Bodybuilder Wesley Vissers isn’t letting his foot off the gas just yet. In a recent YouTube video shared on December 8, 2024, he annihilated a chest and triceps workout in the off-season before announcing his participation in the 2025 Arnold Classic.
Wesley Vissers has quickly become one of the most talked about names in the Classic Physique category. Despite going under the radar ahead of the 2024 Arnold Classic, Vissers presented an all-time best package in Ohio to defeat Ramon Queiroz on stage. This triumph sent a clear message to Chris Bumstead. Before heading to Las Vegas, Vissers picked up a second consecutive victory after winning the Arnold Classic UK competition.
Although he entered the event with notable hype, Vissers missed the mark on the Mr. Olympia stage and took eighth place as a result. Instead of enjoying downtime, ‘The Dutch Oak’ has re-entered the fray, determined to defend his title at the 2025 Arnold Classic in March.
Wesley Vissers’ Push Day Off-Season Chest and Triceps Workout
Find his exercise selections below:
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- Chest press machine
- Incline Smith machine bench press
- Cable crossovers
- Single-arm cable side lateral raise
- Single-arm overhead cable tricep extension
Chest press machine
Vissers prioritizes the eccentric motion during chest press reps, focusing on a full stretch for the maximum stimulus.
“Going all the way back as you can see. Kind of slowing down on the eccentric motion which means the motion to the back to make sure I get a full stretch. You get the most stimulus in the chest this way and you get the most range of motion.”
Incline Smith machine bench press
To effectively target his upper chest, Vissers moved on with the incline Smith machine bench press.
“Now we’re doing an inclined version. As well all know, the incline version targets the upper chest. So the chest is comprised of at least two compartments, the lower and the upper chest.
In my opinion, you always want to hit those from different angles needed to hit those different compartments. At least one movement for the lower or complete chest and one movement also specifically for the upper chest.”
Cable crossovers
Vissers broke down why he stands close to the cable machine for crossovers which ensures a stretch on the chest rather than taxing the front delt area.
“The final real chest movement here is the cable fly. As you can see, I’m moving forward quite a bit so I’m taking a few steps forward to allow the cables to pull me back rather than to the side.
So if I would be standing very close to where the cable pulleys are, you can imagine that the cables would be pulling me more to the side which would not be a stretch on the chest but more on the delts or front delt area, which actually could cause some impingements or injuries in the front delt area. So right now, you can see, when you look at the cables, they are pulling me to the back in the way that the chest wants to move,” Wesley Vissers shared.
Single-arm cable side lateral raise
He prefers the single-arm cable side lateral raise over using dumbbells for the added tension on the side delt.
“If you look at my shoulders closely, you can see the tension on the shoulders remains there the whole time. So when I’m going all the way down, all the way up, the tension remains.
That is a big difference compared to just standing side lateral raises with a dumbbell because just imagine, if you’re holding two dumbbells in your hand and you’re standing there, even though that is the beginning of the movement, there is zero tension on the side delts. However, if you do that with this cable, you can’t hold it like that forever because the cable is trying to pull your arm further towards the pulley which means there’s tension on the side delt.”
Single-arm overhead cable tricep extension
Since the long head of the triceps plays a major role in his front double biceps pose, Vissers utilizes overhead cable triceps extensions as a mass-builder.
“Normally I’d be doing a pushdown variation with the triceps, but now I’m doing an overhead variation first because in my front double bicep pose, for example, or in the side chest pose, the most mass in your arm is represented by the long head of the triceps.”
Competition Plans
After his workout, Vissers made it official and announced that he would aim to defend his Arnold Classic title in Columbus, Ohio.
“What is the reason behind this training camp? Well, my next competition has become clear. It will become the Arnold Classic. So, we’re going to do the Arnold Classic in Ohio again.
It is going to be me defending my title, because of course, I am still the Arnold Classic champion, which still sounds incredible to me, but this is going to be what I’m going to do. I stayed relatively lean, did a full lean bulk.”
Aside from his workouts, Vissers is ensuring his diet remains on track ahead of his title defense. Intending to add quality muscle, he walked fans through his bulking full day of eating in the off-season, which amounted to 5,046 calories through five meals.
While the competitors list for the Arnold Classic has yet to be revealed, Vissers will aim to successfully defend his title. Don’t miss his performance this March in Columbus, Ohio!
RELATED: Bodybuilder Wesley Vissers Shares His Top 3 Triceps Exercises
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