The 2023 Arnold Classic winner wants one other major title.
Samson Dauda captured his first skilled title on the 2023 Arnold Classic in March. Now he’s capable of solely give attention to the 2023 Mr. Olympia contest, going down in Orlando, FL on the weekend of Nov. 2-5, 2023. He’ll already be one in every of the largest men, each in height and weight, when he steps on stage with the remainder of the sphere, but he’s specializing in getting even larger and wider. To that end, Dauda showcased his labor in a recent workout that blasted his shoulders and calves, which he shared on his YouTube channel.
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Calf Presses and Donkey Calf Raises
He performed this workout at CHF Gym in Braintree, UK, and he began with calves by performing calf raises on a leg press, followed by donkey calf raises in superset fashion — an intensity technique Dauda used throughout the training session. He commented about attempting to keep a soft bend in his knees on the leg press to emphasise the soleus muscle of the calves. Dauda explained that the donkey calf raise, an Arnold Schwarzenegger favorite, targeted the gastrocnemius. The precise reps or weight weren’t shared, but he performed three supersets on camera before moving on.
Do the Calf Press: Sit on a leg press machine with the heels of your feet hanging barely off the underside of the sled. Your toes must be securely set on the sled plate. Once the burden is released from the security pins, keep a soft bend in your knees. Use only your toes and flex your calves to maneuver the burden. Once your calves are fully flexed, slowly lower the sled plate until you are feeling a stretch in your calves — your heels must be “forward” farther than your toes. Press again to perform the following rep and repeat.
Do the Donkey Calf Raise: Bend your upper body forward along with your hips at a roughly 90-degree angle. Keep your back straight and set your calves hanging off of secure a platform. Have someone sitting in your lower back once you prepare to start out the movement or you possibly can hang weight from a dip belt attached to your waist. Flex your calves and lift your heels up so your hips drive toward the ceiling. Once your calves are fully flexed, slowly return to the starting position and repeat for desired reps.
Seated Machine Shoulder Press and Seated Lateral Raise
The opening superset of his shoulder training featured seated machine shoulder presses followed by seated lateral raises with dumbbells. The primary movement focused on the anterior (front) deltoid head while the latter movement isolated the center head of the shoulder area. Dauda said he desired to give attention to quality contractions, which is why performed each repetition relatively slowly and with calculated movement. Dauda was shown working as much as 110 kilograms (242 kilos) for 12 repetitions on the press before concluding with 11 repetitions using an undisclosed weight for his final sets of lateral raises.
Do the Seated Machine Shoulder Press: Sit on the machine and grab the handles along with your palms facing forward. Keep your feet flat on the ground and your back straight, supported against the pad. Press the handles up until your arms are straight overhead. Lower them back down slowly, but don’t let the handles reach the very bottom position. Your elbows must be barely below shoulder-level at the underside. Repeat for the specified reps.
Do the Seated Lateral Raise: Sit on the sting of a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand — allow your arms to hold down at your sides with palms facing one another. Keep a slight bend on the elbow as you lift the dumbbells out to your sides until your elbows are at shoulder-height. Pause briefly before lowering the weights back to the starting position. Pause briefly at the underside before performing the following rep.
Reverse Cable Flye
Following that superset, Dauda moved on to focus on his rear deltoids with rear delt cable flyes at a dual cable station. The cables allowed him to take care of tension throughout all the range of motion. He prolonged that range of motion by holding onto the cables themselves as an alternative of a handle attachment.
Do the Reverse Cable Flye: Stand in between two cable pulleys set higher than eye-level. Grab one pulley on both sides with the alternative hand in order that they can cross in front of your body — take the left cable in your right hand and the proper cable in your left hand. Step back so your arms could be straight while the pinned weight doesn’t touch the remainder of the stack. That is the starting position. Pull the cables back while keeping your arms straight to contract your rear delts. When you’ve pulled back so far as you possibly can, slowly release the stress and return to the starting position. Repeat for the specified reps.
Standing Machine Shoulder Press and Single Arm Cable Lateral Raise
“The Nigerian Lion” then performed a second overhead pressing movement but, unconventionally, he used a squat machine to supply resistance. Pressing it forward at an angle worked the front delts in an analogous manner to a landmine press. This was paired up with one other lateral raise variation — single-arm cable lateral raises, which provided one last source of focused stimulation for the side delts. On his final set of single-arm cable laterals, Dauda was shown using three weight plates for 11 repetitions, per arm, after pressing 150 kilograms (330 kilos) for 13 reps.
Do the Standing Machine Shoulder Press: Stand in front of a squat machine and place your hands on the pads that will rest in your shoulders. Lift the machine as much as release the security handle and take control of the burden. Using the force in your shoulders, press the machine up and forward so far as you possibly can. Resist the urge to make use of leg drive to construct momentum. Once your arms are straight, pause briefly before lowering the machine back to the starting position. Repeat for the specified reps. If you’ve got a tall Smith machine or a particular standing shoulder press machine, you possibly can perform an analogous exercise by following the instructions as they’re described on the machine.
Do the Single-Arm Cable Lateral Raise: Stand beside a cable station with a low pulley and a single handle attachment connected to the cable. Grab the cable attachment along with your opposite hand — if the cable is to your right, grab it along with your left hand and vice versa. Begin with the cable in front of your body along with your arm in front of your hip. Using the strength in your shoulder, lift the handle up toward the working (farthest from the cable pulley). Once the handle is just above shoulder-height, pause briefly before lowering back to the starting position. Repeat for the specified reps, then switch sides to work the alternative shoulder in the identical form.
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Samson-Sized Shoulder and Calf Workout
If you must try a workout like this for yourself, you possibly can follow the sample routine below.
- Superset: Calf Press and Donkey Calf Raise — 3 x 15 per exercise
- Superset: Seated Machine Press and Seated Lateral Raise — 3 x 10-12 per exercise
- Reverse Cable Flye — 3 x 12
- Superset Standing Machine Press and Single-Arm Cable Lateral Raise — 3 x 15 per exercise
Dauda finished the 2022 Mr. Olympia contest in sixth place. The five men that placed ahead of him are defending titleholder Hadi Choopan, runner-up Derek Lunsford, Nick Walker (third), 2019 champion Brandon Curry (4th), and 2020-2021 winner Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay (fifth). Dauda defeated each Walker and Elssbiay after they shared the stage on the 2023 Arnold Classic in Columbus, OH. All six of those men are among the many elite bodybuilders qualified to compete within the Olympia in November.
Featured Image: SAMSON DAUDA on YouTube