Review - Mike Quinn - Upper Body Workout

REVIEW OF THE DVD

The DVD started off with the usual warning to be sure to contact a physician before beginning any exercise program. In the case of this DVD, it is even more important to note that since Mike is an intense and aggressive trainer which could turn out to be dangerous for those attempting to duplicate his workouts.

The first segment of the DVD showed Mike's posing. He hit the following poses:

Front Double Biceps.
Front Lat Spread.
Crab Most Muscular.
Rear Lat Spread.
Left Side Chest.
Left Biceps Pose.
Crab Most Muscular.
Front Lat Spread.
Twisting Left Biceps Pose from the Back.
Rear Lat Spread.
Crab Most Muscular.
Front Lat Spread.
Crab Most Muscular.

Mike was then seen in the gym, hitting another crab most muscular pose. Mike was talked about a little bit by the narrator - born November 18th 1961 in Boston, Massachusetts, Mike started working out when he was 13 years old. He weighed in at 215 pounds (98 kg) at 5'8 (170 CM).

Some more posing was performed by Mike in the gym wearing a tank top. He was very conditioned and sporting good size at the time too. He was a thick bodybuilder with a massive rib cage just perfect for bodybuilding development.

The narrator described Mike's bodybuilding career starting from his first contests all the way up to his performances at the Mr. Olympia.

He started off by performing dumbbell bench presses using 100 pound dumbbells for nine reps and increased that to 120 pounders for eight reps. At the time of filming, Mike was 28 years old with 21.5 inch arms and he rated his chest as his best body part. If you watch the DVD and see his training, you will know why.

Mike did an additional set with the 120s for four reps, applying the forced reps principle. Next Mike went down to 90 pound dumbbells for six reps on the flat bench.

For Mike's set exercise, he incline Smith Machine bench presses for 11 reps using 315 pounds. For his second set of this exercise he did nine reps using the same weight and then seven reps, once again applying the forced reps training intensity principle. He hit some most muscular poses after his set before moving on to incline dumbbell flyes. It was explained that Mike doesn't do flat bench presses because it overdevelops the front delts and experiments with different angles to see what the results would be. It was also explained that Mike trains chest and delts every three days and uses a medium wide grip when he performs flyes. He performed the flye movements during the first set using 50 pound dumbbells for eight reps with three forced reps. For his next set Mike used the same weight and rep scheme.

After doing some light stretching, Mike did the same set twice more and then focussed on the mirror to check out the muscles being worked.

For his final exercise, Mike does cable crossovers, leaning over during each set to put more stress on the delts and the chest. He hit some chest poses after his set and followed it up with another set of cable crossovers. After that set was complete, he hit some more poses, once again highlighting his sharp conditioning and muscularity.

Another set of cable crossovers followed and some more posing with Mike looking sharp.

After his chest workout was complete, Mike moved on to train his shoulders, starting off with seated machine military presses. He performed three sets with the usual posing between sets before moving on to single arm lateral raises for three sets with posing in between some of them.

The next exercise performed was the dumbbell lateral raise where he lifts the dumbbells slightly higher than shoulder level. He used the drop set technique during this exercise for added workout intensity. During the set, Mike was bathed in sweat. This was a very interesting sequence in the DVD - to learn Mike's special training techniques beyond the usual four sets of eight reps until failure.

The next movement was the reverse cable crossovers for shaping the delts. He performed three sets of this exercise on the DVD. Mike's next exercise of choice was bent over lateral raises with repetitions as high as 17 or 18. He did another set before moving on to barbell upright rows for the trapezius muscles.

Mike's training partners have included Robby Robinson, Berry Demay, Lee Labrada, and Mike Christian.

Mike's training style is heavy weights and high intensity with a style similar to Mike Mentzer. His body type is one of endo-mesomorph and he had a thick frame. Mike believed that bodybuilders should look strong and be strong, which he was. The narrator said that Mike promised to win the Mr. Olympia within two years - a promise that never came true. Dorian Yates took over by that time.

Next, footage from the 1989 FIBO bodybuilding expo in Germany was shown. Peter Hensel was first shown posing and looking very good. He ended up posing to "We Will Rock You" in the end and posed very well. This was followed by Jurgen Stickelbrock, one of Germany's (at the time) up and coming physique stars. Peter Bosch from Holland posed to "Here I go Again" by Whitesnake. Paul Jean-Guillaume.

Next a whole group posed together, both male and female. This made for an interesting section - to see so many physique athletes of the 1980s posing down. Bodybuilding was different back then and generally speaking, bodybuilders looked a lot more human. They inspired, rather than disgusted. Unfortunately, that is the reaction today from the general populace - awe, just now in the way it used to be.

After the group posed, Ronald Matz and Alfred Krautgartner posed together.

Mike Quinn then posed. He was definitely the most massive on the stage. He posed to the song "New Sensation" by Inxs. Once again, Mighty Mike hit basically every pose at every angle and looked great. Although not in contest shape, he was still huge and in good condition.

Mike posed at the end of the DVD and looked very good while doing it.

Overall, I found this DVD to be quite a gem. I find it very interesting to look back at bodybuilding's history and compare it to the changing times. Mike was a massive beast, but still human looking despite all his size. He wasn't quite at the point where he was a cartoon character and is still able to inspire others with his size and power without looking too overwhelming or freakish. It was quite impressive to see this classic bodybuilding star at his prime.