Andrew Jacked is busy adding finishing touches to his massively improved physique for the 2022 Texas Pro. Recently, he went through an intense back and biceps training session to get ready and defend the title on August 18-19.
Chinedu Andrew Obiekea is a Nigerian bodybuilder that shot to stardom in 2022. He competes in the Men’s Open division of the IFBB Pro League. Popularly known by the stage name Andrew Jacked, he made waves when he first transitioned to the NPC as a first step of the effort to launch his Olympia campaign.
The unusually tall bodybuilder’s massive physique, insane v-taper and overall aesthetic appeal was beyond comprehension. It’s unusual to see so much hype around someone with so little experience.
However, Andrew Jacked proved that the hype was real when he absolutely dominated the stage to win the 2022 Arnold Classic Amateur and earned the IFBB Pro card. He made a turnaround and competed at the first pro show of his career – the 2022 Texas Pro. A thumping victory there cemented the first direct Olympia qualification.
The Nigerian bodybuilder made one more stage appearance before 2022 Olympia and took the 2022 Arnold Classic UK trophy home. He crossed paths with the most elite bodybuilders on the planet at the 2022 Olympia and finished eighth.
The 2023 Arnold Classic marked Obiekea’s most recent competitive appearance. He finished third at the show and gave a tough competition to Samson Dauda and Nick Walker. Andrew Jacked will attempt to defend the Texas Pro title in 2022 and get a second Olympia ticket.
Andrew Jacked goes through a back and biceps workout
The Nigerian bodybuilder has looked ripped and stage ready in his recent physique updates as he gets ready for the 2023 Texas Pro. Hunter Labrada is Andrew Jacked’s main opponent heading into the show. However, veteran bodybuilder Milos Sarcev thinks that Labrada’s physique does not have the ‘wow factor’ that Andrew Jacked possesses, giving the Nigerian bodybuilder the edge.
Rising contender Carlos Thomas Jr. intends to spoil the party for both top contenders at Texas Pro. Andrew Jacked is well aware of the threat and he is not taking things for granted. To elevate his career to the next level, Andrew Jacked is training under coach Chris ‘Psycho’ Lewis’s guidance.
The Nigerian bodybuilder isn’t necessarily pushing too hard at this stage and wants to preserve his capacity for the 2023 Olympia. At the moment, his goal is to beat the Arnold Classic look in terms of size and conditioning. Recently, he went through a back and biceps workout to prepare for the Texas Pro. So let’s find out how the session unfolded.
Pull-Ups
Andrew Jacked embarked on the workout promptly and performed pull-ups. This advanced bodyweight movement is an effective back builder that works all the major muscles in the back like latissimus dorsi, trapezius, infraspinatus, teres and posterior deltoids. Andrew Jacked did three sets of the exercise and advanced over to the main workout.
Lat Pulldown
The first machine exercise of the day targeted the latissimus dorsi muscles. Andrew Jacked performed one arm lat pulldown on an iso-lateral plate loaded machine. Doing the exercise unilaterally helps tremendously in focusing on the target muscles and building the mind-muscle connection. The Nigerian bodybuilder performed the first set of the exercise unilaterally and moved onto the next machine.
Chest Supported T-Bar Rows
Very few rowing exercises can compete with the T-bar rows when compared in terms of muscle and strength benefits. This compound lift works all the pulling muscles in the upper body including the arms, back and shoulders. As a result, it is an effective way to build upper body functional strength.
Andrew Jacked cranked out solid sets of T-bar rows on a chest supported machine to add more stimulus to the back. He finished the exercise with a double drop set to push beyond failure and proceeded to the final back exercise of the day.
Unilateral Incline Cable Pulldown
Incline cable pulldown mimics the movement pattern of a chin-up. The incline bench allows one to focus on the side mechanics of the pulldown and helps work the muscle from a different angle and position than most upper body pulling movements. Andrew Jacked did high volume sets of this exercise to cap the back workout and tackled the biceps next.
Standing Cable Curls
Cable Machine exercises keep the muscles under constant tension throughout the range of motion. This is a great feature for inducing hypertrophy more effectively. Also, the weights on the machine move along a fixed trajectory, eliminating the need to involve stabilizing muscles.
Andrew Jacked started the biceps workout with standing cable curls to get the target muscles primed for the free weight movements. After doing a few sets with slow and controlled motion, he followed it up with a free weight movement.
Standing Barbell Curls
Andrew Jacked next took to the standing barbell curls to further target the biceps brachii muscles and cranked out a few good sets of the movement. Biceps are a relatively small muscle group and they respond best to moderate weights and good training volume. As a result, Andrew Jacked used relatively lighter weights to execute the biceps exercises.
One Arm Flat Bicep Curls
The 2022 Texas Pro winner next performed the flat bicep curls. He did the exercise on the Icarian flat biceps curls machine. Although the movement resembles the preacher curls, the pad against which the triceps rest is designed to be in a horizontal position instead of being at an angle.
Andrew Jacked pushed through some high volume sets of flat bicep curls with slow and controlled motion and proceeded to do the final exercise of the day.
Overhead Cable Curls
If the arms are lacking thickness, overhead cable curls are a great exercise to remove this flaw. Also known as the high cable curls, this isolation movement works the biceps muscles from a completely different angle and helps in complete development.
Andrew Jacked annihilated some good sets of the movement in the concluding part of the workout and put a full stop to the intense push day training session.
In totality, the workout comprised of following exercises:
- Pull-ups
- Lat Pulldown
- Chest Supported T-Bar Rows
- Unilateral Cable Incline Pulldown
- Standing Cable Curls
- Standing Barbell Curls
- One Arm Flat Bicep Curls
- Overhead Cable Curls
Hunter Labrada, who slipped to the seventh position at the 2022 Olympia, has vowed to win two pro shows before entering the 2023 Olympia. He registered a win at the 2023 Tampa Pro that concluded on August 5 in Tampa Bay, Florida.
With the resurgent momentum, Labrada will present a great hurdle for Andrew Jacked to defend the Texas Pro title. But if the Nigerian bodybuilder gets past Labrada, it would say a lot about his chances at the 2023 Olympia.
You can watch the full workout video below, courtesy of Andrew Jacked’s personal YouTube channel:
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