FINE ART: CHISELING A COMPETITION QUALITY UPPER BODY

You don’t earn a top-tier sponsorship with MusclePharm and retain a roster of personal training clients without being committed and consistent—but men’s physique competitor Osamoje Imoohi isn’t afraid to lean on his friends and family for support, either.

“I stopped by a brunch one Sunday, and someone offered me a drink,” Imoohi says. “My brother quickly interjected, ‘No! He can’t drink, he’s competing!’ ”

If anything, Imoohi’s brother swiftly came to his aid because he knew the work that it took for him to achieve all that he has.

Imoohi’s first brush with fitness was at 14 years old, when the scrawny teen found himself pinned underneath a barbell when working out with some upperclassmen. Imoohi transformed that humiliation into motivation. “I remember in that moment thinking, ‘I will never be the weakest person in a room again,’ ” he says.

Then, while obtaining his master’s degree in public health at the University of Miami, his love for training graduated to a love for competition. “Long story short, it was to get over a breakup,” he admits. “So I went to another relationship—competing.”

He enlisted the help of a prep coach, who put him on a 12-week program.

His hard work paid off when he was approached by MusclePharm to become an athlete spokesman. “My relationship with MusclePharm is almost divine,” he says. “Rewinding back to when I was 14, I was going to the local supermarket to read magazines, and I remember seeing a workout by MusclePharm with Arnold Schwarzenegger. This was before Instagram, so there were no influencers to follow and use their workouts, so this was all I had.”

Today, Imoohi’s approach to fitness has shifted to a focus on a more well-rounded health approach. “I’m not only watching what I’m feeding my body, I also watch what I’m feeding my mind,” he explains.

Looking to the next decade, Imoohi, the son of Nigerian immigrants, wants to expand fitness to Africa through wellness centers and gyms.

“My culture is a very big part of who I am. I was teased a lot for being African growing up, and I’ve seen how healthy fitness has been for my confidence,” Imoohi says.

IMOOHI’S UPPER-BODY COMPETITION BLAST

“You’ll notice that there is a very high-rep scheme. The goal is hypertrophy. It’s about molding, crafting, and shaping the muscle,” Imoohi says.

Directions: Perform each pair (marked A and B) of exercises as a superset, resting no more than 30 seconds between moves. Rest 1 minute before moving on to the next superset.

BACK, 1A: SINGLE-ARM LANDMINE ROW – 4 sets, 20 reps

Place a barbell into a landmine attachment and load the other end with light weight. Stand to one side of the bar and grab it with the hand closest to the barbell, feet squared. Hinge at the hips so your torso is at a 45-degree angle and then row the weight to your side.

Per Bernal

BACK, 1B: KNEELING CABLE PULLDOWN – 4 sets, 20 reps

Set the pulleys of a cable tower to high and kneel in the middle of them, grabbing a handle in each hand. Ensure that there’s tension on both cables. Let your arms fully extend and then pull your elbows to your sides.

Per Bernal

BACK, 2A: SEATED WIDE-GRIP ROW – 4 sets, 20 reps

Sit down in front of a cable pulley machine and attach a wide-grip handle. Grab it with a shoulder-width grip and row the weight to your stomach.

Per Bernal

BACK, 2B: BENTOVER DUMBBELL ROW – 4 sets, 20 reps

Hold a dumbbell in each hand and hinge at your hips until your torso is about parallel to the floor. Extend your arms and then row the weights to your sides, squeezing your shoulder blades together on each rep.

Per Bernal

BACK, 3A: WEIGHTED HYPEREXTENSION – 4 sets, 12 reps

Lock yourself into a glute-ham machine, with your feet pressed against the metal back, hips over the pad. Have someone hand you a light-weight plate and bend at your hips to lower and raise yourself up, holding the plate to your chest.

Per Bernal

BACK, 3B: PULLUP OR INVERTED PULLUP – 3 set, to failure

Hang from a pullup bar with a shoulder-width grip. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and then pull yourself up until your chin is at or above the bar. Slowly lower yourself back down.

Per Bernal

CHEST, 1: MACHINE CHEST PRESS COMPLEX – 4 sets

Start with your arms fully extended and then perform 2 reps with your left arm, 2 reps with your right, and then 1 rep with both arms. On the next set, do 4 reps each side followed by 1 rep; then 6 reps each side followed by 1 rep; and then 8 reps each side followed by 1 rep.

Per Bernal

CHEST, 2A: INCLINE CHAMPAGNE PRESS – 4 sets, 15–20 reps

Lie down on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand. Press the dumbbells together so you feel tension in your shoulders and chest, then lower them down until they touch your pecs. Now press them back up.

Per Bernal

CHEST, 2B: DECLINE PUSHUP – 4 sets, 10 reps

Start with hands on the floor and slightly wide, top of feet or shins resting on a physio ball. Engage core and lower body to stabilize, and perform pushups more slowly.

Justin Steele

CHEST, 3A: SEATED MACHINE CHEST FLYE – 4 sets, 15 reps

For these, play around with hand and body angles. Because the handles are locked into a fixed path, and everyone is built differently, you may find that sitting higher up or lower down on the pad is more comfortable. Also, holding the handles higher or lower can make a difference, too. Go with whatever position strains your shoulders the least and your chest the most.

Per Bernal

CHEST, 3B: SVEND PRESS – 4 sets, 15 reps

Grab two 1-pound weight plates and squeeze them together—hard. Now maintain that squeeze and drive your hands forward until your arms are fully locked out. These should really hurt (in a totally safe way), so just do as many reps as you can with good form—maintaining a straight line with your arms.

Per Bernal

CHEST, 4A: DECLINE CABLE CROSSOVER – 3 sets, 20 reps

Stand in the middle of a cable tower, with the pulleys set low, and grab a handle in each hand. Walk forward so the cables are tense, then sweep your arms up and out to create tension on your chest.

Per Bernal

CHEST, 4B: DIP – 4 sets, 12 reps

Lower yourself to parallel, letting your torso dip forward a bit to better stress the muscle fibers in your chest. If you can do more than 12 reps with your body weight, add chains (as shown) to increase the weight.

Per Bernal

GROW WITH O AND MUSCLEPHARM

Osamoje admits that the demands that come with competition can make him irritable and worn down. He relies on this MusclePharm stack to help him power through his toughest days.

Combat Pre-Workout: “When I feel low-energy, I rely on Combat Pre-Workout. I’m sensitive to caffeine, so I take half a scoop.” Formulated with caffeine, L-citrulline, and alpha GPC, Combat provides energy and focus. $30; available in Fruit Punch and Blue Raspberry; available at Vitamin Shoppe

Combat Protein Powder: With 25g of protein per serving, Combat Protein Powder contains proteins that digest at different rates to slowly feed your body the muscle-building essentials it needs. $28; available in Vanilla, Chocolate Milk, Cookie ‘N’ Cream, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup; available at Vitamin Shoppe

Combat BCAA + Recovery: “There’s no sugar, but it’s sweet, so it satisfies my cravings. I have a sweet tooth.” Combat BCAA + Recovery contains 7g of BCAAs, 3g of EAAs, and electrolytes to replenish your body. $25; available in Fruit Punch and Blue Raspberry; available at Vitamin Shoppe

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