Bodybuilder Nick Walker reveals his key trick for building a massive chest

Nick "The Mutant" Walker is constantly working on improving his character for the Men's Open. In a recent video on his Instagram, he shared with fans a key training detail that helped him develop a more massive chest. If you too struggle with your chest lagging behind the rest of your body, this tip could change your training.

The road to perfection and plans for the Olympia

While Walker didn't defend his role as heavy favorite at Mr. Olympia in 2025, finishing a disappointing sixth place, he worked all the more on his weaknesses. His return to the top kicked off at the 2026 Arnold Classic. Despite having the title taken from him by Chinedu Andrew 'Jacked' Obieke, Walker managed to defeat Hadi Choopan for the first time in his career, which he described as a huge personal victory. He's now fully focused on progressing in the gym to ensure he qualifies for the upcoming Olympia (there's speculation he'll compete at the Texas Pro).

The secret to growth.

The key to Walker's muscle growth, in his own words, is incorporating higher rep counts, especially when working out on machines.

"I know not everyone is a proponent of higher rep counts. But if I keep it between 12 and 15 - and I rarely go below 10, maybe a set of 8 reps once every Ugandan year - everything grows much better," Nick explains.

While he rarely goes below 15 (or 12) reps for leg workouts, his ideal zone for chest is 10 to 12 reps. He places extreme emphasis on hard muscle contraction and a slow negative phase (controlled lowering of the weight).

Main trick: Chest pushes, hands just hold the weight

The essential tip Walker recommends applying to any pressing exercise on the machine relates to your "mind-muscle connection."

"When I'm doing push-ups on any machine now, I'm basically forcing my chest to push the weight out, and I'm not involving my arms as much. I try to have my arms just serve as hooks to hold the weight, but I imagine that my chest is the only one leading and controlling the whole upward movement," Walker reveals.

This subtle detail, he says, can make a huge difference - especially for the parts that are lagging behind. Changing the focus from just "moving the weight from point A to point B" to "maximizing chest involvement" is the only way to go, he says.

Destroy the muscles, not the ego

Walker admits that you won't be able to lift the absolute heaviest weights with this technique. But the result is massive blood flow (pump) and real muscle stimulation. Pushing extremely heavy one-arms may be fun, he says, but if you don't get the muscle sufficiently exercised, you won't get anything out of it.

His advice at the end says it all:

"Most of your training should be about destroying the muscle you're currently training, not everything else around it. We're bodybuilders, not triathletes."

If you want to take your chest training to the next level, remember Walker's advice the next time you visit the gym. Drop the ego, focus on maximum contraction, slow the downward motion, and let your pectoral muscles do all the work!