Nothing like getting back into the swing of things after the holidays with some tips and tricks on building a serious upper chest from the legend Flex Wheeler. The rising phenom from Nigeria, Chinedu Andrew AKA Andrew Jacked, soaks in the vast knowledge of Wheeler as they take us through an upper chest workout.
At 36 years old, Andrew has been making waves in the bodybuilding community in 2021. Competing and winning in 3 different Emirates-based shows in 3 months, he got the “W” in his division at the first-ever Emirate Bodybuilding Federation (EBBF) Ajman Bodybuilding and Physique Competition in April of 2021. With this win, he collected his pro card for the IFBB Elite Pro, a noteworthy feat because he claims he was only at 60% prep.
All the hard work and dedication have garnered great attention to Andrew, as fans are looking forward to seeing what 2022 has in store. As a side note, even with winning the pro card, the IFBB Elite Pro, he still needs to win a Pro card for the IFBB Pro League if he wants to shoot his shot at winning Olympia or other IFBB Pro shows.
Now training in Vegas, Andrew Jacked has been seen surrounding himself with some of the bodybuilding greats.
ANDREW JACKED UPPER CHEST WORKOUT WITH FLEX WHEELER
On Christmas day, Andrew Jacked blessed us with a sneak peek into a training session with coach Flex Wheeler at Dragon’s Lair gym in Vegas.
INCLINE CHEST PRESS
To kick off the chest workout, Wheeler asks Andrew to show a few reps of his normal incline press. After performing a few reps, Coach Wheeler shows Andrew that he wants him to tilt his chin up to lower the bar directly under his chin to his neck. Wheeler mentions that he will get a deeper stretch in the upper chest with this motion. Then says, if you look back to old footage of bodybuilders like Schwarzenegger, you’ll see them doing incline bench press at a similar angle and to forget about people saying you’ll injure your shoulders with this motion.
They chat for a bit about a previous calf workout that torched Andrew’s calves because of the high volume of 60 reps in a set that Wheeler put him through.
Next, Andrew throws a 45 plate on each side and proceeds to do 20 reps with a slow eccentric of 2-3 seconds, then a 1-second concentric phase. Again, coach Wheeler emphasizes the point of deeply inhaling while the bar is just about the throat so that the chest is relaxed and stretched to the max.
After completing the first set, Coach Wheeler has Andrew put his arms up to mimic a chest press position as Wheeler puts his hands inside Andrew’s fists to apply resistance. Wheeler notes that this is where the chest is engaged the most; you should focus on bringing your arms together as you bench press to get the heightened state of contraction and the most mind-muscle connection.
We guess that Andrew does 2-3 more sets with the same tempo of 20 reps. However, the video only shows one more set of 20 reps with two 35 lb plates on each side. An interesting thing to note is that Coach Wheeler has Andrew keep his elbows back, and it seems that he’s comfortable using a wide grip.
DUMBBELL PRESS
After finishing on the incline bench, they move over to the dumbbell press. Coach Wheeler instructs Andrew to follow the same cues from the previous exercise. Keep the elbows back, inhale deeply and press in an upward motion. The rep range is repeated with Andrew banging our 20 reps with 50 lb dumbbells while Wheeler ensures he gets the proper contraction. Once again, we assume he does 2-3 sets here.
INCLINE CHEST MACHINE
Next up is the incline chest press machine. Again, coach Wheeler stresses getting the deep stretch while focusing on the contraction and breathing with each rep. After the first set of 20 reps, Andrew increases the load with 2 x 25lb plates plus a 45lb on each side. The second set shows Andrew going above and beyond the 20 reps, knocking out 22. These extra reps are where champions are made.
HIGH TO LOW CABLE FLYS
Last but not least, they mosey on over to the cable machine. This is the last exercise of the training session. Coach Wheeler tells Andrew to get a deep stretch while allowing his arms to go back further before contracting his pecs to squeeze his arms together. The same cues regarding breath-work and tempo are encouraged as Andrew shows a set of 20 reps.
SAMPLE ANDREW JACKED X FLEX WHEELER UPPER CHEST WORKOUT
We can only guess the exact workout here as we don’t see the entire session. However, we wanted to leave you with an approximate version that you could follow to replicate this upper chest workout Coached by Flex Wheeler.- Incline Press: 3 sets x 20 reps
- Dumbbell Press: 2 sets x 20 reps
- Incline Press Machine: 3 sets x 20 reps
- High to Low Cable Flys: 2 sets x 20 reps
Rest 45-90 seconds between sets
Note: Focus on controlled breathing and squeezing the pecs throughout the movement.
FINAL THOUGHT
We can’t wait to see how far Andrew Jacked can go in his career with the expertise of people like Flex Wheeler surrounding him. So keep an eye on Andrew Jacked in 2022!
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Kiel DiGiovanni
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