With less than two months until the 2024 Arnold Sports Festival, athletes are readying their muscles to do battle on stage. Taking part in a special collaboration, Breon Ansley was guided by Mike O’Hearn through a demanding leg day session, which was focused on quad development.
As a former two-time Classic Physique Olympia champion, few athletes boast the reputation and credentials of ‘The Black Swan.’ Revered for his dry and conditioned back, Ansley has been a dominant force in the category since its inception. Whether he’s building bigger arms or taking part in workouts with fellow bodybuilders, Ansley always brings the heat inside the gym.
Meanwhile, Mike O’Hearn is a highly accomplished bodybuilder, whose strength and longevity is on constant display. Even at 54 years old, O’Hearn continues to give back to the fitness community in spades.
Ansley is going all-in for March’s Arnold Classic hosted by none other than bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger. Considering Ansley managed to hoist the prestigious title above his head in 2018, fans are counting down the days to see him back on stage. Ansley’s last contest came at the 2023 Olympia where he secured fourth place.
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Mike O’Hearn Pushes Breon Ansley Through Intense Quad-Focused Leg Day Before 2024 Arnold Classic
With Ansley’s eyes on a second Arnold Classic title, time will tell if he manages to pull off the big feat.
Find their workout below:
- Machine Leg Extension — 3 sets
- Machine Hack Squat — 4 sets
- Unilateral Machine Leg Press — 3 set
- Machine Leg Curls — 1 set
- Glute Bridge Machine — 2 sets
Machine Leg Extension
Kicking off the first exercise of the session, Ansley smoked machine leg extension reps.
“The emphasis is on more pressing movements today, we are not going to pre exhaust the quads with extensions more so because I want to do that more so with the pressing movements to focus on my quads, my sweep.”
Machine Hack Squat
Next, O’Hearn guided Ansley through sets of machine hack squats.
“A lot of it is time [achieving density] it’s not that rushed maturity muscle. There was a time where you wanted the fingers and you couldn’t get them. You were a young 20-year-old pup, now you’re six weeks out and already have the fingers,” said Mike O’Hearn.
“He already looks like a masterpiece, which is kinda cool right. He’s got that size and thickness, now you change the stance, hit it like this and you shape that leg even more,” explains O’Hearn. “You have that development come out. It’s pretty to watch. There’s so many different ways to do this exercise and it all has its place.”
Unilateral Machine Leg Press
According to O’Hearn, strong ab muscles are a sign of longevity for the future.
“Think about how much more healthier the body will be because the abs are so precise when you are training and you’re training the abs, and the glute, that area to me, from the glutes to the lower abs and back, is a signal on how healthy you’re going to be as you get older. See it has nothing to do with bodybuilding now.”
Machine Leg Curls
O’Hearn offered Ansley some additional advice and insight on how bodybuilding nutrition has changed since his heyday.
“The big change in the last ten years is sodium comes into play now so much more with nutrition and training than it did back in the day. Back in the day we didn’t care about sodium we just drank the water. We wanted distilled water, remember those days. No sodium, no nothing, now it’s just a completely different world in that aspect.”
Glute Bridge Machine
After performing sets on the glute bride machine, Ansley was impressed with the pump. Before calling it a day, O’Hearn walked Ansley through some bodybuilding poses.
“That’s a burn too. That’s a burn that’s so good. That’s a baby hurt me, please hurt me feeling right there,” said Ansley.
If Breon Ansley hopes to claim the big win at the 2024 Arnold Classic, he will be tasked with facing a few foes who recently bested him. Most notably, returning 2023 AC Columbus champ Ramon Rocha Queiroz will be in attendance aiming to bag a successful title defense. In addition, German star Urs Kalecinski will be back in action, determined to upset Ramon Dino as the top Classic Physique threat in the world outside of Chris Bumstead.
Thanks to some valuable lessons passed on by Mike O’Hearn, Breon Ansley believes his quad sweeps will be on point for the marquee event. Fans look forward to witnessing bodybuilding greatness this March and best of all, Schwarzenegger revealed the livestream will be available free of charge.
RELATED: Bodybuilder Andrew Jacked Pulls Out of 2024 Arnold Classic US & UK
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