Cutler pushes his chest to the limit after completing his “Fit for 50” challenge.
If you thought you’d seen the last of Jay Cutler after his “Fit for 50” challenge, think again. If there’s one bodybuilding legend known for his consistency, it’s Cutler. So we’re not surprised he’s back with this Jay Cutler chest workout where he trains outdoors in a rebranded gym.
Jay Cutler rose to popularity after challenging bodybuilding legend Ronnie Coleman for the Olympia title 2001. Coleman had been winning since 1998, and a fierce rivalry began between the two, which ended in Jay Cutler finally winning the top prize in 2006. He went on to win Mr. Olympia three more times but hasn’t officially competed since 2013.
| Full Name: Jay Cutler | ||
| Weight | Height | Date of Birth |
| 265 – 275 lbs | 5’9” | 08/03/2023 |
| Division | Era | Nationality |
| Men’s Open | 1990s – 2010s | American |
Jay Cutler is still a prominent voice in the bodybuilding industry and shares tips on training, dieting, and competition. For example, in this video, he talks about being conscious about training his chest due to being wide.
“Having a chest is important, and that was one of my harder body parts to actually gain. I actually as a teenager, had all lower packs and no upper because I was so wide, and I had to learn how to bench press and stick my chest out and and really contract the chest.”
Check out tips like these and more as we follow Jay Cutler on this chest workout journey.
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Jay Cutler’s Chest Workout
For Jay Cutler, this workout focused on building his chest while checking out this new gym. Seeing the fantastic machine equipment made him include some leg and ab movements, too. Here are his routines, the muscles they focus on, and Jay Cutler’s tips for training.
| Exercises |
| Chest |
| Incline Chest Fly |
| Dumbbell Bench Press |
| Standing Cable Crossover |
| Barbell Incline Bench Press |
| Dumbbell Pullover |
| Hammer Strength Incline Chest Press |
| Legs |
| Seated Calf Raise |
| Seated Toe Press |
| Abs |
| Roman Chair Leg Raise |
| Cable Crunch |
| Straight Leg Crunch |
Incline Chest Fly Machine
The incline chest fly is an accessory exercise that adds more volume to your chest. Doing this exercise at an incline specifically targets your upper chest; using the machine means you don’t have to worry about stability. Jay Cutler did some sets of the incline chest fly on a plate-loaded machine to stretch his muscles before moving to the next exercise for the day.
Dumbbell Bench Press
The dumbbell bench press is an exercise that targets your chest, triceps, and shoulders (1). Using dumbbells for this routine improves your range of motion and decreases your need for stability like you would with a barbell. Jay Cutler did the dumbbell bench press in the outdoor area of this gym, starting with 75 lb dumbbells before switching to 85 lb dumbbells.
Standing Cable Crossover
The standing cable crossover you can use to get real definition in the pec muscles and build your upper body. You can change how this exercise targets your muscles by changing positions.
Jay Cutler does a standing cable crossover and moves forward to make the movement more stable and challenging. He also changes it between high to low, low to high, and straight horizontal positions to target his chest muscles uniformly. He says,
“So you notice when I do these, uh, now there’s a lot of body positions I use, guys. So I’m coming more like you’ll see me sometimes come down. Sometimes, I come more straight out. I mean, there’s other times I come sometimes up to hit different portions of the chest.”
Barbell Incline Bench Press
The barbell incline bench press can help you build a complete chest as a bodybuilder. This exercise works on your pec, delts, and triceps. Doing it with a barbell on an incline isolates your upper chest more due to the angle inducing more muscle hypertrophy in those muscles (2). Jay Cutler did three sets of the barbell incline bench press.
Dumbbell Pullover
The dumbbell pullover is an exercise that targets your chest and builds your lats, core, delts, and triceps. Doing this exercise helps to open up your chest. Plus, the overreach needed to take the dumbbell over your head stretches your muscles under load, leading to more growth. Jay Cutler shares that he uses a diamond grip when doing dumbbell pullovers to keep it focused on his chest.
“If you notice, for this exercise, I actually have it in like a diamond around the dumbbell. So what I’m actually trying to do with this is pull the (pectoral muscle) fibers.”
Hammer Strength Incline Chest Press
The hammer strength incline chest press primarily strengthens your chest muscles and builds your triceps and shoulders. The fixed movement pattern of the machine helps to isolate your muscles better. This exercise is a variation of the barbell incline bench press, which Jay Cutler already did earlier. He added some sets of this while stating that he had been trying to use it since the beginning but had to wait as it was in use.
Seated Calf Raise
The seated calf raise is an isolation exercise that targets your calves. This exercise focuses on your soleus, which is forgotten as it is not seen when flexing your calves. It is, however, important to build this muscle for strength, and this alternative is better for athletes with sensitive backs than the standing variation. Jay Cutler performed a few sets of seated calf raises on the machine before doing another leg routine.
Seated Toe Press
The seated toe press is a routine that also targets the calves. It primarily works on the gastrocnemius, but the soleus also gets some recruitment. Jay Cutler used this exercise to balance out the training on his calves before doing some ab workouts.
Roman Chair Leg Raises
The Roman chair leg raise is an exercise that primarily targets your rectus abmoninus. This routine also works your obliques and hip flexors and is great for your core. Jay Cutler did some Roman chair leg raises to start his ab routine and shares that he includes abs every other day in his workouts.
“So every other day right now, I’m doing ab work. I usually pick two or three different movements, and I focus on doing three sets for each exercise.”
Cable Crunch
Crunches are a bodyweight exercise that targets your abs and obliques (3). The cable crunch is a machine variation that adds resistance to your training and improves your range of motion to build your stability and core strength. Jay Cutler did some sets of this movement before the last exercise in this video.
Straight Leg Crunch
Straight leg crunches target your abs’ upper muscle fibers and work on your hip flexors. This helps to build your core and makes your six-pack stand out. Jay Cutler did this bodyweight exercise on a flat bench as his last routine for this workout.
You can watch the full chest workout below:
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References
- Saeterbakken, A. H., Mo, D. A., Scott, S., & Andersen, V. (2017). The Effects of Bench Press Variations in Competitive Athletes on Muscle Activity and Performance. Journal of human kinetics, 57, 61–71. https://doi.org/10.1515/hukin-2017-0047
- Rodríguez-Ridao, D., Antequera-Vique, J. A., Martín-Fuentes, I., & Muyor, J. M. (2020). Effect of Five Bench Inclinations on the Electromyographic Activity of the Pectoralis Major, Anterior Deltoid, and Triceps Brachii during the Bench Press Exercise. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(19), 7339. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197339
- Robinson, M., Lees, A., & Barton, G. (2005). Electromyographic investigation of abdominal exercises and the effects of fatigue. Ergonomics, 48(11-14), 1604–1612. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140130500101338
