Working out with a significant other can with accountability for health and fitness goals. What happens when one’s partner becomes a coach? For the 2024 Mr. Olympia Samson Dauda, it led to a Sandow Trophy. In early 2024, Dauda parted ways with his coach, Milos Sarcev, to train with his wife, Marlena Gustowska — she became the first female coach of a Mr. Olympia champion.
Classic Physique athlete Wesley Vissers followed suit, naming his fiancée, Marly Nooijen, as his coach for leg training on Oct.27, 2024. Vissers’ 2024 season was filled with ups and downs; he won the 2024 Arnold Classic but ranked eighth at the 2024 Olympia. Nooijen works closely with Vissers coach, Stefan Kienzl, to address lagging body parts effectively.
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The 2024 Classic Physique Olympia
Wesley Vissers aims to enhance his glutes and hamstrings, believing they hold him back. He expressed disappointment with his 2024 Olympia performance: “At the Olympia, I ate some humble pie,” Vissers acknowledged. “The placing is simply the placing I got. There’s always a reason for it, and when I look at my physique, the only part that really needs to be worked on is the glutes and hamstrings, and we’re going to tear them apart.”
Wesley Vissers’ Leg Workout
Before beginning his workouts, Vissers spends fifteen minutes stretching with resistance bands. (1) He and Nooijen believe his improved mobility and flexibility will help him achieve deeper squats since he’ll be better suited to unlock his hips, engage his glutes, and stretch his hamstrings.
- Machine Hip Thrust
- Machine Lying Leg Curl
- Dead Hang
- Single-Leg Reverse Hack Squat
- B-Stance Romanian Deadlift
- Leg Press
- Side-Lying Leg Raise
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Machine Hip Thrust
The hip thrust allows Vissers to isolate his glutes. He performs warm-up sets before aiming for eight heavy reps across two to three working sets. He incorporates heavier weights in one session each week.
“At least once per week, we go quite heavy; at least eight reps, and the other time 12 to 15 to make sure we hit all the rep ranges for the glutes,” Vissers stated.
Leg Curl, Dead Hang, Reverse Hack Squat, & B-Stance RDL
Nooijen guided Vissers to lying leg curls, where he performed slow and controlled eccentrics. After completing several sets, he transitioned to dead hangs to strengthen shoulder support.
Under Nooijen’s guidance, Vissers isolated his glutes during unilateral reverse hack squats, which allow for a deeper stretch. He completed 12 to 15 reps across several sets on the Gym80 machine.
Vissers explained that he adopted a B-stance due to a hamstring injury that affected his range of motion. Stretching his hamstrings while under load drives his hips back to engage the hamstrings more effectively.
45-Degree Leg Press
Vissers positions his feet wide and angled outward during the leg press to target his quadriceps and adductors. Moving through his full range of motion, he uses high foot placement to redirect the emphasis to his glutes and hamstrings.
“I stretch the quads all the way down but also the adductors,” Vissers shared. “I need them to grow because that will give the illusion of a bigger leg in total.”
Side-Lying Leg Raise
The final exercise is deficit side leg raises using a one-kilogram ankle weight for added resistance to further round his glutes. He lies on a bench sideways and lifts his legs in an arc from in front, passing from the bench above and behind his body.
Following the leg workout, Vissers stretched to cool down before enjoying his post-workout meal. Having trained since he was 14, Vissers understands that his glutes and hamstrings require a different approach to maximize their potential.
“The true and only way to make them grow is to train with somebody obsessed with making them grow,” Vissers asserted. “No one cares more about making them grow than Marley.”
Reference
- Fradkin, A. J., Zazryn, T. R., & Smoliga, J. M. (2010). Effects of warming-up on physical performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 24(1), 140–148. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c643a0
Featured image: @wesleyvissers on Instagram
