Flex Your Triceps

At 500 Reps Of Intensive Torture, Is This The World’s Craziest Arm Routine? No—it’s Just The Warmup.

- Michael Berg, N.S.C.A.-C.P.T

OLYMPIA CHAMPIONS TEND TO BEND THE BOUNDS OF “NORMAL.”

Whether it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous Venice-forged high-volume style, Dorian Yates’ blood and-guts workouts that redefined what it means to reach total muscle annihilation, or Ronnie Coleman—well, just about anything Ronnie did in the blazing environs of dusty MetroFlex in Arlington, TX—those who have won the ultimate bodybuilding title shrug off extremes.

So it goes with the five-time reigning 212 Olympia champ, Flex Lewis. The well-traveled Lewis is known as a gregarious ambassador of the sport, logging enough frequent flyer miles to perhaps buy his own airline. And he’s also known for a relentlessness in the gym that borders on…well, it’s not normal.

Take his triceps routine of years past as but one example. In fact, let’s let the 33-year-old Welshman tell the tale of his 100-rep-per set triceps warmup routine.

THE CENTURY MARK

“In days of old, people saw me doing these 100-rep sets for my triceps—five cable exercises that I did back to back for 20 reps each,” Lewis says. “I kinda became known for them. I’d do them three to four times and then go into the rest of my regular triceps workout.”

While the exact moves involved aren’t set in stone, he’d often begin with a rope pushdown, setting up a rope on one side of a cable crossover apparatus.

“I make sure my elbows are close to my body,” he says. “The form itself is not sloppy, it’s controlled, so the triceps never have the opportunity to rest. At the top, my hands come up close to my face for a longer stretch, without letting the weight stack touch down—I envision it as if I’m doing a skull crusher but standing up—and I turn out the ends of the rope at the bottom at lockout.”