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Derek Lunsford Trains Back and Biceps with Ronnie Coleman

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By Roger “Rock” Lockridge

2022 Mr. Olympia runner-up Derek Lunsford made the most out of his men’s open debut, coming one spot short of winning bodybuilding’s top title. Hadi Choopan would leave with the Sandow Trophy last December. Clearly, Lunsford should be proud of his performance, but he obviously wants to be standing on top in 2023. So, he sat under the learning tree of a man that knows something about Olympia wins – Ronnie Coleman.

The eight-time Mr. Olympia had Lunsford join him for a training session at the Ronnie Coleman Signature Series gym recently, and they captured the action on YouTube. You can see the full video from Coleman’s channel below. Lunsford has a video of his own on his channel too.

Not all sets and reps were shown in Coleman’s video, but it was clear from the beginning that both men were putting in work. Coleman had Lunsford start with deadlifts on his own, but he soon joined him for seated rows and lat pulldowns. With every rep Lunsford was performing, you can hear Coleman yelling his trademark phrases such as “yeah buddy” and “light weight.”

“Show them how it’s supposed to be done,” Coleman told the former Olympia 212 champion as he was hitting a variety of poses. “Derek is doing awesome. He’s showing them how it’s supposed to be done.”

After the back work was done, the duo started working on the biceps, beginning with dumbbell preacher curls – a Coleman favorite. They also did hammer curls before calling it a day. Lunsford also signed one of the walls in Coleman’s gym. He was the first outside of Coleman himself to get to do that. Clearly, the eight-time Sandow Trophy holder feels like Lunsford will have at least one on his own mantle someday.

“You should sign that ‘future Mr. O.”

Lunsford is already qualified to compete in the 2023 Mr. Olympia, set for Nov. 3-4 in Orlando, FL. He will be in a rematch with his Evogen teammate Choopan as well as Arnold Classic champion Samson Dauda, Nick Walker, and former Mr. Olympia winners Brandon Curry and Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay, among others when he takes his second crack at winning bodybuilding’s top title.

Coleman had traditionally performed sets of 10-15 reps in his career, but he’s more recently been using lighter weights and performing upwards of 20 reps. If you want to see what it takes to train like an Olympian, follow this sample workout below. If you do it, let us know how it went by tagging @muscleinsider on Instagram.

  • Deadlifts – 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
  • Seated Row – 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
  • Wide Grip Lat Pulldown – 3-4 sets of 15 reps
  • Behind the Neck Lat Pulldown – 3 sets of 15 reps
  • Dumbbell Preacher Curl – 3-4 sets of 15 reps each arm
  • Seated Hammer Curl – 3-4 sets of 15 reps each arm

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