After dedicating time and effort to improving his physique and addressing his weaker muscle groups, Urs Kalecinski is now working towards maintaining his gains for the 2022 Olympia. The 24-year-old German IFBB Pro bodybuilder is one of the top contenders in the Classic Physique division. ‘The Miracle Bear’ had a successful competitive season in 2021 that saw him cement an impressive fourth-place finish at his 2021 Olympia debut.
He carried the momentum into 2022 and secured a respectable third-place finish at the 2022 Arnold Classic Classic Physique division behind winner Terrence Ruffin and runner-up Ramon Rocha Queiroz. Kalecinski then emerged victorious at the 2022 Boston Pro and the 2022 Kuwait Classic Pro, bagging a qualification to the 2022 Olympia.
The surging contender is training under the guidance of famed bodybuilding coach Stefan Kienzl to face elite competition like champion Chris Bumstead, Terrence Ruffin, Ramon Rocha Querioz, and former champion Breon Ansley. Recently, he went through a shoulders and arms workout as a part of his competition prep. The video of this session was uploaded on Kalecinski’s YouTube channel.
Urs Kalecinski goes through a shoulders and arms training session
A few weeks ago, Kalecinski shifted his training camp to the USA to train with more experienced bodybuilders and learn from them. During his stay, he trained with Nick Walker, Chris Bumstead, and Terrence Ruffin to make the most of the opportunity. However, The Miracle Bear has returned to Germany and will spend the most crucial weeks of his competition prep training in a more familiar setting.
“Florida and Revive gym was amazing, as you saw. But doing final weeks back in the comfort zone feels right for now,” Kalecinski said.
Seven weeks out of the 2022 Olympia, Kalecinski admitted that gaining a lot of muscle mass is impossible. However, he feels that maintaining strength and performance is a much more realistic goal at this stage.
“It’s always a goal to put tension on the muscles. So after that, when your muscles regenerate, you’ll strengthen your muscles. So I’ll still work on my quality and hardness. Same for muscles and keeping them…” Kalecinski added.
Shoulder Workout
Flat Bench Cuffed Cable Lateral Raise
Kalecinski started the training session with this exercise to fire up the lateral deltoid muscles. Instead of using a grip handle, Kalecinski utilized cuffs to eliminate his grip and forearms from the exercise, isolating the lateral delts to a greater extent. While speaking about using the cuffs, he said:
“With those grips, you nicely isolate the lateral delts. I really recommend you try this for yourself,” Kalecinski said.
Machine Overhead Press
Kalecinski next took to this exercise to work the deltoid muscles. He performed a few warm-up sets and then used incrementally heavier loads to work his way up to the final working set. He then added a drop set to finish this exercise and moved on to training his arms.
“What I sometimes do is this… I go for a usual top set with maximum weight, there I do like eight to nine reps, and then the next couple of sets I do with lighter weight,” Kalecinski said.
Arms Workout
Triceps Pushdown
Kalecinski performed a few good sets of triceps pushdowns to start the party. Shoulder stability and full elbow flexion are prerequisites for triceps contraction. Kalecinski used a modified neutral grip handle for this exercise.
Incline Bench French Press
Kalecinski stated that his long triceps head needs more attention. Overhead triceps movements are effective at working this muscle. The Miracle Bear thus incorporated two overhead triceps movements in this workout, with the French press being the first. While this exercise can also be performed on a flat bench, Kalecinski advised doing it on an incline bench to get gravity on your side. Instead of lowering the bar towards your face, he advised lowering it behind the head while lying on an incline bench. Kalecinski explained that this technique increases the range of motion and gives an extra stretch in the triceps. He used a curl bar for this movement and said:
“I really love working the French press with the curl bar because you get very strong with it. The only downside is that you tend to hurt yourself if you go too heavy too fast.”
After performing a few warm-up sets of this movement, Kalecinski did the working sets and took to the next exercise.
Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension
After getting a sick triceps pump with the French press, the Miracle Bear worked the long triceps head with this ‘old school Jay Cutler’ exercise.
“What many of you don’t do enough for the muscles, especially the chest and triceps is that you don’t focus on the stretch enough. So that’s why we do this exercise for a nice stretch,” Kalecinski said.
He stated that he likes to pause at the bottom and top of the movement to focus on getting a good triceps stretch and contraction.
“That way you will put a ton of pressure on your muscles. During heavy sets, it is not that necessary… But especially during the back off set, it makes sense to focus on this,” Kalecinski added.
Triceps Dips
Dips served as the final triceps exercise of the training session. Similar to the overhead extensions and French press, Kalecinski paused at the top and the bottom to focus on the stretch and the contraction. Following this, the German bodybuilder took up biceps exercises.
Chin-up
Kalecinski started his biceps training routine with this bodyweight movement. As chin-ups are a great way to get the blood flowing into the biceps, Kalecinski likes to perform this movement at the beginning of the workout. However, it also serves as the finisher sometimes to get a massive pump.
“Make sure to use a narrow grip. This has a huge impact on your biceps,” Kalecinski advised.
Seated Cable Curl
Kalecinski jumped into isolation movements with the seated cable curl. The 24-year-old usually follows a relatively low-volume biceps training routine and prefers doing two sets of each biceps exercise.
After performing one heavy working set of seated cable curls, Kalecinski did a back-off set with lighters weights and moved to the next exercise.
One-Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl
Preacher curls are arguably the most effective isolation exercise for the biceps. The triceps are pressed against the pad and the shoulders are stable during this exercise. This eliminates the possibility of these muscles taking over the movement and activates the biceps to a greater extent.
The 24-year-old stated that he prefers to start the exercise with the weaker arm and then perform the same number of sets with the stronger arms. This has helped him eliminate strength imbalance and maintain symmetry from an aesthetic point of view.
Kalecinski performed both sets of this exercise unilaterally and took to the next exercise.
EZ Bar Curl
Kalecinski next took to the EZ bar curl and performed two sets of this exercise. After doing the first set, the Miracle Bear reduced the weight and performed a drop set to failure.
Cable Hammer Curl
The Miracle Bear next performed a few sets of cable hammer curls with the rope attachment to work the brachioradialis and brachialis muscles. This exercise served as the finisher of Kalecinski’s shoulder and arms workout.
The Miracle Bear Shoulder and Arms Workout for 2022 Olympia
Overall, the workout included:
Shoulder Workout
- Lying Cuffed Cable Lateral Raise
- Machine Overhead Press
Arms Workout
- Triceps Pushdown
- Incline Bench French Press
- Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension
- Triceps Dips
- Chin-Up
- Seated Cable Curl
- One-Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl
- EZ Bar Curl
- Cable Hammer Curl
Kalecinski has made significant improvements to his physique en route to the 2022 Olympia, scheduled for Dec. 15-18 in Las Vegas, NV. However, the margin for error is nearly non-existent at the absolute top of the Classic Physique division. Reigning champion Chris Bumstead is an obvious favorite heading into the competition. However, young contenders like Kalecinski definitely have the potential to dethrone the champ if they maintain the focus and intensity in their training.
You can watch the full video below, courtesy of Urs Kalecinski’s YouTube channel:
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