Mr. Olympia has a 2002 BMW X5, a 2006 BMW 645Ci convertible, a 2009 BMW X5 and a 2009 Mercedes S550 Lorinser, but those aren't his most valuable wheels, for it was his quads--wider than ever and crisscrossed with a cornucopia of new cuts--and his hams--distinguished by yawning lines like vertical blinds--that, more than any other parts, won him his third Sandow. Jay Cutler's legs first garnered attention 16 years ago, and they've remained a deciding advantage in contests ever since. But, hindered by lingering injuries, they never reached that "Utter sickness" level of Tom Platz and Ronnie Coleman--that is, until last September. One month before he won back the Olympia title and a mere seven miles from the Las Vegas stage where it happened, we watched Cutler put his wheels through a workout. He summoned more intensity at age 36 than he ever had before, and we break down that workout into more details than you've ever encountered before.
WORKOUT FACTORS
TOTAL SETS: 27 (16 for quads, 9 for hams)
TOTAL REPS: 259
TOTAL MINUTES: 80
TYPICAL REP RANGE: 6-10 ("I used to do 10-12, but this year I focused on going heavier for lower reps.")
REST PERIODS: 2 minutes ("I slowed my pace, and it helped me go heavier and harder. I used to rest only 45 seconds, but this time, I left the calorie burning to the cardio.")
TRAINING PARTNERS: 3 ("I had eight partners this year ['09] and they rotated, so it always stayed fresh and the intensity was always high.")
INTENSITY: highest ever, due to heavier weights, lower reps, greater focus and a steady stream of training partners
INJURIES: none ("That was a huge advantage for me. Being able to squat heavy and leg press heavy made a huge difference.")
MACHINES: "I trained at a couple different gyms, but I usually hit legs at this one [the Las Vegas Gold's Gym on Flamingo Road] because of all the great machines they have."
REP COUNT: "My partners tell me what I got. I never count."
LOGBOOK: none
HEADPHONES: none
SHOES: Adidas blue on black ("I went back to a shoe with a flat sole for leg day, so I can feel like I'm planted better on the floor or the machine.")
BELT: none ("I felt a belt was compressing things too much and hurt my breathing. I only use a belt for deadlifts, barbell rows and dumbbell rows.")
KNEE WRAPS: yes, on heavy quad exercises ("I returned to the wraps this year for the first time since I was a teenager, and it made a big difference. It took pressure off of my knees, and it allowed my outer quads to fire more.")
OTHER FACTORS
CARDIO: 45 minutes first thing in the morning, 45 minutes before bed, 7 days per week ("I used the cardio to bring in a lot of leg cuts this year.")
DEEP TISSUE MASSAGE: 3-hour sessions, 4 days weekly ("It was brutal, and I spent as much time in therapy as I did in training each week. I was going to three different therapists with three different methods. But it freed up the tissue in my right leg and allowed my legs to get back in balance.")
STRETCHING: 30-40 minutes every other day ("I had a stretching coach this year and she would stretch everything every time. It was especially important for my legs and hips.")
FLEXING: "Over the final weeks [before the Olympia], I walked around all day long squeezing my hams and glutes. I was really trying to bring out those details I never had before."
LEG EXTENSIONS
SETS: 4
REPS: 10
WEIGHT: 120, 140, 160, 180
MACHINE: Flex (dual-kneepad, bilateral)
RANGE OF MOTION: full stretch to full contraction, hold and squeeze contractions
FEET: straight ahead, 14 inches apart
FOCUS: upper quads
PACE: 1 second up, 3 seconds down
BETWEEN SETS: stretching (standing with one leg straight, the other bent)
BREAKDOWN: "I've always started with these to bring a lot of blood into the legs. They definitely helped bring in a lot of definition, and I focused them on the upper quads. They start as warm-ups, but then I go heavy. By the time I'm done with these, my legs are already fried."
45-DEGREE LEG PRESSES
SETS: 3
REPS: 15-20
FORCED REPS: 3 on last 2 sets
WEIGHT *: 765, 945, 945
MACHINE: Polar (seat set in second lowest peg)
RANGE OF MOTION: thighs 45 degrees to calves (at bottom), just short of lockout (at top)
FEET: 6 inches apart, middle height on sled, toes pointed straight
FOCUS: vastus lateralis (outer-quad sweeps)
KNEE WRAPS: heaviest 2 sets
BEST SET OF '09*: 1,305 x 10
BREAKDOWN: "I took a narrow stance to work the sweeps, and I cranked up the reps on these. I try to really fry my legs on these and get a ton of blood in there before I do the more compound stuff like hack squats and Smith machine squats."
* includes sled: estimated 45 pounds
HACK SQUATS
REPS: 8-10
FORCED REPS: 2 on last set
WEIGHT*: 315, 495, 585
MACHINE: Icarian
RANGE OF MOTION: far below parallel to just before lockout
KNEE WRAPS: last 2 sets
BEST SET OF '09*: 675 x 10
BREAKDOWN: "Hany [Rambod] suggests I stand a little more narrow than in the past to work on the sweep. And I really went bottom deep with these. The knee wraps helped a lot here, because they gave me the security to train heavier than before."
* includes sled: estimated 10 pounds
SMITH MACHINE SQUATS
FORCED REPS: 3 on third set, 2 on last set
WEIGHT *: 190, 280, 370, 280
MACHINE: Body Masters (Smith machine--counterbalanced, vertical angle)
RANGE OF MOTION: just below parallel to just before lockout
FEET: heels 10 inches apart, toes angled out slightly
KNEE WRAPS: last 3 sets
BEST SET OF '09 *: 460 x 10
BREAKDOWN: "I switched to Smith, and I like this one because it's straight up and down [as opposed to the seven-degree tilt of some Smiths]. I don't do any free-weight squats anymore. The Smith allows me to focus 100% on my legs, and I don't have to walk out of a rack. I went as low as sixes on these, and I focused mostly on the outer sweeps."
* includes bar: 10 pounds
STANDING LUNGES
STES: 2
REPS: 8 (per leg)
WEIGHT: 115
EQUIPMENT: Ivanko 35-pound plates, Olympic barbell,
spring collars
RANGE OF MOTION: 1-yard strides; in bottom position, lunging thigh and trailing calf are both parallel to floor
FEET: heels 10 inches apart when standing, toes straight
FOCUS: quad stretch
BREAKDOWN: "I'm done with walking lunges. Instead, I stand in place and alternate legs each rep. I do them mainly just to stretch the quads out and again focus on the outer sweeps. A lot of people do them to bring their glutes and hams in, but I was getting enough of that with the cardio."
LYING LEG CURLS
FORCED REPS: 3 on last set
WEIGHT: 150, 170, 190
MACHINE: Icarian (split-pad design with both leg pad and torso pad angled down, elevating hips)
MODIFICATIONS: additional pad (3 inches thick) placed under quads to elevate legs, grips front of machine--not handles--and keeps torso parallel to floor ("I use the pad under my legs and keep my body up, because I feel like I get a better stretch and feel the contraction more.")
RANGE OF MOTION: full stretch to nearly full contraction (ankle pad just misses glutes), holds contractions for 1 second, 3 seconds down
FEET: 14 inches apart, wider than typical ("That's just because my legs are so big.") FOCUS: outer hamstrings
BREAKDOWN: "By the time I'm done with quads, my hams are already pumped anyway. I'm just trying to feel the exercise from start to finish. I go up slow, but 1 try to hold at the top for a second, and then do 3 seconds down."
SEATED LEG CURLS
WEIGHT: 210, 230, 230
MACHINE: Flex
RANGE OF MOTION: full stretch to just beyond 45 degrees at contraction
FEET: 12 inches apart
FOCUS: inner hamstrings
BETWEEN SETS: isometric adductor stretches (squats with legs apart and arms between legs, and tries to push legs together)
BREAKDOWN: "I'm just trying to get the squeeze from the back of the knees to the glutes. These bring a different look to the hamstrings. I feel these more than any other ham exercise, because they take my back and everything totally out of it."
STANDING ONE-LEG CURLS
Author: Greg Merritt
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