Veteran bodybuilder Dexter Jackson has transformed his physique into a lean and athletic one from the heavily muscled Mr. Olympia body in recent years. He is now sharing the training regimen that helps him stay in shape at 54. Recently, Blade posted a video of his chest training session on YouTube.
Jackson is a retired IFBB Pro bodybuilder from the USA that competed in the Men’s Open division of the IFBB Pro League. In a career spanning over two and a half decades, he has won several Pro shows including the prestigious Mr. Olympia competition. Jackson hovered around the top three space for a long stretch of his bodybuilding career and gave dominant Mr. Olympia champions like Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler a run for their money.
Dexter’s sole Mr. Olympia win came in 2008 when he dethroned 4-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler. Apart from that, he has secured the Arnold Classic title a whopping five times in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013, and 2015.
Since retiring from the sport after a ninth place finish at the 2020 Olympia, Blade has been prioritizing health and shed a significant amount of muscle mass in favor of long term health. Arthritis of the back was keeping him from going hard in the gym for a while. However, the Jacksonville native is now able to lift heavy after receiving stem cell therapy in Columbia a few weeks ago.
The former Mr. Olympia is active on social media and gives insights into his training routine through workout videos. Recently, he familiarized the followers with his chest training routine. So let’s check out which exercises help Dexter Jackson look lean and mean at 54.
Dexter Jackson’s Chest Training Circuit
Jackson is slowly increasing the amount of weight in his exercises after the stem cell therapy. Additionally, he has inclined more towards machine exercises off late to take the stress off the joints. The 54-year-old’s chest workout is an efficient combination of pressing and flying movements for complete development. He likes to keep the rep range between eight to twelve but ends up doing ten reps on most of the exercises.
Hammer Strength Iso Flat Bench Press
Jackson’s chest training circuit starts with this compound exercise on the plate-loaded machine. The exercise primarily targets the pectoralis major, anterior deltoids, and triceps muscles. Both arms and weight stacks of an iso-lateral machine move independently, which helps eliminate strength imbalances.
Machine chest press activates only about 79 percent of muscles compared to the bench press, which is ranks at the absolute top. (3) However, chest press machines provide a much more stable environment. Also, they reduce overall workout time as the setup does not require elaborate preparation.
Additionally, studies have found that machine and free-weight exercises are equally effective in increasing muscle thickness and strength over long periods of time.(2)
Jackson performs 4 sets of iso flat bench press with incrementally heavier weights and takes up the second and final pressing exercise of the day.
Machine Incline Chest Press
Incline chest press targets the clavicular head of the pectoralis major muscles, commonly known as the upper pecs. As per popular belief, an incline in the bench angle helps emphasize the upper pecs more than the other parts of the pectoralis major muscles. However, there is conclusive evidence which shows that the upper pecs experience higher muscle activity when the bench is inclined at an angle of 30 degrees. Additionally, incline press also increases anterior deltoid engagement. (1)
Dexter Jackson performs four sets of incline chest press maintaining a ten rep range. After finishing with the exercise for filming the video, he spoke about the effects of competitive bodybuilding training on his joint health and what he did to prevent further deterioration. Jackson said:
“All the free weight stuff with heavy weights that I used to do, really really tore my joints up. So if you guys got joint pain and you’re looking to ease the pain, make sure you try and do some more Machine work. That’ll take a lot of stress off the joints versus free weight.”
Following this, he took to flyes and performed two variations of machine flyes.
Arsenal Strength Incline Flyes
While chest press improves the pushing strength of the upper body muscles, flyes contribute significantly towards developing the adduction ability of the upper body. Although flyes come nowhere close to the chest press in terms of pectoral, triceps, and anterior deltoid muscle activation, they stimulate biceps brachii to a far greater degree. Jackson performs the arsenal strength incline flyes maintaining a similar rep range of ten for four reps and moves on to the final exercise of the day.
Decline Cable Flyes
The 54-year-old performs four more sets of standing decline cable flyes. This exercise adds the final bit of stimulus to the chest muscles. It is an isolation movement that distributes the load evenly throughout the range of motion. Decline cable flyes serve as the finisher to Dexter Jackson’s training routine. He wraps up the training session after pushing through this exercise.
The chest training circuit follows this exercises sequence and rep range:
- Hammer strength Iso Flat Bench Press (4 sets of 10 reps)
- Machine Incline Chest Press (4 sets of 10 reps)
- Arsenal Strength Incline Flyes (4 sets of 10 reps)
- Decline Cable Flyes (4 sets of 10 reps)
Dexter Jackson has set a positive example for the young bodybuilders to follow when they eventually walk away from the sport. His admission about transitioning to machines to preserve joints, downsizing to a more normal human size and revelations about PED use will certainly help others realize the need to make changes in time.
You can watch the full workout video here, courtesy of Dexter Jackson’s personal YouTube channel:
References
- Rodríguez-Ridao D, Antequera-Vique JA, Martín-Fuentes I, Muyor JM. Effect of Five Bench Inclinations on the Electromyographic Activity of the Pectoralis Major, Anterior Deltoid, and Triceps Brachii during the Bench Press Exercise. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Oct 8;17(19):7339. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17197339. PMID: 33049982; PMCID: PMC7579505.
- Schwanbeck, Shane R.1; Cornish, Stephen M.2; Barss, Trevor3,4,5; Chilibeck, Philip D.1. Effects of Training With Free Weights Versus Machines on Muscle Mass, Strength, Free Testosterone, and Free Cortisol Levels. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 34(7):p 1851-1859, July 2020. | DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003349
- Top 3 Most Effective Chest Exercises (Solely funded by a grant from American Council of Exercise) (Authors – Whitnee Schankee, John P. Porcari, Emmanuel Felix, Charles Hendrix and Carl Foster)
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