Nowadays, almost every major competitor in bodybuilding works with a coach. There are new coaches coming up every year trying to make their mark. One of the pioneers of this field is Chad Nicholls. “The Diet Doc” worked with his wife, Kim Chizevsky in the late 1990s as well as several male superstars of that era. He may be best associated for his work with eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman.
Nowadays, he’s been working with the two-time and defending Olympia champion, Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay. Nicholls and Dennis James have been allies of Elssbiay in recent years, which may be why he’s reached the summit of the sport.
James had Chad Nicholls join him on a recent episode of “The Menace Podcast” to look back at his multi-decade career and share his opinions on numerous topics. Among those is the field of contenders that look to dethrone the champion at the 2022 Olympia. Nicholls feels that as long as Elssbiay does what he is supposed to do, no one in the sport can knock him off his throne.
“I don’t necessarily think that there’s a guy that’s a threat to Ramy that’s competing right now,” Nicholls told James. He did offer a caveat after making that proclamation.
“If something happens and he doesn’t do what he needs to do, then he opens the door for everybody to step in a little closer.”
So, what does Ramy have to do in order to successfully defend his title in 2022? According to Nicholls, he needs to be on point, but a little more size would be a great addition to his already impressive physique.
“Our game plan is still conditioning, but at the same time, you take an entire year of training, which he probably hadn’t had for numerous years, getting a whole year dedicated to bodybuilding, pushing as hard as he can with everything timed perfect…there’s no telling what he’s capable of,” Nicholls said. He even projected a certain bodyweight that he feels the Egyptian superstar could compete at.
“So, there’s no doubt that the potential to be three, you know, 300 to 304 (pounds), somewhere in that ballpark, in better shape than he’s been in the last two years.”
Nicholls also spoke about his time working with Kim as well as Ronnie Coleman, the strength of his two sons, thoughts about other Olympia competitors as well as up and coming stars he sees potential in, and a lot more. The Menace Podcast can be seen over at the Muscle & Fitness YouTube channel
