The 212 Olympia champion is seeking to turn into the primary man to win an Olympia in two divisions.
After conquering his division on the 2021 Olympia, 212 Mr. O Derek Lunsford has shifted his focus to an even bigger (literally) goal. On the weekend of Dec. 16, Lunsford will travel to Las Vegas, NV, and compete within the Men’s Open division for the Mr. Olympia title — which is taken into account the final word achievement in bodybuilding.
The American bodybuilder is already considered big for his previous division. Still, he’ll must size up to make sure he isn’t dwarfed by the likes of 2020-21 Mr. Olympia Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay, who weighed nearly 340 kilos in his offseason.
Throughout his prep, Lunsford has been sharing highlights of his training. On Nov. 7, 2022, the Indiana native posted a video of himself training shoulders on his YouTube channel. The day the video was filmed wasn’t shared, but it may well be seen in its entirety below.
In the course of the offseason — which, for IFBB Pro League bodybuilders of the best level, runs from the top of the Olympia until 16 weeks prior — rumors began circulating that Lunsford would opt-in to the Mr. Olympia if given the prospect.
After which, in September 2022, Mr. Olympia and Lunsford announced on Instagram that he would receive an invitation for the show. One other former 212 Olympia, Shaun Clarida (2020), is qualified for the Men’s Open division on the 2022 Olympia. Though, it’s not yet confirmed which division he’ll be competing in.
If Lunsford won the 2022 Mr. Olympia, he’d be the primary man to win two Olympia titles in two different divisions.
Lunsford’s Shoulder Workout
Here’s Lunsford’s workout in full, followed by a breakdown of every movement he used.
Train Like Lunsford
- Seated Lateral Raise Machine: 5 x 12 + 12 forced reps
- Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 3 x 10-12
- Smith Machine Shoulder Press: 4 x 10-12
- Dumbbell Front Raise: 3 x 10-12
- Rear Lateral Raise: 3 x 10-12
- Reverse Pec-Deck: 3 x 10-12
- Face Pull: 3 x 10-12
Seated Lateral Raise Machine
Lunsford’s first exercise was the seated lateral raise machine to focus on the side delts. After his first set, he mentioned taking just a few sets to get warmed up.
“It takes me several sets to get my muscles livened up.”
Only two of his sets were shown in its entirety, and he performed 12 reps in a single and 12 plus forced reps in one other. He was seen using the machine for five sets. After the fourth and fifth sets, he may very well be seen hitting poses to research his progress.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
The second exercise was one other lateral raise, but this time with dumbbells. The present, but not defending, Olympia 212 winner is specializing in width with these exercises. He opted to make use of the seated version to implement proper form and use less weight. In between sets of 10-12 reps, he may very well be seen talking to a different Olympia 212 winner — 2019 champion Kamal Elgargni.
For his third set, Lunsford began seated, then stood as much as get just a few extra reps without having to lower the load.
Smith Machine Shoulder Press
The third movement for this session was the Smith machine shoulder press, which emphasizes the front delts. He began with one 45-pound plate on either side of the bar, then two, then three plates per side for 2 sets. Lunsford explained why he stuck with the identical weight for the last two sets.
“I don’t feel like I would like to set any PR’s…Today, I don’t feel like that’s essential and even idea to be honest.”
Dumbbell Front Raise
Lunsford then performed one other front delt movement. He did dumbbell front raises by bringing each dumbbells up and in front of him concurrently. He kept the range of motion to shoulder level to give attention to the shoulders as a substitute of the traps. He explained that his motion helped goal the upper chest as well.
He modified his motion on the third set to mimic a “Y” formation to give attention to the delts slightly in a different way.
Rear Delt Work
Lunsford and his training partner stayed in the identical place for the subsequent exercise, but they modified the main target to the rear delts.
After three sets of that exercise, they modified to the reverse pec-deck machine, where they performed three sets as well. Lunsford had only planned on doing two movements for the rear delts, but he selected so as to add face pulls to make it three exercises for that area.
Biceps
The 2017 NPC USA champion added biceps to the agenda on today, and he selected cable curls to work with. He hit additional poses in between his three sets. This was the conclusion of the training session.
Lunsford will likely be seeking to dethrone defending Mr. Olympia Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay to turn into the seventeenth man to win bodybuilding’s biggest title in December. If he wins, he will likely be the primary man to win the Olympia in two different divisions. If you wish to try the same version of Lunsford’s workout, you may follow the sample routine above. Olympia qualification not guaranteed.
Featured Image: Derek Lunsford on YouTube