Samson Dauda feels optimistic following his latest pair of bodybuilding contests. In a recent YouTube video, Dauda reflected on his peaking process and discussed his goals for the 2024 Mr. Olympia show, taking place from October 10-13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Having raised gold above his head at the 2023 Arnold Classic, Dauda emerged as a massive frontrunner in the Men’s Open division. When it was time to prove himself on the Mr. Olympia stage, Dauda exceeded expectations and pushed into third place, defeating mainstays of the category such as Brandon Curry and Andrew Jacked. He followed up the bronze showing by winning the 2023 Romania Muscle Fest Pro and EVLS Prague Pro dominantly.
Setting his sights on a second title in Columbus, Ohio, Dauda presented a stellar look but couldn’t stop Hadi Choopan from winning, thanks to the Iranian native’s dry conditioning levels. They rematched two weeks later at the 2024 Arnold Classic UK, and while Dauda drastically improved his look, Choopan still clinched the crown.
With time to finally rest his physique, Dauda has laid out a game plan for his next competition on the horizon — the 2024 Mr. Olympia, where he will aim to dethrone Derek Lunsford and one-up Choopan on the sports’s biggest stage.
Samson Dauda Gives Update on Future, Discusses Off-Season Goals and 2024 Mr. Olympia
Dauda and his wife have figured out ‘the main strategy’ for peaking his physique at bodybuilding shows.
“Mel just basically took it upon herself to say okay, I know exactly how much carbs we are going to put into you that would be enough to not really carb you up but just enough to make you full enough so we can still pull water so you still look as hard and as separated and striated as you can be. You know, I’m really glad to say that actually worked out.”
“We had a look that we never had before. Between prejudging on the Friday and the finals, that look just got more harder, drier, and separated. I was extremely impressed and it felt like we learned a new idea of how to peak us for the show. We finally got that main strategy for that, thanks to the last show we did,” Samson Dauda shared.
After suffering from illness after the Arnold Classic Ohio event, Dauda revealed that he held on to excessive water.
“Getting over being sick. I just retained so much water from that,” adds Dauda.
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Looking ahead, Dauda intends to give his body a rest, which means no gym, diet, or program.
“As you all know, we have the Olympia in October which is obviously just our goal. For now, we have had a week rest of just literally doing nothing the past week.No gym, no diet, no program, just waking up in the morning just chilling, just doing whatever you feel like. Eat when you feel like, just kind of giving the body and mind rest, complete rest.”
He plans to use the next eight weeks to refresh his mind, body, and spirit, before committing to a ‘mini’ off-season for the 2024 Mr. Olympia.
“Next weekend, we are flying out to Munich, we got a guest posing spot in Germany, so that’s next weekend or this coming weekend. For now, what I want to do is give my body a rest for the next eight weeks. So, completely clean out, rest up for eight weeks, completely. Then, we are going to start like a mini off-season after that. I’ll be training though, just giving everything else a rest and a break.”“That’s the plan for the next eight weeks.”
As for his primary goal in the off-season, Dauda intends to improve his back, arms, and legs, underlining that adding size is no longer on his to-do list.
“Our main goal of the off-season is the same goal of every off-season. I want to make more improvements. I want to make more improvements in my back. I want to make more improvements in my legs, my arms. I want to make more improvements all around like I always do.”
Instead of adding mass to body parts, Dauda wants to make ‘all-around’ improvements to his physique.
“This one, we know that the last little off-season I haven’t tried to put on any mass, that’s already out of the way. We want more density, more muscle fibers in those areas. So, that is the main focus for this off-season. It’s just making improvements all-around. Not necessarily putting on mass, just making improvements all around.”
Since his last two shows concluded, talks of Samson Dauda’s conditioning levels have dominated discussions online. In light of his recent performances, judge Terrick El Guindy offered Dauda some tips for improving for 2024 Mr. Olympia, specifying that the Open star needs deeper separation across the entire body.
If Dauda makes the required improvements to his physique, fans believe he could be a strong contender for the world’s most prestigious title when the event returns to celebrate its 60th anniversary later this year.
Watch the full video from Samson Dauda’s YouTube channel below:
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