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Nick Walker isn’t taking a break after earning the biggest win of his career. In an October 18 video, he pushed through a brutal chest workout and offered tips weeks before the 2027 Arnold Classic.
Heading into the 2026 Mr. Olympia, Walker was largely counted out. Very few bodybuilding veterans actually thought he could win. However, when the athletes hit the stage, it was clear Walker brought lights-out conditioning. His leg separation and shredded hamstring detail helped him create distance with the rest of the lineup in Vegas.
He became the 20th athlete to earn the Sandow trophy, defeating Samson Dauda and Derek Lunsford in the finals. While many newly crowned Olympia champs take some time off following their triumphs, Walker took a different route. He immediately jumped in the 2027 Arnold Classic, where a massive $750,000 winner’s purse awaits the next champion.
Find his exercises from the video below:
In the video, Walker broke down how he’s currently structuring his training:
“Doing a little shoulders, triceps, and well, I actually switched it up. I do shoulders, chest, one exercise for bis, one exercise for tris, and one for back. I do it that way because Monday, we are basically the same thing but start with chest, and I’ll do one bi, one tri. Tuesday I’ll do back, and do one bi, one tri. I separate it that way. I feel like my arms get more out of it,” he said.
Walker continued with the workout, performing slow, controlled reps on the shoulder press machine. After his one-arm cable lateral raise sets, he gave tips to a fellow lifter, encouraging him to keep the eccentric slow.
Walker’s pointer on the decline chest fly machine was to stretch the pec fibers effectively without putting your rotator cuffs in a vulnerable position.
“When you stretch, you want to go far enough to where the entire chest is stretched, but not too far to where now you’re fucking up your rotator cuff. Right about here, hold it there for a hot second, boom [bring it in], all chest. Slight bend, just very slight.”
He explained at this stage of his career, he keeps his weight under 280.
“I have all the size I need in terms of not pushing weight up, like I don’t need to be 300 pounds or anything like that. It’s one of those things. Let’s just say my weight got to that but my conditioning and everything was where it needs to be, waist was still tight whatever, then it’s whatever to me at that point. Is that my mindset? No. I don’t really feel the need to go over like 280.”
To improve his physique for Ohio, Walker said he’s working on his quad sweeps, upper chest, and back density.
“Right now, it’s just about adding size to the right areas to where it’s needed. The sweeps. I don’t think you can ever go wrong with some upper chest. A little more back density.”
He finished the session with bicep curls and kept intensity high on the seated cable row machine.
“Trying to go for one or two-rep PRs, or trying to get those reps that don’t even matter… I just don’t see a point. Slow control, keep tension, explode up, squeeze, hold it in the stretch for a hot second, and repeat. Your pump will be outrageous. Your muscles will start to grow.”
Though “The Mutant” enters the 2027 Arnold as the on-paper favorite, not everyone is convinced it’ll be an easy victory. According to Dennis James, he’d be very worried if he were Nick Walker because Hadi Choopan hasn’t competed for almost a year and is fresher heading into the event.
Walker isn’t letting up inside the gym and wants to improve on his Olympia package. The 2027 Arnold Classic is set for March 4-7 in Columbus, Ohio.
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