Derek Lunsford is the reigning 212 Olympia champion but won’t be defending that title on the 2022 Mr. Olympia after recently getting a special invitation to the Men’s Open division. The International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFFB) Pro League member and his coach Hany Rambod recently had a candid conversation about what went into the division transition. Plus, they quickly diagrammed how the athlete will approach his upcoming training for the competition.
On Sept. 19, 2022, a video of their discussion was posted to Rambod’s YouTube channel.
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In response to Lunsford and Rambod, the pair initially considered shifting the bodybuilder to the Men’s Open division in May 2022. After the athlete had guest-posed — and held his own — on the 2022 Pittsburgh Pro alongside names like two-time reigning Mr. Olympia Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay, Nick Walker, Brandon Curry, and Hunter Labrada, Lunsford and Rambod began to contemplate the chance.
Notably, Rambod had concerns that Lunsford wouldn’t find a way to make weight for the 212 category again. When Chief Olympia Officer Dan Solomon suggested that Lunsford was “nowhere near 212 kilos” in a July episode of Olympia TV on YouTube, the writing may need been on the wall for Lunsford’s eventual special invitation.
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To elucidate his rationale behind moving to the Men’s Open, Lunsford maintains that he had a desire to maintain constructing mass.
“I could just feel my body wanting to grow,” said Lunsford. “After earning the 212 Mr. Olympia title last 12 months [2021], I took a break for a little bit bit, but I just desired to keep recuperating each day. For me, it was like we achieved something, and now I need to see how a lot better I might be. So, I just didn’t need to stop.”
Within the aftermath of his 212 Olympia victory, Lunsford noted that he kept training hard and gaining weight irrespective of what he did to mitigate the expansion.
“After the Olympia, I kept training, eating clean, doing cardio, and feeling good, but I began to achieve weight,” Lunsford said. “I attempted to maintain my weight under 240 kilos, and if we could max out at 240, we’d be good.”
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Lunsford and Rambod know they’ll face tough sledding in a competitive division with Elssbiay, Walker, Labrada, and Curry. To arrange for the slate of elite peers, Rambod clarified the bodybuilder’s next steps, which is able to focus rather a lot on preparing his upper body.
“For him [Lunsford], it’s going to be about his back, his chest, his shoulders, his arms, and continuing to grow his outer sweep,” Rambod said. “His legs are going to look stronger now.”
As for why Lunsford ultimately desired to move as much as the Men’s Open, weight fluctuation wasn’t the one reason per Rambod. The reply is easy — Lunsford desires to be in the corporate of all-time greats.
“Derek [Lunsford] desired to win the Sandow Trophy [in the Open division] and be like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lee Haney, Jay Cutler, Phil Heath — all of them,” Rambod said. “It’s about what your end goal is and what your dream of winning is.”
If Lunsford were to win the Mr. Olympia, he’d be the primary man to win two Sandows in two Olympia divisions. The 2022 Mr. Olympia is ready to occur in Las Vegas, NV, from December 16-18, 2022.
Featured image: @dereklunsford on Instagram