The emergence of Chinedu Andrew Obiekea, popularly known as Andrew Jacked, in the Open division has been a quick and highly anticipated affair. After earning his IFBB Pro card by winning the 2022 Arnold Classic Amateur, he defeated elite competition at the 2022 Texas Pro and walked away with his maiden Olympia invitation. Veteran bodybuilders like Jay Cutler and Samir Bannout have praised Andrew Jacked, with Bannout even predicting that Jacked might finish in the top four at the 2022 Olympia.
Jacked is set to compete at the 2022 Arnold Classic UK that will take place from Sept. 23 to 25. He went through the leg day workout in Dubai as a part of his contest preparation. The video of this workout session was uploaded on his YouTube channel.
Andrew Jacked crushes a leg workout
Jacked will be heading out of Dubai to compete at the Arnold Classic UK in a week’s time. As a result, he toned down the intensity of his workouts and used moderate weights.
Superset: Unilateral leg extension and standing leg curl
Jacked started the leg workout with this superset to warm up the lower body. Leg extensions are a quad-focused movement and leg curls are hamstring-focused. Both exercises warm up the knee joint effectively, which is crucial in almost all lower body movements. However, hamstring curls are a comparatively better warm-up exercise as they warm up the hamstrings and knees without stressing the knee joints.
Jacked performed all sets with minimal rest to get his lower body sufficiently warmed up before jumping into the heavier sets.
Smith machine squat
This was the first heavy exercise of the day. The barbell on the Smith machine moves along a fixed trajectory, eliminating the need to control the weight. This is helpful in injury prevention, especially during competition prep, like in Andrew Jacked’s case.
“I like doing Smith machine squats because one – my body is fragile now. Secondly, so close to the show, I don’t want to risk any injuries or whatever. Thirdly, obviously getting us a good pump. So, it’s safe and I think it’s better because it focuses on the glutes. I am trying to get my glutes shredded and my outer sweep…”
Andrew did a warm-up set with two plates and performed the first working set with three full and a quarter plate. He took a quarter-plate jump in each consecutive set to work his way up to four plates on each side for his final sets. All in all, Jacked performed five total sets of Smith machine squats while staying in a 15-20 rep range.
Leg press
Jacked next took to the leg press and worked the quads. The leg press is a triple extension exercise—a concurrent hip extension, knee extension, and ankle plantar flexion. Although the movement is quad-focused, it works all the leg muscles i.e. quads, hamstrings, glutes, and even calves.
“You can get heavy on that one… and it hits you on that outer sweep, hamstrings, glutes, the lower glutes, which is good,” Jacked said.
The mass monster performed the leg press on the Gymleco leg press machine. According to the company website, the machine is designed ‘with a natural movement that activates the front of the thigh in the best way.’ The 37-year-old cranked out a few sets of leg press and jumped on to the next exercise.
Superset: Leg extension and sumo squat
Jacked next performed a superset of leg extensions and sumo squat on the belt squat machine. However, the elite bodybuilder used a V-handle bar instead of the standard belt for the sumo squat.
Both exercises work the quads. However, sumo squats are a compound movement that works the entire lower body. When performed with dumbbells or a barbell, the sumo squat also engages the core muscles to a greater degree for stabilization.
Jacked performed all sets of these exercises in rapid succession with minimal rest between sets.
Superset: Machine hip adductor and walking lunges
This superset served as the finisher to Andrew’s leg workout. Another combination of isolation and compound movement, this superset primarily targeted hip adductors and hamstrings. Jacked wrapped up the workout session after finishing all sets with perfect form.
Andrew Jacked 2022 Arnold UK Leg Workout
Overall, the workout included:
- Superset: Unilateral leg extension and standing leg curl
- Smith machine squat
- Leg press
- Superset: Leg extension and sumo squat
- Superset: Machine hip adduction and walking lunges
Jacked has gathered a lot of momentum in a very short period. Judging by his current physique and drive, the 2022 Arnold Classic UK win does not seem out of reach for the 2022 Texas Pro champ.
Moreover, bodybuilding fans are already excited to see him go up against the top five Open division bodybuilders, including Mamdouh ‘Big Ramy’ Elssbiay, Brandon Curry, Nick Walker, Hunter Labrada, and Hadi Choopan, when he makes his Olympia debut in Las Vegas on Dec. 16.
You can watch the full workout video here, courtesy of Andrew’s YouTube channel:
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