2022 Mr. Olympia bronze medalist and 2023 Arnold Classic runner-up Nick Walker is amidst his prep for the 2023 Olympia on Nov. 2-5, 2023, in Orlando, FL. Walker is dialing in his physique as he decreases his calorie intake to tighten up the package he presents to the Olympia judges.
On Aug. 24, 2023, “The Mutant” published a video on his YouTube channel showcasing his leg training three months out from the 2023 Olympia. Watch his workout below:
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Physique Update
Walker weighed 285 pounds at the time of the above recording, up 10 to 15 pounds from his Olympia weight in 2022. While he still has weight to lose during his cut, he and his coach aim to have his weight fall off to reveal the tighter, more aesthetic physique they’re aiming for.
A major focus of Walker’s physique target is his “quad sweep,” where the quadriceps bows from the hips and tapers toward the knees. In a side chest pose, the quad sweep offers visual flow to the pose while also showing off the size of the quad.
Hamstring Training
Walker begins training with lying leg curls, both bilateral (two-legged) and unilateral (indicating one-legged). He trained two working sets of eight to 10 reps and a lighter, more controlled set in the same rep range. He added a rest-pause set at the end, which is used to push the muscle beyond failure for more damage and, therefore, subsequent growth. Walker followed those with Smith machine deadlifts, biasing a deep stretch at the bottom.
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Walker isn’t lifting heavy at this stage of his prep. Rather, he controls the negatives for more time under tension. Walker knows many fans, followers, and commenters on his channel lament the days of heavy lifts, but Walker is more interested in refining his shape instead of “puff up everywhere,” as he put it.
Walker’s current training split trains each muscle group every four days, leaving reps in reserve.
Quad Sweep Training
For his quads, Walker begins with a heavy leg press in the 10 to 15-rep range, pausing at the bottom without using momentum. For his hamstring-centric training, Walker performs less volume on the leg press but maintains high intensity. In the training session recorded above, Walker loaded seven weight plates on each side of the leg press, totaling 630 pounds.
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Next, he performed hack squats with a slow eccentric through his full range of motion, descending below parallel in the 10 to 20-rep range for his working sets. Walker finished his workout with dumbbell Bulgarian split squats superset with hip abductions.
Walker hit two working sets for every exercise on his leg day workout. Walker says he feels stronger from fueling his body properly, is getting leaner, and notices his physique tightening. He’ll aim to peak at the 2023 Olympia to dethrone reigning Mr. Olympia Hadi Choopan in November.
Featured image: @nick_walker39 on Instagram
