James Hollingshead, known as “The Shed”, is a British Men’s Open bodybuilder who finished 10th at the 2026 Mr. Olympia. That was his best Olympia result, after 12th in 2021 and tied 16th in 2022.
His 2026 season made the result possible. He finished second four times and won the Lenda Murray ATL Pro Supershow in Atlanta on 8–9 August 2026, beating Regan Grimes.
This article uses only what Hollingshead has said himself, in his own videos and interviews. Two full days of eating survive from his own words, and both are printed here with their dates.
The first is a rest-day menu from February 2025, ten days before the Arnold Classic. The second is a recovery-day menu from August 2023, after surgery.
Where no figure exists from his own words, this article says so plainly. Nothing here is invented, and no calorie or macro total is printed unless a source gave one.
James Hollingshead Diet Plan
Hollingshead’s diet is built on plain, repeated foods. His own full days of eating show the same staples again and again: oats, potatoes, fish, eggs, rice and yogurt.
His clearest statement of approach came in January 2025, about four and a half weeks before the Arnold Classic. He said he keeps protein at his off-season amount through the whole preparation.
“Protein is an essential macronutrient that allows you to sustain muscle,” he said in the video Fitness Volt reported on 29 January 2025. The deficit, he explained, comes from calories, from carbs and fats, not from protein.
That is the whole of his stated approach in that video: hold protein steady so the muscle built in the off-season is preserved, and cut the other calories instead.
On a rest day in February 2025, ten days before the Arnold Classic, he ate six meals about three hours apart. The full menu is printed in the next section.
Salt is a deliberate part of his eating. In that February 2025 video he said he had worked up to eight to ten grinds of salt per meal, and told viewers not to be afraid to salt their meals.
His refeed approach is different again. In a BarBend video from August 2022, he said he tried multi-day high-carb refeeds and found a single day of calorically dense food worked better for him.
James Hollingshead Meal Plan
The menu below is Hollingshead’s rest-day full day of eating from February 2025, ten days before the Arnold Classic. Fitness Volt reported it on 18 February 2025 from his own YouTube video.
Meal 1: 100 g oats, 150 g banana, 60 g whey isolate, cinnamon, salt and digestive enzymes.
Meal 2: 400 g potato, three haddock fillets of about 360 g before cooking, sauerkraut, salt and pepper.
Meal 3: 500 ml egg whites, 400 g potato, sauerkraut, salt and pepper, eaten after a break of about three hours.
Meal 4: 400 g potato, three haddock fillets, sauerkraut, salt and pepper, with digestive enzymes.
Meal 5: two salmon fillets of 240 g, one pack of cauliflower rice, salt and pepper. He noted the cauliflower rice was very low in carbohydrate.
Meal 6: 250 g yogurt, 50 g whey isolate and cinnamon.
No calorie or macro total was published for that day. This article prints the menu exactly as Fitness Volt reported it from his video, and adds no totals.
His grocery cart tells the same story. In July 2023 he showed a haul of pineapple, blueberries, bananas, zucchini, salmon, 5% beef mince, chicken breast, total 0% fat yogurt, sauerkraut, pickled beetroot, Frosties, sourdough, olive oil, avocado and frozen fries under 5% fat.
That haul cost about £85, or about $112, and he shops every three to four days, about $210 a week. The foods match the menus above: plain staples, bought in bulk.
A second dated menu comes from his recovery after surgery. Fitness Volt reported it on 6 August 2023, after his gynecomastia surgery on 16 July 2023.
Meal 1: 100 g sauerkraut, 150 g smoked salmon, one kiwi and 200 g sourdough bread with salt and pepper.
Meal 2: 125 g rice, 100 g pineapple chunks, 125 g chicken, 100 g carrots and crinkled beetroot with Nando’s sauce.
Meal 3: 150 g cream of rice, 200 g blueberries, 50 g Hydrocarn, a hydrolyzed beef protein, and 20 g honey.
Meal 4: 300 g chips, beef, bell peppers and courgette with kimchi ketchup.
Meal 5: 400 g total zero-fat Greek yogurt, 20 g almond butter, protein powder, one banana and 100 g Frosted Flakes with cinnamon.
That was a recovery day, not a contest-prep day. The five meals were smaller and clean, eaten every three hours, and no quantities were given for the beef in meal 4 or the protein powder in meal 5.
His refeed day, from a BarBend video of 20 August 2022, swaps the usual meals for denser ones. Meal 1 is two bagels with jam, 60 g whey protein, 100 g fresh blueberries and 20 g almond butter.
Meal 2 is 225 g rice dry, 200 g chicken and 30 g almond butter. Meal 3, after training, is 150 g rice dry, 180 g salmon and 150 g cream of rice dry.
His usual meals that day were lighter: meal 1 was 100 g of “Core”, 60 g whey and 100 g blueberries; meal 2 was 100 g rice dry with 200 g chicken; meal 3 was 100 g rice dry with 180 g salmon.
A free-reign refeed day, he said, could run to a burger with fries, onion rings, gravy and coleslaw, then chicken tikka masala with lamb samosas, Peshwari naan and vegetable biryani, and ice cream with granola and a rock cake.
He weighed about 270 lb at the time of that video, and was about five weeks out from his next pro show. He tracks his weight, training, meals and supplementation across low-carb, high-carb and refeed days.
James Hollingshead Supplements
Hollingshead’s supplement list comes from the same February 2025 video as his rest-day menu. Fitness Volt printed the stack as he listed it: Omega, D3 K2, Curcumin, Ashwagandha, Heart, Lipid, NAC and Q10.
No brand, product, dose or timing was named for any of those eight. This article lists them exactly as Fitness Volt printed them and adds nothing.
He also takes digestive enzymes with meals. In the February 2025 menu they appear with meal 1 and meal 4.
A pre-workout supplement comes before training, according to the BarBend training report of August 2024. No product or dose was named there either.
The only product name in any of his own-words food lists is Hydrocarn, a hydrolyzed beef protein, listed at 50 g in one meal of his August 2023 recovery day. No sponsorship or code is attached to it.
No supplement brand sponsorship or discount code is named in any source checked for this article.
James Hollingshead Workout Routine
Hollingshead trains on a push/pull/legs split, two days on and one day off. BarBend reported the split in August 2024 from his own training video.
He trains chest before back, because he finds the pushing muscles tire faster than the pulling muscles. A session starts with a warm-up pec deck flye.
His push work in that video included Smith machine incline bench press, machine chest press, dumbbell incline bench press, machine incline bench press and a cable machine pullover.
His pull work included a machine leverage row, a cable single-arm row and a machine-assisted pull-up with a neutral grip, which he uses for biceps activation.
The striking detail is the volume: one to two sets per exercise. Compounds get one set and isolation moves get two. He said the team had stripped the work back to one set per exercise.
One week, he said, he did a single set on the 45-degree leg press because they had gone heavier than ever before. His glute-ham day carries a touch of back work, and his arm day focuses on deltoids ahead of rest days.
Legs are his calling card. In May 2022 he squatted 750 lb for three reps and 661 lb for nine reps in a single session, a 340 kg triple and a 300 kg set of nine.
He trains hamstrings first and works heavy and old-school, with spotters. For cardio he takes evening walks into town instead of a direct cardio session.
In the off-season he eats about 6,000 calories a day, BarBend reported in the same August 2024 video. No calorie total was published for his February 2025 rest day.
James Hollingshead Diet Plan in 2026
Hollingshead’s 2026 season brought four runner-up finishes and a win. He was second at the Portugal Pro on 5 July, second at the Huanji China Pro on 25–26 July, second at the Tampa Pro on 1 August and second at the Italy Pro on 6 September.
The win came in between, at the Lenda Murray ATL Pro Supershow in Atlanta on 8–9 August 2026. He won the Men’s Open with a perfect score of 6, three points in judging and three in the finals, ahead of Regan Grimes.
That win sent him back to the Mr. Olympia, where he finished 10th on 24–27 September 2026 in Las Vegas. His score was 100, with 55 in judging and 45 in the finals, and he wore tag 11.
Nick Walker won the 2026 Mr. Olympia, ahead of Samson Dauda and Derek Lunsford. Hollingshead’s 10th place was his best Olympia finish, after 12th in 2021 and tied 16th in 2022.
That is one win, four runner-up finishes and a 10th place from six pro contests in 2026.
He did not compete in 2023, a year he used to recover after gynecomastia surgery on 16 July 2023, and he had considered retirement before returning in 2024.
His coach in February 2024 was Milos Sarcev, named in a Fitness Volt report from the 5 February 2024 Menace podcast. Roman Fritz was later introduced as his new coach on Fouad Abiad’s Bodybuilding and Bollocks podcast, episode 145.
No date is established for that change, so this article names both coaches with their dates and does not order them. The 2026 season above is the record as it stands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I follow James Hollingshead’s diet plan to lose weight or treat a health condition?
No, not from this article. The menus here are a professional bodybuilder’s own contest-preparation and recovery eating, printed for information only. They are not medical or nutrition advice, and they do not treat any condition.
Speak to a doctor or a registered dietitian before changing your diet, especially if you have a health condition or take medication.
What does James Hollingshead eat in a day?
His dated rest-day menu from February 2025 has six meals: oats, banana and whey for meal 1; potato and haddock for meals 2 and 4; egg whites and potato for meal 3; salmon and cauliflower rice for meal 5; and yogurt and whey for meal 6.
No calorie or macro total was published for that day.
How many calories does James Hollingshead eat a day?
In the off-season he eats about 6,000 calories a day, he said in an August 2024 training video. No calorie total was published for his February 2025 rest day, and his contest-prep approach is to hold protein steady and cut calories from carbs and fats.
Who is James Hollingshead’s coach?
Milos Sarcev was his coach in February 2024, and Roman Fritz was later introduced as his new coach on a podcast episode. No date is established for the change, so neither man is presented here as his current coach.
What is James Hollingshead’s workout split?
Push/pull/legs, two days on and one day off. He does one to two sets per exercise, one set for compounds and two for isolation moves, and trains legs with famously heavy squats, including 750 lb for three reps in May 2022.
How many times has James Hollingshead competed at the Mr. Olympia?
Three times: 12th in 2021, tied 16th in 2022 and 10th in 2026. The 2026 result, his best, came after his win at the ATL Pro Supershow in August 2026.
Related: James Hollingshead biography, 2026 Mr. Olympia results and 2025 Mr. Olympia results.
This article is for information only. It shares what James Hollingshead has said publicly about his own diet and training, and it is not medical or nutrition advice. Speak to a doctor or a registered dietitian before changing your diet or training.