With just over 11 weeks until the Mr. Olympia touches down in Las Vegas, bodybuilder Nick Walker‘s confidence is growing. In a YouTube video from July 21, 2025, Walker discussed training adjustments, his weakest body part, and laid out how he plans to defeat Derek Lunsford, Hadi Choopan, and Samson Dauda.
2025 is no ordinary year for Walker. In 2023 and 2024, he faced multiple setbacks that forced him to withdraw from the last two Mr. Olympia competitions. Though fans were doubtful about his comeback, Walker shut the naysayers down. He pushed Derek Lunsford to the brink of defeat at the 2025 Pittsburgh Pro, but left without the title.
A week later, an unfazed Walker dominated the New York Pro. Now, with Olympia ambitions driving his every rep and meal, the New Jersey native is mapping out how he can take down the biggest threats he’s expected to face in October.
Nick Walker Talks Training Adjustments & His Plan to ‘Override’ Samson Dauda at 2025 Mr. Olympia
In the video, Walker confirmed that his weakest body part was his chest.
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“I still think my chest is probably my weakest body part for sure,” shared Walker
“That most muscular shot that you did [on Instagram], that’s fucking unbelievable,” said Sarcev. “Here, I see new things that I haven’t seen before. I mean, there is more volume, more width, more roundness, it’s quite scary.”
Unlike previous seasons, Walker has focused on higher reps and longer rest periods.
“What I’ve done a lot with my training right now, I would move really fast in training which I would do a lot of shorter rest periods, but what I’m focusing on now is just higher rep but longer rest periods, and just making sure every set counts to the fullest.”
He shared that keeping a 12-15 rep range has helped him grow every body part, all while balancing recovery.
“I have found anywhere from 12-15 reps for the majority of all my body parts; they just blow up,” he said. “For me, even with intensifiers, I’d rather just do straight sets and get the most out of them.”
“I found doing a couple more sets just creates less fatigue over my body, and I can recover better and get stronger that way versus somebody trying to help me get some forced reps or doing an intensifier.
Though he’s yet to defeat Lunsford, he described him as “extremely beatable.” Moreover, Walker argued that his conditioning is a strength that could give him an edge over Dauda.
“I just think my biggest opponent if I had to really pick one, it’s always been Hadi. I haven’t beaten Derek yet. We’ll let that one go. But, I think Derek is, just in my opinion, I think Derek is extremely beatable.
That was just showcased. He’s very beatable. Samson, is a mass aesthetic monster, he’s a freak. He’s getting better year by year by year but he still just doesn’t have that conditioning factor.”
With enough polish and detail, Walker stated that he could ‘override’ Dauda when they face off:
“Size for size, height for height, me and him are very comparable in that sense. I bring a much tighter package and I think with the way I look right now, what I know I can bring, that could probably override him.”
In addition, he highlighted that Choopan’s one weakness was that his backside doesn’t get as conditioned as his front.
“Hadi I think would be the biggest rival because again, size for size, yes, I’m bigger, but he’s not far off, and he just brings that grainy, grainy, hard conditioned look.
The only downside of Hadi, and I don’t know if it’s a peaking issue or an age thing, I know he’s not that old, but his backside hasn’t been really able to match the front side.”
Walker is willing to try any training strategy that will produce results. He recently explored rest-pause sets during upper body training for the Mr. Olympia. After the session, Walker stressed that he’d be fighting for a top-three position against the best in the world.
With new training adjustments, Nick Walker believes he could spoil some plans on the horizon. The 2025 Mr. Olympia event takes place October 9-12 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Watch the full video from the IFBB AMA YouTube channel below:
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