Urs Kalecinski is leaving no opportunity to learn from the greats and recently partnered with Jay Cutler for an off-season back workout in Germany. Kalecinski is Germany’s flag bearer in the IFBB Pro League’s Classic Physique division. His emergence in the top end of the division has been astonishing and quick. After a few respectable performances, ‘The Miracle Bear’ finished the 2021 competitive season with a surprising 4th place finish at his Olympia debut.
He kicked off 2022 with a third spot at the 2022 Arnold Classic and secured a win at the 2022 Boston Pro, earning direct qualification to the 2022 Olympia. He also competed at the 2022 Kuwait Classic Pro to bag another win and walked away with a third-place finish at the 2022 Olympia.
Kalecinski last competed at the 2023 Arnold Classic Physique and managed to get a runner-up finish in spite of having to deal with food poisoning a few days before the show. He is now working relentlessly to build a more refined version of his body for the next competitive season.
Recently, he partnered with legendary bodybuilder Jay Cutler for a training session. A 4-time Mr. Olympia, Cutler is revered for his mindful approach to training. As a result, he was able to lead a much healthier life in retirement without having to put up with the consequences of an arduous bodybuilding lifestyle. He has accustomed well to the age of the internet and social media and remains one of the most prominent voices of the sport.
Cutler and Kalecinski did a back workout together. So let’s delve into the magical world of bodybuilding and see how they maintain their impeccable physiques with training.
Urs Kalecinski and Jay Cutler go through a back workout
The back workout was Kalecinski and Cutler’s second joint training session with each other. They partnered for a shoulder workout back in December 2022. Reminiscing the experience, Cutler stated:
“Last time we trained together… you were very depleted and it was one week out (of the 2023 Arnold Classic). So now we’re actually spending time together when we’re both in our off-season because I start my transformation on May 1st.”
With that, the duo jumped into the workout and pushed each other to do better throughout the session.
Lat Pulldowns
Cutler and his companion commenced the training session with lat pulldowns for stimulating the latissimus dorsi muscles. The duo worked with a plate-loaded iso-lateral machine to warm up the upper body posterior muscles and executed a few sets.
Bent Over Dumbbell Rows
Performing this compound movement is a crucial component of developing mass and strength in the upper posterior muscles. Bent over dumbbell rows engage all the pulling muscles and help with complete back development.
The bodybuilder duo pushed through some heavy sets of the movement as The Miracle Bear could not help but marvel at Cutler’s infectious enthusiasm.
“I love his work ethic. Close to 50 and still don’t give a s***” Urs Kalecinski exclaimed.
Machine Pullovers
This variation of pullovers has similar benefits as the cable pullovers. It has several benefits like improved mind-muscle connection, trunk and scapular stability, increased strength and muscle hypertrophy. Pullovers primarily work the lats and pectoral muscles. Cutler has spoken about the efficacy of pullovers for back development on many occasions. While Explaining the benefits of this exercise this time, Jay Cutler said:
“This is an ideal exercise to really bring out the v-taper which a lot of gyms don’t have.”
Cutler and Kalecinski absolutely wrecked some heavy sets of pullovers on a selectorized machine to bring that v-taper out and took to the next exercise.
While chatting with Urs and his associates during the workout, Cutler opined that Urs can definitely become an Olympia champion in future. He further stated that even if he doesn’t win right now, Urs is a fan favorite and has already captured the sport fans’ imagination.
“All it takes is for him to deserve it even if he doesn’t win or if he’s already winning. What I mean is he’s right there, he’s a fan favorite and if he spends more time in the US, he’s gonna dominate the US market too with popularity. He just needs to be there more,” Jay Cutler said.
He added:
“Here I see it. This is the first time I came to Germany for this interaction and every fan was there for him. I said who’s the best bodybuilder in Germany and they say Urs! And for that not to be an Open guy is a different world for me.”
T-Bar Rows
This compound movement contributes significantly to building a thick back. T-Bar row is a complete back exercise that works all the pulling muscles in the back. Cutler and Kalecinski cranked out a few high-volume sets of this exercise to stimulate the back muscles more before taking to the next movement.
Seated Machine Rows
The training partners next performed a few sets of machine seated rows to work the back muscles. It is an excellent way to build the back as stabilization is not required to perform the movement. Seated machine rows work all the major muscles like latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, erector spinae and trapezius. After going through some grueling sets of the movement, Cutler and Kalecinski worked with a vertical pulling movement next.
Bent Over Cable Straight Arm Pulldowns
The duo wrapped up the training session by getting some solid sets of this exercise under the belt. Straight arm pulldowns stimulate the latissimus dorsi, posterior deltoids, triceps brachii and teres minor muscles. Additionally, they activate the levator scapulae during the eccentric phase of the movement.
After performing a few sets of the movement, Jay Cutler and Urs Kalecinski called it a day in the gym.
The workout included following exercises:
Jay Cutler and Urs Kalecinski forced themselves to come to the gym in spite of having been through a tiring long day. Their growth and success can be attributed to the mindset of discipline and consistency. The 2023 competitive season is getting closer and looking at the intensity in training, we can certainly expect big things.
You can watch the full workout video here, courtesy of Urs Kalecinski’s personal YouTube channel: