Two of the reigning Olympia champions who will compete in Las Vegas, NV, on Dec. 16-18, 2022, at the 2022 Olympia are Classic Physique champion Chris Bumstead and 212 champion Derek Lunsford. The former seeks his fourth consecutive title in the division to extend his legacy as the first athlete to achieve four titles in Classic Physique. The latter is vacating his 212 throne to compete via special invite in the Men’s Open against the reigning two-time Mr. Olympia Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay.
Both Bumstead and Lunsford are coached by Hany Rambod, whose Olympia resume spans well into the double digits of Sandow trophies earned, including the seven collected by former Mr. Olympia Phil Heath, who is a part of the 2022 Olympia commentary team. Apparently, Rambod’s programming called for the last leg day before the Olympia six days out.
Check out Bumstead’s final leg day below and Lunsford’s final leg day further below, published to their respective YouTube channels:
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Bumstead warmed up with adductors before tackling single-leg extensions and lying leg curls. Bumstead appeared to take each set to near failure before Rambod assisted in converting an additional one to two reps.
Hack squats with six 45-pound weight plates followed as Mr. Olympia competitor Nick Walker entered the gym. The progressive overload for Bumstead called for an additional plate on each side. Bumstead reached maximum knee flexion for each rep, suggesting that Rambod aimed for him to bias his quads.
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Sets of heavy leg press with a high foot placement to bias the glutes preceded dumbbell Bulgarian split squat drop sets. Seated leg curls were next to bludgeon Bumstead’s hamstrings further as he pressed against the machine to better brace his back to the pad.
As Urs Kalecinski, a competitor of Bumstead’s at the Olympia, entered the gym, Bumstead was carving up his abductors with a grimace across his face. The hamstring beatdown was almost over, as the Classic Physique Olympia champ was charged to crank out single-leg machine curls to finish the session.
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Lunsford’s leg day opened with movement on the exercise bike and leg extensions to get the blood flowing. Guzzling water from his gallon jug, the weight pin continued to move further down the weight stack with each subsequent set of leg extensions.
Machine leg curls were next, and Lunsford took each set to failure as Bumstead did. However, rather than shift to Bulgarian split squats like the Classic Physique champ, Lunsford pounded out Romanian deadlifts in the squat rack with a loaded barbell.
Heavy belt squats took the place of Hack squats in the programming as the water continued to flow from the gallon jug. Lunsford’s leg presses biased the quads via a low foot placement on the platform, signaling the adjustments in programming made by Rambod for Bumstead versus Lunsford.
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Rambod does not seem interested in any of his athletes showing up to the Olympia with subpar hamstrings. Lunsford banged out seated leg curls similar to Bumstead, showing consistent programming from Rambod in terms of volume.
Seated adductors were the penultimate movement for Lunsford’s leg day, aiming to fill the gap between the legs when front posing on stage. Sets of abductors closed the session as Lunsford’s sweat displayed the effort he input to his final leg day before his Men’s Open debut.
We’ll see if Rambod will add to his mantle of Olympia titles if Bumstead can retain his title and/or if Lunsford performs what would be the upset heard ’round the bodybuilding world by claiming the Sandow.
Featured image: @cbum and @dereklunsford_ on Instagram
