On the precipice of bodybuilding immortality, Lunsford desires to put his best Olympia foot forward this yr.
Derek Lunsford, a former 212 Olympia champion (2021), competed for the primary time within the Men’s Open on the 2022 Mr. Olympia. After a sterling second-place finish to eventual champion Hadi Choopan, Lunsford definitely maximized his debut on stage in the game’s flagship division. Because the 2023 calendar yr starts to unfold, Lunsford is already establishing his high personal expectations for the months ahead.
In a podcast appearance with Fouad Abiad Media on Jan. 1, 2023, Lunsford discussed his upcoming plans after his second-place result on the 2022 Olympia. Among the many more notable tidbits was the athlete revealing he wouldn’t compete on the 2023 Arnold Classic this March as he’ll center a majority of his energy on capturing his first profession Olympia title in November 2023.
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With an even bigger picture in mind, Lunsford is specifically forgoing a possible appearance on the 2023 Arnold Classic to enhance elements of his overall physique, like his chest and leg muscles. This plan generally falls in keeping with Lunsford’s singular Olympia approach from 2022. As a recent yr starts to roll along, he’s wasting no time getting after it in his training for the subsequent Olympia.
“I’m right back on the gym training, preparing for next yr,” Lunsford said. “I just knew this was a recent starting for me.”
Lunsford had congratulatory words of appreciation for Choopan, who he knows had been chasing bodybuilding’s highest peak and coming up just short for years. At the identical time, Lunsford noted how close the end result was and the way grateful he was to have a likelihood to push the eventual victor.
“I’m comfortable for Hadi [Choopan], man,” Lunsford explained. “He’s been at this for therefore a few years. People have argued that he must have had an Olympia title already. So, I’m comfortable for him, man. And me, coming in with my Men’s Open Olympia debut getting second, and it was really close. I feel it was a one-point difference in prejudging. It was just awesome, man. I used to be just there to placed on a show and have a superb time.”
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While Lunsford seemed satisfied together with his Men’s Open debut, he alluded to understanding that there’s still loads of work to do. Like many elite athletes before him, Lunsford put his crosshairs on improvement and ending the job the subsequent time around.
When one comes as near victory as Lunsford did, it’s only natural to concentrate on where to fill within the gaps.
“Dude, you’ll be able to’t complain coming into your Mr. Olympia debut getting second place and, like, arguably pushing for that title,” Lunsford said. “I used to be really on cloud nine, and I still am, to be honest. Then, I just talked to myself, ‘Okay, well, you’re this close. What do it is advisable recover?’. For me, how awesome is it to be this near walking away with the title, and I know the way many more improvements I could make? As I said, that’s where my mindset is. I’m one step away [from victory] in my first Olympia.”
Featured image: @dereklunsford_ on Instagram