Push It

The classic chest-and-tri’s combination gets a modern makeover.

 

- Mike Carlson

At the 2017 Mr. Olympia weekend, host Bob Cicherillo announced that one of the single greatest bodybuilding talents in history would be returning to the stage: Flex Wheeler. Considered the best bodybuilder to never win a Mr. Olympia (he had the misfortune of hitting his peak during the overlapping careers of legends Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman), Wheeler had Golden Era-level aesthetics but with enough size to compete with the new wave of mass monsters who were entering the sport in the late 1990s. A tiny waist, a dramatic V-taper, and an amazing back double-biceps pose netted him five first-place finishes at the Arnold Classic and two runner-up spots at the Mr. Olympia. Peter McGough, the best bodybuilding writer of all time, dubbed him “The Sultan of Symmetry.”

“I am so excited about his comeback,” says strength coach and kinesiologist Brian Richardson, MS, CPL2, NASM-PES, the co-owner of Dynamic Fitness in Temecula, California. “Flex Wheeler’s physique was flawless. He had super round, full pecs. When you think of aesthetically pleasing in bodybuilding, he was the end of an era before the big ugly physiques that were just ridiculous became popular.” In honor of the return of one of the all-time great sets of pecs, we programmed this classic chest and-tri’s training session, with some modern tweaks. During Flex’s pro bodybuilding career, which spanned from 1993 to 2003, he may not have even seen some of these exercises, such as bench pressing with chains. (Although in his avocation as a very serious and accomplished martial artist, he may have been introduced to explosive push-ups and other complex bodyweight movements.)

“Pairing the chest and triceps is traditional. They work well together because all of your push patterns are extensions of the elbow on concentric load,” Richardson says. “The triceps is a good synergist and a good stabilizer for your push patterns.”