Hadi Choopan is the 2022 Mr. Olympia and the most decorated Iranian bodybuilder in history. At 5'7" and around 229 pounds on stage, the "Persian Wolf" has finished top-three at the Olympia six times, including runner-up finishes in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
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His story is one of the hardest-earned careers in the sport. He grew up poor in a village in Iran's Fars Province, worked construction as a teenager, and started training in 2002 with five-kilo weights. Twenty years later he became the first Iranian to take home the Sandow trophy.
This guide covers his training split, the dual-intensity system behind his freaky density, his FST-7 work with coach Hany Rambod, his diet, and where he stands for the 2026 season.
2026 Status: The Wolf Is Out — For Now
Choopan will not compete at the 2026 Mr. Olympia (September 24-27, Las Vegas). Visa processing problems — a deactivated UAE residence visa that cost him his U.S. embassy interview — kept him from completing travel paperwork in time. It is his first Olympia absence since 2019.
He placed second at the 2025 Olympia behind Derek Lunsford and was voted the fans' People's Champion for the second time. Earlier in 2026 he took third at the Arnold Classic, and his camp has flatly denied retirement rumors.
"This is not the end. I will continue training, improving and fighting. When Hadi Choopan returns to the stage, he will return to win."
For the full picture of who is competing this year, see our Mr. Olympia 2026 preview.
Training Philosophy
Choopan trains under Hany Rambod, the coach behind FST-7 and a string of Olympia champions, and has since 2017. Rambod's FST-7 method caps a muscle's session with seven high-rep sets on short rests to maximize the pump and stretch the fascia surrounding the muscle.
Underneath that sits Choopan's own dual-intensity system. He hits a body part heavy and slow one day — around five sets of five with three to five minutes of rest — then returns to it later in the week for pure hypertrophy work in the 8-12 range with rests cut to 30-60 seconds.
The result is a physique famous for density: powerlifter-thick muscle finished with bodybuilding detail.
His work ethic is the stuff of legend in the sport. Through years when U.S. visa denials meant he might never get to compete at all, he kept preparing as if the call would come. In 2019 it finally did, and he arrived in shape to take third at his Olympia debut.
Cardio barely features. In the off-season he does none, and in prep he adds only two to three HIIT sessions a week — he holds that conditioning is made by the diet, not the treadmill.
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Choopan does not publish a rep-by-rep training log, so the outline below is reconstructed from his filmed sessions and interviews. The skeleton is a classic one-muscle-a-day split with two rest days, with lagging parts sometimes hit a second time in the week — heavy first, volume later.
| Day | Focus | Training Style |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Chest | Machine and Smith pressing, heavy |
| Day 2 | Back | Rows, pulldowns, high volume |
| Day 3 | Legs | Pendulum and hack squats, extensions |
| Day 4 | Rest | Recovery |
| Day 5 | Shoulders | Seated presses, cable raises |
| Day 6 | Arms | Cables and preacher work, FST-7 finish |
| Day 7 | Rest | Recovery |
Chest
Choopan's chest work leans on machines and the Smith machine rather than free-bar benching — a Rambod trademark that keeps tension on the pec while sparing the shoulders. On strength days the loads climb and the reps drop; on volume days every set chases the pump.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Machine Chest Press | 4-5 | 5-8 heavy / 8-12 volume | Cornerstone pressing movement |
| Decline Machine Press | 3-4 | 8-12 | Lower-chest thickness |
| Smith Close-Grip Bench Press | 3-4 | 8-12 | Inner chest and triceps |
| Hammer-Grip Dumbbell Press | 3 | 8-12 | Neutral grip, deep stretch |
| FST-7 Fly Finisher | 7 | 10-12 | 30-45 sec rests, pump work |
Back
Back sessions built the shelf of muscle that lets a 5'7" man stand next to giants. Three weeks out from the 2025 Olympia he was still filming full FST-7 back workouts with Rambod, grinding through rows and pulldowns on short rests.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lat Pulldown | 4 | 8-12 | Width builder, full stretch |
| Close-Grip Cable Row | 4 | 8-12 | Mid-back thickness |
| Bent-Over Dumbbell Row | 3-4 | 8-12 | Heavy on strength days |
| Chest-Supported One-Arm Row | 3 | 10-12 | Strict, no momentum |
| Pull-Ups | 3 | To failure | Bodyweight, controlled |
| Stiff-Leg Deadlift | 3 | 8-10 | Lower back and hamstring tie-in |
Legs
Leg day is where the dual-intensity system shows most clearly. Pendulum and hack squats carry the heavy work, then extensions and curls chase the pump with rests cut short.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leg Extension (Warm-Up) | 2-3 | 15-20 | Prime the knees before loading |
| Pendulum Squat | 4-5 | 5-8 heavy / 8-12 volume | Signature quad builder |
| Hack Squat or Barbell Squat | 4 | 8-12 | Second pressing pattern |
| Barbell Lunge | 3 | 10-12 | Each leg |
| Seated Leg Curl | 4 | 10-12 | Hamstring isolation |
| Standing Calf Raise | 4 | 12-15 | Full stretch at the bottom |
Shoulders and Arms
Choopan's delts are a signature body part — capped and round from every angle. Seated dumbbell and Smith presses carry the load, cable front raises and laterals carve the detail, and arm day runs cables, preacher curls, and barbell curls to an FST-7 finish.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seated Dumbbell Press | 4 | 8-12 | Main overhead press |
| Smith Seated Press | 3-4 | 8-12 | Strength-day variation |
| Cable Front Raise | 3 | 10-15 | Constant tension |
| Overhead Cable Extension | 3-4 | 10-12 | Triceps long head |
| Rope Pushdown | 3-4 | 10-15 | Squeeze at lockout |
| Preacher Curl | 3-4 | 8-12 | Strict, full range |
| Standing Barbell Curl | 3 | 8-12 | Heavy biceps work |
Diet
Choopan's documented daily intake is around 3,832 calories: roughly 316 grams of protein, 417 grams of carbs, and 70 grams of fat across six meals. High protein, high carb, low fat — classic bodybuilding fuel.
The staples are simple: skinless chicken breast, lean beef, white fish, egg whites, white and brown rice, baked potatoes, green beans, and avocado. Cream of rice and whey shakes fill the gaps around training.
His conditioning philosophy is unusual for the modern game: the diet does the work, not cardio. He also avoids drinking large volumes of water during hard sessions, arguing that a stomach full of fluid adds pressure the body doesn't need mid-workout.
His documented supplement basics are straightforward — whey isolate, BCAAs, L-carnitine, fish oil, and a multivitamin. He spent most of his career as an athlete of Evogen Nutrition, Rambod's supplement company.
The System
Choopan's career is proof that the fundamentals, executed with unreasonable consistency, beat everything else. A one-muscle-a-day split. Heavy days and pump days. Chicken and rice. Sleep. Repeat for twenty years, through poverty, through visa bans, through every reason to quit.
"After 23 years of pain, suffering, sorrow, slander, poverty, hard work... I've reached my dreams."
He said that after winning the 2022 Olympia, having dedicated the title to the people of Iran. The 2026 show will go on without him — but at 38, with his camp promising a return, the Persian Wolf's story does not read like one that is finished.
Explore Similar Routines
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- Mr. Olympia 2026: The Full Preview
- Phil Heath's Workout Routine
Not everyone has two hours a day for an Olympia split. If time is your constraint, EMS training condenses a full-body strength stimulus into a 20 minute session.
Choopan's documented list is deliberately basic: whey isolate to help hit 316 grams of daily protein, aminos around training, L-carnitine, fish oil, and a multivitamin to cover the base. No exotic compounds — the diet does the heavy lifting.