Jay Cutler is considered one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. With his massive, sculpted physique and 4 Mr. Olympia titles, he has inspired countless athletes to push their bodies to the limit. In this blog post, we will take a look at how Jay Cutler trained each muscle group to build his legendary physique.
Legs
Jay Cutler's leg workouts were nothing short of brutal. His philosophy was to absolutely annihilate his quads, hams, and calves with extremely heavy weights and high volume. A typical Jay Cutler leg day would look like this:
- Leg Extensions - 5 sets of 15-20 reps with a focus on squeezing and contracting the quads on each rep. He went up to 300 lbs on the leg extension machine.
- Barbell Squats - 5 sets of 8-10 reps, going up to 500+ lbs for his heavy sets. Jay went super deep on his squats to put maximum tension on his quads.
- Hack Squats - 4 sets of 12, 15, 20, and 25 reps. Jay again used very heavy weight for low reps and higher reps for maximum quad burnout.
- Leg Press - 5 sets of 8-12 reps with anywhere from 10-15 plates loaded on the leg press sled. He focused on pressing through his heels to annihilate his quads.
- Lying Leg Curls - 5 sets of 10-12 reps, squeezing the hamstrings.
- Stiff Leg Deadlifts - 3 sets of 12 reps to fully fry his hamstrings. He went up to 405 lbs on SLDLs.
- Standing Calf Raises - 6 sets of 15 reps, sometimes with 500+ lbs stacked on the calf raise machine. You can see in videos the incredible veins and details in Jay's calves - direct result of beastly training.
As you can see, Jay trained legs with maximum intensity and volume. He knew legs were a weak point for many bodybuilders, so he punished his wheels with brute force weights to build thigh sweep and diamond-shaped quads.
Back
Jay Cutler's back workouts focused on width, thickness, and density. While he did Deadlifts and other heavy compound lifts, he relied more on intense isolation exercises done with perfect form to build his legendary back. A typical Jay Cutler back workout would include:
- Lat Pulldowns - 5 sets of 12-15 reps with multiple grips and bars to hit the lats from every angle. He went up to 300 lbs on lat pulldowns.
- Bent Over Rows - 5 sets of 8-10 reps, squeezing the lats and building upper back thickness.
- Seated Cable Rows - 4 sets of 12, 10, 8, and 6 reps. He used the entire stack on seated cable rows.
- Rack Deadlifts - 3 sets of 6-8 reps to build overall back density. He would work up to 700+ lbs on rack deads.
- Straight Arm Pulldowns - 3 sets of 15 reps to isolate and burn out the lats.
- Reverse Pec Deck - 3 sets of 15 reps to squeeze and pump the rear delts.
Jay relied more on controlled isolation exercises than heavy compound lifts for back. But he still built legendary back width and thickness with weights that would crush the average gym rat. Back density and chiseling were his priorities.
Chest
The core of Jay Cutler's chest workouts consisted of heavy barbell presses and dumbbell flyes to build thick, striated pecs. His chest days also focused on perfect form and getting a deep contraction on every rep. A typical chest workout for Jay looked like:
- Incline Barbell Press - 5 sets of 8, 6, 6, 4, 4 reps. He worked up to 405 lbs for heavy sets of 4 reps.
- Flat DB Press - 4 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6 reps. Jay used 130-150 lb dumbbells for sets across.
- Incline DB Flys - 4 sets of 12 reps with a deep squeeze in the contracted position.
- Pec Deck Machine - 3 sets of 15 reps, squeezing the inner pecs.
- Dips - 3 sets to failure to completely exhaust the pecs. Jay added plates to make dips even harder.
Jay's motto was "shock the muscle". He used heavy weights with perfect technique to build thick, dense pecs with deep cuts. Partial reps and intensity techniques like drop sets, supersets, and extended sets were also used to push his muscles to their limits.
Shoulders
While Jay Cutler had great genetics for bodybuilding, he also punished his delts with heavy overhead pressing to build boulder shoulders. Here's a look at one of his brutal shoulder workouts:
- Seated Barbell Presses - 5 sets of 6-10 reps. Jay worked up to 315 lbs for heavy sets.
- Standing Lateral Raises - 5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 12, and 15 reps. He focused on slow, controlled reps and squeezing the delts.
- Bent Over Lateral Raises - 4 sets of 10-12 reps using perfect form and contraction.
- Machine Shoulder Press - 3 sets of 10-12 reps with a focus on peak contraction.
- Front Barbell Raises - 4 sets of 12, 10, 8, 15 reps to annihilate the front delts.
- Cable Lateral Raises - 2 supersets of 12-15 reps to finish off the delts.
Jay was all about intensity and isolating the delts through their fullest range of motion. He trained heavy while maintaining perfect form on all shoulder exercises.
Arms
While Jay Cutler had some of the biggest arms in bodybuilding, he still trained them with focused intensity 2-3 times per week. Here's an example arm workout:
- Rope Pushdowns - 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Skullcrushers - 4 sets of 12, 10, 8, 8 reps
- Overhead Dumbbell Extensions - 3 sets of 12 reps
- Barbell Curls - 5 sets of 10, 8, 8, 6, and 6 reps
- Incline Dumbbell Curls - 4 sets of 10-12 reps
- Cable Preacher Curls - 3 high rep sets of 15+ reps
- Hammer Curls - 2 sets to failure to finish off the biceps
Jay isolated his biceps, triceps, and forearms with precise movements and contractions. He went heavier on compound lifts like Skullcrushers and Barbell Curls and focused on the peak contraction. By training arms 2-3x per week and using perfect form, he built some of the biggest guns in bodybuilding history.
Nutrition
One can't achieve a physique like Jay Cutler's without hardcore nutrition to match the hardcore training. Here's a look at Jay's nutrition plan:
- Calories: In the offseason, Jay consumed 6,000+ calories per day split into 6-8 meals. During contest prep he lowered to 3,000 calories.
- Protein: Jay ate over 300 grams of protein daily from sources like chicken, red meat, fish, eggs, protein shakes, and supplements.
- Carbs: Jay strategically used high-carb days and low-carb days to maximize muscle gains and fat loss. In the offseason he ate 800+ grams of complex carbs.
- Fats: Jay got around 100 grams of healthy fats from fish, nuts, olive oil, and supplements to optimize hormone levels.
- Cheat Meals: Jay is known for his epic cheat meals. He would go all out on meals like pizza, burgers, pancakes, and ice cream.
By calculating his macros and calories to match his goals along with periodic cheat meals, Jay fueled his body to build record-setting mass and definition.
Conclusion
There's no denying that Jay Cutler is one of the most legendary bodybuilders ever to step on stage. While much of it came down to his one-in-a-million genetics, he also outworked and out-trained everyone else. By decimating each muscle with incredibly heavy weights, isolation exercises, and focused intensity - along with calculated nutrition - Jay built a physique that earned 4 Sandow trophies. Any athlete looking to optimize their genetic potential can learn a thing or two from Jay Cutler's training philosophies.
