Jay Cutler and Mike O’Hearn have built physiques that many of us dream of having. Cutler cemented himself as a four-time Mr. Olympia champion during his bodybuilding tenure. Former Mr. Universe winner O’Hearn continues to influence the fitness sector with his shredded build. In a recent YouTube collaboration, Cutler and O’Hearn talked about the best rep ranges, light versus heavy weight, and time spent in the gym for reaching physique goals.
Despite moving on from the stage in 2013, Jay Cutler remains committed to his physique and bodybuilding. Last year, he revealed that he was undergoing a physique transformation. He left a competitive return off the table but said he was rebuilding his body as part of a fitness goal before turning 50 years old.
Cutler has kept fans updated on his body transformation and targeted 6-8% body fat. He’s opened up about training, nutrition, performance-enhancing drug use, and mindset as he’s embarked on the challenge. The former Olympia titleholder also revealed a clean bill of health days after the death of the late Gustavo Badell.
Mike O’Hearn is a fitness icon, revered for his yolked body and longevity. He’s remained ripped for over 30 years and is known for taking an eclectic yet calculated approach to training. Previously, he’s offered exercise demonstrations based on knowledge passed on from stars of the sport such as Tom Platz and Kai Greene.
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Jay Cutler, Mike O’Hearn Talk Stimulating Deep Muscle Fibers, Training Strategies & Mindset
According to Cutler, any time he’s at the gym, each body part requires at least 20 sets, which are typically performed with six different exercises. Cutler doesn’t believe in warm up sets but uses ‘feel sets’ to get started in the gym.
“If I choose six exercises to do with my workout which is standard. I might do three, four, five sets of those each. No matter what the workout I’m doing, I’m doing 20 sets per body part. Does that make sense? That may or may not include feel sets. I hate warm up sets. I don’t use that term,” said Jay Cutler. “Feel sets.”
“I agree, it doesn’t fatigue you or get you all pumped up,” said Mike O’Hearn.
“What it does, it’s a set up set, your grip, focus, body position, it’s a plane you’re pushing through. You have that position, that’s the set up. It’s called the set up. That’s how I use – I say feel sets so there’s a lot of meaning in that.”
Even though Cutler has a reputation for always practicing 12 reps, he says that’s not always the case. Instead of focusing on reps or set numbers, his chief concern is the quality of each contraction.
“You can kind of put your body in motion, okay this is how I’m going to power through because I’m only thinking about okay what is my peak contractive set of this? Not a weight. Your weights determined when you get to that, say okay, what is my point of doing this?”
“So repetitions don’t matter. You’re thinking fiber, fiber control. Like where are we going – how much fibers are we going to – I don’t want to say tear, it scares people, tearing is not, but how much fiber are we going to bring into this movement because we are going to stimulate those fibers, right? said Jay Cutler.
“When Jay Cutler says 12 reps, everything should be 12 reps, I’m lying because I can do six, I can do eight, I can do four and still get stimulation and I’ll sometimes stop,” said Cutler. “I feel people shortchange themselves.”
As for O’Hearn, he believes people make the mistake of ‘blasting through’ reps with the intention of completing the set. However, they neglect time under tension and mind-muscle connection by not slowing the movement to feel the burn.
“One of the biggest things for me is if you say, I wish people would listen and watch, there’s a difference between what our belief is like do one rep at a time until you get to 10-12. But I find if I say to people, ‘Hey do 10.’ They went from lifting a plate one or two times slow and controlled a nice contraction, there was a meaning there, to just 10 reps, they just blast though it,” Mike O’Hearn shared.
“Number one tip, when you’re not in the zone, don’t expect to be 95, 100%. We trained more just sometimes more to just go through the motions,” added Cutler.
Cutler on Achieving a Dream Physique: ‘There’s a lot of Thought Process That Goes Into It’
To achieve a dream physique, the four-time Mr. Olympia underlined the value of training the mind. He also stressed that sculpting a next-level body was a detailed effort that demands finesse.
“I started with the mental mindset that weight training put me in. When I got under that bar or I was under you know the pearls and just my mind-to-muscle connection was just no stress yeah. The gym was my game, it was how I kept myself sane right? You have to love it. I’m not sure that everyone today loves it. They might have a dream to look a certain way. You have to eat, sleep, and breath it.”
“Everything is strategic. I can go through my workouts in my mind as I’m walking in the gym. I’m visually like I’m going to do this this and this and that’s how I foresee it. it’s not like I’m walking to the gym and picking up a bar. There’s a lot of thought process that goes into it. It’s surgical,” said Cutler.
Before ending the discussion, Cutler shared that he’ll turn 50 next week and has experienced zero joint pain since retirement.
“I don’t have to be in the gym seven days a week. I don’t get paid to work out any longer,” added Cutler. “I have zero joint pain, zero restriction. I feel like this could all start again. I’ll be 50 next week. It’s the best part of my day.”
“I still deadlift every week, I don’t go crazy but I never did either.”
With Cutler closing in on his ‘Fit-for-50’ physique goal, he’s been transparent about his diet lately. In a recent JayCutlerTV YouTube video, the Massachusetts native revealed that his appetite has been ‘through the roof’ in the final leg of his journey without using ‘heavy’ anabolic steroids.
O’Hearn, meanwhile, continues to impart training wisdom to his fanbase. He took to a video where he explained the number one mistake new lifters make at the gym. Given how many people he’s seen injure themselves, O’Hearn believes it’s important to take exercising seriously and to approach it aggressively.
Whether it was rep ranges, lifting heavy versus light weight, or stimulating muscle fibers, Cutler and O’Hearn were able to find some common ground. When building a dream physique, they both agree it takes a comprehensive and calculated effort.
You can watch the full video from Mike O’Hearn’s YouTube channel below:
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