Andrew Jacked says having a separate arm workout is critical for arm growth.
Chinedu Obiekea Andrew, widely recognized by his nickname Andrew Jacked, has rapidly become a distinguished IFBB Pro League athlete in the professional bodybuilding arena. With a top-five finish at the most recent Olympia, he’s highly anticipated to grace the stage again this year, solidifying his status as a leading contender.
| Full Name: Chinedu Andrew Obieka (Andrew Jacked) | ||
| Weight | Height | Date of Birth |
| 266 lb. | 6’2″ | 1985 |
| Division | Era | Nationality |
| Men’s Open Bodybuilding | 2020 | Nigerian |
In 2023, Andrew Jacked clinched third place and secured the Best Poser award at the Arnold Classic. Before this competition, he offered an exclusive interview to Generation Iron, discussing his philosophy of staying prepared year-round. For more insights and training advice, he shared it with former bodybuilder Victor Martinez and natural bodybuilder Brandon Lirio. Check out the interview below:
Andrew Jacked is gearing up to defend his title at the Texas Pro in August. To qualify for this year’s Olympia, he must win a competition before the deadline on September 15th. In addition, Jacked plans to showcase his skills at the 2024 Tampa Pro, scheduled just a week before the Texas Pro. In preparation, Jacked embarked on a comprehensive arm training session, the details and techniques he shared on his YouTube channel below.
Andrew Jacked’s Intense Arm Workout
Jacked started with some warm-ups by doing the seated cable incline tricep extensions and triceps pushdowns. This study shows that performing warmups before a major exercise can boost your exercise performance (1). He states he hasn’t done a solo arm session in months since he started prep.
“I’M TRYING TO GET SOME VOLUME IN MY ARMS. NOT THAT IT’S NOT PERFECT OR PROPORTIONAL, BUT WE JUST NEED MORE VOLUME. GOING TO THE TEXAS PRO, TRYING TO BE GOOD, TRYING TO BE BETTER THAN THE PREVIOUS ONE. HOPEFULLY, IT WILL BE GOOD THIS TIME AROUND. MAKE IT BACK TO BACK TO BACK.”
Then, he goes into the main routines, which he does using supersets. Below is a list of Andrew Jacked’s arm workout.
| Exercises |
| Superset: Seated Cable Incline Tricep Extensions & Back-Supported Triceps Pushdowns |
| Superset: Seated Biceps Cable Curls & Standing Cable Biceps Curls |
| Superset: EZ Bar Floor Skull Crushers & Reverse Cable Pushdowns |
| Superset: Spider Curls & Dual Low Pulley Cable Curls |
| Superset: Cable Cross-Body Triceps Extensions & Machine Tricep Dips |
| Superset: Cable Preacher Curls & Reverse Biceps Curls |
Seated Cable Incline Tricep Extensions & Back-Supported Triceps Pushdowns
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Andrew Jacked starts his workout with a seated cable incline tricep extension. He takes on the cable machine and does a couple of reps targeting the lateral head of the triceps brachii muscle. Jacked employs a full range of motion by fully extending his arms at the bottom of the rep.
Immediately, Jacked switches to doing a triceps pushdown on the cable machine using a rope attachment. By leaning on the cable machine, he gets back support to help with stability, allowing him to focus solely on his triceps. Jacked does a couple of reps, and as he approaches failure, he does a rest-pause set to round up his remaining sets on this exercise.
Seated Biceps Cable Curls & Standing Cable Biceps Curls
Andrew Jacked hops on a bench next to do a seated arm cable curl with an EZ bar, which increases his range of motion. However, he does partial reps for this exercise in a controlled manner, keeping constant tension on his biceps and forearms, inducing muscle hypertrophy (2).
Andrew Jacked then stands to do a couple of reps with the cable machine targeting his biceps, forearms, and anterior deltoids. He uses a neutral grip to focus on the long head, short head, and brachialis. Jacked finally switches back to do some seated biceps cable curls and then finishes with his standing cable bicep curls.
EZ Bar Floor Skull Crushers & Reverse Cable Pushdowns
Next on his list of exercises are the floor skull crushers. Before taking on this exercise, Jacked takes his intra-workout drink. He then lies on the floor and does some skull crushers with an EZ bar to get a deeper stretch in his triceps.
The Texas Pro champion then does a cable pushdown using a reverse grip, which activates the triceps and elbow flexors. He adds a couple of more weights and adopts slow eccentric and concentric movements for the next set of reps. This helps maximize a muscle’s time under tension, which is good for muscle growth (3).
“HAVING A SOLO DAY FOR ARMS IS REALLY GOOD. NOT JUST THE PUMP, BUT YOU FEEL REALLY GOOD TOO. YOU GET A PUMP, THEN IT SHRINKS DOWN BACK AND IT STAYS. SOLO ARMS DAY IS GOOD. YOU GUYS SHOULD HAVE ONE DAY SET ASIDE FOR ARMS. NOT JUST ARMS BUT WICKED ARMS.”
Spider Curls & Dual Low Pulley Cable Curls
Andrew Jacked hops on a bench and sets it at a 45-degree angle with an EZ bar to do some spider curls. He pulls the bar to his shoulder and extends his arms to the floor, utilizing a full range of motion to target his biceps.
Jacked immediately moves to do some low pulley cable curls after his spider curls. He sets the cable at the lowest level and does this exercise in a slow, controlled manner. This helps to put even more tension on the target muscles.
Cable Cross-Body Triceps Extension & Machine Triceps Dips
Next, Jacked sets the functional trainer to its highest level and does cable cross-body triceps extensions with proper form. This exercise hits the triceps muscles differently and gives them a good pump with a deep muscle contraction, which is suitable for adding muscle mass.
He then moves to the dip machine to further shred his triceps. Jacked switches between these two exercises multiple times before moving to his last two routines.
Cable Preacher Curls & EZ Bar Reverse Biceps Curls
Rounding up, Andrew Jacked does a preacher cable curl on the cable machine. He hits this exercise unilaterally, training each part of his body individually and increasing his mind-muscle connection. This is effective for inducing muscle hypertrophy and addressing muscle imbalances.
He then grabs an EZ bar to do some curls. Jacked uses a reverse grip to perform this exercise, primarily hitting the brachioradialis, the muscle in the front of your forearm, and the wrist flexors. Doing a biceps curl this way places less stress on the biceps and works the forearms, which is great for your grip strength.
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References
- Park, H. K., Jung, M. K., Park, E., Lee, C. Y., Jee, Y. S., Eun, D., Cha, J. Y., & Yoo, J. (2018). The effect of warm-ups with stretching on the isokinetic moments of collegiate men. Journal of exercise rehabilitation, 14(1), 78–82. https://doi.org/10.12965/jer.1835210.605
- Pedrosa, G. F., Lima, F. V., Schoenfeld, B. J., Lacerda, L. T., Simões, M. G., Pereira, M. R., Diniz, R. C. R., & Chagas, M. H. (2022). Partial range of motion training elicits favorable improvements in muscular adaptations when carried out at long muscle lengths. European journal of sport science, 22(8), 1250–1260. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2021.1927199
- Burd, N. A., Andrews, R. J., West, D. W., Little, J. P., Cochran, A. J., Hector, A. J., Cashaback, J. G., Gibala, M. J., Potvin, J. R., Baker, S. K., & Phillips, S. M. (2012). Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. The Journal of physiology, 590(2), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200
