Bodybuilder Nick Walker has gained a ton of attention for his freaky muscle mass and conditioning over the last year. In a recent Prime Time Muscle episode, Olympia judge Terrick El Guindy backed Walker as a potential Mr. Olympia winner and talked about his rivalry with Derek Lunsford and Samson Dauda.
Nick Walker emerged as a promising prospect after turning in one of the best rookie seasons of all time in 2021. He scored gold at the New York Pro and got back-to-back victories at the Arnold Sports Festival a few months later. His final appearance of the year saw him finish fifth in his Mr. Olympia debut. Walker got to work in the off-season to take his physique to the next level.
After staying on the sidelines for the year, ‘The Mutant’ came back stronger than ever at the 2022 Mr. Olympia. He boasted significant improvements along with stellar muscle detail and a slimmer waist. During the prejudging, he asserted his place in a three-way battle with Lunsford and Hadi Choopan. Eventually, Walker finished third behind runner-up Lunsford and champion Choopan. He earned Olympia People’s Champ award.
Walker was brimming with confidence after the show. He signed up to participate in the 2023 Arnold Classic for a record payout of $300,000. He went into the show as the highest-ranked Olympia and the betting favorite to reclaim the title. However, Samson Dauda managed to edge him out for the top prize. Walker placed second and won the Most Muscular award.
There was a lot of debate regarding the result as many felt Walker could’ve won. ‘The Mutant’ needed to jump in and call on his fans to stop sharing hateful messages against the judges and other competitors online.
Renowned bodybuilding guru Chris Aceto expressed his disapproval of the judging two weeks ago. He backed Walker to defeat Dauda in a head-to-head showdown and claimed the scorecards were misleading.
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Walker opened up on powering through a stomach bug while competing at the event in Columbus, Ohio. Since he was happy with the package he brought, he was expecting to come out on top and doesn’t believe Dauda did enough to defeat him convincingly. Bodybuilding legend Jay Cutler praised Dauda’s package and extended his support for Walker as well. The four-time Mr. Olympia considered the competition so close that it could’ve gone to any in the top four.
Olympia judge backs Nick Walker as a future Mr. Olympia, believes there’s tension with Derek Lunsford
In a recent YouTube video, Olympia judge Terrick El Guindy heaped praises on Nick Walker for improving his physique and backed him to secure the coveted Sandow trophy.
“The unstoppable force, Nick Walker,” El Guindy said. “I’m sick and tired of people doubting Nick Walker. A lot of people saying his shape is not good. He shut up all of you. He shut all the doubters the hell up. He’s the unstoppable undeniable force. He keeps moving up. Don’t sleep on him. He keeps telling us he’ll be Mr. Olympia and by the way things are going, this guy might actually do it.”
Cormier: “He was hard enough. He had to move his way up. I think Derek started out fast. But he was making his way passing up Ramy, passing up Curry, making his way doing better than last year.”
El Guindy believes there’s tension between Walker and Lunsford since they are leading the pack in the Men’s Open division besides Dauda and the reigning Mr. Olympia.
“I think there’s some tension between Derek Lunsford and Nick Walker,” said El Guindy. “Backstage when Lunsford was taking off his clothes, I could see Nick Walker sizing him up and vice versa. Those are the young guns coming out. They believe that Hadi might be there one or two more years. Eventually, Hadi will come out of the party and Derek and Nick will be fighting for the Mr. Olympia.
“There’s a bit of tension between them. Obviously, they’re going to say on camera that they love each other but I don’t think Nick Walker liked Derek coming in on his first Olympia and surpassing him.”
Chris Cormier offers posing tips & calls on Walker to work on his legs
Bodybuilding Hall of Famer Chris Cormier identified a need for ‘The Mutant’ to enhance his lower body muscle development.
“He was flat for a lot of that time training for the show,” said Cormier. “He has nice full pecs, the arms has always been there. He just got to concentrate on his lower half. His lower half if he gets that to where it needs to be, everybody needs to look out.”
Cormier highlighted an issue with Walker keeping his legs straight in each pose. He shared some tips for Walker to make his legs more dynamic during posing.
“When you’re just going with the straight leg for so many shots, that’s all people are looking at is picking apart your deficiencies. Put more weight on one leg, get on that hip a little bit, emphasize the inside development on the quad and give some shape to your body. That’s what’s going to make a big difference when you hit so many shots.”
“You got to contort your body to where you can get a different look from just hitting that straight up and down.”
El Guindy lauded coach Milos Sarcev for his work with Dauda
El Guindy commended the results bodybuilding coach Milos Sarcev was able to get working with Samson Dauda.
“I want to give credit to coach Milos Sarcev because this crazy progress that he’s done,” said El Guindy. “He won his qualification, looked insane on these postings on Instagram, placed fourth at the Arnold, and the expectations were high. At the end of the day, that guy got called out on the first callout at the Mr. Olympia. When he hit the poses next to guys like Curry and Ramy, he wasn’t behind them.
“He impressed the hell out of me. Just like in the NBA you have the most improved player of a season, if we had that, Samson Dauda is that guy in bodybuilding.”
Nick Walker is focused on pushing his limits this year. After presenting a more streamlined look in his last showing, Walker teased a return of the freak factor he’s renowned for. Fans will be excited to check out the package Walker brings when he steps on stage again.
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