Men’s Open star Nick Walker is turning up the heat on preparations for the 2025 Mr. Olympia. On June 17, 2025, he pushed through a brutal upper body workout using rest-pause sets and predicted he’ll place in the top three when he competes in October.
Walker is a must-see talent in the IFBB’s Men’s Open class. His freak factor, massive arms, and density have guided him to the top of the sport. At the 2025 Pittsburgh Pro, Walker gave Derek Lunsford all he could handle onstage. He wasn’t able to earn gold, but came close, leading to controversy among fans.
Walker didn’t let the setback affect his composure. He carefully executed another peak for the New York Pro and delivered a slam dunk performance. With his Olympia qualification no longer a concern, ‘The Mutant’ is building his physique with new strategies ahead of the biggest show of the year.
Nick Walker Smokes Intense Upper Body Workout 17 Weeks from the 2025 Mr. Olympia
Find his exercise selections below, featured in his latest YouTube video:
- Cable Fly
- Incline Chest Press Machine
- Smith Machine Press
- Front High Row Machine
- Chest-Supported T-Bar Row
- Assisted Pull Ups
- Lateral Raise Machine
- Machine Overhead Triceps Extension
- Arm Curl Machine
Walker intensified his workout using rest-pause sets, where he focused on building the chest, back, shoulders, triceps, and biceps. He shared that he went to near-failure on each exercise.
“That’s a wrap. Little full upper body, did three chest, three back, one shoulder, one bi, one tri. Everything was just about two sets each. Some of them I did rest-pause sets after the second set. Overall, everything was just about two total sets.”
“Everything was just about to failure or one rep shy of failure. Making sure I get a hard squeeze, hard contraction, slow negative, good stretch, and just explode up.”
As for his cardio, Walker confirmed it’s been less demanding lately, just treadmill walks for around 30 minutes a day.
“We got plenty of time, but it feels like just yesterday we were 20 weeks out after getting off the stage at New York. As much time as we have, it’s flying by. I feel good overall. Energy is good. Cardio is low. I’m only walking on the treadmill, nothing crazy.”
For training days, he’s consuming 600 grams of carbs. Looking ahead to the 2025 Mr. Olympia, Walker believes he’ll secure a top-three finish.
“Training is still very intense, just because I’d rather train hard at this point than kill myself on cardio. Food is relatively high, we’re doing like 600 grams of carbs on training days and around 350 or 400 on my off days.”
“We’ve got Olympia to battle for. I know I always say I’m going to win, but I won’t say it, but I’ll be in the top three. Where in that top three? Wait and see,” shared Walker.
Talks of who will emerge victorious in Sin City are gaining traction. Rich Gaspari predicted Samson Dauda to win a second title and suggested that Walker would likely be fighting for a top-five spot.
Walker is keeping training intensity as high as possible during preparations. The 2025 Mr. Olympia event takes place from October 9-12 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Watch the full video from the Nick Walker YouTube channel below:
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