Samson Dauda Profile and Workout Routine

Samson Dauda is the reigning 2024 Mr. Olympia. The 2022 Mr. Olympia will go down as one of the shows that brought many new faces to the forefront and marked the change of guard to the Men’s Open division. Nigerian-British bodybuilder Samson Dauda is one of the competitors that left their mark on the event. Over the last few years, Dauda has made gradual and steady improvements in his physique which are imminent in the results.

Making his Olympia debut in 2022, The Nigerian Lion walked away with a sixth-place finish behind former 2-time Mr. Olympia Mamdouh ‘Big Ramy’ Elsbiay and impressed the bodybuilding community. However, it was his performance at the 2024 Mr. Olympia that cemented his legacy after he won gold against Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford. This is his complete biography, workout, and diet regimen as well as statistics.

Samson Dauda

(Professional Bodybuilder)

Full Name: Samson Dauda (The Nigerian Lion)
Weight	Height	Age
Weight – 275 – 330 lbs (124 – 150 kg)	5’11” (180.44 cm)	Not Known
Date of Birth	Era	Nationality
Not Known	2020	Nigerian

Early Life

Born in Nigeria, Samson Dauda moved to the United Kingdom and currently resides there. Rugby was Dauda’s passion during the earlier days. His teammates there pushed the Nigerian-British bodybuilder to pursue bodybuilding. However, he opted out after the local gym owner – Chris Jones – explained to Dauda the process to prepare for a competitive bodybuilding show. It was not until 2013 that Dauda got real interest in pursuing bodybuilding as a career. Dauda was extremely impressed by 2013 Mr. Olympia Phil Heath’s physique and decided to take up bodybuilding as a profession.

Samson Dauda entered the world of bodybuilding and participated in his first bodybuilding competition in 2014. He secured victory at the show and started his journey to becoming one of the most elite competitors of this era.

Career and Competition

Samson Dauda competed in the European circuit until 2017. A win at the 201 IFBB Amateur Diamond Cup Rome in the 90kg-plus division and overall earned him the IFBB Pro card. Dauda made his Pro bodybuilding debut with a fifth place finish at the 2018 EVLS Prague Pro Showdown. Following a couple of lackluster performances, the Nigerian-British bodybuilder registered an impressive performance at the 2019 British Grand Prix and achieved a second place finish behind the winner Nathan De Asha, beating the likes of James Hollingshead in the process.

Samson Dauda grabbed the attention of the bodybuilding community as a serious contender when he became a runner-up at the 2021 Arnold Classic UK, losing to Nathan De Asha once again. However, his massively improved physique and excellent conditioning was appreciated by everyone. Dauda made incremental progress in his career from this point onwards. Following a couple of good finishes, Dauda earned a direct qualification to the 2022 Mr. Olympia with a win at the 2021 EVLS Prague Pro. However, he still chose to compete at the 2021 Romania Muscle Fest Pro shortly after, finishing second.

Dauda entered the 2022 Arnold Classic as a dark horse. In spite of the hype surrounding other bodybuilders’ names, Samson Dauda predicted the outcome of the event with near perfection.

“Brandon (Curry) obviously, top place. You can’t even deny that… William (Bonac) definitely, either close second or a battle for second place. I want to be there at the third place. Then you have, I would say, Regan (Grimes) somewhere in the top five… Steve (Kuclo) right in there,” Samson Dauda predicted.

Dauda’s prediction was accurate for the most part and he came close to his desired spot, finishing fourth in the Men’s Open division at the show.

Having secured an invitation to the Maiden Olympia competition already, Samson Dauda started preparing for the 2022 Mr. Olympia after another fourth place finish at the 2022 Boston Pro.

Dauda’s size was his biggest asset heading into the Olympia debut as he tipped the scales at a whopping 330lbs in his off-season physique updates. The 2022 Mr. Olympia had highly touted prospects like Andrew Jacked and Michal Krizo making their debut. Although Samson Dauda had made significant improvements in his physique, not a lot of people were sold on the possibility of him being a real threat in the Men’s Open division. However, veteran bodybuilders like Chris Cormier had foreseen Dauda’s potential and opined that Samson Dauda can definitely do damage at the 2022 Olympia if ‘he controls the mid-section’.

The Nigerian-British bodybuilder stepped on the Olympia stage against arguably the most difficult line-up of competitors in recent history. To the surprise of many, Dauda did exceptionally well and walked away with a sixth place finish, missing a top five spot with a razor thin margin. Veteran bodybuilder Milos Sarcev argued that Samson Dauda ‘should have defeated’ Nick Walker for the third place. Dauda took the results in a positive spirit and expressed his gratitude for the outcome in an Instagram post.

“Never ever in my wildest dreams, I would have dreamt of being number six best bodybuilder in the world, let alone in my first ever @mrolympiallc! Words cannot describe how I’m feeling and how proud I am of our achievement,” Samson Dauda wrote in the caption to his Instagram post.

In 2023, Sasmon Dauda won the Arnold Classic title defeating finalists Andrew Jacked and Nick Walker. From there, he earned gold at the Romania Muscle Fest Pro and EVLS Prague Pro. While he made a return at the 2024 Arnold Classic to defend his title, he was denied by the sheer conditioning of Hadi Choopan. He also took second to ‘The Persian Wolf’ at the 2024 Arnold Classic UK show. 

Dauda made a gamble before his next Mr. Olympia competition. He competed overseas at the 2024 Tsunami Pro in France, which he won handily. While some thought it could affect him at the 2024 Mr. Olympia, it didn’t. Dauda turned in the best performance of his career to capture the sport’s most prestigious title, becoming the 19th man to hold the Sandow trophy. 

Competition History

• 2015 IFBB Amateur Olympia UK – 8th
• 2017 IFBB Arnold Classic Amateur Europe – 5th
• 2017 UKBBF British Championships – 2nd
• 2017 IFBB Amateur Diamond Cup Rome (Over 90 kg) – 1st
• 2017 IFBB Amateur Diamond Cup Rome (Overall) – 1st (Won the IFBB Pro card)
• 2018 EVLS Prague Showdown – 5th (Pro Debut – Men’s Open)
• 2018 George Farah Classic Pro Italy – 9th
• 2018 Romania Muscle Fest Pro – 11th
• 2019 British Grand Prix – 2nd
• 2019 Chicago Pro – 7th
• 2019 Vancouver Pro – 8th
• 2019 Portugal Pro (Mr. Big Evolution) – 5th
• 2020 Monsterzym Pro – 2nd
• 2020 Europa Pro – 5th
• 2020 British Grand Prix Pro – 6th
• 2021 Arnold Classic UK – 2nd
• 2021 Yamamoto Cup Pro – 3rd
• 2021 KO Pro Egypt – 3rd
• 2021 EVLS Prague Pro – 1st
• 2021 Romania Muscle Fest Pro – 2nd
• 2022 Arnold Classic – 4th
• 2022 Boston Pro – 4th
• 2022 Olympia – 6th
• 2023 Arnold Classic – 1st
• 2023 Romania Muscle Fest Pro – 1st 
• 2023 EVLS Prague Pro – 1st 
• 2024 Arnold Classic – 2nd 
• 2024 Arnold Classic UK – 2nd 
• 2024 Tsunami Pro – 1st 
• 2024 Mr. Olympia – 1st 

Training Routine

Samson Dauda’s training routine is obviously an effective one and his muscular physique is the testimony to that. His training split includes legs, back, arms, chest and shoulders workouts. Dauda’s training focuses on isolating every muscle group with specific exercises for all-round development. Dauda has collaborated with Hosstile YouTube channel on multiple occasions and shared his workouts on their YouTube channel. Here is the summary of Samson Dauda’s training routine.

Legs

Samson Dauda’s leg workout does not include a wide variety of exercises. Instead, he chooses to do four to five basic isolation and compound exercises that cover all the lower body muscles. While it may come across as insufficient at the first glance, Dauda makes sure to stimulate each and every muscle to a great extent with an excellent combination of load and volume. Needless to say, his lower body workout gets as intense as it can be with supersets. Overall, it includes:

• Superset – Kneeling Leg Curls and Lying Leg Curls
• Superset – Linear Hack Squats and Leg Extensions
• Leg Press

Back

While vertical pulls like lat pulldowns and pull-ups give you a wide back, horizontal pulls like rows give your back the thickness. Samson Dauda’s back training routine is a combination of both types of movements and his wide and thick back speaks volumes about it. Overall, Samson Dauda’s back workout includes:

• Wide Grip Neutral Pulldown
• Cable Row
• Rack Pull
• Hammer Strength Low Row
• Superset – Close Grip Lat Pulldown and Rope Pullover

Arms

Samson Dauda’s arms workout mostly focuses on using machines rather than free weights. He makes sure to work the biceps and triceps from different angles and levels to epmhasize different parts of the muscle. He maximises the outcome through high volume and slow, controlled movements. Overall, his arms workout includes:

• Machine Preacher Curls
• Unilateral Machine Preacher Curls
• Rope Triceps Pushdown
• Crossbody Dumbbell Hammer Curls
• Kneeling Close Grip Dip Press on Seated Leg Curls Machine
• Unilateral Cable Triceps Extensions with D-handles
• Barbell Shrugs

Shoulders

Targeting the anterior, lateral and posterior deltoid muscles is important for complete shoulder development. Samson Dauda’s shoulder workout gives equal importance to all three parts through specific exercises and ensures they get the stimulus. Overall, the shoulder workout includes:

• Smith Machine Seated Overhead Press
• Plate Lateral Raises
• Bent Over Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raises
• Barbell Upright Rows
• Reverse Pec Deck Flyes
• Unilateral Reverse Grip Cable Front Raise

Chest

Samson Dauda’s chest training focuses on high volume. Centred around three simple chest exercises, it prioritises improving the pushing as well as adduction ability of the chest muscles through pressing and flying movements. Overall, it includes:

• Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
• Machine Chest Press
• Pec Deck Flyes

Diet and Nutrition

Samson Dauda is a massive bodybuilder and can only be compared with former 2-time Mr. Olympia Mamdouh ‘Big Ramy’ Elsbiay in terms of sheer size. He weighs between 275 lbs and 330 lbs during the off-season and competition prep. Dauda’s impressive physique is fueled by a disciplined diet of high-quality food. His diet mainly comprises incredibly simple foods like Chicken, steak, rice and oats. Additionally, Dauda has also shared the supplement stack he uses for extra push.

Off-season Diet

During off-season, Samson Dauda’s day starts with a wholesome breakfast consisting of oats, eggs and protein shake. The rest of the day, Dauda typically eats four steak meals and one chicken meal. The choice of protein is accompanied by rice or pasta along with other foods like sweet potato, smoothies or yoghourt drinks. He eats a total of six small meals spread across the day. The primary objective of an arduous bodybuilding diet is to fuel muscle growth and there is no to very little emphasis on taste. However, Dauda uses ingredients like different sauces and olive oil for his off-season diet to make the food more enjoyable. Dauda’s full day of eating during off-season looks like this:

Meal 1

• Rolled Oats – 130 grams
• Whey Protein Isolate – 1 Scoop
• 5 Whole eggs fried in butter with a dash of milk, topped with sauce
• 1.5 scoops of essential amino acids plus hydration support in water

Meal 2

• Sweet Potato – 400 grams
• Steak – 200 grams
• Apple and Kiwi smoothie

Meal 3 (Pre-workout meal)

• Pasta – 200 grams
• Ground beef with sauce – 200 grams

Intra-workout shake

• Intra-workout – 1 scoop with a tablespoon of Bloodshot pre-workout pump by Hosstile

Post-workout shake

• Whey Protein Isolate – 2 scoops
• Banana – 1 large

Meal 4

• White rice – 2 cups with a drizzle of olive oil with sauce
• Chicken breast – 250 grams
• Whey protein Isolate – 2 scoops (20 minutes after finishing the meal)

Meal 5

• Lean ground beef – 200 grams
• White rice – 2 cups
• Tomato sauce
• Whey Protein Isolate – 2 scoops (20 minutes after finishing the meal)

Meal 6

• Steak – 200 grams
• Spicy Mexican Microwave rice – 1 pack
• Yoghourt drink

Competition Prep Diet

Dauda’s competition prep diet is similar to the off-season diet with some changes in the portion sizes. He strips the diet of toppings and flavoring substances like sauces from most of his meals to meet the dietary requirements. Overall, the full day of eating during the competition prep looks like this:

Meal 1

• Oatmeal – 90 grams
• Whey Protein Isolate – 2 scoops
• Whole eggs – 5

Meal 2

• Sweet Potato – 250 grams
• Steak – 200 grams

Meal 3 (Pre-workout meal)

• Rice – 1.5 cups
• Chicken breast – 250 grams
• Jerk sauce topping

Intra-workout drink

• Pre-workout powder – 1 scoop
• Intra-workout powder – 1 scoop
• Beta Alanine powder – 1 scoop
• Creatine Monohydrate – 1 scoop
• Glutamine powder – 1 scoop
• Citrulline powder – 1 scoop

Post-workout supplement stack

• Whey Protein Isolate – 1 scoop
• Cluster Dextrin Carb Powder – 1 scoop

Meal 4 (Post-workout meal)

• Rice – 1.5 cups
• Chicken Breast – 250 grams

Meal 5

• Rice – 1.5 cups
• Chicken Breast – 250 grams

Meal 6

• Salmon – 200 grams

Personal Life

A family man, Samson Dauda is married to Marlenka. She plays a crucial role in maintaining Samson’s bodybuilding lifestyle. Marlenka likes to cook healthy food for Samson Dauda. She also takes care of everyday matters to help him focus on achieving the ultimate goal of winning the Mr. Olympia title. As of now, the couple has no kids. However, Samson’s dog Cerberus is an integral part of the family and accompanies him throughout the day.

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