Big Mac Attack! • Part I

New York Pro ChampionCedric McMillan Trains Shoulders, Back and Legs



Cedric “Big Mac” McMillan has one of the best X-frames in the business and one of the most classic physiques seen in years— with a combination of height and sweeping, round muscle bellies that swell of impossibly small joints. This active duty U.S. Army soldier, husband and father busted his hump in the gym to win this year’s New York Pro. In Part I of this exclusive online training feature, Cedric tells us how he improved key areas like shoulders, back and legs, all while maintaining a waistline you would expect on a man of 165 pounds— not 270 like Big Mac is onstage.
Back Routine

1. Pulldowns or Pull-ups, 3 sets of 20-12
2. Seated Cable Rows or Barbell Rows, 3 sets of 12
3. Left Lat One-arm Seated Incline Cable Pulldowns, 2 or 3 sets of 20-12 (my left side is a bit smaller than my right, so I do these every other workout). I got this idea from someone on the Internet. Yo’, if you read this and you know who you are, thanks for the idea! Put an incline bench in front of a high pulley with the back of the bench toward the pulley. Use a ring to grip with the weak arm. Sit on the bench. The pulley should pull your arm up and toward the back. Then you execute a variation of a one-arm pulldown.
Shoulder Routine*



1. Side Lateral Raises, 3 sets of about 30 reps using a weight that has to be “rest-paused” in this manner— 12-18, 5, 5, 3, 3, 1, 1 reps. Sometimes I use a weight that has to be rest-paused more than what I listed, in order to get around 30 reps.
2. Steering Wheels (created by Rich Gaspari), 2 sets of 25-40 reps (I do 20 reps to each side, which makes 40 reps). A 45-pound plate is held with arms down and hands on either side. As it’s raised, the plate is rotated 90 degrees, so in the top position (arms parallel to the floor) one hand is on top and the other is on the bottom. The direction of rotation (left hand on top or right hand on top) is alternated with each rep.
3. Dumbbell Presses, 2 set triple drop sets of 12 reps each.
4. Dumbbell Partial Side Lateral Raises, 2 sets of 35 (rest-paused if needed)— remember this is a very partial movement, like 4-6 inches, and remember to squeeze each rep for a split second.
5. Rear Delt Dumbbell Swings, 1 set of 60. Lying on an incline bench, grab two heavy dumbbells and do 60 reps like a swing from the start position to about 12 inches outward.


6. Rear Delt Dumbbell Partial Raises, 1 set of 30.
7. Rear Delt Dumbbell Raises, 1 set of 10, squeezing each contraction
*Thanks to “youngitalianstallion” from the MD Forums for this workout!
Leg Routine

Quads

3 Giants Sets of:
• Leg Extensions, 12-20 reps to failure.
• Leg Press, 12-20 reps to failure.
• Walking Lunges, 40 steps (no additional weight— this allows me to do the reps slow, and focus on the quads).


• Then, 1 final set of about 20 reps of Leg Extensions at the end.
Hams

1. Seated Leg Curls, Stiff-leg Deadlifts, superset 3 sets of 12 reps.
2. Single-Leg, Lying Leg Curls, 2 sets of 20.
Training Split*

1. Shoulders
2. Quads
3. Back/traps
4. Chest
5. Arms
6. Hams
Calves are done every third day.
*I will plug my rest days in whenever I felt like I needed it— say, for example, I wasn’t able to sleep or eat properly due to work demands.