Phil Heath finished third in his debut Mr. Olympia last year. The Gift will go for the Sandow on September 25-26. The FST-7 system and its use of sevens to pump up muscles has been a key element of his transformation over the past two years.

HEATH ON SEVENS

“Doing sevens [seven sets of the same exercise with minimal rest between sets] is brutal, but it really finishes off a bodypart. It’s the crucial part of the FST-7 system Hany [Rambod] created. The key is to choose an isolation exercise you know you can really push to the limit, like dumbbell laterals for side delts. When you end with sevens you know you’ve done all you can.”

HEATH’S SHOULDER ROUTINE
EXERCISE SETS REPS
Smith machine military presses 4 8-10
Dumbbell front raises 4 8-10
Upright rows 4 8-10
Dumbbell laterals 7 10-12
Dumbbell shrugs 3-4 10-12
Barbell shrugs 3-4 10-12
Bent-over dumbbell raises 4 8-10
Reverse pec deck flyes 7 10-12