“I went to a very dark place” - Nick Walker opens up on his path to 2022 Olympia
Men’s Open bodybuilding star Nick Walker finished third at the 2022 Mr. Olympia. Following the event, the American bodybuilder came out to state that he was content with the results. Now, Walker has revealed that he was ‘in a dark place’ before competing last month, following his split with coach Matt Jansen.
"Me and Matt [Jansen] broke up. I went to a very dark place."
Reflecting on his path to his appearance at the 2022 Olympia, Walker said that he was struggling with pressure. ‘The Mutant’ revealed that he even considered pulling out of the competition. He opened up on the “self-induced pressure” and said that it had affected his mindset during preparation for the coveted event.
In a conversation with Guy Cisternino on his YouTube channel, Nick Walker said:
“The expectations that I had on me — the social media made things 10 times worse. So, then after I got fifth at Olympia, I wanted to do the [2022] Arnold. Because I thought to myself, somehow, I need to stay relevant and keep going… When the smart decision mentally, was, ‘nah dude, you’re done, let’s take a break.’ Because of the expectations and self-induced pressure, and everyone is like, ‘oh, do the Arnold and reclaim the title and do this and that,’ and it’s starts to f**k with you really really bad.”
He added:
“Because of how quick the success was, I never had the time to grasp and sit down and take in everything. I still haven’t. I’m third in the world in my second year as a pro.”
Nick Walker on losing coach Matt Jansen
Amid his prep, Nick Walker split with his longtime coach Matt Jansen. While the reason for their separation remains unclear, many claim that there were differences between the them over two events. Fans suspect that the 28-year-old wanted to compete at the 2022 Arnold Classic while his coach was adamant about resting his body for the Olympia prep.
Either way, things got worse for him after the split. The American revealed that nothing "felt right" working with his new trainer, Dom ‘Supersliced’ Mutascio.
Opening up on the split, Nick Walker said:
“Because of that I developed a lot of issues. Me and Matt [Jansen] broke up. I went to a very dark place. I moved [from New Jersey]. I’ll be honest, that was probably a very emotional decision I made — I don’t regret it, but I shouldn’t have done it. It led to me working with someone else [Dom Mutascio] that I knew wasn’t right for me. Nothing against him, he was a great coach, but nothing felt right.”
However, the coach-athlete duo got back together in late September.
He added:
“I was in such a dark place that it affected our relationship at the very beginning, luckily, she stuck it out… Once, me and Matt got back together, and once Maria came back down to Tampa before we left to go to Vegas, I can’t even tell you why coming here was such a big a** weight lifted off my shoulders.”
Nick Walker also opened up about considering pulling out of the 2022 Olympia contest due to a lack of confidence. However, the bodybuilder fought his way through the issues and finished third at the event. Walker’s strong finish behind Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford was lauded by many.