Flex_USA_JulyAugust_2017_2

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INSIDE THIS MONTH 

JULY/AUGUST 2017 

COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT REIFF 

DEPARTMENTS 

16 

CHAIRMAN’S LETTER 

A message from our 

chairman, president, and 

CEO, David J. Pecker. 

18 

ONLINE 

Stay current with all the 

hot topics trending now at 

FLEXonline.com. 

20 

HIT LIST 

Everything you need to 

know this month to make 

life worth living. 

FEATURES 

30 

THE LION OF WINTER 

Ten years after he last 

competed, the eight-time 

Mr. Olympia is older, wiser, 

bruised, and battered, 

but he’s still irrepressibly 

Ronnie “Ain’t Nuthin’ but a 

Peanut” Coleman. 

100 

MACHINE-MADE PECS 

This machine-only 

chest routine will make 

your pecs grow. 

110 

GET RIPPED...WITH NO 

CARDIO! 

Ignite hypertrophy and 

melt away fat. 

136 

ARNOLD: IN HIS 

OWN WORDS 

On July 30, Arnold 

Schwarzenegger 

126 

celebrates his 70th 

birthday. It’s been a 

remarkable 70 years in 

which he attained No. 1 

status in bodybuilding, 

Hollywood, and California 

politics. We review the life 

and extraordinary times 

of Arnold through the 

prism of his own words. 

142 

PROFESSIONAL BADASS 

From hockey fights to 

high heels, IFBB pro 

bikini competitor Katie 

Chung Hua proves she’s 

a force in fitness. 

176 

RISE AND DINE 

Start your day with these 

protein-packed recipes. 

182 

POWERBUILDING 2.0 

Combine the best 

of powerlifting and 

bodybuilding to build 

dense muscle and freak 

strength in six weeks. 

192 

NO MORE BAD 

WORKOUTS 

Use indicator sets to 

customize your training 

for maximum results. 

202 

THE NEW MECCA 

OF MUSCLE 

How Bev Francis’ 

Powerhouse Gym 

became the most 

legendary bodybuilding 

center on the planet. 

22 

JUST THE FACTS 

Groundbreaking research 

and must-have tips in 

the training and nutrition 

universe. 

45 

1ST SET 

All the happenings with 

Mr. Olympia Phil Heath, 

212 Olympia champ Flex 

Lewis, the entire Team 

Weider roster, and more. 

67 

LIFT 

Techniques that work, 

routines that produce 

results, and other things 

to help you make the 

most of your gym time. 

83 

FOOD & SUPPS 

Everything you need to 

eat, drink, or mix first and 

then drink, to help you 

reach your bodybuilding 

and fitness goals. 

212 

LAST SET 

Contest results, athlete 

updates, and more. 

224 

THE SHOT 

This moment from 2009 

featured the Father of 

Bodybuilding, the late Joe 

Weider, in his last FLEX 

photo shoot. 

COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS; CHRIS LUND 

14 FLEX | JULY/AUG ’17

Algeria Argentina Australia Bahrain Belarus Belgium Chile Croatia Ecuador Egypt France Germany Gibraltar 

FROM THE CHAIRMAN 

LUCKY 7? 

PHIL HEATH IS AIMING 

TO BECOME THE OLYMPIA- 

WINS RECORD HOLDER, 

BUT HE NEEDS TO CAPTURE 

SANDOW NO. 7 FIRST 

ON THIS MONTH’S COVER 

we feature a man many consider 

to be history’s greatest bodybuilder: 

eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie 

Coleman. During his peak years, 

Ronnie was so dominant that his 

closest rivals would all but concede 

that they were competing for second 

place—before the contest! To date, 

the only other person to notch eight 

Olympia victories is Lee Haney, every 

bit the bodybuilding legend as is 

King Coleman. Yet this year we may 

witness a challenger to Ronnie’s and 

Lee’s all-time record come within one 

victory of matching these two legends. 

Phil Heath has already won six 

straight Sandows and will be going for 

a seventh on Sept. 16. You might 

assume that as the six-time defending 

champ, victory No. 7 is all but assured. 

Yet a win is far from guaranteed. 

Dexter Jackson, Shawn Rhoden, 

Big Ramy, Cedric McMillan, Roelly 

Winklaar, and surging stars like 

Brandon Curry, Dallas McCarver, and 

Sergio Oliva Jr. would all love to be the 

man who deposes the king. Uneasy 

lies the head that wears the crown, 

it is said, and Phil Heath knows that 

he will need to be at the top of his 

game if he wants to keep his crown 

firmly in place. 

Of course, men’s open bodybuilding 

is but one of many, many exciting 

competitions and expo spectacles 

taking place in Vegas. For details 

on all that will be happening Olympia 

Weekend, and to purchase a ticket, go 

to mrolympia.com. And if you do join 

us this September, you may very 

well get to shake hands with Ronnie, 

Lee, and the select few who have 

earned the title Mr. Olympia over the 

past 52 years. 

CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER 

DAVID PECKER 

EDITORIAL 

VP/Editorial Director 

SHAWN PERINE 

Managing Editor, Enthusiast Group/Books 

BRIAN GOOD 

West Coast Editor DAVE IAN LEE 

Senior Editor ZACK ZEIGLER 

Senior Writer GREG MERRITT 

Senior Web Editor ANGELICA NEBBIA 

Editor ANDREW GUTMAN 

Copy Chief PEARL AMY SVERDLIN 

Copy Editors 

JEFF TOMKO, YEUN LITTLEFIELD, 

STEVE LEVINE 

Research JAMES RILEY 

Editorial Production Director 

RUSSELL MENDOZA 

Editorial Associate Director 

VICTOR KIM 

Digital Director DECLAN O’KELLY 

Editorial Assistant ROSE MCNULTY 

ART 

Art Director RAMÓN GAMARRA 

Designer CYNTHIA NG 

Contributing Designer SEAN OTTO 

Photo Director ANTHONY NOLAN 

Staff Photographer/Photo Editor 

ERICA SCHULTZ 

Photo Editor GABY CHIANG 

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS 

MICHAEL BERG, ADAM BIBLE, 

ERIC BROSER, BRYAN HAYCOCK, 

ROGER LOCKRIDGE, STEVEN STIEFEL, 

JOE WUEBBEN 

PHOTO & ART CONTRIBUTORS 

Photographers 

IAN SPANIER, 

CHARLES LOWTHIAN, PER BERNAL 

Contributors 

ALBERT BUSEK, CARUSO, BILL COMSTOCK, 

ISAAC HINDS, KEVIN HORTON, 

CHRIS LUND, CHRIS NICOLL, 

ROB PICK, PAVEL YTHJALL, ART ZELLER 

PRODUCTION 

Production Manager ANN MCCAFFREY 

Distribution Manager MARC MELCHER 

INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING, 

ENTHUSIAST GROUP 

Group Publisher SAMANTHA LUND 

TEL: +44 (1) 1423 550 848 

e-mail: slund@weideruk.com 

FOREIGN EDITIONS 

ADVERTISING 

EVP/Group Publishing Director 

CHRIS SCARDINO 

Associate Publisher-Integrated Marketing 

JAMES CRESS 

Advertising Director DARA MARKUS 

Associate Director of Marketing 

SAMANTHA DITATA 

EASTERN SALES OFFICE 

4 New York Plaza, 

4th Floor, New York, 

NY 10004; (212) 339-1900; fax (212) 510-1947 

Digital Sales Manager MIKE MYERS 

Digital Account Manager EMILY KUHN 

Business Manager IVELISE ESTREMERA 

Administrative Assistant TRACY GUNTHORPE 

DETROIT SALES OFFICE 

RPM Associates, 285 Coats Road, 

Suite 206, Lake Orion, MI 48362; 

(248) 690-7013 

Detroit Sales Representative JAY GAGEN 

MIDWESTERN SALES OFFICE 

1005 West Grove Street, Arlington Heights, 

IL 60005; (312) 545-8041; fax (847) 749-0469 

Sales Director DARRIN KLAPPRODT 

WESTERN SALES OFFICE 

6420 Wilshire Blvd., 15th Floor, 

Los Angeles, CA 90048; (818) 595-0473 

Senior Account Director TALIN BOUSTANI 

SOUTHEASTERN SALES OFFICE 

1000 American Media Way, Boca Raton, 

FL 33464-1000; (561) 997-7733; 

fax (561) 266-0664 

WEIDER PUBLICATIONS, LLC 

A SUBSIDIARY OF AMERICAN MEDIA INC. 

CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT 

& CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER 

DAVID PECKER 

Executive Vice President/ 

Chief Marketing Officer KEVIN HYSON 

Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer/ 

Chief Operating Officer CHRIS POLIMENI 

Executive Vice President, Digital Media 

Operations/CIO DAVID THOMPSON 

Senior Vice President/Chief Digital Officer 

BRIAN KROSKI 

Senior Vice President, Operations ROB M. O’NEILL 

Vice President, Consumer Marketing 

EPHRAIM R. BRENNAN 

President of the IFBB Professional League 

JIM MANION 

Founder and Chairman Emeritus 

JOE WEIDER (1920–2013) 

DAVID J. PECKER 

Chairman, President, 

and Chief Executive Offi 

of American Media Inc. 

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MUSCLETECH.COM

PHIL HEATH 

FLEX LEWIS 

JUAN MOREL 

STEVE KUCLO 

IFBB VANCOUVER PRO 

The third-annual Vancouver Pro/Am on July 8 to 9 showcases IFBB Pro League 

competition and BCABBA Provincial Championships. All IFBB pro division 

winners qualify for this year’s Olympia Weekend. At the expo, Battle Field Fight 

League will host a professional and amateur event that will be a stepping-stone 

to the UFC. Plus, it includes the Canadian National Qualifier for powerlifting and 

the BC Provincial Championships for strongman and -woman. Be sure to watch 

coverage at FLEXonline.com. For more, go to vancouverproshow.com. 

WILLIAM BONAC 

SHAWN RHODEN 

LIKE US AT FACEBOOK.COM/FLEXMAGAZINE AND 

INTERACT WITH OUR 2 MILLION OTHER FANS. 

CHECK OUT OUR DAILY UPDATES BY FOLLOWING US 

ON TWITTER AT @FLEX_MAGAZINE. 

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FEEL-GOOD WAVES 

According to a study 

from New Mexico 

Highlands University, 

the pressure waves 

that are created when 

we walk send waves 

through the arteries that 

significantly modify and 

can increase the supply 

of blood to the brain. 

Scientists discovered 

that even though you 

hit with a lighter step 

when walking, it creates 

a larger pressure wave 

that boosts blood flow 

to the brain even more 

than running, optimizing 

brain function and giving 

us a sense of well-being. 

A HAPPY 

WALK 

UP AND DOWN 

U. of Georgia researchers found that 10 minutes 

of walking up and down stairs at a moderate pace 

was more effective at energizing people than 

taking 50 milligrams of caffeine, about what you’d 

get from a half cup of coffee or 12 ounces of soda. 

POTTY MOUTH 

A British Psychological 

Society study found 

that using profanity 

before pedaling on a 

stationary bike and 

before squeezing a 

handgrip produced 

more pedaling power 

and a stronger grip. 

CHRIS LUND; KEVIN HORTON 



HEALTH & NUTRITION 

GLUTEN-FREE BAD FOR 

HEART HEALTH 

70 

Percentage of 

your daily sodium 

intake that you 

get from packaged 

foods and eating 

out, according to a 

study in the journal 

Circulation. 

PERFECT PARTNERS 

Scientists at Johns Hopkins studied 

the survey responses and records of 

more than 10,000 Americans spanning 

almost 20 years and found that there 

seems to be a direct relationship 

between exercise and vitamin D that 

supersedes the health benefits of 

either factor by itself. 

The more the subjects exercised, 

the more vitamin D they had in their 

blood. In addition, the most active 

people—who also had the highest levels 

of vitamin D—ended up with the lowest 

risk of developing heart disease in 

the future. 

GETTY IMAGES 

SODA AND BRAIN DAMAGE 

Two Boston University diet 

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THE LEGENDARY AND BRUTAL WORKOUTS THAT BUILT THE PHYSIQUE 

OF EIGHT-TIME MR. OLYMPIA RONNIE COLEMAN (“LIGHT WEIGHT, BABY!”) 


MONDAY 

TUESDAY 

BACK 

BICEPS 

LEGS 

EXERCISE SETS REPS 

Barbell Curl 3 12 


Deadlift 4 6–12 

Dumbbell Curl 3 12 

Squat 5 10–12 

Barbell Row 3 10–12 

Cable Curl 3 12 

Leg Press 4 10–12 

CHRIS LUND, KEVIN HORTON 

T-bar Row 3 10–12 

One-arm 

Dumbbell Row 3 10–12 

SHOULDERS (P.M.) 

Military Press 4 10–12 

Seated 

Dumbbell Press 4 12 

Superset with 

Front Dumbbell Raise 4 12 

Walking Lunge 3 100 yd 

Stiff-legged Deadlift 3 12 

Seated Leg Curl 3 12

WEDNESDAY 

CHEST 


Barbell Bench Press 5 8–12 

Incline Barbell Press 3 8–12 

Decline Barbell Press 3 8–12 

Dumbbell Flye 3 8–12 

TRICEPS 

Overhead Extension 3 12 

Dumbbell Overhead 

Extension 4 12 

Close-grip Bench Press 4 12 

CALVES 

Standing Calf Raise 4 12 

Toe Press 4 12 

THURSDAY 

BACK 


Barbell Row 5 10–12 

Pulley Row 4 10–12 

Lat Pulldown 3 10–12 

Rear Lat Pulldown 3 10–12 

BICEPS 

Incline Dumbbell Curl 3 12 

Machine 

Preacher Curl 3 12 

Superset with 

Cable Curl 3 12 

SHOULDERS (P.M.) 

Seated 

Dumbbell Press 4 12 

Lateral Raise 3 8–25 

Machine Lateral 3 8–25 


SATURDAY 

CHEST 


Flat Bench 

Dumbbell Press 4 8–12 

Incline Dumbbell Press 3 8–12 

Decline Dumbbell Press 3 8–12 

Dumbbell Flye 3 8–12 

TRICEPS 

Skull Crusher 4 12 

Machine Dip 4 12 

Superset with 

Overhead Extension 4 12 

CALVES 

Donkey Calf Raise 4 12 

Seated Calf Raise 4 12 

FRIDAY 

LEGS 


Leg Extension 4 30 

Front Squat 4 12–15 

Hack Squat 3 12–15 

KEVIN HORTON, CHRIS LUND (2) 

Standing Leg Curl 3 12–15 

Lying Leg Curl 4 12–15 

MROLYMPIA.COM 6

THE 

TEN YEARS AFTER HE LAST 

COMPETED, THE EIGHT-TIME 

MR. OLYMPIA IS OLDER, WISER, 

BRUISED, AND BATTERED AND 

HARBORS AN UNWANTED 

CONSTANT COMPANION, BUT 

HE’S STILL IRREPRESSIBLY 

RONNIE “AIN’T NUTHIN’ BUT A 

PEANUT” COLEMAN. 

LION OF 

WINTER 

BY PETER McGOUGH 

MROLYMPIA.COM 31

IT’S ALWAYS 

THERE, 

ALWAYS. 

Oh, the intensity levels fluctuate; 

some days are not as bad as 

others, but it’s always there. Like 

death, taxes, and that annoying 

little Brit lizard on the Geico ads, 

it’s always there; a throbbing 

reminder of the ransom paid for 

past glories. What’s always there? 

In the case of eight-time (1998– 

2006) Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, 

it’s pain. At times stultifying pain, 

but it doesn’t stop him from 

being who he is and sustaining a 

philosophy he has followed since 

he started competitive bodybuilding 

back in 1990. 

This writer knows the pain 

is always there. I’ve seen it in 

his eyes. Let me tell you a story. 

Rewind to Sunday, March 6, 

earlier this year. I’m in the lobby 

of the Hilton Hotel in downtown 

Columbus, OH, the day after the 

conclusion of the 2017 Arnold 

Classic. It’s just after 6 p.m., and 

my wife and I are ready to go out 

CHRIS LUND 


KEVIN HORTON; CHRIS LUND 

gy j 

set to leave the lobby when a 

hobbling Ronnie Coleman 

appears, navigating his way 

through the hotel’s revolving 

doors. He is supported by two 

crutches, the legacy of surgeries 

from the past 10 years. He beams 

that big smile that has toured and 

beguiled the 

Arguably more 

famous for the 

weights he 

pushed in the gym 

than for winning 

eight straight 

Mr. Olympias, 

Ronnie Coleman 

remains a bodybuilder’s 

bodybuilder 

through 

and through. 

bodybuilding 

world for nearly 

three decades. 

Incidentally, in 

reference to the 

sobriquet “the 

Big Nasty,” it 

does not really 

fit him, as that 

smile could 

light up Ohio. I 

approach Ronnie 

and give him the 

traditional hug and exclaim, “Wow! 

Ronnie, is it raining outside? Your 

top is wet.” 

He grins and responds, “Nah, I 

just got back from the gym—that’s 

sweat, man.” 

He is a little unsteady as I ask 

almost incredulously, “You can 

hardly walk. What are you doing 

going to the gym after you have 

manned a booth the whole 

weekend, when anyone else who 

MROLYMPIA.COM 33

is here this evening is relaxing?” 

In that Southern lilt, Ronnie 

says, “I train every single day. 

It’s something I do, like going to 

church—it’s my duty.” 

Despite his assurance, it just 

didn’t make sense to me that 

he would submit his battered body 

to daily punishment, especially 

when he has every excuse to just 

put the dumbbells down and do 

curls with a few brews instead. 

It seemed incongruous to me 

that he is still using the tools that 

caused his incapacitation. But 

then I’m not Ronnie Coleman—you 

may have noticed. 

On that blustery Columbus 

evening we said our goodbyes, 

but the riddle of why Ronnie was 

still repping intrigued me, and I 

was determined to investigate his 

rationale on a deeper level at the 

next available opportunity. 

Big Ronnie was 

an underdog 

to Flex Wheeler, 

Kevin Levrone, 

Shawn Ray, and 

a host of others 

going into the 

1998 Mr. Olympia. 

But he did what 

those future 

legends never 

accomplished. 

THE INTERVIEW 

That chance came when my old 

buddy Shawn Perine, now VP and 

editorial director at AMI, asked 

me to interview Ronnie to get an 

update on his present situation. 

In opening, Ronnie listed the 

multiple surgeries he’s had since 

2007, the largesse from having 

eight Sandows on his mantelpiece. 

(On mine I have a photograph 

of me as 

a 5-year-old 

St. Hugh’s milk 

monitor and 

one of crazy 

Uncle Arthur 

strangling a 

stoat.) The 

surgeries 

represent a 

crazy list—our 

subject has 

been involved 

in more operations than Dwight 

Eisenhower in World War II. Neck, 

hips, back, knees, legs (why did 

the lyric “My hip bones connected 

to my backbone” drift into my 

consciousness?)—they’ve all been 

the focus of a surgeon’s knife. 

It’s the back surgeries that 

have been the most debilitating 

and have left him in crutch mode. 

The most serious took place on 

Feb. 2, 2016, a few days before 

he was about to get on a plane to 

fly home from Russia, when his 

legs gave way and he couldn’t 

walk. The problem was that four 

big screws inserted into his lower 

back during an earlier operation 

had broken and rendered 

him to nonwalking status. The 

subsequent operation to insert 

stronger screws took 13 hours, 

confining him to a hospital 

bed for a whole month as he 

became even more acquainted 

with his unwanted companion: 

constant pain. 

At that February 2016 point he 

was told that he would be on 

crutches for two years, during 

which time he would follow a 

CHRIS LUND 


NO GAIN, PLENTY 

OF PAIN 

constant pain for many years now. 

Luckily, I’ve always had a high 

tolerance for pain. A lot of people 

are in a much worse place than 

me, so I don’t dwell on it or feel 

sorry for myself. Look, I’ve been 

training for 28 years. Bodybuilding 

started out as a hobby for me. 

I joined the Arlington, TX, police 

department when I was 26. A 

fellow officer trained at the local 

Metroflex gym and persuaded me 

to go along and join him. The gym 

owner, Brian Dobson, saw me and 

told me I could be a bodybuilding 

world champion and said I should 

compete. I said, ‘Nah, I don’t want 

to do any bodybuilding, because 

you have to do all that dieting and 

the circumstances are. Even with 

my injuries I’m able to train every 

body part. But, nah, I don’t train 

heavy anymore.” 

Relieved that his days of 

800-pound squats are behind 

him. I ask him, given his present 

tribulations, does he ever in the 

dead of night ruminate on the 

situation and regret giving his 

body such a pounding over so 

many years? (For the record, 

besides those 800-pound squats, 

he’d rep out on the bench with 

CHRIS LUND 

FLEX |

500 pounds, do barbell rows with 

600 pounds, and complete seated 

presses with 375 pounds.) 

He almost shrieks in defiance, 

“No! No! I keep a positive mindset 

in everything I do. Do I regret 

using such heavy weights? No, 

those weights took me to eight 

Olympia titles when I never 

thought I’d win one. Those 

weights enabled me to retire from 

my job as a police officer. The 

results of those heavy weights 

took me all over the world to 

meet so many enthusiastic 

fans. It enabled me to buy my 

mom a brand-new house and a 

succession of new cars as a way 

of thanking her for the sacrifices 

she made for me. I never dreamed 

I would be able to repay her like 

that. I never dreamed I would be 

driving around in a Rolls-Royce. 

I’ve done everything I ever 

wanted to do in life because of 

bodybuilding and those heavy 

weights. There can be no better 

thing in life than getting paid well 

for just doing your hobby. So, 

no, I have no regrets about how I 

trained—don’t even think about it.” 

NO COMEBACKS 

After finishing fourth at the 2007 

Mr. Olympia, Ronnie still entertained 

thoughts of competing. As 

recently as 2012 he said he hadn’t 

ruled it out. It always seemed to me 

that Ronnie, maybe more than any 

other bodybuilder, loved competing 

and reveled in the onstage 

connection with an audience. 

Right: Coleman took on all 

challengers, such as Jay Cutler 

(center) and Victor Martinez. 

Below: He bested Cutler with 

this final rear lat spread to 

win the Challenge Round at the 

2004 Mr. Olympia. 

KEVIN HORTON 


Who was the greatest 

bodybuilder of all time? The 

debate continues. In this 

virtual posedown, Coleman 

and Arnold Schwarzenegger 

hit their best poses. You be 

the judge. 

40 FLEX | JULY/AUG ’17 

So how big a wrench was it 

for him to finally accept that he 

would never compete again? He 

answered softly and slowly: “I 

didn’t want to let go. It was really 

difficult for me to accept it was 

over. I wanted to go on competing, 

but my back injury gave me so 

much pain and restricted my 

movements and workload so much 

that I had to face facts and let go. 

I hated to admit it was over, but I 

knew there was no chance I could 

compete again at the highest level. 

So it was hard, but on the other 

hand there was a fait accompli feel 

about it. There was no room for 

discussion—I had no choice. I told 

myself, ‘You had a fabulous career; 

the truth is, you overachieved in 

winning eight Olympias. You’ve 

achieved a lot, and now as you 

look back at your legacy you have 

a lot to be proud of.’ ” 

His final words, “I’m happy with 

the life I’ve lived and the one I’m 

living now.” 

And Ronnie, we’re happy with 

the joy you gave us as you ruled 

your particular jungle like the lion 

you are, and the ferocious and 

brave lion you continue to be. The 

pain is always there, but also 

always there is your remarkable 

spirit and fortitude. You taught us 

many things in the gym and 

onstage, but with your present 

circumstances, with your undying 

resolve, positive attitude, 

and sheer will to persevere 

you are teaching us all how to 

embrace and live life. Thanks, 

Ronnie, for the memories 

and the lessons. Enjoy your 

winter; you’ve earned it. 

KEVIN HORTON; PER BERNAL; ART ZELLER/FITNESS PUBLICATIONS INC./COURTESY of WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS

1 ST ALL 

THE HOT 

TOPICS IN 

BODYBUILDING 

& FITNESS 

48 

PER BERNAL 

Mr. Olympia Phil Heath talks 

about the role of money in 

the sport and a possible 

posedown with Flex Lewis. 

PAGE 46 

The 212 Olympia champ Flex 

Lewis opens up about his 

various business ventures in 

the bodybuilding industry. 

PAGE 52 

Don’t have a regular training 

partner to help ramp up 

the intensity? Merlin has 

tricks for those who do it solo. 

PAGE 54 

Francis Benfatto had a 

classic physique before 

classic physique existed. 

Here’s his biceps routine. 

PAGE 58 

MROLYMPIA.COM 45

1ST SET 

ASK THE CHAMP 

BY PHIL HEATH, 

SIX-TIME REIGNING MR. OLYMPIA 

DIVIDENDS 

QUESTIONS 

ABOUT MONEY 

AND A POSSIBLE POSEDOWN 

WITH THE 212 CHAMP 

AS BODYBUILDING 

GROWS IN POPULARITY, 

DO YOU WORRY ABOUT 

THE INFLUENCE OF 

MONEY ON THE SPORT? 

I’m not worried at all. That’s the 

kind of worry we want to have. 

If it all goes to the athletes, then it’s 

a good thing for the athletes, and 

it’s a good thing for the sport. 

It’s not like the NFL—we don’t have 

data to quantify what kind of 

money is in the sport and where it 

all goes. Now that we’re growing 

again, I hope that will improve, 

and that the athletes will benefit 

from the growth as well. 

THE LIGHTWEIGHT 

CHAMP, FLEX 

LEWIS, HAS SAID HE 

WOULD LIKE TO DO A 

POSEDOWN ONSTAGE 

AT THE O WITH YOU, 

TO SHOW THE WORLD 

HOW THE LIGHTWEIGHT 

AND HEAVYWEIGHT 

CHAMPIONS COMPARE. 

IS THAT SOMETHING 

YOU’D CONSIDER DOING? 

I think it’s flattering. Flex Lewis 

is a champion, no doubt. I like the 

idea—show what it’s about the 

way Arnold and Franco did. But I 

would need to know more 

before I could get 100% behind 

the idea. The way the O contests 

are structured now is different 

than it was when lightweight 

and heavyweight competed as 

one group. What is the benefit of 

doing it—and is the benefit for 

the audience or the bodybuilders 

or both? Would it be an exhibition 

or a contest to win? Those 

would be some things I’d want 

to clarify first. 

WHAT’S THE 

MAXIMUM 

WEIGHT YOU ALLOW 

YOURSELF DURING 

THE OFF-SEASON? 

280 pounds. 

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MUSCLETECH.COM

1ST SET 

O ZONE 

I GOT 

SOMETHING 

TO SAY... 

JOE WEIDER’S 2017 

OLYMPIA WEEKEND is just 

around the corner, and as you can 

imagine, things are heating up! 

Josh Brown sat down with Mr. O 

top contender Shawn Rhoden, 

2016 Bikini O champ Courtney 

King, and 2017 Bikini International 

winner Angelica Teixeira for a 

series of hard-hitting interviews. 

Here are some excerpts to 

whet your appetite. For the full 

interviews, go to mrolympia.com. 

FLEXATRON 

FIRED UP! 

Shawn Rhoden, last year’s 

Mr. Olympia runner-up, unloads on 

the reigning Mr. O. You gotta read it 

to believe it. 

BIGGEST PET PEEVE 

People who try to be something 

that they’re not. 

HE’S A THREE-TIMER 

Phil [Heath] won only three Olympias 

to begin with. So, saying Phil has 

what it takes to be a 10-time Olympia 

winner—hey, congratulations on the 

six that you won, but in my opinion, 

you should have won only three. Kai 

[Greene] should have won in 2014. 

2015, and 2016. I don’t think Phil should 

have won. 

10? GIMME A BREAK! 

To say Phil is going to win 10 

Mr. Olympias is disrespectful to all 

the other athletes. I don’t know if 

he’s trying to psych himself up, but 

that shit doesn’t do anything for me 

but make me shake my head and say, 

“Hey, good luck!” There are too many 

good bodybuilders out there. Phil isn’t 

that far out from everybody else. He’s 

not dominating the sport. In 2012, yes, 

he looked great. Last year he was a 

little bit better, but he wasn’t someone 

you could shake your head at and 

say, “Hey, you know what? He’s going 

to win 10 Mr. Olympias.” 

STILL MORE ON 

WINNING 10 

You can’t be Mr. Olympia and 

have people boo you. You can’t be 

Mr. Olympia and have the audience 

walking out during the Olympia 

speech. So I don’t see him winning 

10. Not while I’m competing. 

LOW-ENERGY SHAWN? 

That’s a bunch of bullshit. [Laughing] 

I pride myself on certain things when 

it comes to bodybuilding. When you 

spend a lot of time practicing your 

posing, you’re not supposed to be 

up there shaking like a leaf. Practice 

makes perfect. There’s a look of 

confidence that says, “Hey, I’ve 

done all I could possibly do.” 

Bodybuilding is an art. It’s supposed 

to look effortless. You’re not 

supposed to be onstage fighting 

yourself to hit a pose. You should be 

able to hit a pose, have it pop, yet still 

look relaxed.” 

MY VICTORY SPEECH 

Thank you, guys, for walking with 

me. Thank you, guys, for your support 

and standing by me. I told you guys it 

was coming, and here we are. We did 

it together. 

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1ST SET 

O ZONE 

DO THE CLAWS 

COME OUT? 

COURTNEY I feel that the bikini 

division is the cattiest, where some 

girls won’t talk to one another. It’s like, 

why? I feel like, me, I get along with 

every single athlete. I’m never rude. 

That reminds me of high school 

stuff and not how I’d like to represent 

the IFBB. 

ANGELICA Thank God, no. 

Backstage the feeling is nothing is ever 

going to happen until we line up—then, 

OK, it’s on. But when we’re backstage, 

we kind of have fun. So, I can’t 

complain. I’ve never had this problem. 

GETTING R-E-S-P-E-C-T 

COURTNEY I do feel like we’re 

getting more respect. I feel like the 

bikini girls are setting a more athletic 

but feminine look. It’s showing you 

can’t just go and do yoga and train a 

couple of times a week. We train five, 

six, or even seven times a week like 

any other athlete. 

ANGELICA I think the respect is 

growing for sure. More people from 

outside the bodybuilding world come 

up and say how much they see how 

hard I diet, how dedicated I am, and 

how I’m giving it 100%. 

BIKINI RUMBLE 

Bikini O champ Courtney King and 

Angelica Teixeira, who avenged 

her 2016 O runner-up by beating King 

earlier this year at the Bikini International 

(by one point!), open up about their 

newfound rivalry. 

BIGGEST FEAR IN LIFE 

COURTNEY KING Not doing 

something I’m truly passionate about. 

A goal for me beyond the stage would 

be to focus on the bigger picture by 

helping people with holistic nutrition 

and pursuing what I really want to do 

beyond competing. 

ANGELICA TEIXEIRA I’m very 

close to my family, so to lose 

someone very close. So, you know, 

the only thing that I really fear in 

life is someone that I really love 

could die. Thank God that everybody 

is healthy. 

IF I COULD CHANGE... 

COURTNEY Not being such a 

people pleaser to everyone. I tend to 

do what other people want to do 

unless I put my foot down. 

ANGELICA My feet! I don’t like 

my feet. 

UNDER PRESSURE 

COURTNEY Pressure fuels 

me. When you’re on top, everyone 

wants to knock you off. I did the 

Arnold, and I did have pressure. 

People were asking me, “Why are you 

doing the show?” I said, “To prove I 

could still do it!” I actually got 

second to Angelica, but that is gonna 

fuel me so much more for the 

Olympia. Don’t look outside at 

anyone else, stay in your own head, 

and just focus on yourself, you 

can push past pressure and 

produce results. 

ANGELICA I don’t worry about 

who is going to be there. We have 

social media, of course, so I see 

other photos that come out. But I’m 

never trying to compare myself to 

them. I like to keep focused on myself 

and try to do my best. 

FAKERS BEWARE 

COURTNEY I don’t like to bash 

anyone. Whatever you think the ideal 

look of fitness is to you, whether 

it’s vegan, competing, having a fake 

butt—or whatever. Of course, I 

don’t think Photoshop sends the 

right message, because it portrays 

something fake or false to the 

audience. At the end of the day, as 

I said, whatever you think fitness 

should be is what you should follow. 

ANGELICA I feel a little down 

sometimes, because I see some 

people faking the fitness lifestyle. I’m 

not saying everybody is like this, but 

some people put on gym clothes, act 

like they are going to exercise, but 

they aren’t. They take a [fake] picture 

and buy followers and do very well. 

Sadly, most people can’t see what’s 

going on. I like to go to the gym 

and build muscle. That’s why I love 

bodybuilding. I have nothing against 

these people, but at least be real. 

Like, “OK, I bought it; this is an 

implant.” Because if you are telling 

your followers and you’re giving them 

a booty workout to get a booty like 

yours, but you bought it, how is that 

a good message? Photoshop is also 

an issue. It gives the illusion of a 

perfect body. I go to the gym no less 

than five times a week, and it’ll never 

be perfect. With a touch of the mouse, 

[some of the stars on social media] 

will be perfect. A lot of followers 

believe it and give up. 

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1ST SET 

O ZONE 

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1ST SET 

ASK MERLIN 

BY ERIC “MERLIN” BROSER 

Follow on Instagram: 

@coachericbroser 

FLYING SOLO 

INTENSITY 

TECHNIQUES FOR 

TRAINERS WHO 

WORK OUT ALONE 

DO YOU FEEL ONE CAN 

MAKE IT TO THE HIGHEST 

LEVELS OF BODYBUILDING 

WITHOUT HAVING A 

TRAINING PARTNER? I 

DESPERATELY WANT TO 

COMPETE SUCCESSFULLY 

AND MAKE A NAME FOR 

MYSELF IN THIS INDUSTRY, 

BUT MY PARTICULAR JOB 

FORCES ME TO TRAIN IN 

THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT 

WHEN EVERYONE ELSE IS 

FAST ASLEEP. 

Before I explore this interesting 

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reps or negatives) and needing to 

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still train “balls to the wall,” my friend! 

While I have had several 

amazing training partners in my 

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on my own for the majority of my 

career and yet managed to win 

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The keys to attacking the 

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2) utilizing intensity amplifiers that do 

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supersets, dropsets), and most 

important, 3) learning to be 100% 

self-motivated while consistently 

fostering the necessary drive/ 

passion to push yourself to your 

utmost limits in the gym day in and day 

out. In bodybuilding, it is the individual 

who is singularly responsible for his/ 

her own success or failure. 

2 

2 

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2 

2 

2 

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In fact, I can honestly say 

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1ST SET 

ASK THE CHAMP 

BY FLEX LEWIS, FIVE-TIME 

OLYMPIA 212 SHOWDOWN WINNER 

GROWTH 

INDUSTRY 

THE 212 

O CHAMP 

EXERCISES 

HIS BUSINESS 

ACUMEN 

YOU LAUNCHED 

A NEW COMPANY 

AT THE ARNOLD 

CLASSIC. WHAT 

IS THE NEW 

COMPANY AND 

HOW MANY 

DIFFERENT 

BUSINESSES 

DO YOU HAVE? 

I’ve enjoyed working on 

the entrepreneurial side 

of the industry and take 

some pride in the 

companies I’ve been 

involved in creating. 

Bodybuilding has been 

at the center of it all. 

Here’s a quick overview: 

At the 2017 Arnold, 

my business partner, 

Scott James, and 

I were showcasing a 

new company, Dragon 

Neutraceuticals 

(dragonnutra.com), 

which specializes in 

topical creams. 

We have products such 

as PharmaLean, an 

anticellulite firming 

cream that is available in 

a roll-on form and in a 

precision pen, and 

PharmaFreeze, which is 

a topical muscle rub. 

Arsenal Strength 

(myarsenalstrength 

.com) offers Americanmade 

gym equipment, 

specializing in strength 

performance. It’s 

a line of ergonomically 

designed equipment, 

like plate-loaded, 

pin-select, specialty 

benches, which 

are fully adjustable. 

Arsenal Strength 

offers gym design 

services, too, and 

there’s also a lot of 

amazing apparel. 

Sinister Labs 

(sinisterlabs.co), which 

is branded as the 

world’s first hardcore 

food company, is a 

functional food 

company. Basically it’s 

food for people who 

train: caffeine-infused 

spreads and powders. 

There are almond and 

peanut spreads and 

chocolate and honey 

powders, and it comes 

in flavors like Caramel, 

Vanilla, and White 

Chocolate. 

The Flex Lewis 

brand (flexlewis.net) 

includes Project Flex, 

the Flextraordinary 

label, my training DVDs, 

accessories, clothes, 

and all that stuff that 

has to do most directly 

with my own career. 

The website is a place 

where fans can find out 

the latest in regard to 

what irons I’ve got in the 

fire, whether it’s social 

media, charities I’m 

supporting, or events 

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1ST SET 

RETRO ATHLETE 

BY GREG MERRITT 

FRANCIS 

BENFATTO 

THIS PARADIGM 

OF CLASSICAL 

BODYBUILDING WAS 

BOTH BEHIND AND 

AHEAD OF HIS TIME 

BORN IN 1957, Francis 

Benfatto was a man out of time 

when he made his pro debut in 

1988. If he had been born a 

decade prior, his classical 

physique may have allowed him 

to challenge the similarly 

constructed Frank Zane for the 

Olympia title. And if he had been 

born three decades later, he 

might be a favorite for this year’s 

Classic Physique 

FLEX FACT 

IN THE 1992 O, 

BENFATTO 

BEAT FUTURE 

EIGHT-TIME 

MR. O RONNIE 

COLEMAN. 

Olympia. Instead, 

over 19 pro shows 

from 1988 to 

1993, the 5'6" 

Frenchman 

struggled to carve 

out his own niche 

as size standards 

expanded. He found his greatest 

success on the Olympia stage, 

finishing sixth in the drug-tested 

1990 O and seventh the following 

year. Always, he maintained his 

classical shape: narrow hips, 

V-shape torso, flowing lines, 

artistic poses. His legs lagged, 

but his delts and arms could win 

shots. In 2006, at age 48 and after 

13 years away from the stage (and 

a torn pec), he made a surprising 

comeback in the Australian Pro, 

finishing a respectable sixth and 

leaving us to wonder what 

could’ve been if only he’d been 

born earlier or later. 

BENFATTO 

ON BICEPS 

TRAINING 

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1ST SET 

DANY 

GARCIA 

WHICH DO YOU RELY 

ON MORE, FREE 

WEIGHTS OR 

MACHINES? WHY? 

On most occasions, 

my workout routines 

are balanced equally 

between both. Many 

times the amount of 

weight and joint stability 

I require for the 

movement will dictate 

whether I will need to 

move to a machine. 

RHODEN 

DO YOU WORK OUT IN 

THE MORNINGS OR 

EVENINGS? IF IN THE 

MORNINGS, DO YOU 

EAT BEFOREHAND? 

I always look to 

train in the morning, 

approximately an hour 

after eating. Getting that 

done early clears the 

way for everything else 

I hope to accomplish 

during the day. 

A LOT OF US WERE EXPECTING TO 

SEE YOU AT THE ARNOLD CLASSIC 

IN COLUMBUS. WHAT HAPPENED? 

I never requested to compete at the 

2017 Arnold Classic in Ohio—that was 

just a misunderstanding. Early on, 

my name was put on the list in error. 

I competed at the Olympia Europe 

after a very busy end of the season, 

and to be in the Arnold Classic 

I would have had to jump back into 

prep in January. It was going to be 

too much time away from my family 

after too much time away already. 

I have a 21-month-old toddler at 

home, and I wanted to be around 

more for her. 

WE HEARD YOU WENT TO 

DISNEYLAND. ARE YOU A 

ROLLER-COASTER FAN? 

The fastest ride I go on at Disneyland 

is the Pirates of the Caribbean. You’ll 

never catch me on a roller coaster. 

WILLIAM BONAC 

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1ST SET 

WEIDER ATHLETES WEIGH IN 

STEVE KUCLO 

AS YOU’VE GOTTEN 

OLDER, WHAT SORTS 

OF MODIFICATIONS 

HAVE YOU MADE TO 

YOUR DIET? 

One of the things I have 

noticed is that my 

appetite is not quite as 

strong as it used to be 

when I was in my early 

20s. Now I still eat 

a lot of food, but as I 

have put on more and 

more muscle over the 

years and “muscle 

maturity” kicked in, I find 

I don’t quite need as 

much food to maintain 

my muscle mass. 

Now, I do have a 

really good metabolism, 

so I have to make sure I 

eat a lot or I will lose 

weight quickly. I adapted 

in ways that I don’t eat 

as much protein as I 

used to, but my carbs 

are much higher than 

they used to be. I can 

handle a lot of food now 

and stay leaner, and I 

believe that comes with 

conditioning over the 

years. I recall after 

bodybuilding shows I 

gained anywhere from 

20 to 40 pounds within a 

week—not fun! Now 

after a show if I have a 

few meals, I may go up 

only five or 10 pounds. 

Learning and listening to 

my body over the years 

is key! 

JUAN MOREL 

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LIF 

TRAINING 

TIPS 

TO POWER 

UP YOUR 

WORKOUTS 

68 

PER BERNAL 

Having a big bench press is at the 

top of most wish lists...but does going too 

heavy do more harm than good for 

building massive pecs? Find out here! 

PAGE 72 

You want to be wide. No, you want 

to be really, really wide. Neil Hill shows 

you how to do it with these exclusive, 

hard-hitting shoulder workouts. 

PAGE 74 

Isolate this head of the three-headed 

beast known as the triceps to give 

your arms that sleeve-busting, 

tape-stretching look you desire. 

PAGE 78 

MROLYMPIA.COM 67

LIFT 


MUSCLE 

MULTITASKING 

WITH STAGGERED SETS, YOU WORK 

TWO DIVERSE AREAS TOGETHER 

abs with any other 

body part. Because 

you don’t want your 

grip lessened when 

doing, say, pulldowns, 

forearms should be 

worked only with legs; 

for similar reasons, 

calves can be worked 

with anything but legs. 

Any staggered work 

for biceps, triceps, or 

deltoids should also not 

rob strength from the 

bigger body part. So 

you can stagger in 

pushdowns with legs 

but not with chest 

presses (which also 

work triceps). 

In addition, cardio 

can be staggered into 

your weight training. 

Do 10- to 15-minute 

sessions of highintensity 

cardio 

between body parts. 

For example, work 

quads, hit the StepMill 

for 10 minutes, work 

hams, hit the treadmill 

for 10 minutes, work 

calves, and finish off 

with 10 minutes of 

elliptical. Instead of 30 

minutes of continuous 

tedium, you’ve broken it 

into more palatable 

pieces and kept your 

enthusiasm, focus, 

and intensity elevated. 

And such up-tempo 

intervals are better for 

burning fat than longer, 

lower tempo work. 

There are three ways 

to do staggered sets: 

STOP WASTING 

TIME. There’s a lot 

of idleness in a workout. 

All those rests 

between sets are 

lost opportunities to 

stimulate growth. Of 

course, you don’t want 

to take away from the 

muscles you’re resting, 

but you can work an 

unrelated muscle during 

that downtime. By 

hitting two body parts 

in the period that you’d 

normally work one, 

you can multitask your 

way to greater gains. 

MUSCLE 

MULTITASKING 

As a name, “staggered 

sets” is lame. “Diverse 

attack” would be clearer 

(and cooler), but 

“staggered” means you 

can work a smaller body 

part by alternating its 

sets with only some 

of the sets of a bigger 

body part. Smaller 

usually means calves, 

abs, and forearms, 

though it might also 

mean biceps, triceps, or 

deltoids. You can train 

Unrelated Supersets 

Alternate a set for a bigger 

body part, like the back, with 

one for a smaller, unrelated 

body part, like calves. You 

probably won’t want to do 

as many sets for the smaller 

body part, so simply skip 

supersetting one or two 

exercises. For example, if you 

do 16 sets and four exercises 

for the back, you’ll do 12 sets 

and three exercises for calves. 

Asymmetrical Combos 

Do one set for the smaller 

body part for every two or 

more sets for the larger body 

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LIFT 

TRAINING STYLES 

part. For example, complete 

one set for abs between 

every two sets for arms, and 

after 12 sets for bi’s and 12 

for tri’s, you’ll also have 

cranked out 12 for abs. This 

is the classic method of 

staggering. 

Between Exercises 

Perform one set for a smaller 

body part between exercises 

for larger body parts. For 

example, throw in a wrist 

curl set after completing 

every leg exercise, and over 

the course of a workout 

consisting of four exercises 

for quads and three for hams, 

you’ll squeeze in seven 

sets for forearms, almost 

without noticing. 

FAST BUT 

NOT FURIOUS 

As with other types of 

multitasking, staggered 

sets save time. By filling 

in some of your rest 

periods with work, you 

can reduce the length 

of workouts. But 

perhaps the greater 

advantage is the 

reduction in tedium. 

Face it, some exercises 

are boring. Most of us 

would rather be doing 

heavy incline presses 

than knocking out 

another high-rep set of 

leg raises. This is why 

too many of us focus 

more on the former than 

the latter. By staggering 

work for calves, abs, 

and forearms as well 

as cardio, you don’t 

have to slog through a 

focused routine for 

those areas. In essence, 

you trick yourself into 

doing the work you might 

have been tempted to 

skimp on or skip. 

There are potential 

pitfalls to staggering. 

First, if done incorrectly 

it can rob valuable 

recovery time and 

strength from one or 

both areas. To prevent 

this, stick to our 

prescriptions for 

staggering calves with 

upper-body muscles, 

forearms with lowerbody 

muscles, and abs 

and cardio with 

anything. Staggering can 

also reduce your focus. 

But this often depends 

on the workout. If you’re 

pyramiding up to a 

personal best in the 

squat, don’t crank out 

sets of hanging leg 

raises between every 

two sets. 

Finally, whenever 

you pair two different 

exercises, there may be 

logistical issues. It can 

be difficult to keep dibs 

on two gym stations. 

With staggering, this 

is compounded by the 

fact that you may be 

doing multiple sets of 

one exercise before one 

set of another, and, 

because you’re working 

diverse body parts, the 

stations may be far 

apart. Sometimes 

you can do both in the 

same spot. Other times, 

because you won’t have 

a lot of time to wait, 

prepare to change it up. 

If you were staggering 

in standing calf raises 

but someone has 

staked a claim on the 

machine during your 

absence, switch to a 

different calf exercise. 

STAGGERED 

SETS BASICS 

Train a smaller body part 

during rest periods while 

working a bigger body part. 

Make certain the smaller 

body part isn’t stressed 

during compound exercises 

for the larger body part. 

Abs, calves, forearms, 

and cardio are the best 

candidates for staggered 

sets. 

STAGGERED 

SETS TIP SHEET 

The classic method of 

staggering is to alternate one 

set for the smaller body part 

between every two or more 

sets for the larger body part. 

Try to plan combinations 

that you can do in the same 

area. For example, dumbbell 

flyes and crunches can be 

done on the same bench. 

Don’t stagger if you need 

the rest period to recover 

from an exhausting set. 

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present. Facebook logo is owned by Facebook Inc. Read the entire label and follow directions. © 2017

LIFT 

LAB TO GYM 

BY BRYAN HAYCOCK PH.DC 

LIGHTEN 

UP, DUDE! 

WHY GOING TOO HEAVY COULD 

BE BAD FOR A BIGGER CHEST 

HYPOTHESIS 

The bench press is 

one of the most popular 

gym exercises. As a 

compound exercise, it 

brings multiple muscle 

groups—including the 

delts and triceps—into 

play as prime movers 

and stabilizers that 

must work together 

to balance, direct 

movement, and generate 

force. It’s easy to think 

that the activity of the 

primary muscle groups 

involved would simply 

increase as the load 

increases. However, 

recent research calls 

this into question. 

RESEARCH 

A study published in the 

Journal of Strength & 

Conditioning Research 

examined the impact 

that increasing loads 

has on the activation 

and contributions of the 

chest, front delt, triceps, 

and lats during the 

bench press. Subjects 

performed consecutive 

sets of a single repetition 

of a bench press with 

an increasing load 

(about 70, 80, 90, and 

100% of their 1RM) while 

electromyography (EMG) 

readings were taken 

from the aforementioned 

muscle groups. 

FINDINGS 

To the researcher’s 

surprise, the chest, 

which is normally the 

prime mover, changes 

to a “supportive” prime 

mover when the load 

reaches maximum. In 

other words, as the 

weight increases from 

80 to 90 to 100% of 

the subject’s 1RM, the 

chest’s contribution 

gives way to the front 

delts and triceps, 

which essentially take 

over as primer movers. 

CONCLUSION 

As the weight used 

during bench press 

increases from about 

70 to 100% 1RM, the 

shoulders and triceps 

become the prime 

movers of the exercise. 

APPLICATION 

The activation of the 

chest peaked before 

reaching 100% 1RM. 

This tells us that the 

most efficient way to 

train the chest is not 

with maximum loads. 

To put the focus on 

building the chest, 

75 to 85% 1RM is 

best. The authors of 

the study also confirm 

that to protect the 

shoulders from injury 

while maintaining the 

effectiveness of the 

exercise, the bar should 

be brought down to the 

nipple line, and the hand 

placement should be 

within 1.5 times the 

biacromial width, or the 

width from the far end 

of the right collarbone to 

the far end of the left. 

PAVEL YTHJALL 


LIFT 

NEIL “YODA” HILL 

BY NEIL HILL 

SHOULDER 

SATURATION 

WILLIAM BONAC’S 12-WEEK DELT PROGRAM 

SINCE HIS FIRST open-class 

Mr. Olympia appearance as part 

of Team Y3T in 2014, William 

Bonac has grown to become one 

of the most feared athletes 

onstage in bodybuilding. After his 

dominating display in 2016 at the 

Mr. Olympia (where he took fifth), 

we came up with a game plan to 

improve for 2017. 

One of the key areas was 

adding more width to Bonac’s 

already freaky deltoids in order to 

emphasize that taper from the 

front and back. We also wanted 

to bring more width to his upper 

back and posterior deltoid tie-in. 

Varied Angles 

With Bonac, his Y3T program will 

always introduce new angles into 

his workout to not only add width 

and fullness to the area but also 

emphasize the tie-in across his 

posterior deltoids into his upper 

back. This is an area where we’ve 

really focused on this year, as 

it will add more maturity and 

width to Bonac’s physique. For 

instance, one Y3T workout might 

consist of using conventional 

lateral raises superset with 

partial lateral raises. The next 

workout might focus on lying 

cable incline lateral raises. The 

point is, to maximize shoulder 

development there must be a 

varied use of angles to target the 

same muscle using the same 

exercise. Another important thing 

to consider in relation to angles 

is range of motion. I will often 

shorten the range of motion 

Bonac is doing in order to keep 

the target area under tension. 

Rep-Tempo Manipulation 

As with all Y3T workouts, one 

of the key principles I focus on 

is prescribing very specific rep 

tempos. We’ve used a crosssection 

of more explosive- 

WORKOUTS 

WEEK 1 Y3T 

Seated Dumbbell Press 3 8–12 

Bentover Lateral Raise 4 8–12 

NOTES: Eccentric phase three seconds; 

rest period between working sets 90 seconds. 

WEEK 2 Y3T (ALTERNATE) 

4 

3 

4 

WEEK 2 Y3T 

Standing Barbell Power Press 6 14–20 

Reverse Pec Deck 4 14–20 



WEEK 3 Y3T 

2 

2 

Cable Lateral Raise 4 14–20 

Bentover Cable Lateral Raise 4 14–20 



4 

4 

2 

Seated Dumbbell Press 4 (dropsets) 20–25 

SUPERSET WITH 

Overhead Cable Crossover 4 20–25 



4 

IAN SPANIER 


ased tempos to target the 

fast-twitch fibers in certain 

workouts and slowed things 

down significantly in other 

workouts to hit slow-twitch 

fibers. Some workouts there will 

be a range of rep tempos used in 

order to make a specific area of 

the deltoids work harder. For 

instance, the posterior deltoid 

is harder to isolate in many 

instances, therefore the rep 

tempo is designed to make this 

more achievable. 

Rotating Rep Ranges 

Usually a Y3T split will work over 

three weeks focusing on lower 

reps in Week 1, moderate reps in 

Week 2, and higher reps in Week 

3. However, the deltoids have 

more slow-twitch fibers than 

many other muscle groups. 

As a result, to get as much 

fullness into Bonac’s deltoids as 

possible—leading to extra width— 

we’ve focused on more Week 2 

and Week 3 Y3T workouts. We’re 

still doing Week 1 shoulder 

workouts, but we’re investing 

more of his training time on 

shoulders in the Week 2 and 

Week 3 ranges. 

Training Frequency 

Bonac will have additional 

posterior-deltoid work to include 

within back training. This means 

that this specific area of his 

deltoids is being stimulated more 

frequently, thus leading to quicker 

improvements within the area. 

Machines, Cables, 

and Free Weights 

Cables are a phenomenal training 

tool for achieving added time 

under tension, making them a 

perfect choice for Week 2 and 

Week 3 Y3T workouts. This lends 

itself perfectly toward maximizing 

sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. 

However, during a Week 1 in 

which we want to be more 

explosive, using free weights and 

machines is often favorable. 

THE SCHEDULE 

You can complete this shoulder 

workout cycle over four weeks, 

but the program is designed to 

last 12 weeks. Once you have 

completed all four weeks, repeat 

the program again for another 

four weeks, then repeat again for 

another four weeks. 

1 

2 Week 2 Y3T (Alternate) 

3 

4 Week 3 Y3T 

5 


7 

8 Week 3 Y3T 

9 


12 Week 3 Y3T 

Subscribe to Hill’s free daily e-mails 

at y3tdisciple.com.

LIFT 

ON TRIAL 

BY BRYAN HAYCOCK PH.DC 

HATE DOING 

CARDIO BUT 

WANT TO 

TORCH FAT? 

FOLLOW THESE TWO SIMPLE TIPS 

OPENING ARGUMENTS 

Defense: Whether you enjoy 

cardio or not, it’s a necessity 

for bodybuilders who want 

to significantly reduce body fat 

in a reasonable period of time. 

If the primary goal of doing 

cardio is to burn fat, as opposed 

to increasing aerobic endurance, 

one should perform cardio on 

an empty stomach. Insulin, which 

is the body’s primary storage 

hormone, reduces fat mobilization 

and oxidation. Insulin is higher 

after eating a meal. Thus, 

performing cardio while in a 

fasted state should lead to the 

highest level of fat oxidation. 

Prosecution: Performing cardio 

in a fasted state will not lead to 

greater loss of body fat because 

the body will adapt, and if you 

burn more fat for fuel during 

a given time period, you will just 

burn more carbohydrates and 

less fat later in the day. 

EVIDENCE 

Studies have shown that performing 

a single bout of exercise in the fasted 

states increases fat oxidation compared 

with the same exercise in a fed state. 

Research has shown that exercise 

can increase 24-hour fat oxidation 

but only if it is performed before eating 

the first meal of the day. 

A study looking at changes in body 

composition over the course of four 

weeks of training in a fasted and a fed 

state failed to show statistically 

significant differences between fed 

and fasted cardio. 

Though not statistically significant, the 

same study did show 60% greater fat 

loss in the fasted group compared with 

the fed group over four weeks, even 

though caloric intake was matched. 

VERDICT 

In general, doing your cardio on 

an empty stomach will enhance 

fat burning compared with cardio 

done after a meal. 

SENTENCING 

Doing cardio before the first meal 

of the day, when insulin is lowest, 

reduces fat mobilization and 

oxidation. When you first begin 

your diet, do your cardio on 

an empty stomach if possible. 

Then, as you get closer to the 

show and your body fat is low, 

switch to doing cardio after a 

small meal in order to preserve 

muscle mass. 

PER BERNAL 


LIFT 

CROSSHAIRS 

BY BRYAN HAYCOCK, PH.D. 

triceps means “three heads”— 

the medial, the lateral, and 

the long head. The long head 

is arguably larger than the 

other two, so focusing on it 

is a good way to develop 

triceps mass. To place more 

emphasis on the long head, 

use movements with arms 

extended above your head, 

such as overhead triceps 

extensions. This places the 

long head in a stretched 

position. Another good way 

3 

3 

TITANIC 

TRICEPS 

FOCUS ON THE LONG 

HEAD FOR KING-SIZE ARMS 

TRICEPS 

Although muscle shape 

is largely determined by 

genetics, ensuring that 

each portion, or head, of 

a muscle group is fully 

developed will go a long 

way toward equalizing 

the differences among 

them. The triceps are a 

good example. The word 

to activate the long head is 

to use an exercise that forces 

you to resist arm abduction 

(that is, pulling the arms 

away from the body). Two 

examples of this would be 

triceps kickbacks and 

pushdowns with elbows held 

in front of the body. Both of 

these cause the long head 

to contract in order to keep 

the upper arm stationary 

during the movement. 

Alternatives: Lying triceps 

extensions with arms angled 

overhead. Overhead triceps 

extensions using midcable 

with a forward-leaning body 

position. 

When to focus on the long 

head: Train underdeveloped 

muscles at the beginning 

of your workout. Warm up 

the elbows with pushdowns 

before going heavy. 

Form and function: The 

origin of the long head is on 

the infraglenoid tubercle of 

the scapula (the underside 

of the shoulder blade near 

the shoulder joint). The 

insertion is at the olecranon 

process of ulna (the back 

of the elbow). 

KEVIN HORTON 


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NUTRITION TIPS TO FUEL TRAINING AND GROWTH 

88 

SALLY WILLIAMS/GETTY IMAGES 

Not into cabbage? Then try 

bok choy, the Chinese version, with 

good old chicken, for a healthy meal. 

PAGE 84 

Who isn’t sweet on tasty 

sweet potatoes? Eat for energy with 

these five simple recipes. 

PAGE 86 

Try Pre W.O. from Dymatize 

for explosive training sessions and 

eye-popping muscle gains. 

PAGE 92 

MROLYMPIA.COM 83

FOOD & SUPPS 

MEAL OF THE MONTH 

CHICKEN 

BOK CHOY 

SAUTE 

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INGREDIENTS 

CALORIES 

DIRECTIONS 

PROTEIN 

CARBS 

FAT 

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FOOD & SUPPS 

1 FOOD, 5 WAYS 

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A-OK 

POTATOES 

EAT FOR ENERGY WITH 

THESE FIVE TASTY 

AND HEALTHY RECIPES 

4 

SERVE THEM 

Peel a sweet potato, then 

grate on a box grater’s large 

holes. Place potato on a plate 

and stir in 2 tbsp water. 

Season with tsp ground 

nutmeg and salt and pepper 

to taste. Cover with wax 

paper. Microwave until soft, 

about 5 minutes. 

1 

2 

3 

5 

COOK A 

SPAETZLE 

EAT THEM 

GRILLED 

MAKE A 

TRUFFLE 

NUKE THEM INTO 

CHIPS 

Spray a plate with nonfat 

cooking spray and sprinkle 

with a dash of Old Bay 

Seasoning. Peel a sweet 

potato, then slice inch 

thick with a mandoline. 

Place slices on plate in a 

single layer. Sprinkle with 

Old Bay and microwave 

for 1 minute. Flip chips over 

and microwave for an 

additional minute. Repeat 

process for remaining slices. 

Blend 1 cup peeled grated 

sweet potato, 1 tbsp cold 

water, ¼ cup egg-white 

powder, and salt and nutmeg 

to taste. With a spatula, push 

mixture through a colander 

and into a pot of 6 quarts 

boiling water. Cook 10 

seconds; drain. Cook spaetzle 

on a skillet until lightly 

browned. Add chopped sage, 

spinach, and chicken stock. 

Cook until stock thickens. 

Preheat grill to high. Peel a 

sweet potato, then cut into 

½-inch-thick disks. Lay them 

on grill, spray with nonfat 

cooking spray, and season 

with salt and pepper to 

taste; grill 2 minutes per 

side. Mix ½ tbsp coconut 

nectar with ½ tsp minced red 

jalapeño. Drizzle over disks. 

Top disks with 1 tbsp plain 

fat-free Greek yogurt and 

3 tbsp pumpkin seeds. 

Place ½ cup peeled grated 

sweet potato in a bowl and 

microwave 2 to 3 minutes. 

Stir in 2½ tsp cocoa powder, 

2 packets monk fruit powder, 

½ tsp coconut oil, and salt to 

taste; freeze 4 minutes. In a 

separate bowl, combine 

2¼ tsp shredded coconut and 

½ tsp erythritol. Form potato 

mixture into 2 balls, place in 

shredded coconut bowl, and 

coat completely. 

GETTY IMAGES 


FOOD & SUPPS 

ASK THE R.D. 

I DON’T LIKE SPORTS 

DRINKS OR ANY OF 

THAT SUGARY STUFF. 

ARE THERE ANY FRUITS 

I CAN HAVE POST- 

WORKOUT INSTEAD? 

—MICHAEL A., CARMEL, IN 

CARBOHYDRATES 

are very important for 

stopping the catabolic 

effect that training 

causes. Consume them 

as soon as possible 

after training—if you go 

without them for more 

than a couple of hours 

after your workout, the 

window that allows for 

your best gains closes 

until your next lift. 

There’s another 

reason, too. If you’re 

training hard, you’re 

depleting your muscles’ 

glycogen levels, which 

need to be replenished. 

This necessitates taking 

in carbs—with some 

protein mixed in—so 

you can refill glycogen 

stores and be fully 

recovered for your next 

session. (Recommended 

carbs-to-protein 

ratios usually range 

from 2-to-1 to 4-to-1.) 

According to dietitian 

Chris Mohr, Ph.D., 

sports drinks are a 

good choice for 

endurance athletes, but 

fruit is better after the 

average weight-training 

session. “Fruits provide 

the necessary carbs, 

as well as nutrients, 

which are great for 

your body, like fiber, 

vitamin C, and a whole 

slew of other powerful 

vitamins, minerals, and 

antioxidants,” Mohr says. 

It’s also always 

preferable to take in 

some natural sugars 

rather than the 

processed sugars like 

high-fructose corn 

syrup that are added 

to most sports drinks. 

If you can supplement 

the fruit with a 

protein shake made 

with skim milk (which 

provides more helpful 

carbs through lactose) 

it should provide 

optimal recovery. Or, 

as Mohr suggests, just 

toss the fruit into 

the blender while you 

make your postworkout 

shake. Greek 

yogurt with fruit is 

another option. 

As for which 

particular fruits to go 

for, check out our 

suggestions below. 

DID YOU 

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SUPP OF THE MONTH 

BY ADAM GONZALEZ 

DYNAMITE 

WORKOUTS 

TRY PRE W.O. FROM DYMATIZE FOR 

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TO GET THE MOST FROM 

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Citrulline and arginine 

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Caffeine increases 

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Anhydrous caffeine provides 

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BY JOE WUEBBEN 

MROLYMPIA.COM 101


We use machines to build 

things every day. Machines 

build cars; they build roads; 

they build computers; they 

build robots. So why not build 

your body with machines? 

Ask a dozen trend-following New Age trainers this question, and 

about 10 of them will respond emphatically, “Because machines 

aren’t functional.” 

Incorrect. Machines are without a doubt functional—that is, 

functional at building lean muscle mass in all areas of the body, in 

this instance the pecs. We’re big fans of dumbbells and barbells 

on chest day, but we’re also proponents of selectorized chest 

press machines, Hammer Strength equipment, and cablecrossover 

stations. 

Machine presses allow you to overload the pecs without calling 

on as many smaller assistance muscles to help balance the load 

and keep it on the right path of motion, as is the case with free 

weights. More overload equals more growth potential. And cables? 

Frankly, we generally prefer them to dumbbells on flye movements 

because of the constant tension they provide through every inch 

of every rep. 

Please, don’t ditch the free weights. All we’re asking is that you 

take a month or so to focus on machine moves for your chest 

workouts using the following pec-training program. Load up the 

weights on machine presses, feel the burn on cable crossovers, 

and enjoy your newfound mass before refocusing on dumbbells 

and barbell work to build even more size. 

MACHINE-MADE PECS PROGRAM 

PER BERNAL 

Q Below are four separate 

machine-only chest workouts 

to be performed over the 

course of four weeks—Workout 

1 in the first week, Workout 2 in 

the second week, and so on. 

Q Do the workouts on whatever 

day you would normally train 

chest. If you typically train 

another muscle group with the 

chest (for example, triceps, 

biceps, or shoulders), feel free 

to train it as you normally would 

after the chest workout. 

Q These workouts were written 

to be your only chest training 

during the four-week period. 

However, if you’re dead set on 

training your pecs twice per 

week and/or refuse to give up 

free-weight chest exercises for 

an entire month, you can add 

one lower-volume free-weight 

chest workout to each week as 

you wish; just make sure to 

space the two chest workouts 

at least 72 hours apart to 

ensure recovery. 


Workout 1: All Straight Sets 

Smith Machine 

Bench Press 

4 12 

Cable Crossover 3 15 

Workout 2: Dropsets 

Smith Machine 

Incline Press 

Low-pulley Cable 

Crossover 

4 

3 

4 8 

4 8 

3 10** 

3 

MROLYMPIA.COM 103

MACHINE-MADE 

PECS PROGRAM 


Workout 3: Pre-exhaust + Supersets 

Pec Deck 4 12 

Hammer Strength 

Incline Press 

superset with 

C a b l e C r o s s ove r 

4 

3 

3 

10 

15 

Workout 4: Pre-exhaust + Supersets 

+ Dropsets 

Low-pulley Cable 

Crossover 

superset with 

Hammer Strength 

Incline Press 

4 

4 

4 

3 

10 

10 

10 

Pec Deck 3 12** 

HAMMER STRENGTH 

BENCH PRESS 

HOW-TO Adjust the seat of the machine so the 

handles are in line with your middle chest (not down 

at your lower chest or up above your shoulders). Sit 

with your back flat against the pad, feet on the floor 

and grasping the handles. Contract your pecs to 

press the handles out and up (the machine’s fixed 

path of motion). Stop just shy of elbow lockout, then 

slowly lower back down without letting the weight 

rest on the machine between sets. 

HAMMER STRENGTH VARIANTS Hammer 

Strength offers chest press machines that mimic 

incline (as shown below) and decline presses; these 

are great options, provided the gym you train at has 

them. Utilize whatever Hammer Strength equipment 

you can, alternating between different angles on a 

regular basis. 

SMITH MACHINE 

INCLINE PRESS 

HOW-TO Center an incline bench in a Smith 

machine so that the bar touches your upper chest 

at the bottom of each rep. Lie back on the bench, 

grab the bar outside shoulder width, unhook the 

latches, and begin with your arms extended. Slowly 

lower the bar to your chest, touch down lightly, 

then press the bar back up to the arms extended 

position without locking out your elbows. 

SMITH MACHINE VARIANTS Smith machine 

flat and decline presses can be done by simply 

adjusting the bench to the appropriate angle and 

performing the same motion. When doing this, slide 

the bench forward to make sure the bar touches 

your middle/lower chest at the bottom of each rep. 


MROLYMPIA.COM 105

CABLE 

CROSSOVER 

HOW-TO 

Stand in the middle 

of a cablecrossover 

station 

with D-handles 

attached to both 

columns at roughly 

shoulder height. 

Grab the handles, 

step forward to lift 

the weight off the 

stacks, and start 

with your arms 

extended out to 

your sides. With 

a slight bend in 

your elbows and 

your torso upright 

throughout, 

contract your 

pecs to pull your 

hands together 

out in front of you. 

When your hands 

meet, squeeze 

your pecs for a 

count, then slowly 

return to the start 

position. 

CABLE 

CROSSOVER 

VARIANTS 

Crossovers 

can and should 

be performed 

from a variety of 

angles to target 

all areas of 

the chest. Focus 

on the upper 

pecs by moving 

the cable pulleys 

to their lowest 

settings and 

pulling the handles 

upward so your 

hands meet in 

front of your 

upper chest. To 

target the lower 

pecs, keep the 

pulleys up high 

and bring your 

hands together 

at waist height. 


PER BERNAL 

PEC DECK 

HOW-TO Adjust the seat of a 

flye machine so that the handles 

are at chest level. Sit on the seat 

with your back flat against the 

pad, grasp the handles, and begin 

with your arms straight out to the 

sides and your elbows slightly 

bent. Contract your pecs to bring 

your hands together. When your 

hands touch, squeeze your pecs 

hard for a count, then slowly return 

to the start position without letting 

the weight rest on the stack. 

PEC DECK VARIANTS 

Not all pec deck (also called a 

machine flye) equipment is 

identical, but the basic movement 

is: pulling your arms together 

toward the midline of your body. 

Some machines keep the arms 

extended, while others have 

them bent with your forearms on 

a vertical pad. Use whatever pec 

deck or flye machine is available 

at your gym. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 107

SELECTORIZED MACHINE 

CHEST PRESS 

HOW-TO Adjust the seat of the machine so that the 

handles are outside your chest in the down position. 

Keeping your feet flat on the floor and your back 

and head against the seat back, press the weight up 

until your elbows are extended but not locked out. 

Slowly lower your hands to the down position without 

letting the weight rest on the stack between reps. 

MACHINE PRESS VARIANTS Most selectorized 

chest press machines involve a standard horizontal 

press that mimics a flat-bench movement, as opposed 

to pressing at an upward angle to target the upper pecs. 

What can be varied is hand position. Experiment with 

placing your hands as wide as possible on the bars and 

also in close to hit the chest from different angles. 

CABLE FLYE 

HOW-TO Place a bench in the middle of a cablecrossover 

station with D-handles attached to both 

columns on the lowest level. Grab the handles, sit back on 

the bench, and start with your arms extended out to your 

sides. With a slight bend in your elbows, contract your 

pecs to pull your hands together in a hugging motion. When 

your hands meet, squeeze your pecs for a count, then 

slowly return to the start position. 

CABLE FLYE VARIANTS Flyes can and should be 

performed from a variety of angles to target all areas of 

the chest. Focus on the upper pecs by using an incline 

bench, the middle pecs with a flat bench, and the lower 

chest with a decline bench. 

CHARLES LOWTHIAN; PAVEL YTHJALL 


AMERICA’S # 1 SELLING 

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Rico used the key ingredient in Hydroxycut ® HD with diet and exercise, 

and was remunerated. 

1 Contains caffeine to help enhance focus and increase energy. 

2 Average weight loss with C. canephora robusta was 10.95 lbs. in 60 days 

with a low-calorie diet, and 3.7 lbs. in 8 weeks with calorie-reduced diet 

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HYDROXYCUT.COM 

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The Facebook logo is owned by Facebook Inc. 

Read entire label before use. © 2017 

AVAILABLE AT

GET 

RIPPED 

…WITH NO CARDIO! 

UTILIZED CORRECTLY, THE 

SAME BARBELLS, DUMBBELLS, 

AND MACHINES WE USE TO 

IGNITE HYPERTROPHY CAN 

ALSO BE EXTREMELY 

EFFECTIVE TOOLS FOR MELTING 

BODY FAT LIKE ICE IN A FLAME! 


FLEX |

WORKOUT A 

EXERCISE SETS REPS REST BETWEEN 

SETS 

Alternating Barbell Lunge 3 

Barbell Squat 

Stiff-leg Deadlift 4 

Underhand-grip Barbell 

Bent Row 

Standing Military Press 

Narrow-grip Bench Press 

Close Underhand-grip 

Pullup 

Incline Bent-leg Hip Raise 3

WORKOUT B 


Hack Squat 

superset with Weighted Dip 

Leg Press 

superset with Wide-grip Pullup 

Alternating Dumbbell 

Bench Stepup 

superset with Seated Dumbbell Press 

Dumbbell Stiff-leg Deadlift 

superset with Barbell Curl 

Lying Leg Curl 

superset with 

Standing Two-arm Overhead 

Dumbbell Extension 

Hanging Straight-leg Raise 

superset with Barbell Good Morning 

3 

3 

3 

3 

2 

3 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

FLEX |

SPEED UP 

FAT BURNING 

WITH SUPERSETS 

AND CIRCUITS.

WORKOUT C 

EXERCISE 

Deadlift 

Incline Barbell Press 

Leg Press 

One-arm Dumbbell Row 

Smith Alternating Reverse Lunge 

Wide-grip Barbell Upright Row 

Seated Leg Curl 

Weighted Bench Dip 

Cable Crunch 

Close-grip Underhand-grip Pullup 

REPS 

FLEX |

Presents 

THE 

OLYMPIA 

AS THE 53RD MR. OLYMPIA APPROACHES, 


The Mr. Olympia is like sex 

or, if you prefer, pizza. Even 

at its worst, it’s good. But when 

it’s great, minds get blown. As we 

prepare for the 53rd Olympia on 

Sept. 15 and 16, we ranked every 

previous Olympia from No. 52 

to No. 1. Our judging emphasized 

what enthralled fans then and 

what’s still captivating today— 

epic battles, raging controversies, 

new champs, loaded lineups. 

And here’s the thing: Our bottom 

dozen still serve up Arnold 

Schwarzenegger, Sergio Oliva, 

Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman, 

and many more legends, just like 

our top 10, because the quality 

ranges from pretty damn 

good to mind completely blown, 

unforgettably awesome. 

SYMBOL KEY 

# 

Number of 

Competitors 

New Winner 

Controversial 

Decision 

Mr. O’s 

Competing 

Mr. O’s Winner 

AS Arnold 

Schwarzenegger 

CD Chris 

Dickerson 

DJ Dexter 

Jackson 

DY Dorian Yates 

FC Franco 

Columbu 

FZ Frank Zane 

JC Jay Cutler 

LH Lee Haney 

LS Larry Scott 

PH Phil Heath 

RC Ronnie 

Coleman 

SB Samir Bannout 

SO Sergio Oliva 

RANKINGS 

WE RANK THE FIRST 52 BY GREG MERRITT 

MROLYMPIA.COM 119

52 & 51 

1968 1 SO & 1971 1 AS 

Good news: Sergio (’68) and 

Arnold (’71) in their primes. Bad 

news: no one else. Each legend 

won unopposed. 

Dickerson (second) and a greatly 

improved Tom Platz (third). 

Interesting, like a train wreck. 

47 

1989 LH SB 

Haney’s sixth in a row (yawn) and 

another year in which the runnerup 

couldn’t hang with his width 

(yawn). This time, in Italy, it was 

Lee vs. Lee: Haney vs. Labrada. 

46 

1967 7 SO 

Sergio’s initial O victory lacked the 

drama of his seizing the crown 

from Scott. Also, Oliva wasn’t yet 

mythical. Harold Poole beat him 

on the first ballot. 

42 

2004 RC JC DJ 

Ronnie at his biggest—nearly 

three bills—overshadowed 

Cutler, just as Cutler 

overshadowed everyone else. 

Show was marred by a unique 

format, the challenge round, 

which allowed competitors to 

pick poses for duels but mostly 

fostered confusion. 

41 

1982 CD FZ SB 

A previous Mr. O, Zane was 

second, and a future Mr. O, 

Bannout, was fourth, but 

undersized Dickerson’s London 

victory underwhelmed. 

50 

1976 7 FC FZ 

With Arnold retired, Franco finally 

rose to the top. He beat Zane, but 

the lineup was mass deficient. 

Rich Gaspari 

and Lee Haney 

dueled three 

straight years 

in the ’80s. 

49 

1966 4 LS SO 

Second rendition suffered 

sophomore slump. Repeat of Scott 

vs. Harold Poole duel with same 

result. Scott announced his 

retirement onstage. 

48 

1981 FC CD SB 

Franco returned at 40. Observers 

claimed anyone else in the top five 

should’ve beat him, including Chris 

45 & 44 & 43 

1986 LH & 1987 LH 

& 1988 LH SB 

Three years in a row, in three 

diverse locales, Haney bested 

Rich Gaspari. Significantly 

shorter and lighter, Gaspari 

never endangered Haney’s 

reign. The closest thing to drama: 

Who would finish third? 

40 

(OPPOSITE PAGE, 

TOP LEFT) 

1983 SB LH FZ 

Bannout nailed it in Munich 

to secure his first (and next-tolast) 

pro victory. But he was 

another sub-200-pound champ, 

and there was a collective 

longing for more mass. 

COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS 


In the late 

’70s, classicist 

Frank Zane won 

Sandows with 

shape and cuts. 

39 

1985 LH SO 

Big lineup, but no one to challenge 

Haney. Finishing second was 

Albert Beckles. Sergio was eighth, 

like the year before, but with 

much less fanfare. 

PREVIOUS SPREAD, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS; BILL COMSTOCK; 

COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS (2); BILL COMSTOCK; CHRIS LUND (2). THIS PAGE: MICHAEL NEVEUX; CHRIS LUND 

38 

1973 3 AS FC 

Only three competitors, but they 

are legends: Arnold, Franco, and 

Serge Nubret. Probably Arnold’s 

best look. 

37 & 36 & 35 

1977 8 FZ & 1978 9 FZ 

& 1979 FZ CD 

These were the last three O’s with 

two classes, so lightweight Victor 

Zane—a paragon for today’s men’s 

physique division—was pitted 

against the heavyweight champs, 

Robby Robinson in the first two 

and Mike Mentzer in the third. 

Those annual duels in Columbus, 

OH, delivered drama, but the 

lineups were otherwise shallow. 

34 

2015 PH DJ 

A relatively easy Heath victory—the 

fifth in a row—memorable mostly 

for the surprising absence of Kai 

Greene. What it lacked in tension, 

it made up for with a deep lineup. 

33 

2002 RC DJ 

A year of missed opportunities. 

After his shocking second in ’01, 

Cutler sat this one out. He 

probably would’ve won, because 

smaller, smoother Coleman was 

at his worst. But no one—including 

Kevin Levrone (second), Chris 

Cormier (third), or Dexter Jackson 

(fourth)—could overtake the 

champ. The contest launched 

Günter mania when Günter 

Schlierkamp rocketed to fifth 

and a thunderous standing 

ovation, and perhaps should have 

been first. (He beat Coleman 

two weeks later.) 

MROLYMPIA.COM 121

32 

2005 RC JC 

Can anyone dethrone Ronnie? 

At 41, he was in decline but still 

won his record-tying eighth O. 

Some observers, including some 

judges, thought Cutler deserved 

the victory. The closer-thanbefore 

contest and a deep lineup 

would’ve ranked this O higher if 

not for a repeat of the challenge 

round, this time as an unwanted 

sideshow. (Gustavo Badell won, 

as voted by past O winners.) 

31 

1965 3 LS 

You might think the initial Olympia 

should rank higher, but historical 

significance can get you only so 

far when there are merely three 

competitors, none named Arnold 

or Sergio. 

Larry Scott 

strikes a 

trademark pose 

on his way to 

winning the debut 

Olympia. 

30 

2009 JC DJ PH 

All year long, after Jackson’s 

victory in ’08, this was hyped 

as a duel between him and 

Heath. But Cutler roared back 

to reclaim his crown with what 

was arguably his best-ever 

look. Branch Warren was a 

surprise second, as Jackson 

slipped to third, and Heath, 

who was ill, dropped to fifth. 

29 

1990 LH SB 

Drug-tested Olympia nearly 

shook things up enough to 

knock Haney from his throne. 

Smaller but sharper Lee 

Labrada led after prejudging 

and may have deserved the 

victory in Chicago over the 

downsized champ. 

28 

2016 PH DJ 

Heath got No. 6 over Shawn 

Rhoden (second) and Jackson 

(third). Oh, and fiftysomething 

Levrone made a comeback. 

Lacked first-callout suspense, 

but possessed strongest top 10 

since the early ’00s. 

27 

2010 JC PH DJ 

Heath ascended to second 

behind his mentor, Cutler, but 

many felt he deserved first. 

Set up 2011 rematch. 

26 & 25 

1999 RC DJ & 2000 RC DJ JC 

Lineups stacked with ’90s 

legends. Not much suspense 

about the victor because Ronnie 

was at his best ahead of Wheeler 

(’99) and Levrone (’00), but these 

were solid shows. First Olympias 

staged in the entertainment 

capital, Las Vegas, where the 

O has resided ever since. 

24 

2003 RC JC DJ 

This was supposed to be the 

year ascendant Cutler (who sat 

out ’02 after nearly winning in 

’01) assumed the throne from 

Coleman, who was beaten by 

Schlierkamp just after the ’02 O. 

Instead, Ronnie remade himself as 

a 287-pound colossus to relegate 

Cutler to second again. Ronnie’s 

first appearance, so cartoonishly 

huge that many in the audience 

laughed with astonishment, is an 

Olympia high point. 

23 

2007 JC DJ RC 

A lot going on this time. Cutler’s 

win sparked controversy because 

runner-up Victor Martinez was 

sharper. And many thought 

stunning fifth-place finisher Dennis 

Wolf should’ve come out on top. 

FROM LEFT: COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS; 

PAVEL YTHJALL; KEVIN HORTON 


Coleman’s last hurrah; his 15th 

and final O. 

22 

1980 AS CD FZ SB 

Most-debated Olympia of all time. 

Making a surprise comeback, 

Arnold was at his smallest, but, in 

keeping with the preceding Zane 

trifecta, he brought the cuts to 

Australia. Was he still good enough 

to win? Should the Sandow have 

gone to Dickerson (second) or 

defending champ Zane (third)? 

And what of enigmatic Mike 

Mentzer, who, after falling to fifth, 

never competed again? Sometimes 

you’ve just got to be there. 

20 & 19 & 18 

1995 DY & 1996 DY RC 

& 1997 DY RC 

Yates, Coleman, Flex Wheeler, 

Kevin Levrone, Shawn Ray, 

Nasser El Sonbaty, Chris Cormier, 

Vince Taylor—these three O’s in 

three locales delivered a 

cornucopia of bodybuilding 

legends at or near their peak. 

The last two even offered 

a monstrous phenomenon in 

Jean Pierre Fux. Yates peaked 

in ’95, when Levrone was 

second, and was not far off in 

’96, when Ray was second, 

but his body began breaking 

down, fueling a debate that 

16 

2001 RC JC DJ 

Cutler nearly came from nowhere 

(he was eighth out of 13 the year 

before) to win bodybuilding’s 

Super Bowl. He led comfortably 

after prejudging, but Ronnie 

barely overtook him at the finish 

line, fueling outrage and launching 

a rivalry that raged for six years. 

21 

2008 DJ JC PH 

Anything can happen in Vegas. 

Having never finished higher than 

third, 38-year-old journeyman 

Jackson soared to a shocking 

victory over two-time champ 

Cutler. Just behind them, in his 

Olympia debut, was Heath, as 

Mr. O’s—present, past, and 

future—filled out the top three. 

runner-up El Sonbaty 

deserved the Sandow in ’97, 

Yates’ last hurrah. 

17 

2011 PH JC DJ 

Three 

Mr. O’s—Dexter 

Jackson, Phil 

Heath, and Jay 

Cutler—in the top 

three in ’08. 

Heath finally beat his mentor, 

Cutler, and he did it while in 

stupendous condition. Kai 

Greene was third, setting up 

future battles. 

15 

1993 DY 

A new size paradigm was initiated 

when Yates showed up in Atlanta 

at a grainy 257 pounds and blew 

away a stacked lineup. In his 

Olympia debut, a nearly flawless 

Flex Wheeler soared to second. 

14 

1991 LH DY SB 

The passing of the torch. Haney, 

at his biggest, secured his record 

eighth Sandow in Orlando by 

fending off O rookie Yates, who 

never lost again. In addition to 

three Mr. O’s onstage, Coleman 

was working backstage just to 

be at this monumental event, and 

the biggest-ever lineup included 

five legends who finished second 

in Olympias without winning: Lee 

Labrada, Shawn Ray, Rich 

Gaspari, Robby Robinson, and 

Albert Beckles. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 123

Lee Haney 

reacts in 1984 

to winning his 

first of eight 

Olympias. 

Oliva and the other is Arnold 

Schwarzenegger. They dueled in 

three epic Olympias. These were 

the first two. The 1969 contest 

was close, as a greatly improved 

Arnold nearly erased the Myth. 

The next year, when Sergio was 

smooth, Arnold, at only age 23, 

launched his six-year dynasty. 

4 

1994 DY RC SB 

Because the lineups were so 

stacked in the ’90s, almost any of 

Yates’ sextet of wins could have 

made our top five. Even though 

Flex Wheeler, the previous year’s 

runner-up, was absent, we went 

with ’94 because this Atlanta show 

served up a three-way race. Yates 

was off, while Shawn Ray (second) 

was at his all-time best, and Kevin 

Levrone (third) wasn’t far from 

his, spawning an enduring debate 

about which of the divergent body 

types deserved the Sandow. 

13 & 12 

1974 5 AS FC FZ & 1975 8 AS FC FZ 

The end of the first golden era. 

Arnold easily won his final two O’s 

(before his ’80 comeback). Both 

years he defeated heavyweights 

Serge Nubret and Lou Ferrigno and 

then lightweight victor Franco 

Columbu. The 1975 contest, held in 

South Africa, was chronicled in 

Pumping Iron. 

11 

1992 DY SB RC 

A new dynasty began in Helsinki as 

Yates won his first O over superb 

rookie Kevin Levrone. Another 

neophyte, Ronnie Coleman, quietly 

missed the top 15. Returning after a 

17-year absence, Lou Ferrigno 

finished 12th. 

10 & 9 & 8 

2012 PH DJ & 2013 PH DJ JC 

& 2014 PH DJ 

Phil vs. Kai years. Though Heath 

won with straight firsts in all 

three, many fans favored Greene. 

The rivalry presented a stark 

contrast in body types and 

personalities and became so 

contentious that even the preshow 

press conferences were must-see, 

and in the final contest, the two 

nearly threw fists. The 2013 O is 

also notable for the return of Cutler 

(sixth) and the debut of gargantuan 

Mamdouh Elssbiay. 

7 

1984 LH SB SO CD 

Here comes the Haney dynasty. 

The 24-year-old champ was at his 

crisp best this year as he romped 

to an easy victory over 160-pound 

Mohamed Makkawy (second) and 

defending champ Samir Bannout 

(sixth) in front of a raucous New 

York City audience. Making his 

highly anticipated Olympia return 

after 12 years away was 43-yearold 

Sergio Oliva (eighth). 

6 & 5 

1969 2 SO AS & 1970 3 AS SO 

Sometimes you need only two 

competitors—if one is Sergio 

3 

2006 JC RC DJ 

It finally happened, bodybuilding’s 

earthquake. No defending champ 

had lost since 1984. But this year in 

Vegas, eight-time victor Ronnie 

Coleman was bested by the man 

who had nearly done so in 2001 but 

had instead finished second to him 

in four frustrating O’s. When Jay 

Cutler was announced the winner, 

the entire Orleans Arena audience 

leaped to its feet with a deafening 

roar. Unforgettable. 

FROM LEFT: ZELLER/© FITNESS PUBLICATIONS INC./COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS; 

KEVIN HORTON; COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS; CHRIS LUND 


2 

1998 RC 

The most anticipated Olympia in 

history exceeded expectations. 

Staged in New York City, where it 

all began, this was the first Mr. O 

since 1977 to have no defending or 

previous champ in the lineup (that 

hasn’t occurred since), and after 

eight years of Haney, then six of 

Yates, bodybuilding was starved 

for a new king. The four legends 

who had finished second to Yates— 

Flex Wheeler, Nasser El Sonbaty, 

Kevin Levrone, Shawn Ray—filled 

out the best-ever top five. But it 

was another soon-to-be legend 

who stunned even himself by 

edging past Wheeler. Though he 

had never previously made an 

O top five, Ronnie Coleman, in the 

shape of his life, rocketed to first. 

1 

1972 6 AS SO FZ FC 

This contest, staged in Essen, 

Germany, played like a 

Shakespearean drama. You had 

the current king, Arnold, battling 

the returning, vanquished king, 

Sergio. Also on the battlefield 

were two future potentates, 

Columbu and Zane, and a prince 

from another dominion, Serge 

Nubret. Arnold kept the throne, 

but many contended—and 

many still contend—that Sergio 

bested him that day in the 

most memorable bodybuilding 

contest of all time. 

Sergio and 

Arnold battle in 

1972, and fans 

still debate the 

result. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 125

BARBELL 

BOOT 

CAMP 

GET IN THE BEST DAMN SHAPE OF YOUR LIFE 

WITH NOTHING MORE THAN A BARBELL SET, A 

BENCH, AND YOUR METTLE BY MICHAEL BERG, N.S.C.A.-C.P.T. 

CHARLES LOWTHIAN

For a U.S. Army Special 

Forces soldier, life 

without modern 

amenities is expected. 

Traveling through dangerous territory with nothing 

more than the pack on your back as you wade 

through thick jungle terrain or traverse scorching 

desert stretches, passing through makeshift camps, 

you’re lucky to end up with a decent meal at the end 

of the day. Running water is a luxury, the Internet is a 

miracle, and a gym? Only in your fever dreams. 


at gradually acclimating your 

tendons and ligaments while 

promoting muscle hypertrophy 

along with some muscular 

endurance; the second all about 

driving up your strength levels. 

“During the first four weeks, 

you’ll do sets of six to 12 repetitions 

of each exercise at 75 to 85% of 

your one-rep max [1RM] for your 

working sets,” he explains. “Keep 

your rest between sets minimal, 

at 60 seconds or less. To really 

shock your system, I’ve suggested 

one to two sets of 20 reps for 

some movements.” 

During the following four weeks, 

you’ll transition to sets of one to 

five reps at 85 to 100% of your 

1RM, extending your rest periods 

MILITARY PRESS 

ETUP Clean the bar to shoulder level, 

you have a power rack, off pins 

set high on it. Hold the barbell with an 

overhand grip, palms up and elbows 

pointed forward, as it rests balanced 

across your upper chest. Set your feet 

about shoulder-width apart or just 

outside, toes angled slightly out. 

ACTION From this position, explosively 

drive the bar overhead to full elbow 

extension, hold it there for a count, then 

lower it until it contacts your upper chest. 

Repeat for reps. 

to three to five minutes between 

your heaviest lifts. “After that, 

you can either revert to the first 

phase or you can shift to a 

dynamic strength phase where 

you introduce explosive 

movements—with quick bursts 

on the positive reps and a slow, 

controlled negative—along with 

plyometrics to further round out 

your overall power and 

conditioning,” Kirchofner says. 

Indeed, you can easily make 

this program your own, depending 

on your goals, by modifying the 

sets, reps, intensity, rest periods, 

and exercises, Kirchofner adds. 

“This workout, as basic as it 

may seem, will definitely get you 

big and strong,” he says. “It allows 

you to add, take away, or even 

change the exercises, as long as 

you know your own physique 

goals and enough about working 

out to change out the exercises. 

“For instance, if you have a 

particular weakness in, say, your 

shoulders, you can incorporate 

upright rows, behind-the-neck 

presses, laterals, and pike presses 

with your hands on the floor and 

feet on the bench,” he continues. 

“Also know that the suggested days 

these exercises are scheduled for 

are not set in stone and should 

be arranged around your life. Just 

make sure you do them once a 

week, or accelerate that by doing 

them on a five- to six-day split, 

where the sixth or seventh day 

begins again at the first workout.” 


(PHASE 1) 

SETS 

5 5 

REPS 

(PHASE 2) 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 

CHRIS LUND 

4 4 

MROLYMPIA.COM 129


PHASE 1 

SETS 

5 5 

REPS 

PHASE 2 

5 5 

4 4 

5 5 

4 4 


PHASE 1 

SETS 

5 5 

REPS 

PHASE 2 

5 5 

5 5 

4 4 

4 4 


PHASE 1 

SETS 

5 5 

REPS 

PHASE 2 

4 4 

5 5 

4 4 

4 4 

SHRUG 

SETUP Stand holding a barbell 

with an overhand grip just outside 

shoulder width, elbows straight. 

ACTION Keeping your chest up and 

core flexed for stability, shrug your 

shoulder caps straight up towar 

your ears, squeezing your trap 

at the top of the range of mot 

Slowly reverse the movement 

to lower the bar the few inches 

it traveled, back to the start. 


EADLIFT 

SETUP With your toes beneath 

he barbell, squat down and grasp 

with a slightly wider-thanshoulder-width 

grip.Allowthebar 

to rest flush against your shins. 

ACTION With your chest up and 

back flat, lift the barbell from the floor 

by extending your hips and knees to 

full extension. Be sure to keep your 

elbows straight (but not locked) 

throughout as you drag the bar up 

your shins and thighs until you’re 

in a standing position. Squeeze your 

back, legs, and glutes, then lower 

the bar along the same path until it 

touches the floor. 

STA IONARY 

L NGE 

nd with your feet about 

s width apart holding a bar 

across your upper back. 

ACTION Step forward with one 

foot and bend your forward knee 

to lower your hips straight down, 

making sure that knee doesn’t pass 

your toes. Stop just short of your 

rear knee touching the floor and 

d d h h 

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: PER BERNAL; PAVEL YTHJALL; PER BERNAL 

MROLYMPIA.COM 131

BEST RESULTS. 

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: CHRIS LUND(2); PER BERNAL 

INE PRESS 

SETUP Lie on an incline 

bench set at approximately 

30 to 45 degrees and place your 

feet wide and flat on the floor 

for support. Grasp the barbell 

with an overhand grip just 

outside shoulder width and 

unrack it, holding it directly over 

your upper pecs. 

ACTION Slowly lower the bar 

to your upper chest, touching 

down for a brief count before 

powerfully pressing it back to 

full elbow extension. 

CALF RAISE (not pictured) 

SETUP Stand with a 

barbell across your upper 

back, the balls of your feet 

on a step with your heels 

off the edge. 

ACTION Lower your heels 

toward the floor as far as 

you can stretch them, then 

press up onto your toes 

as high as possible. 


ent, grasp a barbell with a wide, 

overhand grip. Lean forward at your 

hips until your torso is at a 20- to 

30-degree angle to the floor. The barbell 

should hang straight down in front of 

your shins. 

ACTION Without raising or bouncing 

your upper body, pull the barbell 

up toward your abdomen, bringing 

your elbows high and above the level 

of your back. Hold the bar in the peakcontracted 

position for a brief count, 

then slowly lower it along the same path. 

SQU T 

SETUP w our feet about 

shoulde th t, holding a bar 

across u back. Your knees 

should be slightly bent and your toes 

turned out slightly. 

ACTION Keeping your head in a neutral 

position, abs tight, and torso upright, 

bend at the knees and hips to slowly 

lower your body as if you were going to 

sit in a chair. Go as deep as you can, 

ideally to a point where your thighs are 

parallel or just below parallel to the floor 

while maintaining your natural lowerback 

arch, then forcefully drive through 

your heels, extending at your hips and 

knees until you arrive at the standing 

position. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 133

ARNOL 

ON JULY 30, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER CELEBRATES HIS 

IN HIS 

OWN 

WORDS 

70TH BIRTHDAY. IT’S BEEN A REMARKABLE 70 YEARS IN WHICH 

HE ATTAINED NO. 1 STATUS IN THREE DIFFERENT ARENAS: 

BODYBUILDING, HOLLYWOOD, AND CALIFORNIA POLITICS. IN THIS 

FEATURE WE REVIEW THE LIFE AND EXTRAORDINARY TIMES OF 

THE FORCE OF NATURE THAT IS ARNOLD THROUGH THE PRISM OF 

HIS OWN WORDS. COMPILED BY PETER McGOUGH 


When I first started lifting 

weights in 1962, my mother 

cried, saying, “Where did 

I go wrong? My boy has 

pictures of naked oiled-up 

men on his wall, and all his 

friends have pictures of 

girls in their rooms.” 

As children we would 

be sitting in the classroom 

with the parents at the 

back. If the teacher 

said something 

negative about my 

work, my father would 

come forward and 

smack me, as other 

parents would do to 

their kids. 

never had. And I owe him 

so much for bringing me to 

America. Without Joe I 

wouldn’t have had the life 

I’ve had. 

When I was 15, I thought 

the Weider Research 

Clinic was a huge research 

center somewhere in 

California connected to 

the movie industry and 

full of guys wanting to 

be Hercules. 

At the 1972 Mr. Olympia 

[which Arnold won 

controversially] in Essen, it 

didn’t occur to Sergio Oliva 

I was lonely as a child. 

Now I see there was an 

advantage of sitting by 

myself for hours, day after 

day. It gave me the chance 

to think and visualize and 

form my goals. 

Joe [Weider] had a habit of 

finishing sentences for 

you. And with Joe being 

Joe, if he finished the 

thought, then the whole 

thought became his. 

I think Joe came to look 

upon me as the son he 

that my white body would 

stand out against the dark 

wall behind us, while his 

would blend right in. 

There will never be 

another like Sergio— 

that I can guarantee. 

Everything after him is 

fake. He was the original. 

He was “the Myth.” 

From 1970 my instinct was 

to win: Eliminate anyone 

who was in competition, 

destroy your enemy, and 

move on without any 

MROLYMPIA.COM 137

The Austrian Oak—a force 

of nature who would 

conquer the bodybuilding 

world, become a global 

movie star, and get 

elected the governor of 

California—unfurls his 

lats in a lakeside setting. 

hesitation at all. I was the Terminator 

years before the movie was made. 

The pump is like cuming. It’s terrific, 

right? [This maybe explains why 

Arnold believed in long workout 

sessions completed twice a day, 

six days a week.] 

People say I have “it,” whatever “it” 

is. My personality is a combination 

of the zest for life, curiosity, being 

entertaining, being in the spotlight. 

Typical Leo. 

Jim Lorimer and I have been 

together for 47 years. We have 

continually operated on a simple 

handshake agreement: No 

contract has been necessary and 

our steadfast faith in each other 

will continue. 

There was talk of a sequel to the 

1988 movie Twins, in which I 

appeared as Danny DeVito’s twin 

brother. The idea was there would 

be a third triplet played by Eddie 

Murphy. I can see the poster. “They 

found another one! Triplets! Only 

their mother can tell them apart!” 


In Kindergarten Cop I played a virgin. 

This took tremendous acting. 

Back in the ’80s I always tried to 

outdo Sylvester Stallone on the 

physique side; or who had the most 

awesome weapons in a movie; how 

many people we killed in a movie; 

who killed the villain in the most 

outrageous or funny way; whose 

movie grossed the most. It was 

crazy, intense competition, an allout 

war in a sense. 

When I came to America in 1968, 

Sly was my English teacher. 

I turned down a part in the movie The 

Rock [released in 1996], which 

starred Sean Connery and Nicolas 

Cage. I didn’t have confidence in the 

script. The next thing you know it 

was a great hit. 

What is interesting about failure is 

that it is more important as a learning 

tool than a victory. If you win you 

don’t have to sit and think out a 

different approach. 

When people say to me, “I’d like to 

send a letter—what’s the address?” 

I say, “Arnold, Earth.” I always get 

the letter. 

Do you know what it was like for this 

Austrian kid to find himself standing 

with Nelson Mandela in his prison 

cell in Robben Island and help 

light a symbolic “Flame of Hope” 

as part of a Special Olympics 

event in 2001? 

I know journalists very well, I sleep 

with one. [Said during his marriage to 

Maria Shriver.] 

You know, apart from the good stuff 

he did, Bill Clinton will always be 

known for two things: One, he said 

he smoked but didn’t inhale. And 

two, he got his helmet polished in 

the White House. 

It was like it was meant to be. I had 

resigned myself to wait until ’06, but 

the opportunity just opened up right 

before me. It was like, “Come and 

get it. What, do you want a written 

invitation?” [In regard to the 

OPENING SPREAD FROM LEFT: COURTESY OF ARNOLD/WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS; COURTESY OF ARNOLD: THE AMERICAN DREAM/AMI; COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS; CARUSO/COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS: 

CARUSO/COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS; ZELLER/© FITNESS PUBLICATIONS INC./COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS. THIS PAGE: ALBERT BUSEK; COLOR PHOTO BY ROBERT REIFF WITH ORIGINAL IMAGE USED FOR CUTOUT 

COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT; COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS; ALBERT BUSEK; 

ZELLER/© FITNESS PUBLICATIONS INC./COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS 

incumbent California governor, Gray 

Davis, being recalled in 2003, causing 

Arnold to enter and win the election.] 

On my first day as governor, as I 

walked into the office I said to myself, 

“OK, I won the election, now what the 

f@#k do I do?” 

There is no school to go to that 

teaches you how to be a governor. 

Sitting in that office and that building, 

with all its history, can be a little 

overwhelming. 

I come from a country where 

everyone had health care, so 

California having 8 million people 

who were uninsured was totally 

unacceptable to me. 

The polls do not decide anything. As 

an athlete, I know all about peaking. 

An athlete can be out of shape in 

the off-season, but as contest day 

approaches, he plans to peak on that 

day. So I don’t worry about the scoring 

on days when there is no contest. 

One of the 

greatest side 

chest poses of 

all time; joking 

with Lou 

Ferrigno (right) 

on the set of 

Pumping Iron; 

leg presses at 

Gold’s Gym with 

Ed Corney.

Over the seven years of being 

governor of California, I gave up 

maybe $200 million from potential 

movies roles and spent $40 million 

or so of my own money on funding 

election campaigns and other 

propositions. 

Dieter Rauter [Arnold’s movie 

stand-in and close friend] is 

very good to his mother...he 

never goes home. 

I saw the film See Arnold Run [the 

2005 movie with Roland Kickinger 

playing the young Arnold and Jürgen 

Prochnow playing the modern-day 

Arnold], and it upset me. What does 

it say for my acting? I mean, this is 

a movie about me, and they didn’t 

even ask me to play me. 

Political courage is not 

political suicide. 

Money doesn’t make you happy. I 

now have $50 million, but I was just 

as happy when I had $48 million. 

For Expendables 2 [starring Arnold, 

Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, 

Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph 

Lundgren, Chuck Norris, and 

Jean-Claude Van Damme], they 

rounded up every action star 

between the ages of 30 and 100. 

I’m always interested in new ideas. 

I’m like a sponge ready to absorb 

any information. I’m hungry for 

knowledge. I’m hungry for the 

experience of doing new things. 

I am a person who hates to look 

back. I only want to look forward. 

I only want to move forward. 

I don’t want to pinch myself too hard, 

because I don’t want to wake up and 

find the whole thing was really a 

dream. Can you imagine? I wake up at 

5 a.m. and someone is shaking me 

saying, “Komm, Arnold, Zeit für Ihre 

Schicht im Stahlwerk!” [Translation: 

“Come on, Arnold, time for your shift 

at the steel mill.”] 

ZELLER/© FITNESS PUBLICATIONS, INC./COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS; COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS; COLOR 

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PROFESSIONAL 

ASS

FROM HOCKEY 

FIGHTS TO 

HIGH HEELS, IFBB 

PRO BIKINI 

COMPETITOR KATIE 

CHUNG HUA 

CONTINUES TO 

REDEFINE HERSELF 

AS A FORCE IN 

FITNESS

“ MY PARENTS 

ALWAYS HAD ME 

DOING SOMETHING. 

SO, WHEN I FINISHED 

HOCKEY AFTER 

GETTING BURNED 

OUT, MY DAD 

SUGGESTED THAT I 

TRY BODYBUILDING.” 

SHOT ON LOCATION AT GLOBAL FITNESS STUDIO, GARDENA, CA 

|

KATIE 

CHUNG HUA 

HAIR & MAKEUP BY NATALIE MALCHEV 

Age: 31 

Height: 5'2" 

Weight: 98 pounds 

Best Contest: 2011 

NPC Team Universe, 

2nd place, Bikini 

Fun Fact: 

“ I have a shoe theory 

about guys,” Hua says. 

“You can tell a lot by 

what a guy wears. Old 

white sneakers that 

are tied too tight mean 

they have no style; 

stylish sneaks mean 

they’re sporty and 

have some style; and 

dress shoes mean that 

they take themselves 

seriously.” 

MROLYMPIA.COM 145

1 MOVE 

WAYS 

NOT INTO DOING 

BARBELL BACK 

SQUATS? NO 

PROBLEM. DO 

ONE OF THESE 

SIX SQUATTING 

VARIATIONS 

INSTEAD TO 

MAKE UP FOR IT.

NE-LEGGED SMITH MACHINE SQUAT 

Defining Difference Training each leg 

vidually isgreatforworkingonimbalances 

m side to side. Standard two-leg squats 

great, but they typically don’t allow you to 

urately assessjusthowweakonelegis 

pared with the other. With the Smith machine, 

re able to load up the weight because balance 

much of an issue, at least not compared 

free-weight versions of one-legged squats 

pistol squats and Bulgarian split squats. 

Execution Stand inside a Smith machine with 

bar across your upper back and your feet 

hip-width apart. Lift one foot a few inches off 

the floor and hold it out in front of you, then 

rotate the bar to unrack it. Keeping your eyes 

focused forward, chest out, and back flat, 

slowly squat on your working leg until your thigh 

reaches parallel with the floor. Press through 

that heel to drive yourself back to standing (still 

on one leg), stopping just shy of full knee lockout. 

Repeat all reps on that leg, then switch legs. 

When to Do It As your first squat movement 

in a leg workout (alternated with front squat and 

safety bar squat). 

MROLYMPIA.COM 147

Th 

no 

low 

exc 

es 

gre 

of 

o such thing as a good excuse 

at. 

we said it. Bad knees, bum 

ck, lack of equipment—these 

or not squatting won’t cut it, 

y when you consider all the 

ations that exist for the “king 

ses.” 

n’t wanttoputabarbellon 

your back and squat with it? OK, then 

don’t. But you must do some version of 

the movement to build lower-body 

strength; add appreciable muscle mass 

to the quads, glutes, and hamstrings; 

optimize core stabilization and function; 

maintain adequate range of motion in 

the hips, knees, and ankles; and ensure 

a respectable level of overall fitness. 

Squat until your thighs reach at 

least parallel with the floor, then 

properly use the biggest muscles in 

your body to stand back up. Repeat 

this many times over and you’re 

officially squatting, just as nature 

intended. How you choose to squat is 

up to you. On these pages, you’ll find 

six great variations, plus a sample 

leg-training routine showing you 

how to incorporate them. Start with 

one or more of these and leave the 

excuses behind. 

SQUAT-CENTRIC 

LEG WORKOUT 


Quads/Glutes/Hamstrings 

Leg Extension 

(warmup) 

2–3 15 

Dumbbell Lunge 3 10–12 per leg 

Hamstrings 

Romanian Deadlift 4 10 

4 

3 

3 

Calves 

Standing Calf 

Raise 

4 20–25 

4 

*Alternate every other workout with 

safety bar squat and one-legged Smith 

machine squat. 


Defining Difference 

Execution 

When to Do It 

MROLYMPIA.COM 149

3BARBELL 

HACK SQUAT 

Defining Difference With the 

bar behind your legs, staying back 

on your heels as you explode up 

is fairly easy. Some may see this 

move as a deadlifting alternative, 

and rightfully so, but there’s a 

reason it has squat in its name— 

because, when done correctly, 

the quads take on a majority of 

the load. That’s not the case 

with the deadlift, which hits more 

of the hamstrings, glutes, and 

lower back. 

Execution Stand with a shoulderwidth 

stance in front of a barbell 

sitting on the floor. Bend your 

knees and hips to lower down, 

and grasp the bar with a shoulderwidth 

grip. 

With your back flat (not rounded) 

throughout, forcefully extend your 

hips and knees to stand up with 

the bar, pulling it up the backs of 

your legs. Finish in a standing 

position with your shoulders back 

and chest out, then reverse the 

motion under control to lower the 

bar back to the floor. 

When to Do It As the second 

squat movement in a leg workout 

(alternated with machine hack 

squat and Jefferson squat). 

COURTESY OF ARTIE ZELLER/WEIDER HF 


CHARLES LOWTHIAN 

SA T AR SQUAT 

Defining Difference any people are forced 

t ndar ats, not because of any 

ck or 

s but rather because 

isting i 

heir shoulders or even 

quat bar, stress 

minated because 

nt of your body, 

not behind it. A 

rists, they stay in a nice, 

comfortable, n 

tion throughout. 

Execution St 

a power rack facing away 

from a safety squat bar racked just below shoulder 

height. Step back into the bar so that the back pad 

is up against your neck and the other two pads 

are over your shoulders. Unrack the bar and 

start in a standing position with your hands 

holding the pads over your shoulders. Keeping 

your weight over your heels and your chest 

out, squat down until your thighs reach slightly 

past parallel with the floor. Drive back up to 

standing, keeping your back flat and chest out 

the entire time. 

When to Do It As your first squat movement 

in a leg workout (alternated with front squat and 

one-legged Smith machine squat). 

MROLYMPIA.COM 151

SQU 

Defining 

Difference 

e move 

ssenti 

allows you to 

place your feet 

farther in front 

of you to save 

your knees 

for a deeper, 

safer squat. 

Execution Step 

inside a hack 

squat machine, 

placing your 

shoulders and 

back against the 

pads and your 

feet shoulderwidth 

apart 

on the platform 

with your legs 

extended. With 

your chest out 

and abs pulled in 

tight, unhook 

the safety bars 

and slowly lower 

yourself until 

your knees are 

past 90 degrees. 

Forcefully 

extend your hips 

and knees to 

press yourself 

up to the start 

position without 

locking out your 

knees at the top. 

When to Do It 

As the second 

squat movement 

in a leg workout 

(alternated with 

barbell hack 

squat and 

Jefferson squat). 

PER BERNAL 


PAVEL YTHJALL 

F N SQUAT 

Defining Difference ar tobarbellhacksquats, 

son allo 

eep your weight back 

r heels to 

sure off both the knees 

r back. 

Execution Fro 

g position, straddle a 

floor and running 

d 

eet. Squattograbthebar 

with 

grip, onehandinfrontofyou 

and one hand behind. With your core tight, chest out, 

and back flat, stand up with the bar by extending your 

hips and knees and pressing through your heels. 

Lower the bar back to the floor by pressing your hips 

back and bending your knees. 

When to Do It As the second squat movement in a 

leg workout (alternated with machine hack squat and 

barbell hack squat). 

MROLYMPIA.COM 153

ONE-SIDED 

RESULTS 

TURN WEAKNESSES 

INTO STRENGTHS WITH 

THE POWER OF 

UNILATERAL TRAINING 

PHOTOGRAPHS BY PER BERNAL 

FLEX | ’17

Q If we told you to do 

just half a workout, 

or give half an effort, 

you’d consider us 

crazy. No one gets big, 

strong, and ripped by 

half-assing his way 

through training.

What we are going 

to recommend next 

may sound just as 

ridiculous, however it 

may be time to divide 

all your favorite 

bilateral movements 

in two and do each 

side of your body 

unilaterally. 

Sure, we love the 

squat, bench, and 

row as much as the 

next gym rat. But 

too much of a good 

thing may leave 

some gains on the 

table. And that’s just 

damn wrong, by half. 

ISOLATING 

THE BENEFITS 

Training one arm, leg, or side of 

the body at a time is nothing new 

for bodybuilders. We’ve been 

isolating muscle groups to 

achieve maximum size and 

definition ever since the early 

days of the iron game. 

Reasons abound. For one, a 

stronger limb can compensate 

for a weaker when using a 

barbell or bilateral-style 

machine—your dominant arm or 

leg will naturally take on a little 

more than its fair share of a load 

when you’re pressing, pulling, 

curling, or extending. That means 

the weaker muscle can never 

quite catch up, unless you hit it 

alone with a unilateral exercise. 

Second, isolation exercises 

are paramount when the goal is 

maximizing muscle development. 

It allows unparalleled focus on 

each body part, driving it to 

complete momentary failure, 

helping exhaust every fiber. 

Think dumbbell concentration 

curls, one-arm rows, or a 

single-leg extension as three 

good examples. 

Beyond aesthetics, unilateral 

training serves a very functional 

purpose as well. “It’s a great way 

to challenge the musculature of 

the core and improve the 

stability of your spine and 

pelvis,” says Angelo J. Grinceri, 

health coach, movement 

practitioner, New York Citybased 

trainer, and author of 

Intrinsic Strength Training 

(intrinsicstrengthtraining.com). 

In his book, Grinceri cites 

unilateral movement as a critical 

component of any training 

program, no matter your main 

goal. “Unilateral training requires 

more activity within the primary 

muscle group for a given 

exercise,” he writes. “For 

example, an EMG machine test 

shows that while performing an 

upright unilateral dumbbell 

shoulder press, the anterior, 

lateral, and posterior deltoid 

all require more muscular 

activation while standing, as 

opposed to performing a seated 

shoulder press with a barbell 

using both arms.” 


STANDING 

LEG CURL 

When doing the standing 

leg curl, use a full range 

of motion to engage the 

hamstrings along their 

full length. Picture your 

leg like the biceps of your 

arm and flex the hams 

hard to form a “peak” on 

every rep. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 157

LEG 

EXTENSION 

On the leg 

extension, avoid the 

temptation to slide 

your rear end 

forward on the seat 

to gain leverage. 

Make sure your 

knee aligns with the 

pivot point of the 

machine and keep 

your hips and lower 

back in contact 

with the pad. 

A SIDE OF 

GROWTH 

That said, it’s a good time to think about your 

own program. How balanced are your workouts? 

Are you mixing a steady dose of bilateral and 

unilateral exercises, or do you tend to rely on 

the former a little too much? 

For instance, take the following shoulder routine: 


Seated Barbell Press 4 8–12 

Barbell Front Raise 3 10 

Reverse Pec-deck Flye 3 10 

4 

3 

On its own, that’s a fairly solid workout. Use it and 

you will develop your delts, no question. However, if 

you happen to have one deltoid that’s weaker than 

the other, it may continue to lag because of the overreliance 

on the barbell and bilateral motions. A more 

balanced attack, which integrates a variety of barbell, 

dumbbell, and cable moves, could look like this: 


Seated Dumbbell Press 4 8–12 

Alternating Dumbbell Front Raise 3 10 

Bentover One-arm Cable Raise 3 10 

This way, a weaker delt or delt head will get targeted 

directly at some point during the workout, without the 

stronger side along for the ride to bail it out. In the 

end, that’s a recipe for more complete development. 

4 

3 

SHOT ON LOCATION AT METRO FITNESS NORTH, WORTHINGWOODS, OH 


LEG 

PRESS 

Place your 

working foot in 

the center of 

the leg press 

platform— 

putting it too far 

to one side or 

the other places 

potentially 

damaging 

shearing forces 

on the knee. 

GROOMING BY CANDACE CORY AT ZENOBIA USING SK-II & NIOXIN 

MROLYMPIA.COM 159

HAMMER 

STRENGTH 

INCLINE 

PRESS 

The beauty of the Hammer 

Strength incline press 

machine is its unilateral 

design. Because each 

side is independent of the 

other, they provide equal 

stimulus to both sides of 

your pectorals, whether 

you’re incline-pressing 

one side at a time (as 

shown here) or pushing 

both simultaneously. 


ONE 

AND 

DONE 

The training plan we are 

about to share with you, 

designed for FLEX by 

Grinceri, is not meant as a 

long-term solution. No one 

should be doing workouts 

that solely focus on unilateral 

exercises. Instead, consider 

this all-unilateral session a 

once-in-a-while shock 

treatment, to be used to get 

you in the groove of onelimb-at-a-time 

training while 

also hitting your muscles in a 

rut-busting, mental-breakfrom-the-ordinary 

way. 

You’ll likely notice the 

circuits are in the reverse 

order of what you 

instinctively would do, putting 

arms ahead of an overhead 

dumbbell press, and leg 

extensions and curls ahead 

of a leg press. Grinceri has 

his reasons for that unique 

arrangement. “Focusing on 

the isolation first will preexhaust 

and get blood to 

swell into the biceps, triceps, 

hamstrings, and quadriceps,” 

he explains. “Following those 

ancillary movements with a 

compound exercise will 

accomplish two things: It’ll 

require more focus and 

concentrated effort when 

performing the compound 

exercise, and it will improve 

blood flow to the area, 

enhancing the muscles’ ability 

to recover afterward.” 

And, Grinceri adds, it’s 

another way to keep your 

body off-balance by 

switching up your normal 

routine. “It’s a unique 

challenge to the bigger body 

parts because they don’t 

get as much help as they 

normally do from the 

assistive muscles, and the 

smaller individual muscles will 

be taxed throughout the 

circuit from beginning to end. 

You’ll really feel the deep burn 

by the time you finish the 

compound movement.” 

MIA 

HAMMER 

STRENGTH 

ROW 

When doing the 

Hammer Strength row, 

shift your shoulder 

blades back as you pull 

to help engage the 

muscles of the upper 

back. You want your 

back to take on the 

brunt of the load versus 

allowing the biceps to 

dominate. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 161

THE ONE-SIDED 

CIRCUIT 

WORKOUT 

For each of the three circuits listed, you can either complete all sets 

listed before moving on to the next grouping, or cycle through the circuits 

three times through—there’s no right or wrong way to tackle it. For 

instance, you could do the first circuit three times, then the second three 

times, and finally the third thrice. Or, you can do circuit No. 1, followed by 

No. 2, followed by No. 3, then repeat. Within the circuits, only pause long 

enough in between movements to change from one exercise to the next; 

rest 90 seconds between circuits. 


Circuit No. 1 

Right-leg 

Extension 

Left-leg 

Standing Curl 

3 

3 12 

3 

3 12 

Left-leg Press 3 12 

3 

LAT PULLDOWN 

Consider switching up your grip from 

workout to workout—or even set to set— 

when doing the lat pulldown. A palmsfacing, 

palms-forward, or palms-neutral 

grip each elicits a slightly different 

range-of-muscle fibers in the latissimus 

dorsi. It may be a nuanced difference, 

but every tweak can bring you better 

overall development over time. 


MIA 

DUMBBELL 

PREACHER 

CURL 

While you should employ 

a full range of motion 

during the dumbbell 

preacher curl, unfurling 

your elbow to nearly full 

extension—stopping just 

short of lockout—and 

then curling the weight 

by bending your arm 

as much as possible as 

you reach initial failure, 

consider tacking on 

three-quarter and half 

reps, even partials and 

“pulse” reps on the last 

set or two. They’ll fry 

your bi’s and pump them 

full of nutrient-rich blood. 

MIA 

MROLYMPIA.COM 163

THE 

ONE-SIDED 

CIRCUIT 

WORKOUT 


Circuit No. 2 

3 

Right-arm 

Hammer 

Strength 

Incline Press 

Left-arm 

Hammer 

Strength Row 

3 12 

3 

3 12 

3 

Left-arm 

Lat Pulldown 

3 12 

OVERHEAD 

DUMBBELL 

PRESS 

The overhead 

dumbbell press can 

also be attacked in 

an alternating style, 

holding a dumbbell 

in each hand— 

when one is going 

up, the other is 

descending. 


Circuit No. 3 

Right-arm 

Overhead 

Dumbbell 

Triceps 

Extension 

Left-arm 

Dumbbell 

Preacher Curl 

3 

3 15, 12, 

10 

3 

3 15, 12, 

10 

3 

Left-arm 

Overhead 

Dumbbell Press 

3 15, 12, 

10 


OVERHEAD 

DUMBBELL 

TRICEPS 

EXTENSION 

For the overhead 

dumbbell triceps 

extension, allow 

the dumbbell 

to “bottom out” 

to stretch the 

long head of the 

triceps, which 

engages the 

stretch-shortening 

cycle and leads to 

a stronger positive 

contraction on the 

way back up. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 165

BY ERIC “MERLIN” BROSER PHOTOGRAPHS BY IAN SPANIER 

TRICKS & TREATS!

I MUST ADMIT, THIS DID 

GIVE ME AN EXCELLENT 

FOUNDATION FOR MY 

EARLY DAYS IN THE GYM, 

since I was already well-versed 

in all the basic exercises, 

proper form, and how to design 

an effective workout. As the 

years went by, however, and my 

interest in lifting went from 

simply “getting big” to building 

a competition-level physique, 

I began to ponder whether 

or not I was missing something. 

I would find myself looking 

around the gym—at the barbells, 

dumbbells, machines, cables, 

and benches—conceptualizing 

entirely new movements or 

mentally creating unique tweaks 

on the basics that I and everyone 

else were performing daily. The 

more profound my mind/muscle 

connection became, the 

more I began to understand 

the need to expand my 

exercise vocabulary so that I 

could more completely exhaust 

every fiber within a muscle. 

At this point I was not only 

training myself for higher levels 

of bodybuilding competition but 

also beginning to coach dozens 

of others. The gym had become 

my laboratory, and every day 

was spent experimenting with 

novel ways to train each muscle. 

I would invent new exercises, 

try varying angles of push/pull, 

and often use machines to hit 

body parts they were not even 

intended for! 

This practice (or more like 

obsession) has continued to 

this very day and eventually led 

to one of my best clients giving 

me the nickname “Merlin,” for 

what he claims is my “nearmagical 

ability” to transform 

physiques and lagging muscles. 

As I walk around the Mecca of 

bodybuilding, aka Gold’s Gym in 

Venice, CA, I am proud to see 

members utilizing exercises 

that I pioneered and introduced 

via my articles or videos. As a 

coach, there are few things 

more satisfying than having a 

fellow lifter come up to me and 

say, “Thank you for showing 

me those ‘Merlin’ triceps pushouts! 

My arms have never been 

this sore!” 

Did someone mention triceps? 

Well, I did promise to provide 

some unique goodies to add to 

your training arsenal! Let’s 

unwrap a few that will be sure 

to add some major thickness to 

the backs of your arms. 

GROOMING BY KELLIE KECK FOR ZENOBIA 


SHOT ON LOCATION AT METRO FITNESS NORTH, WORTHINGTON WOODS, OH

TRICK 

SMITH MACHINE ELBOWS-OUT 

CLOSE-GRIP BENCH PRESS 

MERLIN’S POWER- 

REP RANGE-SHOCK 

HYBRID TRICEPS 

THRASHING 

EXERCISES SETS REPS TEMPO 

Incline High-cable 

Triceps Push-out 

Standing Single-arm 

Shoulder-high Triceps 

Extension 

superset with 

Concentration 

Pushdown 

3 6–8 3/1/X/1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

10–12 

10–12 

2/1/X/2 

How to Do It

INCLINE HIGH-CABLE 

TRICEPS PUSH-OUT 

How to Do It 

|

TRICK 

YOU CAN VARY THIS MOVEMENT 

BY TAKING A WIDER OR CLOSER 

GRIP, SUBSTITUTING A ROPE 

ATTACHMENT, AND/OR ALTERING 

THE ANGLE OF THE BENCH TO 

CREATE A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT 

ARC OF MOTION.

CONCENTRATION 

PUSHDOWN 

How to Do It

TRICK 

THIS IS ONE MOVEMENT IN WHICH UTILIZING 

LIGHTER WEIGHT AND HIGHER REPS (10 TO 15) 

WILL BE THE MOST EFFECTIVE FOR MUSCLE 

GROWTH. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT EXERCISE TO 

FINISH UP A TRICEPS WORKOUT, AS IT 

MANIFESTS A POWERFUL PUMP AND ISOLATES 

THE TRICEPS LIKE NO OTHER MOVEMENT.

TRICK 

USE THE RESTING HAND 

TO HOLD THE WORKING 

TRICEPS SO YOU CAN 

FEEL IT STRETCH AND 

CONTRACT IN ITS 

ENTIRETY THROUGHOUT 

THE RANGE OF MOTION. 

THIS WILL INCREASE 

THE MIND/MUSCLE 

CONNECTION AND FORCE 

A GREATER NUMBER OF 

FIBERS TO FIRE. 

| JULY/AUG ’17

STANDING SINGLE-ARM 

SHOULDER-HIGH TRICEPS EXTENSION 

How to Do It

THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE 

DAY IS NOW THE MOST DELICIOUS. THESE 

PROTEIN-PACKED RECIPES GUARANTEE 

YOU’LL START YOUR DAY AHEAD OF THE GAME.

MOCHA 

PANCAKE 

STACKS 

SERVES 4 

1) 

2) 

3) 

368 

28g 

CALORIES 

PROTEIN 

CARBS 

FAT

DAYBREAK 

EGG TACOS 

SERVES 2 

CHEF’S TIP 

1) 

2) 

3) 

518 

CALORIES 

PROTEIN 

23g 

CARBS 

FAT 


BLUEBERRY 

PROTEIN 

SMOOTHIE 

BOWL 

SERVES 1 

1) 

2) 

382 

CALORIES 

PROTEIN 

10g 

CARBS 

FAT 

CHEF’S TIP

YOGURT 

& GRANOLA 

SERVES 2 

1) 

2) 

465 

CALORIES 

21g 

CARBS 

FAT 

CHEF’S TIP 

FLEX |

MAPLE 

BACON 

OATMEAL 

SQUARES 

SERVES 4 

1) 

o 

CHEF’S TIP 

2) 

3) 

4) 

520 

CALORIES 

PROTEIN 

17g 

CARBS 

FAT 

MROLYMPIA.COM 181

POWER- 

BUILDING 

COMBINE THE BEST 

OF POWERLIFTING 

AND BODYBUILDING 

SCIENCE TO BUILD 

DENSE MUSCLE AND 

FREAK STRENGTH 

IN SIX WEEKS 

182 | JULY/AUG ’17

MROLYMPIA.COM 183

W 

When you’ve been in the 

iron game awhile, you 

begin to ask yourself some 

tough questions: How do 

I maximize size without 

sacrificing strength? How 

do I get stronger without 

getting injured? In short, 

how can a lifter have it all— 

muscle, power, and painfree 

joints—to enjoy the 

benefits? The answer is a 

combination of powerlifting 

and bodybuilding 

programming, colloquially 

known as powerbuilding, 

blended in the formula we 

offer here. See results in 

six weeks! Seriously. 

THE DYNAMIC DUO 

Our program is a mix of the 

Westside Barbell powerlifting 

template and old-school highvolume 

bodybuilding. The 

Westside Conjugate Method, 

as it’s known, is a system that 

alternates heavy workouts and 

lighter ones. The heavy days 

are called max-effort sessions 

because you work up to a max, 

the heaviest weight you can 

use for reps in the one to five 

range. The lighter days can 

be done in two different ways. 

Most lifters who powerbuild 

along the lines of a Westside 

program do the lighter workouts 

exclusively with higher reps and 

go for the pump, and that works 

fine to build muscle. Our routine 

includes plenty of pump work, 

but we’re also making use of the 

dynamic effort method (DE)—a 

technique whereby you lift light 

weights explosively. Even though 

the weight may not feel 

challenging, moving it as quickly 

(and as violently) as you can 

trains your nervous system to 

recruit the biggest, strongest 

muscle fibers, and it helps you 

overcome sticking points. If 

your bench press usually stalls 

midway through a rep with a 

heavy weight, DE can help you 

develop the speed off your chest 

to blast through. 

LIFTING FOR LIFE 

Of course, building muscle and 

setting PRs isn’t much fun if it 

wrecks your body in the process. 

Heavy training is hard on the 

joints, but by rotating your main 

lifts and generally changing up 

the workouts on a weekly basis, 

you can avoid the overuse and 

overtraining injuries that plague 

so many lifters. The main lift in 

each max-effort workout should 

be switched every week. In fact, 

you can switch out practically 

every exercise in the program 

week to week if you like—just 

follow the basic template we set 

up here. (It includes two weeks of 

sample workouts.) 

On the first max-effort day, for 

instance, when you’ll train your 

chest and biceps, stick to three 

to four chest exercises and three 

biceps lifts per session; the exact 

exercises you pick are up to 

you. The main lift can be a bench 

press one week, an incline press 

the next, then a floor press 

after that if you like. Feel free to 

experiment and find exercises 

that work best for you and keep 

the workouts fun. 

Directions 

THE SCHEDULE 

You’ll perform two 

max-effort and 

two dynamic-effort 

workouts per week, 

rotating through a 

body-part split of 

chest and biceps, 

back, legs, and 

shoulders and 

triceps. 

will take 

to work 

part wit 

max- an 

effort m 

follow t 

for how 

togethe 


BACK EXTENSION 

Be sure to hinge at the 

hips when you perform 

each rep. Your lower 

back shouldn’t round 

over on the descent. 

Always squeeze your 

glutes as you extend 

your hips to come up. 

SHOT ON LOCATION AT METROFLEX GYM, LONG BEACH, CA

1 

MACHINE FLYE 

Don’t let your arms 

extend behind you. 

Protect your shoulders. 

PULLOVER 

Lower the weight 

until you feel a stretch 

in your lats, then pull it 

back over your face, 

not your chest. 


DAY 1 

CHEST, 

BICEPS 

(MAX EFFORT) 


4 8 

5 

4 8 

2 

4 

DAY 2 

BACK 

(DYNAMIC EFFORT) 


8 

4 

4 

3 

Strength 

MAX-EFFORT 

TRAINING 

Max-effort workouts focus on 

improving one main lift. To do that, 

you need to train heavy. Warm up 

thoroughly, then choose a variant 

of whatever the main exercise is 

(some type of squat, bench press, 

deadlift, or overhead press) and 

begin working up in weight slowly. 

Add weight in small increments and 

keep your reps to five or fewer until 

you reach a load that allows you 

only three to five reps. When you’ve 

maxed out those reps, move on to 

the next exercise. 

REVERSE-GRIP 

PULLDOWN 

Pull the bar down to your 

collarbone. The palmstoward-you 

grip hits the 

biceps more directly than 

conventional pulldowns. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 187

1 

DAY 3 

CARDIO 

Use the exercise of your choice 

to raise your heart rate to a moderate 

level (120 to 140 beats per minute) 

and keep it there for 30 to 60 minutes. 

Afterward, foam-roll and stretch. 

DAY 4 

LEGS 

(MAX EFFORT) 


2 

3 8 

4 

** 

3 

DIP 

Try to get your 

upper arms 

parallel to the 

floor on each rep. 

You can lean 

forward to 

emphasize the 

pecs, or try 

to stay perfectly 

upright to 

emphasize the 

triceps. 

DAY 5 

SHOULDERS, 

TRICEPS 



8 3* 

4 

4 

4 

4 


Speed 

GOBLET 

SQUAT 

Focus on sitting 

back with your 

hips and opening 

your knees to 

achieve depth. 

DYNAMIC- 

EFFORT 

TRAINING 

The goal of dynamiceffort 

work is to 

move a weight as fast 

as possible. (Note 

that when doing DE 

pullups on back 

day, you’ll be lifting 

your body weight.) 

Aim for 60 to 70% of 

your max on these 

exercises and keep 

the reps to three. If 

that feels too heavy, 

or if your latter few 

sets get sluggish, 

reduce the weight. 

The point is to be as 

explosive as possible 

while maintaining 

perfect form, so 

don’t get eager to 

add weight. 

OVERHEAD 

PRESS 

Keep your 

forearms 

vertical as you 

press. The bar 

should be in 

line with the 

back of your 

head in the 

end position. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 189

2 

HAMMER 

CURL 

Keep your upper 

arms at your 

sides so your 

elbows don’t 

drift forward. 

Your palms face 

each other.

DAY 1 

CHEST, 

BICEPS 



DAY 3 

CARDIO 

Use the exercise of your choice to 

raise your heart rate to a moderate 

level (120 to 140 beats per minute) 

and keep it there for 30 to 60 minutes. 

Afterward, foam-roll and stretch. 

8 3* 

4 

3 

3 8 

4 8 

2 

4 

DAY 4 

LEGS 



4 

3 

3 

3* 

4 

DAY 2 

BACK 

(MAX EFFORT) 


DAY 5 

SHOULDERS, 

TRICEPS 

(MAX EFFORT) 


4 

4 

4 

2 

ABOUT 

THE 

TRAINER 

Don Saladino is 

a trainer of 

celebrities and 

athletes. He 

owns Drive495 in 

New York City. 

donsaladino.com 

*For pullups, simply perform reps as 

explosively as possible on both the positive 

and negative phases. On the unilateral leg 

press, choose a moderate weight that you 

can move explosively with one leg. (Perform 

three reps on one leg, switch legs and do 

three, then rest.) For the other exercises that 

are done with dynamic effort, choose a load 

that is 60 to 70% of your one-rep max. Rest 

60 seconds between all dynamic-effort sets. 

**If you don’t have a glute-ham bench, try a 

weighted back extension or a Romanian 

deadlift for sets of 15. 

4 

4 

4 

4 

MROLYMPIA.COM 191

Lean forward 

a bit at the 

beginning of 

the rep to put 

a stretch on 

your lats. Then 

move your 

torso back 

to vertical as 

you row the 

handle to your 

sternum. Hold 

for a second in 

the contracted 

position. 


NO MORE 

BAD 

WORKOUTS 

USE INDICATOR SETS TO 

ANTICIPATE WHAT YOU’RE CAPABLE 

OF, THEN CUSTOMIZE YOUR 

TRAINING FOR MAXIMUM RESULTS 

EDGAR ARTIGA 

MROLYMPIA.COM 193

Y 

PAVEL YTHJALL 


As a strength coach, I 

help athletes improve 

performance. One of the 

concepts we follow to do 

that is autoregulation— 

customizing workouts to 

allow the athlete to progress 

at his own pace based on 

variations in performance. 

You see, everyone who lifts 

has experienced the same 

pattern: Some days you feel 

great in the gym and the 

weights are flying up. Other 

days, everything you touch 

feels like a ton of bricks. 

You can’t always anticipate 

what kind of day you’ll have 

before you start your 

workout, and some guys will 

go in determined to lift heavy 

no matter what. That’s a 

mistake, because trying to 

bull through a heavy lift when 

your body isn’t up to it can 

cause injury. However, by 

learning to autoregulate your 

training, you can find out 

early on in the session what 

you’re capable of that day 

and adjust accordingly. 

Here’s how it works: After 

you’ve warmed up on your 

main lift for the workout 

(some variation of the squat, 

deadlift, or bench press), 

you’ll perform three sets with 

a certain percentage of your 

max lift. These are called 

“indicator sets.” The first two 

sets are conservative, and 

the last one is all out—perform 

as many reps as you can. 

Your performance on this 

final set determines the rest 

of your workout. 

D ADLIFT 

act your neck 

hat your chin 

s down. Drive 

ugh your heels 

let your body 

ght fall backward 

aximally activate 

y r glutes and 

ha strings. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 195

FORMULA 

Determine the 

load to use by 

calculating 70% 

of your max. So if 

your best deadlift 

is 350 pounds, 

use 245 pounds. 

Complete two 

indicator sets of 

eight reps, and 

then a third in 

which eight is the 

minimum—go for 

as many as 

possible until 

your form 

breaks down. 

70% 

x 350 LBS 

245 LBS 

Use this weight on all 

three indicator sets 

PAVEL YTHJALL 


75% x 350 LBS = 263 LBS 

New max 

percentage 

(70% + 5%) 

FORMULA 

Let the number of reps you performed 

on the final indicator set determine the 

weight you use for the cluster sets. 

For each rep you got above eight, add 2.5% 

to the percentage of your max. So if you 

performed 10 reps, the next weight you’ll 

load will be 263 pounds (75% of 350; 

because 2.5% x two extra reps = 5%). 

Best deadlift 

amount 

Use this weight on 

your cluster sets 

Now do three to five sets of one rep, resting 30 to 45 seconds between 

each rep. But if you could barely manage eight reps in your final indicator 

set, perform three to five sets of one with the same load (70%). 

After you’ve done that third 

indicator set to failure, you’ll 

perform cluster sets, as 

prescribed by my colleague 

Jamie Smith, a strength coach 

in Boston. Clusters are a 

variation of the rest-pause 

method: You take a heavy 

weight and do one rep, rest 

briefly and do another, and 

continue until you’ve done a 

“cluster” of reps. This approach 

allows you to lift a heavier 

weight for more total reps 

than you typically could, and 

it ensures that you’re fresh 

enough on each rep that your 

technique is at its sharpest. 

The load you use on these 

clusters is determined by the 

all-out set you just did. For 

every rep you got above the 

prescribed number, you’ll add 

2.5% to the load and do three 

to five single reps with 30 to 

45 seconds of rest in between. 

(See the “Formula” sidebars 

for a practical example.) 

In other words, the more 

reps you do on the final 

indicator set, the heavier you 

can go on the cluster sets 

and the more challenging 

your workout will be. The 

reverse is also true, so if 

you’re not feeling up to hard 

training, you won’t get many 

reps on the last indicator set 

and therefore won’t have to 

go heavy on the clusters. 

Every workout can now be 

tailored to your capabilities at 

that exact moment. You now 

hold the keys to a lifetime of 

productive workouts. 

EDGAR ARTIGA 


Exercises marked with a letter 

(“A” and “B”) are alternated. 

Perform one set of A, rest, then 

one set of B, rest, and then repeat 

for the prescribed sets. Perform 

the main lifts according to the 

formula on the previous pages. 

DAY I 


1 Deadlift (any variation) * * 

2A 3 8 

2B Reverse Crunch 3 10 

3A 3 

3B Standing Calf Raise 3 20 

DAY II 


1 Bench Press 

* * 

(or overhead press) 

2A 3 

2B 3 

3A 2 

3B Triceps Pushdown 2 20 

4 

DAY III 


1 Squat (any variation) * * 

2A 

3 8 

2B 3 

3A Barbell Hip Thrust 2 10 

3B 2 

*Follow the instructions for indicator sets 

and clusters in the “Formula” sidebars. 

**As many as needed. 

EDGAR ARTIGA 


PROGRESSION 

Each week, the 

percentage of your 

max and the number 

of reps you perform 

will change. 

WEEK 1 

3 sets, 8 reps with 

70%, 

then 3–5 sets of 1 

WEEK 2 


75%, 

then 3–5 sets of 1 

WEEK 3 


80%, 

then 3 sets of 1 

WEEK 4 

3 sets, 1 rep with 

85%, 

then 2 sets of 1 

cable 

evel. 

o the 

handle 

Press 

your 

ry to 

rd its 

MROLYMPIA.COM 201

THE 

MECCA 

OF MUSCLE 

HOW BEV FRANCIS’ 

BECAME THE MOST 

LEGENDARY 

CENTER ON 

THE PLANET 

BY MICHAEL BERG, N.S.C.A.-C.P.T. 


LEFT TO RIGHT 

Matthew Acton, 

Kevin English, 

Juan Morel, Steve 

Weinberger, Victor 

Martinez, Marco 

Rivera, Yeshaira 

Robles, Patty Zariello, 

Guy Cisternino, 

Angelica Nebbia, 

Bethany Wagner, 

Swann Delarosa, Jon 

Delarosa, Karen Morel, 

Dana Linn Bailey. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 203

BEV FRANCIS 

NEVER WON THE 

MS. OLYMPIA 

CONTEST, THE 

MOST COVETED 

TITLE IN ALL 

OF WOMEN’S 

BODYBUILDING, 

ALTHOUGH HER 

CONTROVERSIAL 

SECOND-PLACE 

FINISH TO 

LENDA MURRAY 

IN 1991, AN EVENT 

TELEVISED LIVE BY 

ESPN, MADE HER 

THE BIGGEST ICON 

IN THE SPORT. 

The rivalry between the 

“mainstream” physique of Murray 

and the highly developed body of 

Francis went on to further define 

a debate—immortalized a few 

years prior in Pumping Iron II: 

The Women, which pitted Francis 

against Rachel McLish—which 

has raged for generations. It cut 

to the heart of the meaning of 

femininity, of double standards 

between the sexes, of whether 

society was ready for the 

advent of strong, powerful 

women who refused to bow to 

the expectations of others. It 

also made Francis synonymous 

with strength and a hero to 

bodybuilding purists 

everywhere. 

In the midst of Francis’ 

competitive heyday, she and her 

husband, IFBB judge and former 

competitive powerlifter Steve 

Weinberger, opened a small, 

unassuming gym in Syosset, NY, 

a suburban hamlet near Long 

Island’s North Shore. Weinberger 

made a fateful decision when he 

COURTESY OF WEIDER HEALTH & FITNESS; COURTESY OF BEV FRANCIS POWERHOUSE GYM (4) 


THE MECCA 

Bev Francis took 

muscularity and 

definition to a new 

level during her 

competitive heyday. 

Below: Bev’s FLEX 

cover; Weinberger 

with Rich Gaspari and 

Frank Sepe; Dexter 

Jackson winning 

Weinberger’s 2016 

IFBB New York Pro. 

schedule, as Francis continued 

to compete while the couple 

promoted contests. “We started 

promoting the Bev Francis 

Classic Bodybuilding show in 

1988, which developed into the 

Bev Francis Atlantic States 

Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure, 

Men’s and Women’s Physique, 

Men’s Classic Physique, 

and Bikini Championships,” 

Weinberger says. “Bev was 

competing every year in the 

Ms. Olympia, and many of the 

members would go to watch her, 

especially when the show was 

held in New York City from 1987 

to 1990.” 

Those fans began flocking to 

Bev’s to soak in the sights and 

work on their own physiques. 

“The hardcore training 

atmosphere was attractive to 

competitive bodybuilders and 

other devoted trainers, and the 

gym quickly became the place 

for those interested in the 

competitive side of the sport,” 

Weinberger notes. “We designed 

the gymtobeaccommodating 

for the committed lifter, with a 

large number of training pieces 

for every body part, and made 

sure to be open every day 

with long hours, because from 

our own experience, we knew 

that serious trainers hate to 

miss workouts.” 

From very early on, pros 

from the local area made their 

way to Bev’s. “Albert Beckles, 

who was the Mr. Olympia runnerup 

to Lee Haney in 1985, was a 

good friend and was the first 

big-name pro to be a regular in 

the gym,” Weinberger recalls. 

“Early regulars also included 

Mike Ashley and Jim Quinn.” 

Famous icons from other walks 

of life joined as well. Tap dancer, 

actor, and singer Gregory Hines 

was a regular visitor and was 

actually the very first member. 

That growth continued in 

1990, when the gym expanded 

and was rebranded as Bev 

Francis Gold’s Gym. In 2005, 

the club—at that point already 

renowned—became Bev Francis 

Powerhouse Gym. Now 30,000 

square feet, it boasts a full range 

of physique-sculpting equipment, 

including five squat racks, seven 

bench-press stations, IFBB-profriendly 

dumbbell racks up to 

220 pounds, and a regulationsize 

boxing ring. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 205

“Over the years, we broke 

down walls and took extra 

spaces until the gym grew into 

its current size,” Weinberger 

says. “We have lots of equipment 

and multiples of all pieces. We 

chose a variety of pieces from 

different companies because 

PAVEL YTHJALL; COURTESY OF BEV FRANCIS POWERHOUSE GYM 

Additional reporting by Matt Tuthill. 


COURTESY OF BEV FRANCIS POWERHOUSE G 

LEFT TO RIGHT 

David Henry spots 

Kevin English; Big 

Steve with Phil Heath, 

Juan Morel, and Hany 

Rambod; Bev and 

Steve with Shawn 

Rhoden and his FLEX 

cover; the late Baito 

Abbaspour reps 

out leg extensions 

at the Mecca. 

opportunity to catch the world’s 

top amateur and pro bodybuilding 

competitors in their natural 

habitat, training all out in their 

quest for competitive success. 

The men and women athletes 

who have walked through the 

doors make up a who’s who of the 

physique realm, past and present. 

Six-time Mr. Olympia champ 

Dorian Yates would settle in for a 

month before his title defenses. 

Four-time Mr. O Jay Cutler has 

heaved iron there, as has threetime 

Arnold Classic champ Kai 

Greene and 2007 Arnold Classic 

winner Victor Martinez. 

“So many great pros have 

trained in our gym, like Lee 

Haney, Flex Wheeler, Branch 

Warren, Kevin Levrone, Rich 

Gaspari, Sonny Schmidt, Adela 

Garcia, Anja Langer, Davana 

Medina, Iris Kyle, Cory Everson, 

and Rachel McLish,” Weinberger 

recounts. “More recent 

competitors visiting the gym 

include Dexter Jackson, Phil 

Heath, Evan Centopani, Marco 

Rivera, Roelly Winklaar, Jon 

Delarosa, Hidetada Yamagishi, 

Guy Cisternino, Flex Lewis, Tara 

Scotti, Mark Anthony Wingson, 

Latorya Watts, Camala Rodriguez- 

McClure, Candice Greene, Swann 

Delarosa, India Paulino, and 

Jennifer Hernandez. 

“We are also proud to be the 

home gym for an elite group of 

competitors, including Kevin 

English—who is our morning gym 

manager—and Juan Morel, Maxx 

Charles, Arash Rahbar, Sadik 

Hadzovic, Matt Acton, Angelica 

Teixeira, and Juliana Malacarne.” 

Even WWE Superstars Dwayne 

“The Rock” Johnson or Paul 

“Triple H” Levesque have stopped 

in to lift, as well as a number of 

players from the ranks of the 

NFL, NBA, and NHL. At any time, 

you could look up and find that 

you’re repping out a set of 

dumbbell presses or barbell 

squats alongside a superstar. 

The drive to excel is palpable. 

Visit and you’re almost guaranteed 

the workout of your life. Once, a 

workout of eight-time Mr. Olympia 

Ronnie Coleman busted right 

through the front doors of the 

place, as he took a pair of 

125-pound dumbbells into the 

parking lot for his famous leg-day 

finisher, the walking lunge. The 

mighty Texan strode 100 yards to 

the street and back without a 

pause, as Weinberger recalls. 

MROLYMPIA.COM 207

NEW YORK PRO 

Victor Martinez (2nd) 

and Juan Morel (1st) 

from 2015. Winners 

Sadik Hadzovic 

(physique), Jose 

Raymond (212), 

Yeshaira Robles 

(bikini), Juliana 

Malacarne (physique), 

Candice Keene 

(figure), and Mamdouh 

Elssbiay from 2013. 

AN IRON BOND 

With such feats of strength a 

common sight at Bev’s, those 

among us of more standard 

might and build might walk in 

with a sense of trepidation. 

Yet, as Weinberger is quick 

to point out, those who 

frequent Bev’s create a 

communal ambiance, not an 

inhospitable one. 

“No one’s here to be 

social,” he once admitted to 

Muscle & Fitness during 

an interview about Bev’s. 

“But everyone’s friendly, and 

everyone helps one another 

out. Bev always gave help to 

anyone who needed it, and 

that same spirit has lasted 

through the years.” 

PER BERNAL; ISAAC HINDS 


Boosting T and 

GH levels can 

be as easy as 

tweaking your 

workout, diet, 

and supps. 

UNLOCK 

YOUR 

POTENTIAL 

FEELING WEAKER AND LESS ENERGIZED 

THAN YOU USED TO? TRY THIS 

THREE-PRONGED ATTACK TO UNLOCK 

YOUR BODY’S FULL POTENTIAL. 

BY STEVE DOWNS, C.S.C.S. 

YOU CAN’T ESCAPE IT: 

You’re getting older. In fact, 

age-related hormonal decline can 

begin as early as age 25 and 

accelerate dramatically in your 

30s and beyond. After 30, 

studies show, male testosterone 

drops 2–3% per year, and 

growth hormone (GH) production 

plummets 14% per decade—both of 

which can promote weight gain, 

leave you feeling sluggish and 

weak, and do a number on your 

sex drive. But there are factors 

you can control. Boosting 

hormone levels is easier—and 

more effective—than you’d think 

with this step-by-step primer. 

NO. 1 TRAIN SAVVIER 

Intense workouts involving large 

muscle groups, heavy resistance, 

and minimum rest between 

sets are the best prescription 

for testosterone production. 

Cap each session at about 45 

minutes and use this as your guide: 

ERIK ISAKSON/BLEND IMAGES/OFFSET 


TO TARGET T LEVELS: 

Choose one to two compound movements— 

squats, deadlifts, bentover rows, bench 

presses—per workout. Aim for four to six 

sets of three to six reps using only one to 

two major exercises daily. 

TO TARGET T AND GH LEVELS: 

Do two to three sets of multijoint moves, 

such as dumbbell presses, cable rows, and 

leg presses, but increase reps to eight to 10. 

TO TARGET GH RELEASE: 

Use higher volume and less rest between 

sets; finish with 10 to 12 reps of one 

to two single-joint moves. Take every 

set to failure; let the rep range determine 

resistance. 

NO. 2 EAT BETTER 

Oysters and fatty fish like 

salmon and tuna can increase 

testosterone release. Onions 

and garlic trigger the release 

of luteinizing hormone. The 

cholesterol content in eggs 

provides the building blocks of 

testosterone. And cruciferous 

veggies like broccoli are rich in 

indoles, which help 

break down and flush 

out excess estrogen. 

To increase GH, lean 

beef is a great source 

of the amino acids 

ornithine, arginine, and 

glutamine, which 

are critical to GH 

production and can 

raise serum levels in as 

few as 30 minutes. 

Poultry and fish also 

trigger GH release and 

help reduce the dietary 

fat that lowers growth 

hormone levels. Fruits 

like raspberries and 

pineapple are 

rich in melatonin 

and serotonin, 

respectively, both 

GH boosters. 

Finally, nuts, 

seeds, and whole 

grains contain high 

levels of GABA, 

which stimulates 

GH release from 

the pituitary gland. 

MONDAY 

TUESDAY 

WEDNESDAY 

THURSDAY 

FRIDAY 

SATURDAY 

& SUNDAY 

NO. 3 SUPP SMARTER 

Although GH injections and topical 

testosterone creams can be 

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MROLYMPIA.COM 211

LAST SET 

JUDGE’S TABLE 

BY MICHAEL BERG 

ROUND. DO YOU 

SCORE EACH ROUND 

IN A CONTEST WITH 

DIFFERENT CRITERIA, 

OR ARE JUDGES 

MEASURING 

THE SAME OVERALL 

BODYBUILDING 

QUALITIES IN BOTH? 

KNOW 

THE 

SCORE 

HERE’S WHAT JUDGES 

LOOK FOR IN EACH ROUND OF 

A BODYBUILDING SHOW 

I’VE HEARD 

BODYBUILDING 

CONTEST 

ROUNDS IN 

THE PAST REFERRED 

TO AS THE “SYMMETRY” 

ROUND AND 

“MUSCULARITY” 

The body is judged 

in terms of muscularity 

and symmetry (for 

example, balance) in 

every round. The 

perfect bodybuilder 

should have very large, 

full-bellied muscles 

proportionately 

developed in all areas— 

the upper and lower 

body, right and left 

sides, and front and 

rear. There should 

be deep, clean 

separation between 

the individual muscles, 

and smaller lines, or 

striations, across the 

muscle belly itself. 

Body-fat levels 

should be at a 

minimum, but still the 

muscle itself should be 

full and round. The skin 

is key as well and 

should be tight and 

smooth with a light 

sheen that emphasizes 

the dark tan. 

Also judged are all 

movements and poses, 

which should be 

done with confidence 

and apparent ease. 

Poses are hit hard 

and held with a smile. 

The whole body is 

involved in the pose, 

and every muscle 

group is flexed fully 

and evenly developed. 

Competitors are 

judged with all these 

things in mind while they 

do the mandatory 

poses, during their 

quarter turns, and even 

when they are standing 

on the stage in between 

comparisons. The 

judges are looking for 

the most “complete” 

bodybuilder on that day, 

no matter the round. 

PER BERNAL 


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AGE (IN YEARS) 

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LAST SET 

JUDGE’S TABLE 

I’D LIKE 

TO DO MY 

FIRST BIKINI 

COMPETITION 

AND I’M WONDERING, 

WOULD YOU 

RECOMMEND A POSING 

COACH? IF SO, 

HOW WOULD I GO 

ABOUT FINDING 

ONE IN MY AREA? 

When preparing for 

your first show, I 

recommend first going 

and watching a couple 

of local shows to see 

how they’re organized. 

This will also give you an 

idea of the quality of 

athletes you will be 

competing against, as 

well as their overall look 

with regard to suit, hair, 

makeup, tanning, and 

other points. 

Next, I would go 

to the NPC website, 

npcnewsonline.com, 

where you’ll get up-todate 

information on the 

organization, events in 

your area, and all the 

rules and regulations 

for each division. 

Additionally, many of the 

top NPC and IFBB Pro 

League competitors 

have posted videos 

that supply athletes 

with an abundance 

of information on 

competition, including 

preparing for your first 

contest, nutritional 

guidance, posing 

instructions, and 

training techniques. 

In addition to doing 

that homework, practice 

posing and have 

someone videotape 

your practices so you 

can view and compare 

them to others. As you 

get closer to your show, 

I would suggest 

practicing in your 

competition suit with 

heels on so you’re able 

to see how wearing 

heels affects your 

posing—it’s much more 

difficult than most 

athletes initially 

assume—and how the 

suit moves with you 

while posing. If the suit 

rides up or otherwise 

shifts, you’ll know ahead 

of time so you can fix it 

with an adhesive. 

If you think you 

would feel more 

comfortable with a 

posing coach, contact 

the NPC district 

chairman in your area 

for recommendations 

or try the NPC’s 

Facebook page, where 

you can reach out to 

other NPC athletes for 

suggestions. 

PER BERNAL 


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LAST SET 

HARD TIMES 

HARD 

TIMES 

NEWS, VIEWS, 

AND IDLE GOSSIP 

AS I WAS SAYING... 

The original Hard Times column 

I wrote for FLEX debuted in 1993. 

In those days, you couldn’t get 

bodybuilding news from any other 

source. The last article I wrote 

for FLEX was in 2008. Surely 

there’s never been a decade of 

activity and overall growth like 

what we’ve experienced since 

then. Back in 2008, the following 

divisions did not exist: men’s 

physique, women’s physique, 

classic bodybuilding, and bikini. 

Back then, social media was 

not the driving force and hungry 

anything-goes beast it has 

become. Ben and Joe Weider 

have both passed, and Big Ramy 

was not so Big Ramy. Anyway, 

with this debut column (and they 

say there are no second acts...), 

as Dorian Yates’ lats say, “It’s 

good to be back.” 

KUWAIT AND SEE 

The above headline is becoming more 

and more relevant as bodybuilders 

working out of the now world-famous 

Oxygen Gym in Kuwait emerge with 

exceptional improvement. The gym is 

owned by Bader Boodai, who loves 

bodybuilding. Big Ramy is the biggest 

(in every way) name to represent the 

gym, and in 2016 Ahmad Ashkanani, in his 

rookie year, stormed to second place at 

the 212 Olympia and in March won Arnold 

Classic 212 honors to establish himself 

as Flex Lewis’ biggest obstacle to taking 

a sixth Olympia title. 

But it’s not just homegrown Oxygen 

members who are making waves. Many 

top bodybuilders from elsewhere are 

basing themselves there and coming away 

The January 

2008 issue 

of FLEX 

with great results. We’re talking the 

likes of Akim Williams, Roelly Winklaar, 

William Bonac, Nathan De Asha, Jon 

Delarosa, Victor Martinez, and, maybe 

the one who showed the most 

improvement, Brandon Curry. Weighing 

220 pounds, Curry was 11th at the Kuwaiti 

Pro on Sept. 29 last year. In December 

he went to Oxygen Gym, stationed himself 

there for three months, and returned to 

action in March at the New Zealand Pro 

and swept to a straight first victory, 

tipping the scales at 246 pounds—that’s 

an increase of 26 pounds of quality 

muscle in three months. 

Of course there’s a lot of needling 

talk about how Oxygen Gym is enabling 

bodybuilders to reinvent themselves. 

The truth is that the gym is a genuine boot 

camp in which the trainees work to a 

strict schedule of eating, training, and 

sleeping, with no distractions. There 

are no women in the massive gym and 

no social life of consequence. Also, 

each bodybuilder is assigned a trainer 

who makes Sgt. Maj. Leroy Davis (Dorian 

Yates’ old training partner) seem like 

Mary Poppins. There is no magic water 

out there; it’s a case of trainees focusing 

totally on bodybuilding and peaking 

for a contest and nothing else. Boodai 

and Oxygen Gym prove that the three 

most powerful drugs in bodybuilding are 

eat, train, and sleep. 

PER BERNAL 


BY PETER MCGOUGH 

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN 

The above film title could apply 

to Kevin Levrone’s 2016 comeback, 

when the 52-year-old, after being 

out of competition for 14 years, 

made a comeback and finished 

dead last at the Olympia. He cited 

injuries hampering his training and 

says he will compete again in 

much better shape in 2017. This 

year Flex Wheeler will compete 

again, having been given a special 

invitation to the classic physique 

finals at the Olympia Weekend. It 

will be interesting to see how the 

Sultan of Symmetry, now 52, 

fares after 13 years away from 

the action. 

The truth is, bodybuilding is 

a sport in which physical decline 

is clearly evident. Donned only 

in trunks, you’re going to look 

different at 50 than you did at 

Kevin Levrone (left) 

and Flex Wheeler at 

the 2000 Mr. Olympia 

30—unless your name is Dexter 

Jackson or, conversely, Peter 

McGough. Veterans in other 

sports are not so exposed (no 

pun intended). Tennis greats like 

John McEnroe and Björn Borg 

(both in their late ’50s) can still 

play an entertaining few sets 

without prompting cries of “They 

should never have come back!” 

Bodybuilding is different in that 

skin tone starts to sag and legs are 

the first major body part to fade 

away. When the Masters Olympia 

was launched in 1994, it seemed a 

very good idea to have the legends 

return. But it was sad to see the 

likes of Casey Viator and Greg 

DeFerro exhibiting physiques that 

were a shadow of their heyday’s. 

To comeback or not comeback 

is a question for the ages. 

In 2016 the IFBB Pro League 

launched the classic physique 

division, and to be honest the 

news disappointed me. In this age 

of mass overpowering aesthetics, 

to me it was code for saying, “OK, 

if your preference is shape and 

lines, here’s the classic physique 

division—the open class is now 

for outright freaks.” But as the 

classic division took hold it was 

refreshing to see the kind of 

entrant it was attracting. The 

quality has been absolutely first 

rate, with veteran Danny Hester 

claiming the classic physique title 

at the 2016 Olympia Weekend, and 

guys like Darrem Charles and Stan 

McQuay coming out of retirement 

to compete. Other standouts 

are Lee Banks, Chris Bumstead, 

Derek Farnsworth, George 

Peterson, and Terrence Ruffin. 

A barometer of the growth of 

this division is that at last May’s 

New York Pro there were 14 

entrants in the open division and 

29 in the classic division. So it 

seems my disappointment of early 

2016 was as misplaced as Bill 

O’Reilly opening a charm school 

for genteel young ladies. Who 

knows, maybe the classic division 

will become the most popular 

class? An old man can dream, can’t 

he? Boy, can I dream…ask my 

psychiatrist. 

FROM LEFT: SAMANTHA LUND; PER BERNAL 

MROLYMPIA.COM 217

LAST SET 

CONTEST ROUNDUP 

2017 IFBB 

PITTSBURGH 

PRO 

MAY 

6 

PITTSBURGH, PA 

1. Raymont 

Edmonds* 

CLASSIC PHYSIQUE 

1. Chris Bumstead* 

2. Divine Wilson 

3. Lee Banks 


*Qualified for 

2017 Olympia Weekend. 

1. Andrea 

Pollard* 

AMIR MARANDI 

BIKINI 

1. Michelle Sylvia* 

2. Casey Samsel 

3. Carolina Araujo 

MROLYMPIA.COM 219

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LAST SET 

POSEDOWN 

MCCARVER VS. 

SCHLIERKAMP 

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, GÜNTER MANIA RAGED. 

COULD MCCARVER MANIA BE NEXT? 

SOMETIMES, it’s not how 

much you win, it’s who you beat. 

At only 26 and in only his third pro 

year, Dallas McCarver has already 

won twice as many pro titles as 

Günter Schlierkamp totaled in his 

13-year, 39-contest career. And 

yet the German giant’s single 

victory is the greatest upset in 

bodybuilding history. Fifteen 

years ago, two weeks after 

finishing fifth in the 2002 Mr. 

Olympia, where many enthusiastic 

converts felt he deserved first, 

Schlierkamp bested reigning Mr. O 

Ronnie Coleman. And Günter mania 

was born. Most remarkably, that 

earthquake-inducing victory was 

Schlierkamp’s 31st show in his ninth 

year, and he was 32. That places a 

different context on McCarver’s 

current year, when many have 

criticized him, despite seconds in 

two shows, for failing to inspire 

mania. Relax, we’re still in the 

initial chapters of what could be a 

very long tale. 

MCCARVER 

SCHLIERKAMP 

HEIGHT 

WEIGHT 

AGE 1ST 

PRO WIN 

PRO 

YEARS 

3 

PRO 

CONTESTS 

7 

PRO WINS 

2 

HEIGHT 

WEIGHT 

AGE 1ST 

PRO WIN 

PRO 

YEARS 

PRO 

CONTESTS 

PRO WINS 

1 

PER BERNAL; CHRIS LUND 



STRENGTHS 

WEAKNESSES 

BEST POSE 

WORST POSE 

STRENGTHS 

WEAKNESSES 

BEST POSE 

WORST POSE 

PER BERNAL; CHRIS LUND 

Flex (ISSN 8750-8915), Vol. 34, No.7, is published monthly except for a combined July/August issue, which counts as two of twelve in an annual subscription by Weider Publications, LLC, a division 

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MROLYMPIA.COM 223

THE SHOT 

KEVIN HORTON 

A DAY TO 

REMEMBER

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