The reigning two-time Arnold Classic Classic Physique champion, Terrence Ruffin, got in the gym with the king of “The Vacuum,” Canadian bodybuilder Cody Drobot for a chest, shoulder, and triceps workout.
This is the first time I am going on a prep in about three years that I am not looking like garbage going into it.
Drobot is a classic physique and 212 competitor, who rose in popularity for having an unforgettable vacuum pose. Ruffin, who also knows a thing or two about masterful posing routines, teamed up with Drobot for their full-blown upper body assault in a video published on Ruffin’s YouTube channel on Aug. 5, 2022.
Before that training session, Ruffin offered a behind-the-scenes look at his meal prep. Check it out below:
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Ruffin’s Pre-Workout Meals
Ruffin’s pre-workout meal consists of 100 grams of cream of rice dry, 15 grams of Justin’s almond butter, 100 grams of pineapple, 15 grams of Justin’s peanut butter, and two scoops of Steel Whey-Iso — one scoop Snickerdoodle flavored and one scoop Hot Cocoa flavored.
This is a really good pre-workout meal. Anything that digests really easily is great.
Ruffin believes whey isolates are one of the best options for a pre-workout meal. Whey hydrolysate is already pretty much digested for you, but Ruffin advises never to weight train fasted — it’s counter-productive for hypertrophy.
Ruffin’s Chest, Shoulder, and Triceps Workout
Ruffin’s intra-workout is fueled by a mix of Steel’s BCAA x EAA x Pre Workout. Check out the full workout session details below:
Incline Chest Press, Seated Cable Flyes, Seated Chest Press
Ruffin and Drobot kick the workout off with an incline chest press working their way up to three 45-pound weight plates and a 25-pound plate on each side. It didn’t take much for the bodybuilding duo to achieve a quality chest pump. Upper chest is often a lagging body part for bodybuilders, and Drobot and Ruffin aimed to avoid that via compound movements.
Ruffin and Drobot hit seated cable flyes to hit the inner chest. Cable exercises are great for maintaining constant tension on the muscle throughout the full range of motion while emphasizing the stretched position. The longer the time under tension, the stronger the anabolic signal, resulting in more quality muscle growth and stimulation.
Their final chest movement was the seated chest press with a neutral grip. Again, this put significant emphasis on the bulk of the chest in the stretched position by achieving further depth at the bottom of each rep. Machines are great for chest training as they remove stability as a limiting factor, thereby taking pressure off the joints.
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Triceps Pushdown, Seated Calf Raises, Cable Lateral Raises
Ruffin’s next movement is the triceps pushdown utilizing cuffs instead of a rope to put greater emphasis on the triceps by removing the grip as a means to compensate for a heavier load .This better stimulates the triceps fibers to achieve most significant muscular stimulation. Ruffin follows those with a quick round seated calf raises using the Smith machine for resistance.
A lot of open bodybuilders don’t stick to their diets, guys will sneak out and have cheat meals.
Ruffin moves onto side delts in the form of the standing lateral raises, which he performs supported on a weight bench with cuffs instead of handles or dumbbells. Using cuffs can make it more challenging to perform cheat reps, so all of the effort is focused on the muscle without the help of momentum.
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Posing and Post-Workout
Both Ruffin and Drobot wrap up their workout with a group posing practice session, Ruffin is amidst his off-season as he prepares for the 2022 Olympia on Dec. 16-18, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV. Drobot is three weeks post 212-division debut at the 2022 Tampa Pro, where he ranked fourth overall.
If you have a weak body part, it’s even more important that you track what you’re doing.
Below is each movement Ruffin’ performed in order:
- Incline Chest Press
- Seated Cable Flye Machine
- Seated Chest Press Machine
- Tricep Pushdown
- Seated Calf Raises
- Cable Lateral Raises
Ruffin’s post-workout meal consists of 100 grams of Rice Krispies® dry weight from Kelloggs. Ruffins is a big fan of cereal as a post-workout carb source, especially in the off-season as it’s quickly aborbed and tastes good. Ruffin also mentions that it’s a quick meal to prepare.
[Rice Krispies] was the secret that helped my arms grow — execute the repetitions properly. Besides that, tracking your nutrition is the right way to go.
Ruffins also utilizes two more scoops of STEEL’s Whey-ISO protein powder post-workout as a quickly absorbed protein source. Ruffin suggests that fast-absorbing nutrients around your workouts is optimal, hence protein shakes, cream of rice, and Rice Krispies®.
It is not really a secret, but it’s helpful if you’re eating a good amount of food.
Ruffin’s off-season carb of choice is often rice as it’s quickly aborbed and easily digested, leaving him satiated but ready to eat by the next meal.
Wrapping Up
Ruffin continues to make great progress during his off-season growth phase without compromising his lean physique. Opting for rice as the main carb source and clean protein shakes for a lot of his pre and post-workout meals. Ruffin is a fan of efficiency and workouts that fit his schedule.
Various forms of rice and protein shakes are a great option around workouts for athletes at any level as they can prevent feeling uncomfortably full when training but still effectively fuel you during workouts.R
Featured image: @ruff_diesel on Instagram