2020 212 Olympia champion Shaun Clarida is still grinding away in the gym during his off-season before stepping on stage at the 2022 Olympia in Las Vegas, NV, from Dec. 16-18, 2022. On June 6, 2022, he shared a video of his back and biceps day on his YouTube channel.
The video opens with a montage of him repping out single-arm landmine rows, rear-delt rows with TRX bands, pull-ups, single-arm preacher curls, EZ-bar curls, spider curls, single-arm low rows, straight-arm pulldowns, and weighted hyperextensions. Check it out below:
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Clarida opens his back and biceps workout with several sets of assisted pull-ups with varying grips. He starts with an overhand grip and transitions to a neutral grip. This lighter work warms up the bigger muscle groups he plans to target with heavier loads during the main movements.
We believe in perfect reps, perfect execution.
The first main movement is landmine rows, which Clarida appreciates its capacity to offer width to his back and the overall stability throughout his range of motion. Once he reaches four 35-pound weight plates, he utilizes a separate grip attachment. He performed three working sets of approximately 10 reps each.
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He wasted no time hopping into single-arm low rows, opening with two 45-pound weight plates. He increased each set by 45 pounds and continued to work unilaterally.
Cable chest pulls were up next with an attachment that lines up well with Clarida’s structure so he could pull through his natural range of motion. He moved on to straight-arm pulldowns with D-handles to shift the focus to the upper lats.
It appeared as though Clarida did not take too much time to rest between movements, though it may have been the video’s editing. He moved into weighted hyperextensions as his final back movement and then swapped to focus on his arms.
Sweat equity was paid today.
Spider curls were first up to target the outer part of his arms. He took a narrower-than-shoulder width grip with an EZ-curl bar. Right after that, he hit dumbbell preacher curls on a weight bench at a 60-degree angle.
Clarida estimated that he is about seven to eight pounds heavier than he was from the 2021 off-season but is aware as a shorter athlete — 5-feet, two inches tall — that he needs to ensure his conditioning and narrow waist remain intact while he tacks on additional size.
We’ll see if that comes to fruition for him in December 2022, when he will likely attempt to recapture the 212 Olympia crown. He is also qualified for the Mr. Olympia contest and could, instead, try to topple two-time Mr. Olympia Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay.
Featured image: @shaunclarida on Instagram
