“The Mutant” says his conditioning is as good three and a half weeks out from Olypmia as it was a week and a half out last year.
Nick Walker, a prominent American Men’s Open bodybuilder, has consistently dominated the industry since his debut. He obtained his pro card in 2020 and achieved remarkable triumphs at the New York Pro and Arnold Classic in 2021. Notably, in his inaugural Mr. Olympia appearance that same year, he secured a well-deserved spot in the top five. This post follows Nick Walker’s full day of eating less than four weeks from the Olympia. It’s his first Vlog for his YouTube channel, and he shows us most of his daily meals. Walker also discusses his training steps for the Olympia to retain muscle and conditioning.
After the 2021 Olympia, Walker took an extended break and returned for the 2022 Olympia, where he came in third place, improving on his former position. Despite a split with his coach, Matt Jansen, amid prep, they reunited before the competition. Walker also says he was in a dark place on the road leading to that competition.
Nick Walker’s 2023 competition journey started with a controversial second-place position at the 2023 Arnold Classic. Many expected him to win. However, Walker’s confidence is still high, and he says he plans to win the title of Mr. Olympia this year.
| Full Name: Nick Walker | ||
| Weight | Height | Date of Birth |
| 270 – 295 lbs | 5’7” | 08/03/1994 |
| Division | Era | Nationality |
| Men’s Open | 2020s – Till date | American |
Nick Walker’s Full Day of Eating
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“The Mutant” explains that this full day of eating is a carb high and date night special. Before he sent pictures and his weight to coach Matt Jansen, his stats showed a three-pound drop to 268 lbs.
Nick Walker has five meals throughout the day, and meal five is the date night meal with his girlfriend at Barry’s Steakhouse. Walker explains that this is a refeed day. Refeed days help to boost your mental health by providing a break from cutting and preventing binging. Research shows that refeed days play a role in fat reduction during competition prep (1).
Nick Walker also shares that he’s satisfied with how he feels three weeks out. He states he feels the same way he felt one week away from the competition last year.
“We are 3 and 1/2 weeks out, and my body is, you know, where I’m at three weeks out from conditioning-wise I think I was at like a week and a half out from the Olympia last year. So it’s really cool to see, um. You know, we did up the cardio a little bit; we did drop some food, which is fine. We had a 3 lb weight drop, which you know allowed me to have a pretty hefty refeed today, so I’m pretty excited about that.”
Below are his meals for the day.
Meal One
- Mega Fit Ground Beef
- Jasmine Rice
- Banana
- Almond Butter
- Morning Pill from HD
Nick Walker’s first meal of his full day of eating contains proteins, carbs, and fruits. He scrambles everything together and adds almond butter to it. He also takes his morning pills to start the day.
Meal Two (Pre-workout Meal)
- Mega Fit Chicken
- Sushi Rice
- Avocado
- 100g of Pineapple
- Pink Salt
- Low Ground Cinamon
- Pre-workout Supplement
Meal two is Nick Walker’s pre-workout meal, and he has proteins, carbs, healthy fat, and pineapples, which are healthy carbs. Pineapples also have antioxidant properties that could help soothe your muscles after working out. Walker has a pre-workout supplement for getting to the gym and exercises about an hour after eating. Research supports the importance of a pre-workout meal before training (2).
Meal Three (Post-Workout Meal)
- Megafit Chicken
- Sushi Rice
- Almond Butter
- Banana
For meal three, we see Nick Walker have more protein and carbs for his post-workout meal. He also includes almond butter and fruits. Bananas, like other fruits, reduce inflammation and replenish your muscles’ glycogen stores after working out.
Meal Four
- 99% Lean Ground Turkey
- Sushi Rice
Nick Walker again switches up his protein source for meal four and has lean ground turkey. He also adds sushi rice as the carb source for this meal.
Meal Five
- Pizza Bread
- Mashed Potatoes
- Barry’s House Steak
- Mushroom and Onions
- Caesar Salad
- Truffle Fries
- Carrot Cake
Meal five is Nick Walker’s highest-calorie meal for the day because it’s date night with his girlfriend, Maria Carvajal. Carvajal is also a fitness coach, and Coach Jansen recommended this date. Walker has pizza bread first before consuming a lovely Caesar salad. Caesar salads are an excellent source of protein and can be very nutritious.
Next, Nick Walker dives into mashed potatoes, steak, and truffle fries as the main course. He finally tops this up with a cake-sized slice of carrot cake. Finally, Nick Walker shares that he’s returning to his regular dieting routine the next day.
Nick Walker’s Training Close to the Olympia
For the day, Nick Walker was training his chest, biceps, and side delts. This tells us it was Tuesday, as those are the body parts he hits then. On his way to training, he shares that he does legs on Monday and chest, biceps, and delts on Tuesday. Wednesday is for his back and traps, while he rests on Thursdays.
On Friday, Nick Walker hits his legs again, but the exercise is more quad-focused. He then does shoulders, triceps, and a little chest for Saturdays. Sundays are another off day for Walker, and then he resumes the routine again on Monday.
For this workout, Nick Walker states that he didn’t try to push or beat any personal records. It was just about getting in a good squeeze and increasing his volume. Research shows a high training volume improves muscle hypertrophy and growth (3). He also shares that his strength level is still high, and is happy with that.
“I did um separate the body parts just a little bit more, being closer to the show. I just want to give attention where it’s needed to the body parts, especially with the energy being low.”
Finally, The Mutant discusses separating his body parts for training since he’s close to competition. This allows him to give each part proper attention and helps him bypass his lower energy levels since he’s in the cutting phase. Nick also says coach Matt Jansen is having him up his cardio and do about half an hour after his training. Check out this article that discusses doing cardio before or after your workouts.
You can watch Nick Walker’s full day of eating here:
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References
- Fernandes, H. (2022). Without refeeding days, drastically reducing calories in the pre-competition phase may does not guarantee a better reduction in bodybuilder’s body fat percentage. Clinical Nutrition Open Science, 43, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nutos.2022.03.003
- Ormsbee, M. J., Bach, C. W., & Baur, D. A. (2014). Pre-exercise nutrition: the role of macronutrients, modified starches and supplements on metabolism and endurance performance. Nutrients, 6(5), 1782–1808. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6051782
- Longo, A. R., Silva-Batista, C., Pedroso, K., de Salles Painelli, V., Lasevicius, T., Schoenfeld, B. J., Aihara, A. Y., de Almeida Peres, B., Tricoli, V., & Teixeira, E. L. (2022). Volume Load Rather Than Resting Interval Influences Muscle Hypertrophy During High-Intensity Resistance Training. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 36(6), 1554–1559. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003668
