Derek Lunsford is leaving no stone unturned to maximize his gains in this off-season and bring a complete package to the 2023 Olympia. His off-season training is picking up pace, and Lunsford recently went through a shoulder workout and included a few chest exercises in the session as well.
America’s own Lunsford has cemented his position as one of the most talented competitors in the IFBB Pro League. Although he started as a pro in the 212 division, the 29-year-old has now transitioned to the Men’s Open division. The 2021 Olympia marked Lunsford’s final appearance in the 212 division, and he walked away with the 212 Olympia trophy at the show. While the bodybuilding community was excited to see how his championship reign would pan out, the champ had grown out of the division. The Olympia management accepted his request for a special invitation to compete in the Men’s Open division at the 2022 Olympia.
Lunsford went up against the toughest competition in recent memory. Along with Hadi Choopan, he dominated the stage from the get-go. He finished second at the show behind Choopan and proved that size alone can no longer win competitions. Experts showered him with praise for the insane v-taper, aesthetics, and excellent conditioning.
Realistically, Lunsford has the capability to beat Choopan and become Mr. Olympia if he improves some areas of his physique before the 2023 Olympia. The former 212 Olympia champ recently stated that he ‘wants to make a statement’ at the 2023 Olympia and listed his goals for the show. He now trains to achieve those goals and add a Mr. Olympia title to his legacy. The recent shoulder workout was a part of Lunsford’s quest for this glory. Let’s find out how he tackled it to grow big shoulders.
Derek Lunsford Crushes a Shoulder Workout
Lunsford’s training session primarily targeted the shoulders, but he also did a couple of chest exercises. The chest was one of the areas where Choopan was better than Lunsford at the 2022 Olympia. As legendary bodybuilder Jay Cutler pointed out, Lunsford can beat Choopan if he brings fuller pecs to the stage. Therefore, he is trying his best to bring the chest on par with the rest of his physique. He later explained the logic behind including chest exercises in the session and said:
“I don’t want to do too much for the chest because I trained chest like three days ago, and I’m gonna train chest again here in a couple of days. So really just trying to keep the muscle pumped full, round.”
To me, that’s the name of the game. When you have a lacking body part, you need to train it more frequently. You can go hard when you train that body part, but maybe throw it in for a couple of sets with another body part.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
The former 212 Olympia champion kickstarted the training session with this exercise to target the lateral deltoid heads. Many push and pull exercises work the anterior and posterior deltoids to varying degrees. As a result, the lateral deltoids may remain underdeveloped. Therefore it is essential to include the lateral raises in your training routine for the perfect cannonball shoulders.
Lunsford performed three warm-up sets of 15 reps to start things off. He then reduced the rep range to six for the working sets. After working his way up to the top set, Lunsford shaved some weight off and did a back-off set at the end.
“That’s gonna be a pre-exhaust for this shoulder day, Lunsford stated.
With that, the 29-year-old bodybuilder took to the next movement.
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Lunsford performed this compound exercise next to target the anterior deltoid muscles. He stated that using free weights is essential to work the stabilizing muscles. He then explained his theory behind using free weights and machines for different reasons and said:
“I like to do a little bit of dumbbells on my chest and shoulder day. So that way, it’s working the stabilizing muscles around the joint. So I’m not just working the deltoid muscles — just the ones you can see out here but the ones that are deeper that stabilize the joint.
Therefore I want to make sure we do some free weights for that. But as far as the heavier load, I would rather use machines. That way, I can just lessen the risk of injury, but also, I can load it up a little bit heavier. I can get better isolation in the actual delt muscles.”
Lunsford cranked out a few sets of seated dumbbell shoulder presses and moved on to the next exercise.
Machine Incline Shoulder Press
The Indiana native next performed a compound movement that primarily targets the deltoids but also activates the pectoral muscles. He pushed through some solid sets of incline chest press on a plate-loaded machine to get a good pump in the delts.
Dumbbell Neutral-Grip Front Raise
Lunsford performed the dumbbell neutral grip front raises to work the anterior deltoid muscles. He got a few solid sets of this movement under the belt and moved on to the next exercise.
Cable Front Raise
The final exercise to work the anterior deltoid was the cable machine variation of the previous movement. Cable machines keep the muscles under tension throughout the range of motion and help bring about hypertrophy more effectively. Lunsford switched to the regular grip (palms facing down) for the movement as opposed to the neutral grip used for the dumbbell variation. He said:
“I like to do both variations on every shoulder day because it does target the shoulders a little bit different.”
Lunsford did some high-volume sets of this exercise to add the last bit of stimulus to the anterior deltoids and moved on to the rear delt exercises next.
Reverse Pec Deck Fly
Rear delts are difficult to activate with other shoulder exercises. Hence it is essential to perform exercises that specifically target them for complete deltoid development. Lunsford performed reverse pec deck flyes to work the rear delts first. Although this movement targets the rear delts primarily, it also activates the traps, rhomboids, infraspinatus, and the teres major muscles in the back. The 30-year-old did the first warm-up set of 20 reps and followed it up with the second set of 15 reps. Lunsford stated that sometimes he finds it difficult to activate the rear deltoids after doing the anterior and lateral deltoid exercises.
“That’s because I am so tight in the front here, and I almost feel like pinching in my shoulders before I do, like, maybe one or two sets. So that’s why I do so many reps — 20 in the first one, 15 in the second, and then I kind of go a little heavier…”
He then performed the working sets with incrementally heavier weights and lower rep range. Once again, Lunsford used a neutral grip for the first few sets and switched to the horizontal (palms facing down) grip for the last couple of sets. This way, he ensured that the rear delts muscles worked slightly differently with the same exercise. After finishing this rear delt movement, Lunsford took to a chest exercise.
Cable Crossover
Lunsford took to the cable crossover next. It is among the top three most effective movements for pectoral muscle activation, along with bench press and pec deck flyes. He performed a few sets of this exercise before wrapping up the training session.
Overall, the workout included:
Speaking about the workout and training goals at the end of the session, Lunsford stated:
“Just trying to keep everything pumped and round and full best possible. Trying to add on lean muscle tissue, not just trying to ‘bulk’ and get fat and put on weight. We’re trying to put it all in the right areas anyway.”
Lunsford also gave a physique update during the workout and showed off massively improved quads. He also shed light on the abs and mid-section development.
Lunsford has proven that he belongs in the most elite crop of Open division bodybuilders. He certainly has the potential to become Mr. Olympia. However, other fresh contenders like Nick Walker, Samson Dauda, and Andrew Jacked are not far behind. It will be another close competition at the 2023 Olympia. But if Lunsford stays laser-focused on the goal and works tirelessly, he can bring home the Sandows trophy.
You can watch the full workout video below, courtesy of Derek Lunsford’s YouTube channel:
