Derek Lunsford Builds Concrete Legs For 2023 Olympia

Bodybuilder Derek Lunsford is adding more mass to his girthy legs. He intends to bring a complete package to the 2023 Olympia stage and dethrone newly crowned Mr. Olympia Hadi Choopan. His mindset, training and physique updates show that the 30-year-old might be close to winning the title.

Derek Lunsford is one of the most elite active bodybuilders in the world today. The American earned the IFBB Pro card in 2017 and has only conquered new territories in the competitive sphere since then. He became the 212 Olympia champion in 2021 and dethroned Shaun Clarida. While Lunsford was greatly favoured to become the next dominant champion and rule the division for a long time, things started to change after his appearance at the 2022 Pittsburgh Pro guest posing.

As expected, the 30-year-old moved up to the Men’s Open division at the 2022 Olympia. While he was a dark horse competitor and many experts predicted him to shake up the division, Lunsford exceeded the expectations and dominated the stage along with Hadi Choopan and Nick Walker. The great attempt earned him a runner-up finish at the 2022 Olympia.

After making the off-season gains, Lunsford is now in the middle of his competition prep for the 2023 Olympia. He is following a five-meals-a-day diet to fuel his intense workouts. Looking at his previous year’s performance and current progress, some experts have come to believe that Lunsford might become the 2023 Olympia.

Winning a title in two separate weight classes is a rare accomplishment in weight-based individual sports. Former UFC champion Conor McGregor shot to fame for being the first UFC fighter to achieve this status. Lunsford is highly touted to become the first bodybuilder to earn this honor.

Derek Lunsford goes through a leg workout

Lunsford recently went through a punishing leg workout to get ready for the 2023 Olympia that takes place from November 3-5 in Orlando, Florida, USA. He is still focusing on building strength. The leg workout consisted of several compound and isolation movements to target all the major muscles in the lower body. So let’s take a deep dive into the details of this training session and see how Lunsford is training his legs for 2023 Olympia.

Lunges

The 30-year-old bodybuilder started the workout with bodyweight walking lunges to warm-up the target muscles before hitting them with heavy exercises. He covered quite a good distance doing lunges and moved on to the next exercise.

Leg Extensions

Lunsford next took to this quad isolation exercise to fire up the quads. While many people criticize this exercise for putting undue stress on the knees, leg extension is essential to emphasize the rectus femoris head of the quadriceps. Additionally, it is beneficial for quad development and warming up the knee if done with proper technique and moderate weights. The former 212 Olympia champion crushed some sets of this exercise and advanced over to a hamstring isolation movement.

Lying Leg Curls

While hamstrings are the primary target of lying leg curls, it is another excellent exercise to warm up the knees. As a result, many bodybuilders choose variations of leg curls as the first exercise in their routine. Additionally, leg curls do not put undue stress on the knees, and thus have an edge over leg extensions as a warm-up exercise.

Derek Lunsford pushed through a few sets of this movement to stimulate the hamstrings before taking up the first compound exercise of the day.

Smith Machine Front Squats

Lunsford next took to Smith Machine front squats to fire up the quads further. He started out light and did the first set with a single plate on each side. He slowly worked the way up and did the top set with 405 lbs weight. The former 212 Olympia champion got 12 reps under his belt in the top set. This was a significant leap forward compared to his performance thirteen weeks out of last year’s Olympia. The 30-year-old had to take coach Rambod’s assistance in pushing through the set and felt vulnerable during each and every single rep.

“Every rep scared me. I’ve never been a powerlifter. So, like, the heavier weights, I’m very much controlling but it still makes you nervous because I’m not just trying to explode into the rep.”

Lunsford has focused his energies on other types of quad exercises for a while now. He resumed front squats after a very long time in this session but still controlled the weight a lot better than at the same time last year. A good reason to believe that he has improved a lot since then. Following the top set, he performed a back-off set using 315 lbs weight and took to the next exercise.

Pendulum Squats

It is not uncommon for the back to fail before the lower body during free weight squatting exercises. Pendulum squats work as a perfect alternative to build lower body strength without stressing the lower back. This machine exercise prioritizes spinal health and could be a great alternative for those looking to make lower body gains. Lunsford jumped right into the working sets after a solitary warm-up set of pendulum squats.

“We’re still building on strength. That’s the goal now over the next few weeks, just to keep getting stronger. I feel like I’m in a really good spot right now but I can’t be content. I have to keep improving,” Lunsford stated about his progress so far.

Lunsford performed the reps with slow eccentric movements. After executing the working sets perfectly with this technique, he proceeded to the next movement.

Leg Press

The former 212 Olympia champion performed leg press next to stimulate the lower body muscles further. Lunsford used an iso-lateral leg press machine to do leg presses. He did the first couple of sets unilaterally to focus on the movement and build a mind-muscle connection. Following this, Lunsford annihilated a finisher set of the compound exercise to conclude the workout.

For this set, Lunsford held one plate with his foot in the extended position while he performed the leg press with the other leg. This enabled him to keep the legs under tension for a longer time. The finisher set acted as a concluding part of Derek Lunsford’s leg workout. He wrapped up the training session after this.

Overall, the workout included:

• Walking Lunges
• Leg Extensions
• Lying Leg Curls
• Smith Machine Front Squats
• Pendulum Squats
• Leg Press

Derek Lunsford on signs of growth mindset

Being a former title holder and a top contender in the second division, how does Lunsford perceive his ability to make improvements? After all, he has been there and done that. So there has to be a sense of achievement right? Well, that’s not quite the case. Every time he starts the prep, Lunsford finds himself asking the same question:

“The question when you start the prep every year is can you be better than the last time. Can I be better than I was the year before? Not just for myself but talking to others (Other Olympians), I think there is a little bit of a question. That goes through every competitor’s head when they’re going into the next competition prep.”

Questioning own growth is not a sign of self-doubt

It’s not a lack of confidence or self-doubt that compels these elite athletes to ask this question. Lunsford says it’s a good thing if competitors are asking this question to themselves:

“That means, for one, you want to be better. And the reassurance comes in two things. One – Knowing yourself, knowing that for me, giving less than a hundred percent each and every day and executing the plan is unacceptable. I will follow through with everything that I have to do to be my best. And the other portion that should give you the confidence that you will continue to improve and be better every year, every time is by how many times you do it!”

2023 Olympia will be Derek Lunsford’s seventh appearance on the grandest stage of bodybuilding. Judging by the constant improvement he has made over that time, the former champ should be confident about being better right? But no, he still finds himself asking the nerve-racking question.

“If you’re asking yourself that, I think you’re already in a good place. Because if you weren’t asking yourself that, then I might be concerned, are you actually going to bring it? Are you actually going to give more than you did last time?” Lunsford stated.

Derek Lunsford will have Hadi Choopan and Nick Walker as his primary opponents at the 2023 Olympia. Walker has promised to beat Lunsford even if he ‘slips a little bit’. But irrespective of the outcome, it is certain that all three men will give a spirited fight until the very end.

You can watch the full workout video below, courtesy of Derek Lunsford’s personal YouTube channel:

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