Heavy hitters’ workout: Jari Mentula’s triceps
Triceps, shoulders and biceps the Jari “Bull” Mentula way is no soft pump session. It is old-school gym work done at the Kimbers’ club in Pärnu, where a man with a body weight of 130-140 kg showed how heavy sets and short rests go together.
Why triceps came first in Bull’s workout
It had been a while since the last heavy hitters’ workout. Time to take the bull by the horns, quite literally. Who better suited than our northern neighbor Jari “Bull” Mentula, a truly huge man who makes an even bigger impression on first meeting than IFBB pro Dennis James.
The workout happened thanks to Ain Kimber, who arranged a time with his sister’s husband’s brother and organized everything. The gym was the Kimbers’ club in Pärnu, a cozy old-school gym. No unnecessary glitz. Iron, benches, cables and work.
Bull did no separate cardio. A few stretches at the start, then warm-up sets within the exercise itself. The first muscle was the triceps and the first exercise was the close-grip bench press. A simple truth: if you want mass on your triceps, at some point you need real weight on the barbell.
How the triceps, shoulders and biceps were worked
Close-grip bench press
The structure of the exercise was clear: warm up, prepare the body for a heavy working set, but don’t use up your strength beforehand. Weight was added from set to set, and repetitions stayed low, around 3-4. That signals to the muscle and the nervous system what is coming.
Jari did 9 reps with 190 kg on the barbell and 4 reps with 210 kg. The third working set was a pump set: weight down, set longer. The grip wasn’t extreme or too narrow. It was set exactly so that the elbows would travel along the body and the wrists wouldn’t start to twist. One small tip stuck: lower the barbell to the lower chest, but press it up above the eyes.
French press and cable pushdown
Next came the lying French press with an EZ barbell. Here there were no longer the same kind of strength sets. Weight was added rep by rep, but the idea was to keep the rep count between 10-20. There were 5 sets. At the end the weight was even reduced to keep the rep count higher.
The third exercise was the overhand-grip cable pushdown. At first they had to get a feel for the cables, since the machine was new to both of them. Then the fast work began. Rest breaks as short as possible, max 1 min, a rep count of 10-15 and movements faster than average. The last repetitions were no longer pretty textbook examples but squeezing the last drop out of the muscle. This was done for 4 sets.
The rope pushdown continued the same line. The overhand grip was swapped for a neutral grip, rope in hand and off to work. If the rep count allowed, the weight was increased. If it didn’t, it was reduced. 3 sets in total.
Shoulders and biceps after the triceps work
The first shoulder exercise was the machine shoulder press. The structure resembled the first triceps exercise: a few warm-up sets with a low rep count, then a heavy working set of 6-10 repetitions. On the last set the weight was lowered and the pump was built on top.
Next came seated dumbbell lateral raises. Here the emphasis was clearly on the pump: ultra-fast movements, short rests, 10-15 reps per set and 3 sets. The goal wasn’t to pose with perfect technique but to make the muscle work. If getting the weight up needed a little swing from the body, then a little swing was given.
Seated dumbbell front raises followed the same principle. This was also the moment Bull took his shirt off. Honestly, the sight was awesome. While you could guess from under the shirt what was hiding there, seeing it for real the difference was brutal. A terrifying monster. The question inevitably arises: what are we Estonian bodybuilders actually doing, modeling or rhythmic gymnastics? Yes, there are also local “lads” who take “the stuff”, but the gap in level still seemed like 1,000,000 light-years.
Surprisingly little room was left for the biceps. Since the triceps provides a large share of arm mass, they limited themselves to arm curls on the Scott machine. Just one exercise and three sets. The strategy was the same: 10-15 repetitions, work to the end and a burn at the finish. Mr. Bull didn’t count reps in a working set the way many of us do. He kept going for as long as he could.
Practical tips from this workout
So what should you actually take away? First, a warm-up doesn’t always have to mean a long cardio block. When an exercise is heavy, you can also prepare the body with sets that are built up more cleverly one after another.
Second, not all sets have to be the same. Bull’s workout had weight, control and pure pumping all at once. Heavy work at the start, then shorter rests and longer sets later. It’s precisely in the final exercises that you can give the muscle that last polish an ordinary, relaxed workout sometimes lacks.
Third, shoulders + arms don’t suit everyone. The author, too, admitted that this split doesn’t really work for them. But one thing stuck: using long sets at the end, where the goal is to pump as hard as possible. It can give your training a new feel, even if you don’t copy Bull’s programme one to one.
The training program in numbers
- Close-grip barbell bench press: 190kg x 9, 210kg x 4, 150kg x pump.
- French press: 5 x 10-20, 1 min rest.
- Close-grip cable pushdown: 4 x 10-15, 1 min rest.
- Cable rope pushdown: 3 x 10-15, 1 min rest.
- Machine shoulder press: 2 x 6-10.
- Dumbbell lateral raises: 3 x 10-15, 1 min rest.
- Dumbbell front raises: 3 x 10-15, 1 min rest + burns.
- Arm curl on an old-school biceps machine: 3 x 10-15, 1 min rest + burns.
If you want to know more about what Jari Mentula is up to, you’ll find information on his website www.jarimentula.fi. Next, Jari could be seen performing on April 19 in Helsinki, where he did a show performance together with IFBB pro Phil Heath as part of the Finnish Fitness competitions.
FAQ: triceps and Bull’s arm workout
Is this kind of workout suitable for a beginner?
Not as it stands. A beginner can borrow the idea behind the structure: warm-up, heavier work, and pump sets at the end. 190kg and 210kg are Bull’s level.
Why was there only one exercise for the biceps?
Because the main focus of this workout was the triceps and shoulders. The triceps makes up a very large share of overall arm mass, so the biceps got a short but intense bout of work at the end.
Are short rests always better?
No. Heavy sets require recovery. In the pump exercises, a rest of max 1min suited Bull, because the goal was to quickly take the muscle to complete exhaustion.
Author: Joker
Come and train! ArtGym
