Urs Kalecinski is a German professional bodybuilder that competes in the IFBB Pro League Classic Physique division. He last competed at the 2022 Arnold Classic and finished third behind Terrence Ruffin and the runner-up Ramon Rocha Querioz. ‘The Miracle Bear’ had a strong showing in 2021 and came close to winning the IFBB Extreme Bodybuilding and Fitness Pro, eventually securing a second-place finish at the show. He then went on to win the 2021 Tampa Pro and finished fourth in his Olympia debut the same year.
However, the busy competitive season came with its own cost, and Kalecinski got no time from Mar. 2021 up to the 2022 Arnold Classic to make any off-season gains. But he has been working on fixing that problem under the tutelage of famed bodybuilding coach Stefan Kienzl and has significantly improved his physique. Recently, the 24-year-old went through an arms day workout in prep for the 2022 Olympia as Coach Kienzl guided him through the training session. The video of this session was uploaded on Kalecinski’s YouTube channel. So without further delay, let’s take a look at the detailed account of this session.
Urs Kalecinski’s ‘Full Arm Day’ Workout
‘The Miracle Bear’ started the workout with cardio, stretching, and an abs routine. The 24-year-old stated that he increases cardio training by 15 to 20 seconds every single day to make a big difference in the long term and outpace his competitors.
A lot of gym-goers tend to avoid stretching and jump right into the workouts. While speaking about the importance of religiously stretching before each and every workout session, Kalecinski said:
“Stretching needs to be done daily to see results. Otherwise, as you know, you’ll simply stay inflexible.”
After a full body stretch, Kalecinski worked his abs with the ab roller machine and combined it with his regular vacuum poses.
“(Vacuum pose) means I pull in my abs and try to hold it as long as possible. There you activate the deeper ab muscles. I’ll do each exercise for three sets, doing many reps and holding my abs for as long as possible,” Kalecinski said.
Kalecinski returned home, consumed his post-cardio meal, and ate breakfast. Following this, he took a short nap and headed straight to the gym for the arms training session.
Biceps workout
Machine preacher curl
The 24-year-old started the arms workout with machine preacher curls to work the biceps. Coach Kienzl explained the reasons for choosing the machine instead of dumbbells for this classic biceps exercise and said:
“This machine in general has the advantage of having more constant pressure on the muscle than you would with the dumbbells. So if you do this with dumbbells, at some point, you will lose pressure on your muscles due to gravity.”
Upon noticing that Urs tends to keep his elbows flared out during the movement, Coach Kienzl explained letting that happen allows the brachialis muscle to take over from the brachii. He further stated that they need to work on keeping the elbows inside.
High concentration curl on the machine
The Miracle Bear took to this movement that mimics the arm position during the front double biceps pose and performed this exercise with a single arm at a time. Kalecinski said that his left arm feels much stronger during this lift, but when posing, it is the right arm that looks more structured and has a lot more definition. He speculated that this happens because of his habit of posing with the right arm more than the left one.
21s Barbell curl
Kalecinski next performed 21s with a straight bar. Coach Kienzl advised his pupil to keep his elbows tucked against his sides during this exercise. In 21s, a lifter performs 21 reps of the barbell curls with different ranges of motion.
- 1st to 7th rep: The lifter goes from the bottom of the movement to the halfway point. The arms should be parallel to the floor at the top.
- 8th to 14th rep: From the halfway point (parallel to the floor) to all the way up to the top of the biceps curl.
- 15th to 21st rep: Complete reps from the bottom to top, exploring a full range of motion.
Kalecinski finished the 21s with a 25-kilogram barbell after the initial 40-kilogram barbell proved too heavy. He then performed a drop set of this exercise. Straight bar curls served as the finisher for the biceps routine. Kalecinski then shifted his focus to the triceps with the next few exercises.
Triceps workout
Seated overhead cable triceps extension
The German bodybuilder started his triceps workout with this movement and performed a few sets of this exercise with slow and steady movement.
Crossover cable triceps extension
Kalecinski next performed this movement to work the triceps. According to professional bodybuilder and top Open division contender Hunter Labrada, crossover cable triceps extensions are the best exercise for the triceps. The Miracle Bear performed a few sets of this exercise and moved on to the final exercise of the day.
Regular grip and reverse grip triceps extension
Kalecinski next started with the reverse grip triceps extension. This movement trains the whole triceps but puts a lot more tension on the medial head that runs from the middle of the triceps to the elbow joint. He then switched to the regular grip triceps extension and wrapped up the arms workout after a few sets of this exercise.
Urs Kalecinski 2022 Olympia Arm Workout
Overall, the arms workout included:
- Cardio exercise on the elliptical machine
- Stretching
- Abs workout on an ab roller
Biceps
- Machine preacher curl
- Machine high concentration curl
- Barbell curl
Triceps
- Seated overhead cable triceps extension
- Crossover cable triceps extension
- Reverse grip and regular grip triceps pushdown
Closing comments
After finishing the workout, Coach Kienzl stated that Kalecinski’s arms—especially the triceps—have improved significantly during this off-season. However, he pointed out that Kalecinski’s brachialis muscle has become more dominant and opined that it might negatively impact his look on stage.
“So this means Urs must focus on excluding the brachialis from any movement during the training,” Coach Kienzl said.
To address this issue, Kienzl advised Kalecinski to reduce the number of times he does dumbbell hammer curls in a week.
“All in all, we are on the right track and only have to adjust small things. There is also room for improvement, and his arms will continue to improve just like they did up to this point,” Kienzl concluded.
Kalecinski’s coach is happy with his progress during the off-season. While his arms are one of the stronger parts of his physique, his back is admittedly the weakest link and needs a lot of work. But under Kienzl’s guidance and positive criticism, Kalecinski is getting better by the day. It will not be surprising if he improves his standing further when Olympia returns to its home in Las Vegas from Dec. 15 to 18.
You can watch the full arms workout video here, courtesy of Urs Kalecinski’s YouTube channel:
Find complete coverage of the 2022 Mr. Olympia, including pre-judging, event recaps, analysis, and final results at our Olympia coverage hub: FitnessVolt.com/olympia
Published: 7 September, 2022 | 2:34 PM EDT
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