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by Christian Duque
In the legal profession we have a saying, “if you represent yourself, you have a fool as a client.” The meaning is that even if you’re an excellent attorney and do great work for others, you should never represent yourself. You may lack the awareness, the mental clarity. You definitely will be missing the perspective of having a fresh set of eyes. You may have the study and practice of law down pat, but you just shouldn’t do it.
And does Nick Walker have his training down pat? Does Nick have his nutrition down pat? How much did Kyle Wilkes help? I mean Kyle is a big name in the industry and has a tremendous amount of knowledge with regards to diet, training, and supplements.
In a recent video, Nick made the point that once you work with someone long enough – whether it’s a coach or a trainer – you start to pick up the tools of the trade. Plus there’s a lot of foundational knowledge according to The Mutant. That foundational knowledge might be the product of simple trial and error. He didn’t elaborate and I’m very much speculating; however, for a guy that was talking like he was going to win the Olympia and fell considerably short, I don’t think Walker is in any kind of position to be waxing intellectual in terms of contest prep. Especially since he didn’t legitimately earn a Top 6 placing. I mean, let’s be real here. This is, IRON MAG, afterall. We don’t cookie-cut and we don’t walk on eggshells just to avoid ruffling a 300lb bodybuilder’s feathers. If you’re going to compete with the best in the world, then you should be able to accept constructive criticism. Right?
When it comes to criticism I have a lot to dish out on Nick. He is a guy that lets his mouth get the best of him. I mean to suggest that he was going to beat Derek, Hadi, and Samson, and do so with minimal effort was laughable. It was laughable when he said it but it was even more laughable when he got on stage looking like trash. I think that his concept of coaching might be a little bit more telling than some of us may believe. If he thinks that coaching is so simple and that he knows so much, then it stands to reason that maybe he was not listening to his coach for his Olympia prep. Maybe he was second-guessing Kyle on the d/l.
I have to say that self prepping at Nick’s can be very dangerous. It’s dangerous because you have got to deal with an individual that is so on point with their diet, their training, and their supplements at the Olympia level that even little mistakes can prove costly. It requires tremendous experience. And I just don’t know that Nick is on that level. This is a guy that before this past Olympia had missed two consecutive Olympia’s despite the fact that he was qualified. Until this day we don’t even know why. The mystery continues. And for most of his career Nick has either worked with Matt or Kyle. So to now go to work by himself because of the fact that he was around these guys for so long and saw how they did it that now he can do it, that seems CRAZY.
Plus let’s assume that Nick is using plans that they gave him. Not only is that even crazier because a plan for a competitor from last year or 2 years ago or even a few months ago may not work now. It may not work in the future, either. And assuming this is what he’s doing, what is he going to do when there is a miscalculation? Or if he cheats? Or if he has any kind of an emotional event in his life that causes cortisol levels to bounce all around? What is he going to do then? And that sort of thing happens because that sort of thing is part of life. Especially when you’re dealing with a bodybuilder on that level that is a week out, 48 hours out, maybe in between the prejudging and the night show. That’s where a real coach comes into play. Because a real coach has been there and knows how to deal with pretty much any scenario that life can throw.
But a guy who has never prepped himself and who is now at the highest levels of competition to now not just fire his coach but to become his own coach, really seems to draw a parallel with the analogy that I made about lawyers representing themselves. You very much do have a fool as a client. And after this past Olympia, I don’t know that the fans or the industry have very much more patience for Nick Walker.
And patience is important if you’re going to embark on this type of journey because there is a very high likelihood that he will not succeed by prepping himself. This would not be a drop in the bucket. There has been a lot of disappointment coming from Nick Walker and I just don’t know how much more the fans can take. More importantly than the fans in terms of Nick’s livelihood, I don’t know that he’s going to be a lot of sponsors knocking on the door if he has a shitty 2026.
He can either have a wonderful 2026 or he can have a shitty 2026.
Because he’s going to do something he has never done before. And when you’re dealing with an individual on this level of competition, he can’t exactly jump on some $10,000 stage and see how it goes. Even though he is no longer considered an Olympia threat as far as I’m concerned that’s still a big part of his schtick. He likes to play like he is in contention to win the biggest titles in the sport. So to keep that facade alive he can’t be seen competing at shows with guys who barely make the third call outs or don’t get called out at all. Therefore, if he preps himself and he’s delusional enough to think he looks amazing when in reality he looks like a pile of trash, I just don’t know how much of that the industry is willing to take. Then again, he might have just been talking. Maybe he has no intention of prepping himself.
But that also leads us to a different problem with this particular competitor. His mouth. He talks an awful lot and as a result of talking he gets himself into a lot of jams. Derek Lunsford learned this the hard way years ago when he was setting unrealistic expectations for himself. He wanted to win everything when he should have been happy being considered one of the top guys.
Derek won his pro debut and then was top five that same year in the 212 Olympia. He should have been happy to have received so many blessings but he set unrealistic expectations for himself. He made it public he was going to beat a legend then next year. Not just a legend, but the GOAT. The greatest of all times, Flex Lewis. That BIG WIN never took place and he put himself through tons of unstressed.
But when Derek started to really enjoy the journey and really focus on improvement over time, that’s when things really started to turn around and his placings soared even more. He won the 212 Olympia, then he won the open Olympia, then he won the Arnold Classic and then he went back and won back the Olympia. He never did it by trash-talking the next man. That’s not something Nick Walker can say.
Nick Walker’s mouth has been writing checks his ass has not been able to cash for years now. So if he is going to go the self-prepping route and he sees more failures, I just don’t see the Nick Walker storyline lasting much longer. People are going to start writing him off and talking about him less and less.
The last thing that Nick wants is to appear as being washed up or like a has been. He’s so young and has so much potential, but he will not be a Mr Olympia in my opinion. It is a true miracle that he was able to win the Arnold Classic and that is doable on years where the competition isn’t as tough. But the Olympia? That is a whole other story. That is just not going to happen for him. There has never been a Mr Olympia that looks like him nor should there be one that looks like him. He does not have the aesthetics, he does not have the symmetry, and his muscle just does not flow like a Mr Olympia’s muscle should.
As heartless as it may seem, I’m talking about bodybuilding’s ambassador to the world. Because that is who Mr Olympia is. And Mr Olympia should not look like Nick walker. That being said he can still have a very promising and very lucrative career in the sport of bodybuilding. He just needs to get his head out of his ass and get with the program.
If he self-preps, it’s all but guaranteed to end in failure. He should either make things right with Kyle, who I doubt would work with him again, or try to find a coach on that level. Nick needs to turn things around. At least that’s my take. As always, I like to end these articles by asking you, the loyal readers of IronMag, what say you? I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. Please be sure to copy and paste a link to this article on all your social media feeds. It is bound to generate lively conversation.
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