Jay Cutler squeezed out every last drop of sweat to solidify himself as an all-time great bodybuilder. On December 2, 2024, ‘Hypertrophy Coach’ Joe Bennett broke down his chest training, offering tips and insight for lifters eager to grow their pecs.
In 2006, Jay Cutler finally won the coveted Sandow trophy after numerous second-place finishes behind his rival Ronnie Coleman. To catch up with ‘The King,’ Cutler mimicked Coleman’s training and consumed an unbelievable amount of food to have the mass necessary to stand against him.
Not only did Cutler manage to dethrone Coleman, but he became the only bodybuilder in history to win back the Mr. Olympia title after losing it. He accomplished this feat in 2009 when he quad-stomped his way to victory against Branch Warren and Dexter Jackson. While Cutler retired in 2013, his training efforts are still appreciated by fans and experts worldwide.
“Today I’m going to review Jay Cutler’s chest training with the hopes of creating a massive chest just like this, a chest so big, it creates shadows. It creates a space underneath the pecs that’s so large and cavernous there could be mythical under-pec creatures living in there.”
Hypertrophy Coach Analyzes Jay Cutler’s Chest Training, Gives Lifters Tips to Build Massive Pecs
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Exercises looked at in this video:
- Dumbbell flat press
- Barbell bench press
- Pullovers
- Chest fly
- Cable crossovers
Dumbbell flat press
First, Joe Bennett analyzed Cutler’s cadence and rep speed, offering insight into how he approached one of the most popular chest day lifts. Although Cutler used a faster tempo, Bennett implored beginner lifters to focus on going slower.
“Yes he has what I call a little bit of a quicker cadence but the reality is, cadence or an exact speed, there’s nothing I would ever write, people say oh well you do a lot of tempo stuff this and that, people see me often teaching people how to do something for the first time, so yes, like anything in life when I’m teaching someone how to do something the first time, it’s always slower.”
He also examined Cutler’s body mechanics, revealing how he angled each repetition to capitalize on as much joint torque as possible.
“A good idea is if you have it available, always train at least to and around where there’s the most joint torque in every exercise.”
Barbell bench press
He dissected Cutler’s barbell bench press next, discussing if his arm path and plane were optimal.
“He’s losing that much range of motion [because his hands are fixed]. I’m not saying that’s a huge deal, but that could be 10 degrees of range of motion and a lot of people make that mistake.”
Pullovers
Although dumbbell pullovers are often used to hit the lats, Cutler utilized them as an effective chest-builder.
“This is something overall the nerds kinda got right. We are going to hopefully explain this. This is a tough one to see,” he adds. “Pretty much in all of Jay’s chest days, he did pullovers.
He did it more of a chest exercise not more of a lat exercise. Mechanically speaking, especially if you’re doing them with a dumbbell and especially if your main concern is the pecs and the lats influenced on the shoulder joints, the GH joint, meaning the way the humerus sits on the side of your scapula, I 100 percent agree.”
Chest fly
He drew some interesting conclusions based on how much Cutler bent his elbow during chest flyes. He said it’s a ‘very good practice’ because it won’t limit the range of motion.
“People watch Jay do flyes and they say is that really a fly or is it really a press, especially when he’s doing his heavier ones. Look at how much his elbows are bent,” he shares. “It’s a pretty drastic elbow bend there.”
“What’s the point of pointing that out? It doesn’t change anything as far as his ability to fully lengthen the pec, in fact, it probably allows you to lengthen it more, and in general, I would say that’s a very good practice when you’re doing flyes. Sometimes this allows you to get your upper arm deeper because you’re not limiting the range of motion with a bicep stretch.”
Cable crossovers
Lastly, he offered takeaways after looking at Cutler perform cable crossovers.
“It seems like he’s going through that and the hand and his upper arm are pulling into the position purely from the muscle contraction.
From your flyes, make sure again, bending the elbows is a good position and if you’re going into that shortened position just make sure you own it.”
From analyzing Cutler’s famous quad training to unpacking how he grew such a powerful chest, Hypertrophy Coach Joe Bennett believes ‘The Comeback Kid’ had a firm grasp on how to approach muscle-building. Sporting jaw-dropping longevity today at 51, Cutler’s training efforts are backed up by his health, physique, and youthfulness.
Watch the full video from the Hypertrophy Coach YouTube channel below:
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