2024 Arnold Classic Physique champ Wesley Vissers dropped in the ranks at the 2024 Olympia and fell to 7th at the 2025 Arnold Classic. Struggling to master posing and lower body symmetry, Vissers found himself in a critical off-season.
Vissers trained at the iconic Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym in New York in mid-May, receiving comprehensive posing critiques from Steve Weinberger, the head Mr. Olympia judge.
Push Session with Purpose
- Lateral Raises
- Converging Chest Press
- Seated Cable Chest Press
- Machine Bench Press
- One-Arm Cable Triceps Pushdowns
- Cable Overhead Triceps Extensions
Vissers starts chest day with lateral raises to prime his delts for pressing. Using light weights to avoid overexhaustion, Vissers prioritizes training his medial delts since they have historically been a weak point in his physique. Lateral raises enhance the V-taper aesthetic that is rewarded in competition.
Converging chest presses combine load, stability, stretch, and greater adduction more than dumbbells. Vissers adopted a neutral grip to reduce shoulder strain and keep tension on his pecs.
You want more tension in the stretch and easier during contractions…the stretch causes more muscle growth.
—Wesley Vissers
Research suggests the stretch ranges slightly to significantly more growth-biased, depending on the exercise. While Vissers performed pushdowns and overhead extensions, the latter appears more hypertrophic. (1)
Judgment Day With Weinberger
Weinberger doesn’t mince words with his posing critiques: “Your posing was not good,” he commented to Vissers. Weinberger’s main feedback centered on simple cues:
Don’t lean back. Everything’s straight up. Don’t lean forward. Just stay straight.
These tips, combined with lifting the chest, spreading the lats, retracting the delts, and flexing the biceps, revealed immediate visual enhancements.
Weinberger singled out the iconic Arnold Schwarzenegger pose as Vissers’ strongest.
That’s your pose, honestly…Your shape comes alive.
Incorporating full vacuums highlights a small waist instead of curling the trunk.
Gains Without Weight Caps
Vissers heeds four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler’s advice this off-season:
Don’t think about weight caps, go where your body wants to take you.
Vissers’ current Classic Physique weight cap is 256 pounds for his 6-foot-one-inches height. He’ll reassess his contest plans after filling out his frame.
“Legs and back; total back and thickness,” Weinberger suggested rack pulls and bent-over rows to increase spinal erector density. Enhancing the quad sweep (outer quad roundness) would improve Vissers’ physique. (2)
Heavy leg presses, squats, hack squats for 6 to 12 reps.
This rep range is preferred for loading, intensity, and recovery while remaining hypertrophic.
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- Jay Cutler Uses Pyramid Sets and Trains Calves on Chest Day
- Exclusive Interview: Akim Williams Expects Longer Off-Season to Pay 2025 Mr. Olympia Dividends
References
- Maeo S, Wu Y, Huang M, Sakurai H, Kusagawa Y, Sugiyama T, Kanehisa H, Isaka T. Triceps brachii hypertrophy is substantially greater after elbow extension training performed in the overhead versus neutral arm position. Eur J Sport Sci. 2023 Jul;23(7):1240-1250. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2022.2100279. Epub 2022 Aug 11. PMID: 35819335.
- Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Van Every DW, Plotkin DL. Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum. Sports (Basel). 2021 Feb 22;9(2):32. doi: 10.3390/sports9020032. PMID: 33671664; PMCID: PMC7927075.
Featured image: @wesleyvissers on Instagram
