The official countdown for the 2024 Mr. Olympia has begun as athletes dig into their preparations with a new sense of urgency. In the latest Prime Time Muscle Podcast shared on August 15, 2024, judge Terrick El Guindy elaborated on how Nick Walker can win the title without aesthetics thanks to his impressive levels of dense mass and conditioning.
Questions about Walker’s trajectory in the Open class took over the internet last year after he was forced to bow out of the 2023 Olympia contest. He suffered a devastating hamstring and calf tear. Although Walker would have liked to tough it out on stage, he was unable to walk, which led to his withdrawal. Instead, he watched his rival Derek Lunsford make history as the first two-division Mr. Olympia winner.
Some fans would have loved to have seen Walker receive a special invite for the prestigious show this season, but ‘The Mutant’ had other plans. He carefully prepared for the 2024 New York Pro; his efforts paid off as he clinched his Olympia qualification following a close encounter with Martin Fitzwater. His sights are now set on the biggest contest of the year, where on his third attempt, he will aim to become the 19th man to hold the Sandow trophy.
Terrick El Guindy Explains How Nick Walker’s Dense Mass Could Be The X-Factor at 2024 Mr. Olympia
According to El Guindy, there’s three pieces of criteria that make a great bodybuilding champion: mass, conditioning, and aesthetics. While Walker has mass and conditioning, he lacks aesthetics, but El Guindy argues he could still win gold despite that shortcoming.
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“Nick Walker has a factor that’s very very hard to beat. He’s got two of the criterias in bodybuilding in order to be a great champion. He doesn’t have the third one. He doesn’t have the lines. He’s not Samson Dauda. He’s never going to be Samson Dauda or some of these guys with aesthetically pleasing lines but he’s got a ton of mass and a ton of conditioning.”
“In bodybuilding, you don’t need to have all three criterias to win. Samson Dauda won the Arnold Classic with beautiful lines and size. He didn’t have the conditioning. So, when people go well Nick Walker doesn’t have the most pleasing lines, well Dorian Yates was not as aesthetically pleasing as Flex Wheeler and he won the Olympia six times.”
He believes shorter bodybuilders like Walker can expose taller competitors like Andrew Jacked and Samson Dauda.
Last year, when Derek Lunsford and Hadi Choopan hit a few poses, they were more massly densed than Samson Dauda, Brandon Curry, and Andrew Jacked, especially on some of these side shots. The shorter guys, they kind of expose Andrew Jacked and Samson, and Brandon was not at his best.”
Looking ahead, El Guindy mentioned that Walker’s density, especially from the side, could give him an edge against the top contenders at Mr. Olympia.
“This guy is now going to the lineup. What’s going to happen is when Steve Weinberger calls a side chest and side triceps, we are no longer going to look at Derek and Hadi and go wow, they are a lot more massly dense than everybody.
There’s going to be a guy more dense than them and his name is Nick Walker. Whether you like it or not, on those side poses, Nick Walker is going to overpower everybody.”
In a direct comparison with Samson Dauda, El Guindy states that Walker is at a disadvantage because he lacks the same ‘beautiful lines.’
“Nick Walker posing next to Samson Dauda, even though Samson might not be conditioned as Nick, he benefits Samson because he over-emphasizes Samson Dauda’s beautiful lines. Nick Walker posing between Derek Lunsford and Hadi Choopan, he takes away that dense image that we have of those two shorter guys against Samson Dauda, Andrew Jacked.”
When it comes to side poses, El Guindy believes Walker’s density is by far his greatest weapon.
“All of a sudden it’s this guy Nick Walker, so it changes the lineup. Like Tim said, he’s taking away poses that possibly Derek and Hadi were winning. Now, Derek and Hadi might be second on that pose,” adds El Guindy.
Aside from the reigning titleholder Derek Lunsford, who else might prevent Walker from the biggest win of his career? Hadi Choopan. ‘The Persian Wolf’ picked up steam this season having secured gold at the 2024 Arnold Classic Ohio and UK shows. Choopan defeated Dauda in both appearances, further solidifying himself as the de facto number-one contender.
Dauda, who out-performed Walker at the 2023 Arnold Classic, is another favorite to shake up the Mr. Olympia. His mass, aesthetic appeal, and recent improvements to his back could spell trouble for not just Walker but the entire Men’s Open lineup.
If history can predict the future, Nick Walker has only moved up on the Mr. Olympia stage throughout his career, and since he took third in 2022, we may see him move into second or first place when all is said and done in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“It’s going to be real real competitive this Olympia,” El Guindy stated.
Watch the full video from the Olympia TV YouTube channel below:
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