Real and Raw

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**We are in Tampa, FL home of top 212 Olympia contender Derek Lunsford. Winning the champion title used to be the "end all be all" and chief aim for Derek. Today his focus, attention to detail, and drive is to carry himself as a champion even before possibly earning the title. Simply due to the fact that you have to act like a champion to truly become one.

"I'm always striving to exceed my personal "best" to positively impact my surroundings. This together with my ambitions of actually being on a platform to impact as many people as possible, makes the goal of obtaining the 212 Olympia title a bigger mission than just the title in itself. Knowing that I put more pressure on myself for a bigger “WHY” makes me work much harder to be a champion in all aspects. It makes my pursuit of being a 212 Olympia champion even more of a relentless quest and fulfilling goal."

Derek’s training philosophy is very similar to how he approaches life in general - with a diverse appetite and an open mind.

You'll grow the most by learning from various philosophies and successful people. You can take the best pieces and add it to your “experience” bank that accumulates over time. At the same time you need to know what tools to use at the right time and there is always a time and place for everything. In the end, what matters is the total knowledge and there is no single way or road that is better or more complete than another. This is the same regardless if you're talking about training, or life in general.

Act Like A Champion

"The best efforts come form when you are well rested and mentally primed to GO!"

Josh Bryant here with Johnnie Jackson one week out from the Europa Games where Johnnie will attempt a world record in his age 48 and weight category 242lb.

Here they explain the physiological and mental importance of the deload phase of training.

Johnnie Jackson – Deload Before The Meet

Hill sprints bridge the gap between the weight room and the track.

The benefits of performing all-out hill sprints include:

Improved conditioning, body composition, mental toughness and functional strength.

We team up again with strength coach Josh Bryant MS to bring you an in depth how to on the hill sprints including warm up and progression. Click 

 to instantly receive a copy of the full program.

6 Week Hill Sprint Program

"It's not a point to live forever, it's leaving something back that will."

 Johnnie Jackson talks about the legacy every man needs to leave behind.

When you work day in and day out, no one should strive to just get by, be average or do the bare minimum. If you don't have a desire to be the absolute best at your chosen craft then it is probably time for you to do something else.

"It has been a while since Branch and myself have trained together. We trained together in China but it was more exhibition style and not true gritty, old school training sessions. Felt great to be back."

Johnnie Jackson is revving up his workouts and energy around some big things including seminars with the ISSA, events and appearances with GASP and Mutant. Whether or not another pro bodybuilding competition is on the horizon is to be determined.

Back To Back Training In Texas

If you train inhibited you tarnish your results. If you train uninhibited you grow. That is exactly what Hunter Labrada is finally able to do since before winning the Junior USA in 2018 and making it through a painful prep for the NPC Nationals to turn pro November 2018.

"I am finally hitting full stride and in uncharted territory (in regards to size and training capacity)."

The New York Pro is the biggest and most prestigious, and on that note, the toughest Pro Show to win outside of the Arnold Classic and Olympia. Needless to say Hunter is making a ballsy goal for his Pro debut BUT given the fact that he can actually train the way he wants and ultimately needs to train, it looks like he is well on his way to a successful rookie competitive year!

Here Hunter drives up to Dallas Texas to link up with the GASP team and CEO for a couple days. Arms and hamstrings were on his training agenda.

Stay tuned to GASPOFFICIAL.COM for constant Hunter Labrada, training and event updates.

Hunter Labrada – Pro Debut Arm Training

Branch Warren and Johnnie Jackson have set the standard for hard work and out-working everyone. Here is an in depth raw look at their high volume leg day doing what they do best set after set in the birthplace of real Texas bodybuilding grit Metroflex Arlington.

 So what you saw today is how we train. We do this day in day out. We've been doing it this way for twenty years plus. You know, some of these instafamous people, you see them on the gram, they do one hard set of something crazy. They do it and that's that. We go hard and balls to the wall day in and day out, every time we step into the gym. Even as amateurs we trained that way. That is how we do it you know. I think with todays' generation, guys got soft. There are a few guys that want to bust ass and go heavy and try to give 100% and do better every time they go in the gym. Those guys are few and far between. For the most part these guys have gotten soft. Guys don't train like that with the high intensity and almost no one trains super heavy anymore. You look at the great champions of the past, they all trained with high intensity and they all trained heavy. All the Ronnies, Jays, Dorians, Lee Haneys. People like this. They trained hard, they trained heavy and their physiques spoke for themselves. All these people online that say you shouldn't go so heavy, you know what I say to that? FUCK YOU! What have you won?

 The difference I think from today and yesterday from when we were coming up. Our goal wasn't just to turn pro or just to make money or to live the lifestyle of a pro bodybuilder. Our goal was to be the best of what we were doing at the time no matter what it was. That happened to be bodybuilding. When we were in the gym, it was training. So it was to be number 1 in whatever gym we were training in. It didn't matter what gym of the country or internationally. We were going to be the best in the gym that day. If they had Facebook or Instagram live when we were coming up, you would see that we were outdoing everybody and training the hardest and the heaviest without a doubt.

Most people's goals are "I want to win this money. If I can get on stage and win a couple of shows, I can win some extra money." Or to get recognition from people. "Look what i am doing, look what I have done." This type of thing. That what is going on today. Not focusing on the gym, focusing on your workouts, improving your weaknesses, and making them your strengths - and making your strengths even better. Its more of "look at me, look what I am dong, look what I'm lifting after waiting 10 minutes between sets."

 You've all seen the videos of me and Johnnie training through the years. Especially when we were competing getting ready for shows. You know to be able to train like that, you need to be motivated, SUPER motivated. My motivation, speaking for myself, I wanted to win. I wanted to win what ever contest I was training for with the ultimate goal of winning the Mr. Olympia. If you're trying to be the best in the world at something, if you're not super motivated and you don't live and breathe and sleep about it all day every day, you're not going to be the best in the world at whatever your trying to do.

Every single time I came to the gym I tried to do better than the previous time I was in the gym. I tried to outwork myself, I tried to do more reps more weight and train harder every single time. And if you can do that consistently day after day month after month and year after year, you will get better and you will win!

 As you can see on our Tuesday leg workout. You can see the intensity you can see the grind and you can see the struggle on our faces and our bodies. That what it takes to challenge each set. We will have a warm up set with each exercise but after that you got to challenge yourself each and every time you step up to the plate. First of all your concentrating on catching your breath. I could never catch my breath before the next set. It's kinda like, get done, settle down, get some oxygen so you can maximize your strength for your next set. So like I said, your mind is going, it feels so heavy but feels so good to accomplish each set like another notch on your belt that you accomplished and got through. There's so many things going through your head and your trying to calm it all down and focus on your reps and getting the right form for the weight your doing. So yeah there's a bunch of noise man, your body is screaming, your head is yelling you know. You're out of breath and trying to catch that and meanwhile your scream trying to encourage the guy that your training with. I can't put it all in a nut shell everything that you're going through, the excitement, the fear, all that's going on at once but it's pretty amazing.

 When you talk about someone being tough, what I think of when you say tough, it's not physical it is mental. Toughness comes from within, If you're mentally tough your body will follow. Your body will do what your mind tells it to do. I think toughness has something to do with being motivated. If you want something really bad, you know when we are in here training especially training when we were competing I wanted to win so bad I didn't care how bad it hurt I would push through pain. I didn't care it felt like the muscle was ready to rip of the bone it hurt so bad but I would not quit. I set the bar so impossibly high that I knew to get there I would have to go through more pain the I had ever been through to get there. But I was willing to pay the price. And, that's just mental toughness. If you're mentally tough you can overcome the physical pain to reach whatever goal you set for yourself.

Speaking of the mental toughness, I beat a lot of guys that I should have never beaten when I was competing for one simple reason, I was hungrier than they were, I wanted it more, I was willing to do in the gym what they weren't. Even though they were probably more blessed than I was structurally or genetically or aesthetically, but because I was willing to pay the price and pay a higher price than they were I was able to bet them on stage. That is what it comes down to. Just because you're not the most gifted person in the race doesn't mean you cant win the race. If you want it more than they want it and you're willing to pay the price and willing to pay a higher price than they are, then you can win. And you can beat a lot of people that are more gifted than you just by outworking them. That's pretty much been the story of my whole career.

I see a lot of people at the press conference at the Olympia and at interviews at the gym and they say "Oh I am just happy to be here." MAN FUCK THAT SHIT. I'M HERE TO WIN. You know when I was competing I was fighting for 1) to win 2) to be the best in the world 3) to support my family. I had a wife a daughter and a mother to take care of so losing was not an option. I didn't have no rich parents or no rich grandfather or nothing to fall back on so all of that was falling on my shoulders. I was there to win. So fuck just being happy to be there. I WAS THERE TO WIN. Make a pay check and support my family. Most importantly I wanted to be the champion of the world. If you don't have that mindset, you're gong to get beat. And I am still working hard. I wanted to establish a legacy and I think I did that and I am still upholding being a top pro bodybuilder of the world and still dong it because I love it. If you're just happy to be there then good for you, but I beat all those guys that were just happy to be there.

There are so many opportunities available here than anywhere else in the world. I don't understand these lazy bums that they want everything handed to them. They think oh I won whatever show, pay me $100K a year. Man you ain't done nothing. This is the one place in the world that you can do anything you want if you put the work in. This generation more so than any other generation, not all of them but more so than any previous has this entitlement attitude. If you want something go out and get it. If you don't put the work in you don't get shit. Let me tell you something, no one owes you shit. Nobody. And don't get pissed off because I made it and you're a lazy bum because I put the work in for 27 years and got where I am at and you ain't done shot and you think you're entitled to have the same life I have. Nah man it doesn't work like that. So man the fuck up and go put the work in, and maybe, just maybe you can get what you want.

Branch & Johnnie – Old School Leg Training

Everything revolves around the training. Once the physical part of the day is accounted for the rest of the day follows suit. 

"If I miss or have a shitty workout, it's gonna be a shitty day."

Branch and Johnnie Jackson link back up now at Metroflex Arlington following a training hiatus due to Branch's recovery and hectic schedules between both of them. They are revving back up and are in the best shapes in a long time following the epic China Iron World Tour.

Johnnie Jackson is "hungrier than ever." Stay tuned to gaspofficial.com to see whats up and whats new.

Branch & Johnnie – Old School Chest Training

Heavy compound lifts build strength which translates to new tissue which recruits for muscle fibers and builds strength which builds EVEN MORE TISSUE and on and on. The point is that when the heavy compound movements are replaced with lighter weights in the "pump and pose" reps range over and over, strength gains are limited and the look of the physique lacks the dense and granite hard look.

Johnnie Jackson performs a typical high volume biceps and triceps workout with a variety of exercises including the "meat and potatoes" lifts like close grip bench presses, skull crushers and dumbbell curls. These lifts are seemingly used more sparingly these days and Johnnie has a thing or two to say about that.

Stay tuned for more of Johnnie as he revs up his old school bodybuilding training to build himself back up and show what a real dense "hard-earned" physique looks like.

Johnnie Jackson - Heavy Arm Training

"So when I prepare for any show it's different than for most people. How I get prepared, how I maintain laser focus, how I get ready."

For Guy Cisternino the preparation doesn't start 16 weeks out. The preparation is ongoing 365 days a year. When your goal is to be the best bodybuilder in the world that entails, eating, training, not partying, not prioritizing relationships, and making sacrifices - then you're doing what you have to do.

"At the end of the day it is 100% up to the person with that goal to give 110% or that person never really wanted it. It is all in the preparation and it is never ending until the goal is met! That is what makes bodybuilding very different from all other sports. Preparation is 24/7/365."

Bodybuilding 24/7/365 – Guy Cisternino

Like most things the devil is in the details when it comes to individual bio-mechanics, strength, and current conditioning. Having said that, the details aren't shit without HARD WORK and consistency being first and foremost.

This is a raw and real look at Branch Warren and Johnnie Jackson training biceps and triceps at the new DESTINATION. Their exercises, volume, execution, AND relentless consistency is what built them to be able to accomplish what they have in the IFBB and on a world scale.

Take from Branch and Johnnie what you will from this raw take and remember only men who accomplish less like criticizing those that have gone and continue to accomplish more.

Here is Branch and Johnnie's NO F**KS GIVEN arm training.

Cable curls: Pyramided up each set - 4 sets x 15 drop set on the last set

Alternate Dumbbell Curls: Pyramided up each set - 4 sets x 10-15 reps

Spider Curls: pyramided up each set - 4 sets x 15 reps

Cable Pushdowns: Pyramided up each set - 4 sets x 15 reps drop set on the last set

Selector Dip Machine: Pyramided up each set - 4 sets x 15 reps, drop set on the last set

Rope Pushdowns: Pyramided up each set - 4 sets x 15 reps

No F**ks Given – RAW Arm Training with Branch and Johnnie

Do what is necessary. That is discipline.

"As bodybuilders we are always trying to move forward and progress."

Derek Lunsford explains going 100 miles an hour is not always good

"I put more into this prep for this years Olympia than any prep ever before."

Shaun Clarida explains that there is a time when you grind it out and there is a time for mental and physical recovery.

This is a bit of raw takes on Derek Lunsford and Shaun Clarida's back training at the new Destination. Bigger, better and a global destination for the core of the iron sport.

Shaun Clarida and Derek Lunsford – Operation 2020 Part 2

After double shoulder surgery 2019, Guy Cisternino relentlessly pursues a comeback which tests his strengths both mentally and physically.

"Everybody said the comeback was impossible because of the double shoulder surgery. Then I got my ass kicked once and the people were like, "He's done." Then I got the shit kicked out of me again and people were like, "He's too old," then I said fuck that and went for a third one - and got beat again

The comeback was not a walk in and cash in type of situation. Guy Cisternino had to fight tooth and nail and most importantly get knocked down not 1 or 2 times but 4 times and get up AGAIN and claim his comeback win.

"There is one show left to figure out if I deserve to be a pro bodybuilder, to be able to call myself one of the elite."

Here is some of the interview excerpts between Guy Cisternino and GASP CEO Michael Johansson and of course some hardcore back training (one of 3 workouts in 2 days) at the new DESTINATION Gym.