Rising bodybuilding star Brett Wilkin recently gave fans an inside look into his intense chest and shoulder workout as he trains for a top 10 finish at his first Mr. Olympia this year.
In a detailed YouTube video, Brett Wilkin broke down his thoughts and techniques for building a massive, award-winning chest and boulder shoulders. Let’s examine his tactical approach to training these signature body parts.
Earning His Way to the 2023 Olympia
After several years on the professional circuit, Brett Wilkin finally earned qualification for bodybuilding’s biggest stage – Mr. Olympia.
After a successful amateur career, Brett Wilkin initially turned pro in the Classic Physique division. However, he struggled to gain traction in Classic and decided to switch to Men’s Open Bodybuilding for more mass potential.
This proved a wise move, as Brett Wilkin earned runner-up honors in just his second Open show.
While he endured some early growing pains in the ultra-competitive Open class, a breakthrough win at the 2022 Bigman Weekend Pro finally secured his Olympia ticket.
Now under the guidance of coach Joe Bennett, Brett Wilkin is crafting his ultimate physique to shock the world in his Mr. Olympia debut later this year. Much work remains, but he is on the right path.
Strategically Training His Best Body Parts
To contend with the elite Open bodybuilders at the Olympia, Brett Wilkin must play to his strengths. His thick, dense chest and round, boulder-like shoulders are his best assets.
So in this featured workout, Brett Wilkin strategically targets these prominent body parts with maximum intensity to spur new growth headed into prep.
He trains chest and shoulders once weekly each to allow ample recovery. Let’s break down his tactical approach exercise by exercise.
Priming the Chest With Flyes
Brett Wilkin begins his chest assault with cable flies to pre-fatigue and activates the pecs. He incorporates a unique modification by adding a roller pad to the machine’s backrest.
According to Brett Wilkin, “This allows my chest to open up more. I can get my arms further back while keeping my chest lifted and maintaining tension. It takes the shoulders out of it and stresses the pecs fully.”
This innovative roller pad tweak helps him target the pecs through a more excellent range of motion with peak contractions. After sufficient warm-ups, he moves into heavy compound work.
Building Upper Pec Mass with Incline Press
No chest workout would be complete without the incline bench press. Brett Wilkin uses the tried-and-true incline dumbbell press to build upper pec thickness and shape.
He advises lifters to incorporate machines and free weights like the incline dumbbell press. “Free weights force your smaller stabilizers to fire and control the weight.” This creates more overall chest development.
After progressive sets up to the heaviest weights he can handle, Brett Wilkin moves on to hit the lower pecs.
Hitting Lower Pecs on Decline Press
While the upper chest is his priority, Brett Wilkin makes a point also to train the often-neglected lower pectorals and sternal head.
He uses the decline chest press machine to place extra tension through the lower region of the pectorals. Brett Wilkin advises squeezing and flexing the chest with every rep to maximize tension.
This Decline movement produces the ideal full, rounded shape from top to bottom. Brett Wilkin follows up with one more mass builder.
Using Intensity Techniques for Added Growth
No workout of Brett Wilkin’s would be complete without intensity techniques like drop sets, partials, and mechanical tension tricks.
He utilizes a brutally effective intensity method called a stretch-pause set on the incline chest press machine. After completing challenging working sets, he drops the weight in half and performs the following protocol:
- 10 reps
- 10-second stretched pause in the bottom contracted position
- As many partial reps as possible
- Repeat sequence to failure
This allows Brett Wilkin to go far beyond muscle failure by accumulating metabolic stress. The short pauses provide enough recovery to extend each subsequent mini-set. This technique shocks the pecs into new growth.
Moving the Mind-Muscle Connection to Shoulders
Having sufficiently punished his chest, Brett Wilkin shifts focus to the medial and front heads of the deltoids. He starts by isolating the side delts with heavy dumbbell lateral raises.
Brett Wilkin prefers the seated version because it removes leg drive and stabilization requirements. This lets him focus strictly on the contraction and MMC in the side delts through a full range of motion.
He advises lifters to perform a peak contraction hold at the top of each rep to maximize time under tension. The drop set brings an excruciating burn.
Adding Mass to the Side Delts
Continuing his lateral delt assault, Brett Wilkin moves to the machine shoulder press. The machine stabilizes the body, enabling him to concentrate solely on the side delts again.
He performs straight sets focused on keeping tension for 15+ reps, followed by an excruciating double drop set. Brett Wilkin advises holding the last rep of each drop in the contracted position.
Brett Wilkin achieves the impossible – lateral delt growth and roundness by pre-fatiguing the delts with heavy dumbbells and machines.
Finishing Off with High-Rep Burns
Brett Wilkin concludes the workout with metabolic stress techniques to flush the muscles with nutrient-rich blood.
He advises utilizing push-ups and cable flies in the 15-20 rep range to “finish off the chest and front delts.” Chasing the pump this way gives a fantastic burnout.
The cable front raises also help etch fine details into Brett Wilkin’s front delts. He stays strict and controlled on every rep, never just going through the motions.
Bringing a Complete Package to Olympia Weekend
This intense chest and shoulder workout provides just a tiny sample of Brett Wilkin’s strategic approach as he prepares for his biggest bodybuilding challenge yet – a top-10 finish at Mr. Olympia on his first try.
By hammering his proven strong points like chest and shoulders while improving weaknesses, Brett Wilkin aims to craft a look that can shock the world.
The Olympia stage awaits a new and improved Brett Wilkin. Under the bright lights, we’ll find out if this focused preparation pays off with the best showing of his career.
One thing is for sure – Brett Wilkin won’t leave anything to chance. Every workout and meal has a purpose during these critical months before Olympia weekend. The time for talk ends, and work begins.
Brett Wilkin is out to prove he belongs among the elite Open division. Failure is not an option when your legacy hangs in the balance. Let the Mutant 2.0 rise.