Reigning titleholder Samson Dauda is entering his off-season with big goals in mind. In a YouTube video shared on June 10, 2025, he pushed through a brutal chest and calves workout as he sets his sights on improving muscle maturity for the 2025 Mr. Olympia.
“Gave my system a nice break, my body a nice break, and now we’re back to training,” explains Dauda. “Being off-season as we did last year, we’re trying to make as much progress as we can. Trying to build body parts.”
Dauda’s size, shape, and freaky muscle density have proven to be a winning combination at the sport’s highest level. In 2024, he upset Derek Lunsford and Hadi Choopan to become the 19th athlete to earn the Sandow trophy. Despite reaching the top of the mountain, Dauda’s itch to compete fueled his next endeavor.
He attempted to defend gold at the 2025 Arnold Classic but narrowly lost to Lunsford. With his off-season in full force, ‘The Nigerian Lion’ is attacking training methodically in hopes of bringing up any area holding him back onstage.
Samson Dauda Smashes Chest and Calves 17 Weeks from the 2025 Mr. Olympia
Find his exercise selections below, featured in his latest YouTube video:
- Seated Calf Raise Machine – Superset A
- Calf Raise on Hack Machine – Superset B
- Incline Plate-Loaded Chest Press Machine
- Hammer Strength Chest Press Machine – Superset A
- Seated Fly Machine – Superset B
- Standing Cable Fly
Seated Calf Raise Machine – Superset A
Focusing on control, Dauda started with calf raises in the 15-rep range.
“First we’re going to start out with 15 reps then the heavier the weight gets, we’ll come down to 12 and then we’ll come down to 10. Same thing with the other parts of the workout. It’s all about control.”
Calf Raise on Hack Machine – Superset B
To maximize tension on the calves, he holds the squeeze at the top of each rep and urges lifters not to lock out the knees and bounce.
“Make sure you hold that pause on the top of the squeeze and come all the way down to release the calves. Don’t keep your knees locked out straight. They lock out their knees and just bounce on their heels, that puts minimum effort on the calves when you do it like that.”
Incline Plate-Loaded Chest Press Machine
During chest pressing, Dauda explained that he’s trying to build the upper portion of the chest.
“First set of the day, the first one is mainly for you to get the feel of the machine and the feel of it just while you’re doing the workout. It’s not powerlifting. It’s not strongman, you’re trying to train a muscle specifically. We’re trying to target upper thickness in our chest.”
Hammer Strength Chest Press Machine – Superset A
Using a narrower grip, Dauda can effectively target the middle of his chest while bringing his arms and elbows together.
“A narrower grip gives us much more focus on squeezing the middle part of the chest,” explains Dauda. “It brings not just your pecs together, but it actively brings your elbows together.”
Seated Fly Machine – Superset B
In between sets on the seated fly machine, Dauda shared that his primary goal during the off-season is to develop muscle maturity.
“The main thing is trying to build muscle maturity. People tend to mistake that for trying to put on size. Muscle maturity is something not a lot of people talk about. Muscle maturity you cannot get it instantly. It’s maturity, it matures in time. You can be big and also look soft,” he said.
Standing Cable Fly
He finished with cable flies and revealed that he favors supersets most because they induce extra calorie burn and make his training more intense.
“I love the way it makes you feel training, super setting is my thing man. I like the intensity of supersetting. I like the intensity it gives you. I like that it burns so much calories and it takes a lot out of you and it makes your heart beat extremely fast through the whole workout. I like my workouts nice and tense, so much so that it feels like cardio, not just training.”
Already, fans and voices of the sport are giving their take on who might walk away victorious at the 2025 Mr. Olympia. Milos Sarcev, who formerly coached Dauda, doesn’t believe the Mr. Olympia champ needs any more size to contend for another title. He argued that if Dauda is chiseled enough, he’ll be incredibly difficult to overcome this October.
Dauda’s training intensity and thought process during prep could be the difference-maker onstage. The 2025 Mr. Olympia contest takes place from October 9-12 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Watch the full video from the Samson Dauda YouTube channel below:
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