posts, but none of them is named as his coach.
He has a sweet tooth, in his own words. In June 2025 he wrote: “As someone with a major sweet tooth, came just in time for the Olympia prep” — a sponsor post for The Pride Foods, not a meal plan, and no food he eats is named in it.
Prep gets harder as it goes on — his words, from April 2025, seven weeks out from Toronto: “Getting pushed by training partner @joshualukeawb as the diet gets harder”. No food, quantity or calorie detail is attached to it.
His degree is in exercise science — “Exercise science Bsc.” in his own Instagram bio. His sponsors are GASP, Better Bodies and The Pride Foods; they are sponsors, not supplements he takes.
Courage Opara Meal Plan
Photo: Tikkay Khan
No full day of eating for Opara has ever been published — not in a video, an interview or a written article, in any source we could retrieve. So there is no meal plan to print here, and none is invented.
What he has shared is numbers on a scale — three weigh-ins, all from his own Instagram check-ins. They are the only diet figures he has ever published.
The Only Numbers He Has Shared
- 25 May 2025, two weeks out from Toronto: 220 lb — “25lbs down, a few more to go”
- 4 May 2025, five weeks out from Toronto: 222 lb
- 24 April 2024, off-season: 240 lb — “First time ever this high”
That 220 lb figure is worth a second look. It was his weight two weeks out from his 212 debut — and the same weight he used to start his past Classic Physique preps.
He said so himself in that May 2025 post: “Crazy, I used to start my past Classic Physique preps at 220”. No difference is computed here — the numbers are as he posted them.
What He Has Not Shared
No meal list, no calorie total, no macro split and no food quantities have ever been published for Opara. No low-day or high-day list exists either — only the sweet-tooth note above, and the three weigh-ins.
His January 2025 video — “Off-season Progress Update at 240lbs” — repeats the 240 lb figure, and says it had been 16 months since he was last on stage. It is not a diet video, and no food is listed in it.
Courage Opara Supplements
No supplement list for Opara has ever been published. No product he takes is named anywhere in the sources we checked.
The closest thing to a supplement mention is a sponsor tag. In July 2023 he captioned a chest session “Fueled by @ruleoneproteins” — a sponsor tag, with no product, dose or timing named.
His other sponsors — GASP and Better Bodies for apparel, The Pride Foods for food — are sponsors, not supplements. No product from any of them is named as something he takes.
No other supplement is named in the sources we were able to read. One source was not readable: a video he promoted on 11 June 2025 — “NEW VIDEO POSTED! LINK TO WATCH IN MY STORIES” — whose link has expired and whose content could not be retrieved.
Courage Opara Workout Routine
Opara has not shared a full weekly training split. What follows is what he has shown: dated training logs on his own Instagram, all built the same way.
His method is simple, and he repeats it across two years: one top set and a back-off set for every movement, the same movements each time, done better than last time.
In his own words, nine days out from the 2026 Tampa Pro: “1 top set and a ‘back off’ set for all movements”. And in May 2025: “KISS method… same movements and trying to be better at them”.
Top sets run eight to ten reps, from a full push-day post in March 2022. No sets or reps are stated for most of his later sessions — only the exercise lists below.
Leg Day — Seven Weeks Out from the 2025 Olympia
A leg day he posted on 23 August 2025, seven weeks out from the Olympia. “Same movements, same weights, same intensity.”
- Lying leg curl — 3 sets
- Belt squat — 2 sets
- Nautilus leg press — 2 sets
- Romanian deadlift — 2 sets
- Leg extension — 3 sets
Back A — August 2025
A back day posted on 25 August 2025, the day after the leg day above.
- Wide Mag grip pulldown — 2 sets
- Linear Row — 2 sets
- Nautilus single-arm pulldown — 3 sets
- Chest-supported T-bar Row — 2 sets
- Cable pullover — 2 sets
- Nautilus bicep curl — 3 sets
Chest and Shoulders — June 2025
A chest-and-shoulder day posted on 1 June 2025.
- Incline chest flyes
- Nautilus incline press
- Nautilus flat press
- Nautilus decline flyes
- Shoulder press
- Side laterals
An earlier push day, in September 2024, ran the same machines: Nautilus incline press, Nautilus flat press, shoulder press, pec deck and seated machine laterals.
Leg Day — Six Weeks Out from the 2026 Tampa Pro
A leg day posted on 20 June 2026, six weeks out from Tampa.
- Leg curls
- Nautilus leg press
- Pendulum squat
- Belt squat Romanian deadlifts
- Leg extensions
Leg Day — Nine Days Out from the 2026 Tampa Pro
A leg day posted on 22 July 2026, nine days out from Tampa — the session where he spelled out the top-set method.
- Lying leg curls
- Nautilus leg press
- Pendulum squats
- Belt squat Romanian deadlifts
- Leg extensions
One quirk, in his own words from June 2024: his quads get trained once a month, “as they can be an overpowered body part on stage”.
He trains at Brickhouse Gym in Denton, Texas, and trains with partners — @joshualukeawb in the 2025 prep, @seandoesntlft and @ray_baker_ in earlier years. None of them is named as his coach.
No full weekly split, with days, sets and reps, has ever been published in his own words. The five sessions above are the training record he has shared.
Courage Opara Diet Plan in 2026
Opara built his name in Classic Physique. He finished third at the Arnold Classic in 2018 and again in 2019 — $1,500 each time — and by the end of 2023 he had six Classic wins.
Photo: Tikkay Khan
Those six wins were the Upper Midwest Pro in 2018 and 2019, the Battle of Texas Pro in 2020, the Tampa Pro and the Texas Pro in 2022, and the San Antonio Pro in 2023. His best Olympia finish in Classic was ninth, in 2019.
Then came 18 months away from the stage. In the caption of his Toronto win post, in June 2025, he wrote that “18 months away paid off” — and that his wife Gizelle and Keone Pearson had a “come to Jesus moment” with him about switching divisions.
The switch worked at once. On 8 June 2025 he won the Toronto Pro Supershow in the 212 division — his debut in the class, a perfect score of seven — beating Cody Drobot and Francisco Barrios Vlk, and qualifying for the Olympia.
At the 2025 Mr. Olympia he finished fifth in the 212 division, behind Keone Pearson, Shaun Clarida, Lucas Garcia and Nihat Kaya. The prize was $6,000, and his score was 27 points.
Photo: Fitness Volt
He started 2026 by winning twice: the Tampa Pro on 1 August, with a perfect score of six, and the Texas Pro on 14 and 15 August, with a perfect score of three. Nine pro wins in total.
Then the season ended early. On 22 September 2026 he withdrew from the 2026 Mr. Olympia 212 — reports said rhabdomyolysis had left him unable to recover in time, and he has not publicly detailed the circumstances himself.
No next show has been announced in the sources we checked. If he shares a fuller day of eating, this page will be updated — for now, the weigh-ins and the training logs above are the diet and workout record he has published.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I follow Courage Opara’s diet plan?
This is a professional bodybuilder’s contest-prep diet — and no full day of eating has ever been published for Opara, so there is no plan here to copy. Do not build a diet from the weigh-ins above.
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 Opara has shared; it is not medical advice.
How many calories does Courage Opara eat a day?
No calorie total has ever been published for Opara — no full day of eating exists, so no total can be printed here. The only diet figures he has shared are the three weigh-ins above: 220 lb, 222 lb and 240 lb.
What does Courage Opara eat before a workout?
No pre-workout meal has ever been published for Opara. The only food note he has shared is that he has a major sweet tooth — from a June 2025 sponsor post that names no food he eats.
What supplements does Courage Opara take?
No supplement he takes has ever been named. The only supplement-adjacent mention is a July 2023 sponsor tag — “Fueled by @ruleoneproteins” — with no product, dose or timing.
Who is Courage Opara’s coach?
No coach has been named for Opara anywhere in the sources we checked. He preps himself — “prepping myself this go around”, in his own words after the 2025 Olympia — and his training partners are not named as coaches.
How many days a week does Courage Opara train?
He has not shared a full weekly schedule in his own words. He has shown leg days, a back day and chest-and-shoulder days — and he trains his quads only once a month, by his own account.
Related: 2025 Mr. Olympia results
Related: 2026 Mr. Olympia results
This article reports what Courage Opara has shared publicly about his diet and training. It is not a recommendation — what works for a top-five Olympia finisher in contest prep is not a plan for everyone.