Training

More in Training

Derek Lunsford was the 2018 runner-up at the 212 Olympia. He’s preparing to take the title this year. Check out what he says about the preparations and his mental strategies to get it done no matter what!

**"No one will train back or legs harder than me"

**This is something I have lived by throughout my bodybuilding career from the beginning to now preparing for the 2019 Olympia. It’s a frequently repeated fact that shows are won from the back. The most dominating Olympia champions have had leg and back development that was clearly on another lever than the rest of the pack.

Hard work is always part of the equation of accomplishing anything worth while. When it comes to world class accomplishments however, hard work isn’t enough. You have to be smart and efficient in addition to hard working.

**How do you ensure that you train harder than everyone else?

**I’m well aware of the way others train whether it be heavy and looser form sometimes or near totally void of momentum sometimes. I ensure that I train harder by continually improving the way I connect with by back and legs to get maximum stimulation 100% of the time.

**“First and foremost I connect with the muscle”

**After you have built up a mind muscle connection on another level, the heavy weights and form follow suite to help me, once again, train harder, more efficiently and effectively than anyone else.

**The 2019 Olympia title is up for grabs. How do you feel about this?

**For sure I check my emotions constantly. I only get excited when it’s time to train and do cardio. As calories get lower I need to be able to tap into excitement only when necessary.

When it comes to attention to the details that separate 1st from the rest, stress management plays a very important role. Every day I wake up and focus 100% on bodybuilding. A big stress relief for me is knowing that 100% of every single task I need to get done WILL GET DONE NO MATTER WHAT. When I wake up it is a foregone conclusion that the day is won, and that eliminates stress right off the bat!

Derek Lunsford – The Day is Won

"Last year was my first time on that big of a stage like the Olympia so it felt surreal. I don't want to say I am going for the experience this time. It is definitely a business trip."

Courage Opara is an IFBB Classic Physique Pro and going into his sophomore year in 2019. His first year on the Olympia stage he broke his way into the top 10 with a 9th place finish out of 25 top professionals.

Courage started competing in 2016 while still in school and "got bit by the competitive bug." Here, Kevin Ofurum and Courage discuss growing up in their specific households a certain level of success and a very respectable profession is expected from the get go.

"When I first got into competing, the Olympia is what I saw so it is what i expected from myself and felt like where i was supposed to be. I am definitely not looking at the Olympia as a fan now, but something that I am trying to win."

Stay tuned for more from Courage Opara as he prepares for the 2019 Olympia.

Courage Opara – The Olympia Is A Business Trip

In college when I used to train by myself, it was literally by myself. I had few and far between anyone who liked to train or could actually train after a long football practice but my mentality was that I wanted to be a bodybuilder so I didn't give a fuck what it meant or care what it took. If it meant 2 hours of practice and 2 hours of lifting thats what I would do.

I never trained with a group of guys. I was more of a loner when it came to training in the gym. Ten years ago I would have never thought that people would be asking for my autograph or that I would be doing a photo shoot with Per Bernal downtown Dallas on a motorcycle. I never thought I could do it but I put everything I had into it.

I count my blessings and thank God everyday that I am given the opportunity to do what I do and be an inspiration to people. But that's where we are today. Anyone who thinks they can't do it or thinks it's not obtainable, it fuckin' bullshit. One of the first one liners I learned and used after I turned pro, somebody once asked me what do you tell people if someones family or friends said you cant do something was to "go fuck themselves."

Guy Cisternino – Go F**k Themselves

We all love the classic Rocky Story of the athlete who has all the heart for his chosen sport and busts his ass to get his just deserts. Shaun Clarida has built his bodybuilding career on being such an athlete.

How does IFBB 212 Pro and Olympia contender Shaun Clarida continue to defy critics and naysayers, maintain unwavering self belief and still continue to bring up weaker body parts even now on his 5th Mr. Olympia appearance?

Find out here and continue to follow GASP's official Instagram account to ask the top athletes of the iron sport anything you need to know from training and nutrition to recovery and supplementation.

Q&A With Shaun Clarida

"Holistic muscle development. You will have to do heavy and light weight, high and low reps, fast tempo and slow tempo, eccentric overloads, isometric emphasis ALL these different techniques to holistically develop the muscle. That is why Fred Hatfield was the greatest bodybuilding trainer even though he was known for his power-lifting."

Josh Bryant has been programming Ed Brown's training for years now. Ed, being a competitive bodybuilder, has benefited from Josh's programming evidenced by a strong and densely muscled physique. Josh has programmed in lifts, rep ranges and tempos to complement Ed's base level of strength and added in time under tension techniques to work around existing injuries.

Check out what you can learn here from Josh Bryant and Ed Brown on base strength and holistically developing your own physique.

(Using Prime Fitness cable station) 3 second concentric, 1 second pause, 5 second eccentric

3 x 10 reps with 1 second isometric squeeze each rep

3 reps followed by a 10 second rest for 5 minutes

Ed Brown’s Holistic Back Training with Josh Bryant

What kind of pressure do the best bodybuilders in the world feel when they prepare for the Mr. Olympia each year? Just ask 13 time Olympian Johnnie Jackson.

Johnnie Jackson explains what it takes from training and diet requirements from months out to the final week preparations in Las Vegas including taking everything necessary on the flight, eating and carbing up properly, news media and fans and making all the meeting and interview appointments.

"You can get caught up in what you're doing and note enough, and that is detrimental to your look on stage. You have to be prepared food wise and water wise."

Stay tuned for updates from Derek Lunsford, Shaun Clarida, Courage Opara and Ahmad Ahmad from for the Mr. Olympia.

Olympia Q&A With Johnnie Jackson

"I have to wake up in the morning driven for a purpose. If I have no purpose when I wake up in the morning I think that would make me crazy."

Derek Lunsford is a week out from the 2019 Mr. Olympia with the title open for grabs now that Flex Lewis had retired from the 212 division.

Being at the top of his game Derek talks work ethic, muscular overload and his mental game towards his goals every day.

Stay tuned for more from Derek Lunsford and Shaun Clarida as they go head to head for the 212 Olympia title.

Derek Lunsford – Olympia Chest Training

Shaun Clarida is 4 days out from the 2019 Mr. Olympia here.

What's diferent from last year to this year?

Shaun was able to focus 100% on the Mr. Olympia, grow into it and show up fresh and energized up. He will be a full 10lb heavier than last year. He attributes the huge progress to his consistency of his training, prioritizing what is needed for his physique and also attributes to his diet being on point in the offseason as well as pre contest.

Stay tuned as we bring you updates from Las Vegas this week!

Shaun Clarida – Days Out From Mr. Olympia

"To be the best in the world you have to set the standard."

Derek Lunsford is hitting one of his last leg workouts before the 2019 Mr. Olympia. The calories are low at this point with no backing off of intensity in the gym. This state has become a comfort zone for Derek.

"I just think that in this moment is a good feeling. Being this tired is the best feeling. I dont want to feel comfortable. I want to feel the struggle."

Stay tuned to gaspofficial.com as we catch up with Derek Lunsford in Las Vegas during Olympia weekend.

Derek Lunsford – Setting The Standard For The Olympia

"I dont do this to myself to aim for second place. I ALWAYS go for gold!"

Shaun Clarida is 2 days out from prejudging for the 2019 Mr. Olympia 212 and talks about everything he has done over the past year, from training prioritization, to detailed nutrition catering to building mass and recovery to having an entire year off to mentally and physically focus 100% on the most important contest in the history of bodybuilding.

I ran the gauntlet last year competing over and over to earn the qualification to be able to focus exclusively on the Olympia this year!

Stay tuned. We are just getting started with Olympia coverage with Shaun Clarida, Derek Lunsford, Courage Opara and Ahmad Ahmad.

Shaun Clarida – 1 Day Out

Working for the man and letting your own dreams, goals and ambitions fall by the wayside is no doubt a disservice to yourself. Derek Lunsford preaches finding what you want in life, finding what brings out the drive and the passion because that is ultimately you will be best at.

"If you dont find your real passion, that won't be fair for your life or the world."

Derek is joined here by his coach James Brown, his mother Javona Miller and videographer Drew Bland. Check out what drives Derek according to this crew here and stay tuned for more updates from Las Vegas!

In Depth with Derek Lunsford – One Day Out From The Olympia

Courage Opara made his Olympia debut and cracked the top 10 earring him a top tier ranking in the world as a classic physique pro. This year he is viewing the Olympia as "a business trip" to improve on not only last year's placing but last year's physique as well.

Here is an in depth Q&A with Courage Check it out as he answers the following: