"Training, eating, resting, and recovery" - Derek Lunsford on how his wrestling career has aided his bodybuilding success

Over the last few years, Derek Lunsford has become quite the name in the sport of bodybuilding. His career in the sport really came to light in 2021 as he was crowned the 212 Olympia champion after two consecutive second-place finishes in three years.

After his victory in the 212 division, Lunsford moved his talents up to the Men's Open where, on his very first attempt, he came second, behind his teammate Hadi Choopan.

Lunsford recently appeared on the IFBB AMA podcast where he credited his background in wrestling for aiding his progress in bodybuilding. When Lunsford was asked about his transition, he said:

"I come from a wrestling background where my training and nutrition or lack of diet knowledge at the beginning comes from my wrestling background of cutting weight and training super hard for wrestling... When I got into bodybuilding, it was about training, eating, resting, and recovery, like therapies and all that. All the other stuff I was oblivious to anyway."

An athletic background can help in transitioning between sports successfully as most sports require common basic practices from the athlete, such as dietary plans and strength training.

Other variables that are important markers of success in sports are characteristics such as discipline, motivation, and confidence. These are common attributes required for success across different sports.

Alluding to the aforementioned characteristics, Lunsford explained:

"I had a great foundation of training before I even started. For me, number one is food. It’s the most anabolic thing on the planet, and then to support the training and have enough rest and therapeutic work to be able to get back in the gym and do that day after day."

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"You have to control the weight" - Derek Lunsford responds to criticisms of his weight training

Different coaches and athletes have a variety of training regimens and philosophies near and dear to them. This is the reason behind the historical debate between lifting heavier weights vs lighter weights and quick repetitions vs slower ones.

Lunsford has previously been criticized by significant people within the sport for his training methods that involve slow and controlled repetitions as opposed to dynamic, heavy lifts. Addressing this, he responded:

"You have to control the weight. You have to be able to stimulate the muscle that you are trying to work that day. You know, if you are just throwing around some weights, even though some exercise may be hitting the chest, you might just be hitting your shoulders and triceps and not even getting any activation in your chest."

Derek Lunsford [Image: Derek Lunsford's Instagram]

Lunsford admitted that his discovery of controlled movements while lofting weights has allowed him to build a bigger and more mature chest:

"That is something I noticed in myself a couple years ago. I was never really able to activate my chest very well. Over the last couple years, I've been able to dat. That's why now, especially this year, I've been able to notice deeper striations and a better connection in all of my chest."

Derek Lunsford is among the two front-runners to topple Hadi Choopan's Olympia reign. The other is the current Arnold Classic champion Samson Dauda, who is beginning to look like a serious threat to all the open division competitors.