Many athletes dream of training with their idols. The reigning Arnold Classic Physique champion Wesley Vissers lived that dream by training alongside the eight-time Mr. Olympia champion Ronnie Coleman in Amsterdam.
Vissers and Coleman’s chest and triceps workout marked the beginning of Vissers’ 2024 Olympia prep.
Vissers & Coleman’s Chest & Triceps Workout
Decline Machine Flye
Superset — EZ Bar Skull Crushers & Close-Grip Bench Press
Check out their session below:
[Related: Olympia-Life Balance: How Chris Bumstead Prioritizes Family, Training, & Everything Else]
Decline Machine Flye
Machine flyes bias the inner and lower chest fibers. Vissers employed tempo reps, using three-second eccentrics with a brief pause in the fully stretched position to maximize time under tension (TUT) and hypertrophy. (1)
An incline bench setup has a line of pull that places the chest in a mechanically disadvantaged position at full extension, effectively loading the chest in its weakest position. (2)
Overhead Cable Triceps Extension
Unlike free weights, cables maintain constant tension on the triceps throughout the range of motion (ROM), maximizing stimulus on the long triceps head, which crosses the shoulder and elbow joints.
Superset — EZ Bar Skull Crushers & Close-Grip Bench Press
Coleman trained EZ bar skull crushers as the first free-weight exercise of the workout. After completing 20 repetitions, Coleman switched to 20 reps of close-grip bench presses with the same weight. He performed lengthened partials to exhaust the triceps. (3)
Stronger, Together
The benefits of training with a partner, particularly one whose strength accolades you admire, could make you stronger.
A 2016 randomized control trial found that male training partners “became stronger in the upper body and more physically active,” and female training partners “increased muscle mass and improved upper and lower body strength.” (4)
The Way Forward
Vissers secured victories at the 2024 Arnold Classic and 2024 Arnold Classic UK. His sights are set on the Classic Physique Olympia on Oct. 10-13, 2024, in Las Vegas, NV, where he’ll aim to dethrone the five-time reigning champion Chris Bumstead.
References
Burd NA, Andrews RJ, West DW, et al. Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. J Physiol. 2012;590(2):351-362. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200
Androulakis Korakakis P, Wolf M, Coleman M, et al. Optimizing Resistance Training Technique to Maximize Muscle Hypertrophy: A Narrative Review. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2023;9(1):9. Published 2023 Dec 29. doi:10.3390/jfmk9010009
Pedrosa, G. F., Lima, F. V., Schoenfeld, B. J., Lacerda, L. T., Simões, M. G., Pereira, M. R., Diniz, R. C. R., & Chagas, M. H. (2022). Partial range of motion training elicits favorable improvements in muscular adaptations when carried out at long muscle lengths. European journal of sport science, 22(8), 1250–1260. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2021.1927199
Winters-Stone, K. M., Lyons, K. S., Dobek, J., Dieckmann, N. F., Bennett, J. A., Nail, L., & Beer, T. M. (2016). Benefits of partnered strength training for prostate cancer survivors and spouses: results from a randomized controlled trial of the Exercising Together project. Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 10(4), 633–644. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-015-0509-0
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Featured image: @wesleyvissers on Instagram
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