At this year’s Mr. Olympia, fans expected Nick Walker to place within the top 10. However, Walker surprised many when he surpassed defending champion Big Ramy to clinch the bronze medal. Not even a week has passed since Mr. Olympia 2022, and Walker’s already back in the gym. However, Walker’s first workout video has left bodybuilding fans on Instagram divided.

Nick “The Mutant” Walker showed off his massive quads on an Instagram video. However, all fans could talk about was The Mutant’s exercise selection. In the video, Walker was performing squats with slow and controlled repetitions. However, fans began debating over the fact that the Mutant was using a smith machine.

Nick Walker doesn’t take days off

The Mr. Olympia contender posted a video of himself squatting on a smith machine. Former Mr. Olympia Men’s Physique winner Mark Anthony joined Walker for his workout. “Getting back to the smith machine squats,” the Mutant captioned the video. Wakker had loaded up three 45 lbs plates on each side of the bar, totaling 270 lbs.

While the weight may not have been excessively heavy, the bronze medalist controlled each rep. The Mr. Olympia contender performed a slow, eccentric movement with the weight. However, he ended each repetition with an explosive upward concentric. While Walker’s caption hinted he had done the exercise many times before, the fans had a lot of questions.

Bodybuilding fans couldn’t agree with one another

Many fans asked Walker questions about smith’s machine squats. “Why the Smith machine?” asked a fan. Another fan asked if the smith machine helped Walker’s quads grow. “Why smith Nick?? I am recovering from a torn quad tendon.. do you find you get better growth off a smith?” However, other fans questioned why The Mutant would ditch free weights in favor of the machine.

“Why smith machine squats over free weight?” asked a fan. Another fan asked the same thing with an addition. “Why no knee sleeves and why not regular squats?” However, not all fans were skeptical about Nick’s exercise preference. Many praised the bronze medalist.

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“I’ve always preferred smith machine squats,” said a fan. “Love smith machine squats!” writes another one. “Nick hits smith squats, so do I,” wrote an inspired fan. A fourth fan praised Walker’s slow and controlled reps, “Amazing tension and form, always a fan!” he wrote.

Finally, some hit back at Walker’s critics. “I love this place we call social media, where clueless people get to second guess possibly the thickest, most shredded bodybuilder of our time on their exercise selections.” Other bodybuilding fans also made similar comments.

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Walker and his friend had no qualms with smith machine squats. However, bodybuilding fans had differing opinions.