Flex Magazine UK Edition - UK | April 2015

In this issue

Features in this issue include...
Big Year by DAVID SANDLER It comes every year: a new programme, the promise of a new you. So why is this one any different? Rather than giving you the same ol’ same ol’, this programme turns up the pace and inverts the exercise list to attack the muscles differently from how they have been in the past. The principles behind muscle strength and size development haven’t changed. It’s physiology. Muscle responds and adapts to the stress you place on it. That is fact and does not change. That means that you still want to crush big weights and do plenty of volume, as that is the impetus for true muscle remodelling. But the approach for the new muscle programme is in the exercise order, grouping, and selection. This programme targets the “for show” muscles first, then works backwards through the chain to get the entire body developed.
Flex 80 by GREG MERRITT If you’re dedicated to a muscular lifestyle, it’s unlikely you need to do any major recommitting each year. That said, from the rawest beginner to Mr Olympia, everyone can benefit from a course in cutting-edge workout and nutritional advice. That’s why we’ve accumulated 80 top tips from the 35 male bodybuilders most likely to make an impact on IFBB Pro League contests in 2015. These legends and future legends serve up their most effective exercise techniques, body-part routines, nutritional strategies, motivators, and more. Use these 80 tips to recharge your muscle-maximising programme throughout the year.
Four By Four by TONY MONCHINSKI Each man turned pro his first time out: Jay Cutler when he won the heavyweight class at the 1996 NPC Nationals; Phil Heath when he won the heavyweight and overall titles at the 2005 NPC USA. Cutler’s ascent up the pro ranks was less auspicious than Heath’s: at his pro debut, the ’98 Night Of Champions, Cutler landed in 11th, whereas Heath emerged victorious from his first two pro contests. Cutler chased the Sandow longer and harder than anyone: he would place second four times before finally beating eight-time champ Ronnie Coleman. (Over the course of his career, Cutler would set a record with six Olympia runner-ups.) Heath’s Olympia ascent had its ups and downs: he placed third, fifth, and second before finally claiming the title in 2011 and has defended it each year since. With his victory last year, Heath joined Cutler as the owner of four Sandows. Here, in a first of its kind, we got the past two Mr Olympias together for an in-depth, no-punches-pulled interview as Cutler sat down with Heath to talk about being four-time Olympia winners, what comes with it, and what leads up to it. As you listen to them, one thing that quickly becomes clear is their mutual admiration and respect for each other and other bodybuilders, their professionalism, and their love of the sport and its fans.
Also in this issue 50 Flex 80 70 Big Year 80 Four by Four 94 The Conqueror 102 Nutrition Overhaul 110 Tough Road to Glory 120 Operation 212 18 1St Set 28 Lift 40 Food & Supps 128 Classic Muscle 148 Last Set 12 Welcome 14 Arnold’s Page 16 It’s Only My Opinion 158 Bodybuilder of The Month 160 The Shot