THE REAL DEAL ON CHEST TRAINING BY GREG MERRITT Chris Cormier pulls no punches when it comes to his punishing pec workouts Here’s the first thing you should know about Chris Cormier: he’s still a bodybuilding fan. He recounts with wondrous exhilaration his first trip as a young teen in 1982 to bodybuilding’s mecca, Gold’s Gym Venice, where he beheld idols such as Robby Robinson and Tom Platz — and yet was too awestruck to speak to them. Cormier cherishes his own Gold’s Gym golden era a decade later, when he, Flex Wheeler, Paul Dillett and a supporting cast trained, ate and hung out together. And, 23 years after he first saw a pro bodybuilder in the flesh and knew what he wanted to do with his life, he speaks with pride of the fact that by the time he retires he will have likely competed in more IFBB pro shows than any other bodybuilder (at the time of writing, he has totalled 69). Here’s the second thing you should know about Chris Cormier: he never forgets bodybuilding is meant to be fun. One of my earliest memories of him was at Gold’s Gym during that golden era when he did a spot-on and hilarious imitation of Albert Steptoe (of TV’s Steptoe and Son) struck down with a heart attack at the squat rack. Now, over a decade later, I knew it would be anything but boring when Cormier, FLEX photographer Kevin Horton and I got together to capture one of the Real Deal’s workouts. GOLD STANDARD | We meet at the flagship World Gym in Marina del Rey, California, just two miles from Gold’s Venice. The quiet iron emporium, in the style of original proprietor Joe Gold, who died a year ago, may seem too laid-back for Cormier, who usually trains in Gold’s Venice or Gold’s Las Vegas, but he doesn’t need background noise to fuel his intensity. As an old-school bodybuilding enthusiast, he loves the fact that some of the equipment here was built by Gold himself and used by Arnold Schwarzenegger and crew back when the Deal was in nappies. Weighing 270 pounds, Cormier has come to train chest and, althoughhe’s in precontest mode, he won’t be coasting. He never does. HAMMER TIME | Cormier starts on the Hammer Strength seated chest press, warming up with one plate (on each side) and then two plates before pumping out eight easy reps with three plates (270 pounds). “What I like to do is squeeze at the top of the movement, which I think helps add density,” he explains. “I try to go as strict as possible and yet still push maximum poundages.” Cormier presses with four plates (360 pounds) for six reps. Between sets, he stretches his chest by grabbing an upright support with one hand and twisting his torso the opposite way. He squeezes out six reps with 410 pounds for his final set, going to full-rep failure. The legendarily strong Cormier talks of his free-weight days and the transition to machines. “When I first started training, a guy instilled in me that you weren’t s—t unless you were inclining four plates, and that always stuck in my head, so I loved getting a big incline. “In 1999, in my best workout, I did five plates on the flat bench, I did 200-pound dumbbells on the flat, 200-pound dumbbells on the incline and 100-pound flyes, eight to 10 reps for each. But after 2000, I started to come down because I thought something was going to break eventually, and it wasn’t going to be the iron. I started to focus more on longevity.” Now, he wears neoprene sleeves over his elbows, and he uses machines for his presses. “Through the years, I’ve been battling elbow injuries, and I found when I started using Hammer Strength, it totally alleviated the pain, and I was able to perform different exercises that I couldn’t with free weights.” He does four sets of Hammer Strength inclines, pyramiding up to 410 pounds again, and grinds out four full reps as Horton and I shout encouragement. “One way I focus these more on my upper pecs is I sit forwards on the seat so that my butt’s about six to eight inches from the seat back while my shoulders are all the way back. Little tweaks like that can make a big difference in where a lift hits your muscles.” Hammer time still isn’t over, for the Real Deal next does four sets of Hammer Strength decline presses, pyramiding up to 320 for six reps, again going to failure. I BELIEVE I CAN FLYE | Cormier performs incline flyes with his palms facing forwards (as if doing a press) instead of facing each other. He pumps out sets of eight with 50-pound dumbbells, focused on attaining a maximum stretch during each slow rep. He also sits so far up that his massive trapezius is off the top of the bench. At one point, this allows Horton — poised precariously on a folding chair and clicking furiously — to get even closer by stepping onto the bench seat between Cormier’s legs. The Real Deal lets out a single laugh, but keeps going. “A lot of people do these the traditional way, like they’re hugging a tree, but Charles Glass taught me to do them with palms facing forwards,” Cormier says. “He also has me scoot further up the bench so that my shoulders are hanging off the end. Both of these techniques allow me to get a deeper stretch and focus more on my pecs. There’s no need to go real heavy with these. Focus on getting the deepest stretch and contraction with each rep.” Cormier and a mobile phone go together like Lance Armstrong and a bicycle. He’s always on one. Between exercises, he shows Horton and me his T-Mobile Sidekick II, which is like a mobile on steroids. “I get calls, I get e-mail, and I can go all over the Net. I got my nudies in there.” “Oh!” Horton perks up. “Hook us up then, mate,” Cormier says, imitating Horton’s English accent. Before then, Cormier has one final exercise to do. He finishes off his chest with four sets of cable crossovers, using 90 pounds for each side and getting eight to 10 reps per set. He brings his hands low until the handles touch, then he holds the peak contraction for a second. “I visualise myself doing a most-muscular pose,” he explains. “This is a good finisher — it finishes off the pump.” AFTERMATH | Summing up his chest-training philosophy, Cormier says, “I hold and squeeze on most of my movements. To improve, you need to focus on stretching and contracting the chest instead of just moving the weight and counting the reps. Make it harder on yourself, not easier.” His workout completed, Cormier is, of course, back on his Sidekick, clicking to a Web site where women don’t wear posing suits, joking with me and Horton about video games and European tours and the snail-like pace of some photographers. Last year he finished second in the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic and first at the San Francisco Pro, and Cormier shows no signs of slowing down. He’s still having fun training and competing, and he’s still (literally and figuratively) one of bodybuilding’s biggest fans, even though he is now firmly established as one of the greatest bodybuilders who ever lived. REAL ADVICE “ I think intermediates should switch every two months: two months focusing on dumbbell presses, two months on barbell presses and two months on machine presses,” Cormier recommends. “Mix in presses and flyes and hit the upper twice [incline presses and flyes] and lower twice [flat or decline presses and flyes] within each workout. Don’t get complacent and do mostly barbell benches. You have to work every angle to get a great chest.” FLEX