Legendary bodybuilder Jay Cutler recently shared an intense arms workout on his YouTube channel. One of the most influential bodybuilders in the world, the 50-year-old continues to go beyond competitive success and inspire the masses to take fitness and training seriously.
Jay Cutler is one of the most prominent bodybuilders from the 2000s era and one of the greatest ever in the sport’s history. Winning the prestigious Mr. Olympia title is the ultimate goal of every professional bodybuilder’s career. Climbing that mountain once is enough to cement one’s position in history. Cutler climbed that mountain four times, becoming Mr. Olympia in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010.
His rivalry with eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman is regarded as one of the greatest rivalries of all time. After half a decade of close competition, Cutler stopped Ronnie’s eight-year unbeaten run to become the 2006 Mr. Olympia. The 50-year-old’s famous quad stomp has been etched in fans’ memory as one of the most iconic moments in the sport.
The legendary bodybuilder has stayed active in the bodybuilding industry after retiring from competition in 2013. In the years that followed, Cutler prioritized long-term health and shed a lot of muscle mass to downsize. But he continued to train hard and took things a notch up in 2022 when he launched the ‘Fit for 50’ challenge to transform his physique. The 4-time Mr. Olympia showed off the amazing results of this challenge on his 50th birthday.
Cutler is also a prominent voice in the world of bodybuilding and routinely discusses different aspects of the sport and current affairs through various podcast appearances and social media content.
View this post on InstagramGet Fitter, FasterLevel Up Your Fitness: Join our 💪 strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!
Jay Cutler goes through an arms workout
Recently, Jay Cutler took to his YouTube channel and shared his current arms workout. Arms were one of the weaker parts of Cutler’s physique and he had to make extra efforts to bring them to par with the rest of his physique. The legendary bodybuilder has admitted on several occasions that arms were his least favorite body part to train. However, he did not give in to personal preferences and built a world-class physique.
In his current arm training routine, Jay Cutler typically performs three to four exercises for the biceps and triceps. The 50-year-old tackled the workout with a furious intensity and shared some essential bodybuilding tips as he went through it. Arms are one of the most visible muscles on the body and most people wish to have impressive biceps and triceps. So let’s check out Cutler’s workout and get some extra motivation to train the arms.
Overall, the workout consisted of the following exercises:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Rope Triceps Pushdowns | 2 warm-up sets, 3 sets | 10 to 12 reps |
| Triceps Dip Press | 3 sets | 10 to 12 reps |
| Leaning Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extensions | 3 sets | 10 to 12 reps |
| Cable Triceps Pushdown with Lat Pulldown Bar | 3 sets | 10 to 12 reps |
| Seated Machine Biceps Curls | 3 sets | 10 to 12 reps |
| Standing J-Bell Curls | 3 sets | 10 to 12 reps |
| Machine Preacher Curls | 3 sets | 10 to 12 reps |
| Barbell Curls | 3 sets | 10 to 12 reps |
NOTE: Number of sets and rep range mentioned are based on visual observation. Actual numbers may vary
Rope Triceps Pushdowns
The elbow is the most crucial joint for the majority of arm movements and it is extremely essential to warm it up to remain injury-free during an arms workout. The 4-time Mr. Olympia started the training session with a few sets of rope pushdowns to stimulate the triceps and get the elbow joint warmed up.
Cutler focused on getting full elbow flexion to get maximum contraction in the triceps. After a couple of warm-up sets, he jumped into the working sets and cranked out a few maintaining 45 to 60-second rest periods.
Triceps Dip Press
While bodyweight dips are a great way to train the triceps, it is not possible to manage the resistance while performing them. Cutler took to the machine variation of this exercise to eliminate this flaw and pushed through a few good sets of triceps dip press to stimulate the muscles further.
The legendary bodybuilder, who has decades of experience under the belt, noted that most people focus too much on biceps to get big arms. He feels that being the bigger muscle, the triceps are more important for adding size:
“You don’t have to do a lot of trial and error. Just focus on repetitions. When I started going with less heavier weight and actually feeling it more, that’s when my arms started to grow. So like, instead of picking up 80 lbs dumbbells and curling those, which I could do, I started focusing more on lighter contraction weight.”
Leaning Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extensions
Working the muscles from different angles and varying positions emphasizes different parts of the muscles and helps achieve a more balanced development. After working with movements from a neutral arms position, Cutler took to this overhead triceps exercise. These movements work the muscle from a stretched position and focus more on the long head of the triceps.
The 50-year-old bodybuilder executed a few perfect sets of leaning overhead dumbbell triceps extensions with incrementally heavier weights and took to the final tricep exercise next.
Cable Triceps Pushdown
Jay Cutler finished the triceps work with a few sets of cable pushdowns using a lat pulldown bar attachment. Following this, he shifted the focus to working the biceps.
Seated Machine Curls
This served as the first bicep movement of the day as Cutler performed a few sets of seated curls on the machine to fire up the biceps. Machines keep the muscles under tension throughout the range of motion which helps bring about hypertrophy more effectively. Additionally, machines eliminate the need to control the weights and significantly reduce the chances of training-related injuries.
Cutler noted that many people asked him what is the right training volume to work for each muscle group. He answered the question during this workout to reach a maximum number of people:
“You’ve got to do at least nine sets, I feel like… So pick three exercises, and do three sets each for sure. I think that’s sufficient.”
Standing J-Bell Curls
J-bells are specially designed substitutes for dumbbells that are available in Jay Cutler’s gym. They are spherical and help keep the muscles under tension while allowing them to control the weight a lot better than traditional dumbbells. Jay Cutler annihilated solid sets of J-bell curls before taking up the next exercise.
Machine Preacher Curls
One of the most effective bicep isolation movements, preacher curls force the biceps to do the work by keeping the triceps firmly pressed against the pad and elbows neatly tucked along the edge of the pad.
Jay Cutler carried out some good sets of preacher curls on the machine to add more stimulus to the biceps muscles and moved on to the final exercise of the day.
Barbell Curls
The training session concluded with this classic biceps exercise as the four-time Mr. Olympia executed three sets of the exercise and wrapped up the training session.
Bodybuilding is an extremely difficult sport that requires athletes to put their bodies under extreme stress in terms of diet and training. Jay Cutler managed to achieve competitive success while preserving health, a balance that many bodybuilders could not achieve. Cutler attributes this to his training style and has set a positive example for young bodybuilders to follow.
Over a decade after retirement, Jay Cutler continues to stay in shape all year round. After achieving the desired transformation to finish the ‘Fit for 50′ challenge, Cutler is on to the next chapter. He has ruled out the possibility of a competitive return. However, there is no room to believe that he will stop pursuing higher levels of fitness.
Watch the full workout video below, courtesy of Jay Cutler’s personal YouTube channel:
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube for even more content.
