IFBB Pro Eric Janicki’s ‘Perfect Volume’ Chest and Triceps Workout for Mass – Muscle & Fitness

Eric Janicki, competitor in the Men’s Open division earned his IFBB Pro Card in May 2025and is now in the hunt for an Olympia qualification. To get himself into the mix, the big man has varied his volume to find the sweet spot when working his chest and triceps, while protecting himself from injury by using machines when he gets super heavy.

“This felt like it was the perfect volume,” Janicki explained via Instagram after an intense machine and cable session. “Each set is close to failure, each repetition designed to maximize mechanical tension while protecting the joints.” Here’s how to get yourself jacked, Janicki style.

Eric Janicki’s “Perfect Volume” chest and triceps workout

• Plate Loaded Chest Press: 2 sets x 6 to 10 reps
• Cable fly over chest: 2 sets x 7 to 10 reps
• Cable fly at center chest: 2 sets x 7 to 10 reps
• Triceps Pushdown: 2 sets x 8 to 12 reps
• Tempo-weighted dip: 2 sets x 7 to 12 reps
• Lateral lift machine: 2 sets x 7 to 10 reps

Training distribution

Janicki went to work on a seated, plate-loaded chest press machine, with “ROM added.” This means the Illinois athlete has added extra range of motion to the movement, in this case pulling his elbows all the way back for extra stretch and more tension on the press. Using a seated incline, the 2025 NPC Worldwide Mexico Supershow winner further exhausted his chest, focusing on that coveted top-shelf stacked look during the upper chest cable fly. Unlike the previous pressing movement, flying requires adduction to bring the arms toward the chest, rather than pushing the load away. To hit the upper chest, he lifted the cables from his sides up to head height.

Once again, the bodybuilder drops his arms all the way back to feel the stretch and pound the pecs, also recruiting the anterior deltoids in the shoulders, allowing him to go heavy while following a predetermined path, rather than being subjected to the instability of heavy barbells.

To return to the center of the chest, the bodybuilder lays the cables for his next one at about shoulder height seated cable flying variationstill using the stretch at the end of the movement, but this time bringing his fists together above his chest instead of near his head. Janicki’s triceps are under serious strain at this point as he performs tricep pushdowns followed by weighted dips. And to really turn those tough dips into a winning move, the IFBB Pro adds its own tempo, holding its body

at the bottom of the dip for at least three torturous seconds to score even more time under pressure. Finishing with machine laterals, Janicki shrugged his shoulders one more time, as this move emphasizes the middle head of the deltoids.

To replicate these reps for yourself, Janicki focuses on failures, reaching his “perfect volume” between 6 and 12 reps. His intention is to exhaust the muscles with as much weight as possible, stimulate growth and complete only two sets for each movement, excluding warm-up sets where desired. By primarily using machines and cables to prevent injuries from unwanted momentum, Janicki can really stretch his muscles and work under tension in time to build a great body.

To follow Eric Janicki on Instagram, click here.