It’s a new chapter for Nick Walker, who plans to navigate his career for the first time in years without a coach. On Oct. 28, 2025, he discussed the change-up and the best packages he’s brought to the stage.
Coaching challenges have plagued Walker for the past four years. He stopped working with his long-time mentor, Matt Jansen, for a second time after withdrawing from the 2024 Mr. Olympia. He later teamed up with Kyle Wilkes, and things seemed to be meshing well between the two.
Walker brought what many considered his all-time best look to the 2025 Pittsburgh Pro. At the event, he pushed Derek Lunsford to the brink of defeat, but settled for second place after a tie-breaker round. While they bounced back with a dominant win at the New York Pro, Walker’s 2025 Olympia aspirations disintegrated during prejudging in Vegas.
Walker lacked his usual pop and finished in sixth place. Later, he and his former coach, Wilkes, explained that he had mistimed his peak. In the event’s aftermath, Wilkes revealed that Walker called him to end the coach-client relationship. Now, looking ahead, Walker plans to go solo for the first time in years.
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Nick Walker Talks Coaching Himself, Reveals His All-Time Favorite Looks Onstage
In the video, Walker explained that he’s no longer coached by Wilkes, which he described as a ‘nice weight lifted off the shoulders.’
“So now, obviously, the cat is out of the bag a little bit, so whatever, but diet-wise, I’m obviously doing my own thing right now, which I’m actually enjoying and having fun. It’s a lot of, I’ll just say this: it’s a nice weight lifted off the shoulders.”
As for the best looks of his career, Walker had two in mind: the physiques he presented at the 2021 Arnold Classic and the 2022 Mr. Olympia.
“When it comes to looks for shows, I truly believe my favorite look, which I think are my best looks, were the 2021 Arnold Classic. I just thought for me, that was my number one. I was dry, hard, very grainy, and full.
As soon as I walked out for that show, it was lights out, game over. As soon as I walked out, everyone knew, that’s it. I thought the peak was perfected. Everything was nails for that specific show.”
He believes his 2022 Olympia look was a solid combination of fullness and leanness.
“I would say my second favorite was probably the Olympia in 2022. I don’t think I was as conditioned, per se, as the 2021 Arnold, but I was very lean, lean enough, but I was so fucking full. It was an undeniable type of full but still very dry.
Then, I actually really did like my Arnold look that I lost to Samson, that was probably my leanest and driest. I still think I was full to me, just maybe not as full as I normally am, which is why it didn’t seem like I had that Nick Walker pop, but I was still pretty full, but I was so fucking lean for that it was insanity.”
People have questioned why Walker didn’t like his Pittsburgh Pro look. Although he labeled it ‘good,’ he thought there was room for improvement.
“When people hear I didn’t like the Pittsburgh look, I didn’t like it because I didn’t think it was my best. I know what I’m capable of. I know what I can bring. That look was good, don’t get me wrong, but I could have been leaner, I could have been drier, I could have been harder. I also could have been a little fuller, which is why I think we lost it at night because we faded pretty hard, in my opinion,” he said.
“The end results should always be the same to a degree, with improvements. To me, that’s not what it was. That’s not what I like to bring to the stage.”
Fans are curious about when Walker will compete next. The 2026 Arnold Classic is circled on everyone’s calendar, as Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that the Open winner will rake in a historic $750,000 prize purse, the highest in bodybuilding history.
Right now, Walker’s focus is on rebounding after the Olympia. It will be interesting to see how he handles training, diet, and supplementation without a head coach in his corner.
Watch the full video from the Nick Walker YouTube channel below:
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