Andrew Jacked went through an intense back training session four weeks out of the 2023 Texas Pro. The Nigerian has been making steady progress under coach Chris Psycho’ Lewis’s guidance and the results are visible in his vastly improved physique. Although he is favored to win his next show, Andrew is not underestimating his competition.
Chinedu Andrew Obiekea is best known in the bodybuilding community by his stage name Andrew Jacked. The Nigerian bodybuilder’s emergence on the international bodybuilding scene has been quick and dramatic, to say the least. After making a name for himself in the regional bodybuilding circuits, the 37-year-old transitioned to NPC in 2022. His astonishingly aesthetic physique and insane size quickly became a talk of the town. What’s more interesting is that Andrew Jacked is unusually tall for the Men’s Open division but still has the size, proportions, insane x-frame to be a successful competitor in the weight class.
Andrew earned the IFBB Pro card with a win at the 2022 Arnold Classic Amateur. He won the 2022 Texas Pro and the 2022 Arnold Classic UK in the months that followed. The Texas Pro win earned him the ticket to 2022 Olympia and Andrew Jacked finished eighth at the show. This was his first run-in with the absolute elite competition that the division had to offer. It gave him the necessary experience to make progress in future appearances.
Andrew’s most recent stage appearance came at the 2023 Arnold Classic in March. He surged past many dangerous opponents to finish third behind winner Samson Dauda and Nick Walker. He will next compete at the 2023 Texas Pro in an attempt to get the direct qualification to the 2023 Olympia.
Andrew Jacked goes through a back workout
The 2023 Texas Pro will take place on August 18-19. Andrew Jacked recently went through a back training session to prepare for the show. He laid out the objective and training strategies and said:
“The goal now is to beat the Arnold look in everything – both size, conditioning, and whatever. So that we can see how my body can handle things leading up to the (2023) Olympia.
Although he is a massive favorite heading into the 2023 Texas Pro, Andrew Jacked is not complacent and he is preparing for the competition with utmost sincerity.
“Hopefully I get a ticket. I wouldn’t be cocky to say, ‘Oh, I’m definitely winning the ticket now’. Because everyone competing (at) Texas Pro is busting their a** out. Everyone is trying to make a statement. So I’ll put myself in the same category trying to make a statement. So yeah, it will be a battle.”
Andrew is training intensely for Texas Pro but he is not going full throttle, risking the body to get exhausted before Olympia. The video of his recent back training session was posted on Andrew Jacked’s personal YouTube channel. So without further delay, let’s check out how he put in the work under coach Chris ‘Psycho’ Lewis’s watchful eye.
Lat Pulldown
Andrew Jacked started the training session with medium neutral grip lat pulldown to work the latissimus dorsi muscles. Coach Lewis allowed him to do stretching in between the sets to get the muscles and joints warmed up and lubricated, eliminating the potential for injuries. He admitted that it was an unusual practice. But according to him, it is one of the things that he needs to do.
“After a while I’m going to cut that stretching out because I believe that when you stretch, you’re actually letting the blood and nitrogen that we’re trying to put in (the muscles),” Lewis added.
‘Psycho’ argued that if you get a good pump within the first 12 to 15 minutes of the workout, it can really through the whole session. Therefore Andrew Jacked performed a drop set of lat pulldowns next.
“(Andrew) will be rocking back and forth using the momentum but it’s fine. I’m only trying to get a pump. I’m not sculpting it,” Lewis added.
After putting up with a triple drop set, The Nigerian bodybuilder advanced to rows.
Incline Barbell Rows
Andrew Jacked next performed this horizontal pulling movement but instead of performing regular sets, Chris Lewis guided him to do static holds. They used an old-school setup of an inclined bench and loaded the barbell with plates and metal chains. The Nigerian bodybuilder did 15-second static holds with incrementally heavier weights.
“So what we’re going to do is we’re going to bring the weight up and contract his back. We’re going to be holding it and then dropping the weight. I’m going to add more weight. I’m teaching his body or his back to contract at the top of the movement, instead of the full range of motion,” Lewis said.
The legendary coach argues that using chains for adding extra weight to the barbell is good for adding load at the top of the movement, which is the full contraction point. After the static holds, they switched over to doing slow reps for a few sets, controlling the weight throughout the range of motion.
T-Bar Rows
Andrew Jacked proceeded to T-bar rows next. The coach explained that he is not a fan of new-age machines and prefers sticking to a barbell. According to him, it is the ‘best piece of equipment on the face of the planet’. Therefore, the Nigerian bodybuilder performed the exercise using the old-school setup of a barbell instead of using a T-bar row machine. He executed some excellent sets of the exercise under Lewis’s watchful eye and advanced to the next exercise.
Twisting Cable High Rows
Andrew Jacked performed a few sets of twisting cable high rows. But for the last couple of sets, Lewis loaded the weight stack with chains for the ‘weight and mental aspect’ of it. After pushing through all the sets of this back exercise, Andrew Jacked wrapped up the training session.
Overall, the workout consisted of following exercises:
Andrew Jacked has handled the pressure of being a hot prospect really well and transformed into a serious contender within a short period of time. The improvements made so far between the 2022 Olympia, 2023 Arnold Classic and the upcoming Texas Pro are an indicator of a bright future. It will be interesting to see how he performs in his next show.
You can watch the full video here, courtesy of Andrew Jacked’s personal YouTube channel: