Tag: nEWS
Phil Heath Looks Huge In Workout Video, Says Chance Of Return ‘Staying At 5%’
Phil Heath continues to train in retirement and does not see a return coming.
Fans have been hoping to see Phil Heath return to the stage for quite some time now. After seeing workout videos of Heath recently, there is no question why fans believe that he can still dominate on stage. According to the legendary bodybuilder, a chance of a return is still slim.
Heath ranks second all-time with seven Olympia victories. He won the competition each year from 2011-2017 and is behind just Ronnie Coleman and Lee Haney, who are tied with eight victories. In 2018, the late, great Shawn Rhoden defeated Heath. He returned to the 2020 Olympia, finishing third, and has not competed since.
Despite being retired, Heath has been able to maintain an elite physique and recently showed it off during a workout. In a recent interview, Heath revealed some secrets to his success.
“My mind was thinking like a boxer, this guy has got a great jab man and my jab may not have to be as good as his but I have to be able to move accordingly just to do the counter. If I can neutralize his strength, how is he going to deal with mine?” Phil Heath explained.
Phil Heath continued to explain how he was able to build a mentality and physique that made him a seven-time champion. It all began when he won his first title in 2011. Heath saw his competitors in a different light after finally reaching the pinnacle of the sport.
“I had arrived. That’s how I felt. It was all worth it. This is your new start. Because now you’re Mr. Olympia, you’re not these guys. You’ve already beat them. That’s in your rearview and fans may look at that like that’s cocky, no man, I did the work. I know the secret to my own success.”
Over the course of his early career, Heath used performances where he did not show his best to better him for the future. This includes a fifth-place finish at the Arnold Classic, which he referenced personally. Heath aimed to finish top-three and ended up in fifth place.
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This is when he decided to set new goals and just build the best version of himself. Heath was able to make the necessary changes and become a champion.
“It comes from hard work, discipline, and all that but when I recognized that I could do this better. Again, I talk about video games. The best thing is not just to get, you know I’m like old school arcade games. You go to an arcade, and you’re like I got my name in the game but you’re 10th dude. Don’t you want to be a number one, and that’s how I looked at it. I have an opportunity if I choose to play that game again and just challenge myself. How big can I go. It can be in anything. Literally anything.”
Despite remaining in top shape, Phil Heath does not see a return to the stage coming. Close to two years after Heath was last on stage, fans are holding out hope that one day he will attempt to win that coveted eighth Olympia title.
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First-ever Natural Olympia Champion John Hansen Shares Guide on How to Get Big Naturally
Image via Instagram @johnhansen1_
The first-ever Natural Olympia champion John Hansen reveals how you can get big naturally.
Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are prohibited in natural bodybuilding. Therefore, natural bodybuilders have to structure the most efficient training and diet routine to naturally build the most muscle possible. The first-ever Natural Olympia winner John Hansen was interviewed on a podcast and shared how you can get big naturally.
John Hansen became the first Natural Olympia champ after winning the competition in 1998 in Corinth, Greece. He also was a 3x Natural Universe champ and writer for Iron Man Magazine. On the Longevity Muscle Podcast, Hansen shared how to get big without using PEDs. Hansen stated:
“I had to increase my food intake. I had to take in a lot of food. And that’s how I got big. You got to really eat a lot of food and not be afraid to bulk up.”
Eat A Lot of Calories
Hansen said that he started out weighing 135 pounds in natural bodybuilding, and by the time he was 21, he was 230 pounds. He admitted that many people online are skeptical that he was able to gain over 100 pounds naturally. But Hansen said it is possible to do so naturally and credits it to eating many calories.
John Hansen points out that many of the younger lifters want to have abs and “look sexy,” but you can’t be afraid to eat to build muscle. He said he ate more and more until his body started to gain weight. Hansen says that since his metabolism was fast and claims he was an ectomorph (naturally skinny), he was eating 4500 calories a day. However, Hansen acknowledges that everyone has a different body type, and there is no one size fits all approach. And that you should eat the number of calories your body responds to.
You can see a clip of John Hansen explaining how he got big naturally in the clip below.
John Hansen’s Training Volume for Getting Big Naturally
John Hansen said he tried implementing pump-style training into his workouts, where he targeted a muscle group with lighter weights a few days before working out that same muscle group again with heavier weights. He would superset exercises with 70% of his normal weight and do 12-15 reps.
After his pump training session, Hansen also had a muscle group he was targeting with heavyweights. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for him and was too much volume, leading to overtraining. Therefore, Hansen decided to train each muscle group once a week.
To gain mass, Hansen said:
“The most weight I could use for 6-8 reps. That’s what helped me get bigger.”
Hansen that the more calories he ate, the more he trained harder and lifted heavier weights. And the heavier weights allowed him to build more muscle.
Hansen admitted that this strategy worked well for him in his 20s and 30s. But now he eats less and doesn’t go through a bulking phase like he used to because he says it would just be stored as fat now that he’s older.
Recap
To get big naturally, the first-ever Natural Olympia champion John Hansen says he ate a lot of calories (over 4k per day) and lifted heavy weights in the 6-8 rep range, training each muscle group once per week.
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Jay Cutler Reveals Four Best Exercises To Build A Monstrous Chest
Jay Cutler put together a chest and bicep workout where he shared some of the top workouts.
Jay Cutler is one of the all-time greats in bodybuilding and has continued to maintain an impressive physique in retirement. Recently, Cutler put together a chest and bicep workout where he shared some of the top exercises to build monstrous size.
Cutler is a four-time Olympia champion. His first victory came in 2006 when he was able to end an eight-year reign by Ronnie Coleman. Since calling it a career on stage, Curler has continued to build a following because of his knowledge and passion for fitness and bodybuilding.
On Sunday, Jay Cutler released his most recent workout video sharing some of the top chest exercises that help build size and width.
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Jay Cutler Chest & Bicep Workout
Standing Calf Raise Machine – 2 warmup sets of 10-12 reps, 4 working sets
Seated Calf Raises – 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps
Incline Hammer Press Machine – 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps
Flat Dumbbell Press – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Cable Chest Press – 3 sets of 10
Flat Dumbbell Flyes – 3 sets of 10
Bicep Curl Machine – 1-2 warmup sets, 3 working sets of 10-12
Bicep Curls w/ EZ Bar – 4 sets of 10
Seated Bicep Cable Curls – 3 sets of 12
Hammer Curls – 3 sets of 10
Chest
Jay Cutler hit chest with some of his favorite exercises here. That was highlighted by dumbbell press on a flat bench. This was the second exercise of the day but Cutler believes it is No. 1 on his list on chest day.
“Favorite exercise, if you asked me what the best exercise to grow your chest, it is the seated, lying flat dumbbell press. Dumbbells preferably just because I always had one side that was stronger than the other. You guys ask that question a lot. Isolateral movements.”
Cutler began the chest portion of his workout with the incline hammer press machine before moving to dumbbell presses. Following three sets in both exercises, Cutler decided to take on the cables. This is a movement that he admits to not doing each week but decided to perform it in this particular workout.
The final chest exercise of the day was dumbbell flyes. Cutler laid on a flat bench and grabbed two dumbbells that were lighter in weight than those he used for presses. He explained that this exercise is great to build a certain area of the chest.
“You guys looking to build your under, outer pecs, great exercise for that. You notice an arch in my chest, even when I bench, with a lot of those movements I try to keep the chest out.”
Biceps
Jay Cutler added biceps to chest day in retirement because he admits to not liking arm day. He also trains triceps on shoulder day.
“I wanted to take arm training out of my routine because I hate it so much. I’ll be honest, I hate bi’s and tri’s. So instead of having a bi’s and tries day, which I did for most of my career, I moved them to chest and shoulder days.”
This was the next portion of his workout performing different variations of curls including seated cable curls and hammer curls. Cutler also performed an EZ bar curl with a wide grip. He used a thicker bar in order to focus on his grip and make the lift more difficult.
“I do not like to curl with a thin bar. This is a wider grip. It kills your ego a bit because you have to be lighter with the weight.”
Calves
Jay Cutler makes sure to include calves into his regular training. This was the first movement that he did in order to warmup and get the blood flowing. Cutler performed sets on the seated calf machine and standing calf machine. Some say that they target different areas of the muscle but Cutler is not so sure.
“They always say that with calf training, the standing calf works the inner calf and the seated works the outer because you’re seated in a bent-knee position. I don’t know if I believe that very much.”
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Chris Bumstead Shares Sleeve-Ripping Arm Workout To Build Size
Chris Bumstead shared his favorite arm-day workout to crush his biceps and triceps.
Chris Bumstead is the reigning three-time Classic Physique Olympia champion but he is never satisfied with his physique. This offseason, Bumstead has battled different obstacles but is looking better than ever during training sessions. In a recent YouTube video, Bumstead shared a massive arm workout that he has been using to build size.
Bumstead has a chance to make it four Olympia victories in a row in December in Las Vegas. Early in the year, Bumstead contracted COVID-19 and was forced to take some time off but has since returned to training and is in the midst of bulking.
Chris Bumstead has continued to put on weight and build the size needed to win yet another title. This includes his arms, which has been a focus recently but is not always over the course of the year.
“I definitely have the arm days in right now. I don’t always throughout the year but I just want them to grow more. And they’ve finally been growing since last year,” Bumstead said.
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Chris Bumstead Arm Workout
Rope Push-Downs and Overhead Tricep Extensions – Superset, 2 sets
Preacher Curls – 3-4 working sets
Incline Dumbbell Skull Crushers – 3 sets
Seated Dumbbell Curls and Hammer Curls on Cable Machine – Superset, 3 sets
Crossbody Cable Triceps Extension – 2 heavy sets followed by drop set
READ MORE: Chris Bumstead Details 5,000-Calorie Bulking Diet
Supersets
Chris Bumstead throws two supersets into the mix when performing this workout. It begins with the first duo of the day to pump the triceps. When performing rope push-downs and overhead tricep extensions together, Bumstead highlights the feeling of contracting the muscle followed by a stretch.
“I’ve been starting with this basically for the last four months. Basic tricep extensions with the rope and superset with over the head. It gives a tight squeeze at the bottom and when you go over the head, it gives you a tight stretch, or big stretch…You get a pump from the normal tricep extensions and then you go overhead and you stretch them, giving you this crazy burn and it feels super good.”
The next superset comes later in the workout for biceps. Bumstead hits one for each side of the arm focusing on technique.
Preacher Curls
After warming up the triceps, Bumstead begins to alternate exercises between bicep and triceps. The first of the day for biceps came on Bumstead’s favorite machine.
“This right here, this beautiful blue machine, is the GOAT bicep machine for myself personally. It’s what I figured out is the best way to contract my bicep on a heavy load, push your intensity, while keeping the load on my bicep. It’s much easier on a preacher curl, your bicep is stuck in a stiff position.”
Bumstead explains that this machine is one where he continues to get stronger. He loads up the bar with one 25-pound weight on each side before adding a second later in the workout. Since this is one of his favorite machines, Bumstead does it for 3-4 working sets pumping out as many reps as possible.
Incline Dumbbell Skull Crushers
Chris Bumstead likes to isolate triceps here and it helps to take some pressure off the shoulders. Doing this workout like this will allow the lifter to target the triceps and with the right technique, it will allow the triceps to be worked equally.
“I like doing these because it allows you to focus on each arm individually.”
Crossbody Cable Tricep Extension
Bumstead finishes the workout with this exercise because it is easier to pump out a big number of reps at the end of training. This is where the tricep can be worked across the body instead of parallel like earlier in the session.
“It’s a little easier to pound some reps out at the end of your workout…Bringing across your body sideways instead of parallel with the body like I was doing earlier with the bicep.”
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2022 Warrior Classic Pro Results
Lamar Shaw and Devone Martin are victorious during the 2022 Warrior Classic Pro!
The 2022 Warrior Classic Pro took place in Richmond, VA over the weekend with winners looking for a shot to compete at the 2022 Olympia. This was an event highlighted by Classic Physique and Wellness. Both Lamar Shaw and Devone Martin were able to top the competition and earn victories.
Shaw earned his first trip to the Olympia after his third competition this season. This was Shaw’s third top-five victory of the year and his first victory. He finished fourth at the Boston Pro and third during the Houston Tournament of Champions. Now, he will have a chance to go up against the best in a rising division in bodybuilding.
Martin is another competitor that is looking to take the next step in Wellness, a rather new division in bodybuilding. She will compete in his first Olympia after her victory in Richmond. Martin finished seventh during the Europa Pro Championships in 2021 after also competing at the Chicago Pro and Pittsburgh Pro.
The full results from the event have been announced! There were two divisions where competitors had a chance to show what they can do. Check out the full results of the 2022 Warrior Classic Pro from Classic Physique and Wellness below, along with the official score cards from the event!
2022 Warrior Classic Pro: All Division Winners
Classic Physique: Lamar Shaw
Wellness: Devone Martin
2022 Warrior Classic Pro Breakdown
Classic Physique
First Place – Lamar Shaw
Second Place – Michael Johnson
Third Place – Jared Keys
Fourth Place – Anthony Barbera III
Fifth Place – Laconia Seymour
Sixth Place – Sam Adiki
Seventh Place – Chris Barnes
Eighth Place – Michael Bell
Ninth Place – Mark Knight
Tenth Place – Iziah Kanhai
Wellness
First Place – Devone Martin
Second Place – Amanda Rezende
Third Place – Sheila Martins
Fourth Place – Tracy Williams
Fifth Place – Lorena Ragusa
2022 Warrior Classic Pro Official Score Cards
Generation Iron wishes to congratulate all the great athletes who earned a win at the 2022 Warrior Classic Pro. Make sure to check out our full IFBB Pro results page from this year and previous years right here to catch up on any action you may have missed!
Greg has covered the four major sports for six years and has been featured on sites such as Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, SB Nation, NJ.com, and FanSided. Now, he is transitioning into the world of bodybuilding and strength sports.
2022 GRL PWR Pro Results
Ashlyn Little wins Bikini at the 2022 GRL PWR Pro!
The 2022 GRL PWR Pro took place over the weekend in Orlando where Bikini competitors were vying to earn qualification to the 2022 Olympia. In the end, it was Ashlyn Little who remained in top shape winning the event!
Little already has qualification to the Olympia but was able to register her third victory of the year so far. She was also victorious during the Charlotte Pro and World Klash Pro. Little is now a two-time champion at the GRL PWR Pro, winning the event in 2021 as well.
Bikini has become a huge division in bodybuilding with the field size growing each year. Little has been able to build a championship physique and is gaining momentum into the summer. On Instagram, Little claimed that this was the best package that she brought on stage. This helped her edge the likes of Jennifer Nicole Dolias and Lawna Dunbar.
The full results from the show have been announced! Check out the full results along with an official score card from the action in Orlando over the weekend!
2022 GRL PWR Pro Breakdown
First Place – Ashlyn Little
Second Place – Jennifer Nicole Dolias
Third Place – Lawna Dunbar
Fourth Place – Marcia Goncalves
Fifth Place – Sierra Swann
Sixth Place – Cassandra De La Rosa
Seventh Place – Peyton Hunton
Eighth Place – Gabriella Mohamed
Ninth Place – Jodie Yunker
Tenth Place – Janine Herrera
2022 GRL PWR Pro Official Score Card
Generation Iron wishes to congratulate all the great athletes who earned a win at the 2022 GRL PWR Pro. Make sure to check out our full IFBB Pro results page from this year and previous years right here to catch up on any action you may have missed!
Greg has covered the four major sports for six years and has been featured on sites such as Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, SB Nation, NJ.com, and FanSided. Now, he is transitioning into the world of bodybuilding and strength sports.
Stevenson vs Valdez, Taylor vs Serrano, Font vs Vera Fight Results
Get boxing and UFC fight results now!
There are multiple interesting match ups going done this Saturday night. In the boxing realm we have the men’s featherweight battle between Shakur Stevenson vs Oscar Valdez. Also Irish stand out boxer Katie Taylor will go to war with the talented and dominant Amanda Serrano for the unified female light weight titles.
But boxing isn’t the only event on display tonight. UFC on ESPN 35 features a main event catch weight bout between Marlon Vera and Rob Font. All three events have tremendously high stakes. Which fighters will succeed tonight?
Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano
Katie Taylor defeats Amanda Serrano by split decision.
Shakur Stevenson vs Oscar Valdez
You don’t want to miss this card ?
?BIG TIME BOXING?
TBA
Rob Font vs Marlon Vera
Two top-10 bantamweights look to join the title conversation at #UFCVegas53 ?
TBA
Did you watch the fights tonight?
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News and Editorial Writer at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.
2022 Arnold Classic South America Results
Rafael Brandao was victorious during the 2022 Arnold Classic South America!
The 2022 Arnold Classic South America took place in Brazil about five weeks after competitors took the stage in Columbus, OH to open the bodybuilding season. Now, the action traveled to Brazil to see who would earn yet another bid to the 2022 Olympia. In the end, it was Rafael Brandao who was victorious in Men’s Open.
Brandão took the stage as the favorite in the event and looked the part early on. After pulling his name out of the action in Columbus, Brandão was able to bounce back in Brazil. This is a competition that he is familiar with, finishing as the runner-up in 2019. This is now his second professional victory. The first came last season when he was victorious during the Romania Muscle Fest.
Sibusiso Kotel came in as a dark-horse competitor having competed in shows such as the Vancouver Pro and Chicago Pro in his career. Kotel showed a strong physique and will make some noise on the biggest stage soon. In a strange development, Kotel was not present during the prejudging on Saturday night. He was featured during the Final round but did not receive a full score.
The full results from the show have been announced. This was a show with just one division, Men’s Open, leading the way. Below, check out the full results from the action along with the official score card from the event!
2022 Arnold Classic South America Full Results
Men’s Open
First Place – Rafael Brandao
Second Place – Vitor Hugo Boff
Third Place – Thiago Lins
Fourth Place – William Martins
Fifth Place – Emir Omeragic
2022 Arnold Classic South America Official Score Card
Coming soon!
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PNBA Natural Bodybuilder William Long Discloses the Best Off-Season Workout and Diet
Image via Instagram @ricecracker2487
PNBA Men’s Physique reigning Natural Olympia champ William Long discusses the best off-season workout and diet.
The workouts you do during the off-season and during the season in bodybuilding differ. During the off-season, bodybuilders typically focus on building muscle and working on their lagging muscle groups. Conversely, in-season bodybuilders are mainly cutting and dropping body fat. Professional Natural Bodybuilding Association (PNBA) Men’s Physique reigning Natural Olympia 2021 champ William Long gave some insight to Iron Man Magazine on how a top PNBA athlete’s workouts and diet look during the off-season.
William Long is a 3x Natural Olympia champ and PNBA Hall of Fame Inductee. He coined the nickname “The OG” after being the first-ever to win Pro Men’s Physique at Natural Olympia. He’s also got a multi-media contract with Generation Iron, the INBA PNBA, and Iron Man Magazine.
Off-season Regimen
William Long focuses on three things during the off-season: taking time off, diet, and training.
Taking Time Off
William Long believes taking ample time is imperative during the offseason. Long stated:
“I am a firm believer in the benefits of taking a significant period of time off from competing. It is not time off from training or from dieting. Time off is an opportunity to improve. It is time to improve on weaknesses that were exposed when on stage.”
Long doesn’t wholly take time off; instead, he hones in on his lagging body parts. He also works on posing.
Admittedly, Long states that he can make as many improvements as bodybuilders using performance-enhancing drugs during the off-season. Long gives his body the time to balance his hormones since contest prep negatively affects them. He says that you should be taking at least one year off from competing each year as a natural bodybuilder.
Diet
William Long still eats healthy during the offseason, but he’s more flexible with his diet. He’ll never turn down cookies. Long doesn’t mind not having abs and allowing himself some time off to relax. Instead, long eats more foods to train with heavier weights and grow.
William Long said:
“When it comes to the off-season diet, the goal is to gain size and in order to do that, you have to eat more.”
William Long combines reverse dieting, dirty bulking, and clean bulking during the off-season. Reverse dieting is slowly building your calories back up. And bulking is eating whatever you want to gain weight. As the name suggests, clean bulking is eating more clean foods – the foods bodybuilders eat during contest prep – to build lean muscle.
Training
William Long’s training doesn’t vary much during the off-season. He believes that the movements working for him during the contest prep are the same exercises to implement during the offseason, except with heavier weights and more intensity.
However, William notes that he cut back on cardio during the off-season. Long says:
“Now, I have tried every training protocol out there from Push, Pull, Legs to Dorian Yates’ Blood and Guts but, the one training protocol that I enjoy doing and can consistently perform is the typical “Bro Split”.
Long does a five-day split consisting of the chest, back, shoulders, legs, and arms. Below William Long says that walking lunges are a staple exercise in his routine.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcA-zHwJ6WW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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Joe Rogan Jokes That Will Smith Hit Chris Rock Because “It Wasn’t The Rock”
Joe Rogan makes light of the situation at the Oscars.
Joe Rogan built one of the top podcasts in the world by speaking on different topics, being open and honest, and finding times to make light of certain situations. Recently, Rogan joked about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock in the face at the Oscars. He believes that he would have not pulled that stunt if it was another person up there.
“You know why he hit Chris Rock because it wasn’t The Rock,” Rogan said.
On the night Smith won Best Actor at the Oscars for his performance as Richard Williams in “King Richard,” he decided to make headlines in another way. Smith reacted poorly to a joke Rock made about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. Rock compared her to GI Jane as a reference to her baldness. Smith took offense and decided to slap Rock across the face on stage.
After the slap, Smith walked back to his seat and Rock continued on with his words. Rogan discussed the slap with former UFC Lightweight champion BJ Penn.
“You can tell he did a lot of boxing. His hands looked good.
I think that needs some work. It didn’t even stagger Chris Rock.”
The Rock has built a physique that is well known by all and has been for decades. Since his time in the ring for WWE, Dwayne Johnson has been able to show off his incredible strength and athleticism. Now, he is seen on the big screen as a larger-than-life actor.
Joe Rogan continues to say that this would not have happened if it was The Rock on stage making those comments.
“There’s no chance in hell… Such a crazy thing, to think you could get away with it.”
This is an incident that has blown over to this point but will not be forgotten for quite some time. Smith has since apologized for his part in the incident, which many could not figure out if it were real or not at first.
Joe Rogan continues to discuss any topic imaginable on his podcast and this time, he decided to weigh back in on Smith’s slap. Maybe it would have all been avoided if The Rock were the one on stage speaking at the time.
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