ANIMAL, the sports nutrition brand headquartered in New Brunswick, announced August 14th that it has signed IFBB Professional Bodybuilder Regan Grimes to its elite athlete roster, a deal both sides have described as something considerably more meaningful than a standard endorsement contract. For Grimes, the signing closes a loop that started long before he ever stepped onto a professional stage, back when he was a Canadian teenager first discovering the brand through the posters, films, and athletes that defined an entire era of hardcore bodybuilding.

From a Motocross Injury to the Weight Room

Grimes’s path to professional bodybuilding did not start in a gym. As a teenager, he competed in motocross racing, and it was a series of injuries from the sport that first pushed him toward weight training, initially as a way to rebuild strength rather than pursue competitive lifting. What began as physical therapy quickly became a genuine obsession, and after winning his first bodybuilding competition at 18, Grimes committed himself fully to the sport, working multiple jobs simultaneously to fund his training and competition costs while chasing a single, specific goal, earning his IFBB Pro Card.

That dedication paid off at the 2016 Arnold Classic Brazil, where Grimes officially turned pro. He has since built one of the more consistent winning records in the sport, with victories spanning both the Classic Physique and Men’s Open divisions.

That string of wins has carried Grimes to multiple Mr. Olympia qualifications, cementing his place among the sport’s most consistent top tier competitors in the demanding Men’s Open division, a category defined by extreme mass, conditioning, and stage presence.

Idolizing the Brand Before Ever Wearing the Logo

What separates this signing from a typical sponsorship announcement is the specific history behind it. Growing up in Canada, Grimes discovered ANIMAL through the brand’s iconic posters and promotional films long before he had any professional aspirations of his own, immersing himself in the hardcore training culture the brand helped define through athletes like Frank McGrath, Antoine Vaillant, and Evan Centopani. That early exposure shaped his own idea of what serious, uncompromising training looked like well before he ever earned a pro card, giving this deal a genuine full circle quality both Grimes and the brand have pointed to directly in describing the partnership.

Grimes now joins a genuinely selective group of athletes representing ANIMAL, sharing the roster with competitors including Dr. Marissa Andreou, an IFBB Wellness Pro who also practices as a dentist, reflecting a roster built around athletes with real competitive credibility across multiple divisions of the sport rather than a large volume of loosely affiliated influencers.

A Brand Built on New Jersey Gym Culture for Nearly Five Decades

ANIMAL operates as a spinoff brand of Universal Nutrition, the supplement company founded in 1977 in New Brunswick by entrepreneur Irwin Simon. Universal built its early reputation on hardcore, no frills training culture, and ANIMAL emerged from that same lineage in the 1980s as a dedicated line built specifically for bodybuilders and strength athletes chasing serious, uncompromising results. The company was acquired by Glanbia, the Ireland based global nutrition conglomerate, in 2005, but continues operating as its own distinct brand with its own product lines and identity within the larger company.

Unlike many supplement brands that outsource production entirely, ANIMAL manufactures its products, including its widely recognized, industrial strength Animal Pak pill packs, directly out of its own dedicated facilities in Central Jersey. That in house manufacturing has become part of the brand’s own identity within a hardcore training community that tends to value authenticity and a direct connection to a company’s actual production process, rather than simply purchasing a private label formula and slapping a logo on it.

What Comes Next

Grimes is entering what both he and the brand have described as the prime of his competitive career, and he will represent ANIMAL prominently as he prepares for the Men’s Open lineup at the 2026 Texas Pro. For a New Brunswick company that has spent nearly five decades building its reputation inside serious gyms rather than through mainstream marketing, landing an athlete who discovered the brand as a star struck teenager before ever becoming one of its most visible competitors represents exactly the kind of authentic, full circle story the hardcore training community tends to respond to most.