By Gary Chappell
Yinka Majolagbe used to take inspiration from action hero videos sent home to Nigeria by his dad. That spurred him on to winning a FitX show five yeas ago. On Friday, September 25, 2026, he will step on to the Olympia stage for the first time as a 212 competitor.
And the man standing in his corner believes there is no limit to where he can go.
Nathan Smart has coached Majolagbe for the past five years, watching the British 212 competitor develop from his early days at FitX into an Olympia athlete in what has been a remarkably short period of time.
“It’s evolved in ways we could never have anticipated,” Smart told FrontDouble.com. “I knew he always had great potential even from the very start, but to go from FitX to the Olympia in such a short period of time is almost unheard of.”
Now Smart is in Las Vegas with Majolagbe as the final preparations for his Olympia debut take place.
Smart says he deliberately avoided treating this Olympia prep as something completely different from any other contest preparation. Instead, the process remained familiar, but the standard had to rise.
“I’ve tried to treat this prep like any other prep we’ve ever done,” said Smart. “The only difference is we’ve set the bar higher, as we knew a whole new level of conditioning was needed even from the Olympia qualifier. [in Prague, October 2025]”
One of the key areas Smart and Majolagbe identified in order to be more competitive was the lower body.
“We knew we had to bring up the quads to balance out his physique so that was a priority for us after Prague,” said Smart. “Then it was just taking overall conditioning to a new level.”
It is part of a broader evolution that Smart believes has transformed Majolagbe's physique without losing the qualities that make him distinctive.
For Smart, that means bringing something different to the 212 stage.
“He is the perfect balance of mass with class,” he said. “Bringing a 90s look to the 212 division. Density, mass, thickness with Classic lines and structure.”
There is plenty of physical work involved in getting an athlete ready for an Olympia. Or any bodybuilding show for that matter.
But Smart believes one message matters above everything else as Majolagbe prepares to make his debut.
“Believe in yourself. Truly believe in yourself,” he said. “If you do – the sky is the limit.”
And Smart is not simply talking about what could happen this weekend. He sees Majolagbe's potential extending far beyond his first 212 Olympia appearance.
With years of experience peaking Majolagbe, Smart says the final days are about trusting a process they know well rather than making unnecessary changes.
“Having peaked Yinka for five years, we now have a very good grasp on how to get the most out his physique in the final stretch,” he said.
“But mainly just letting his body relax, start to reduce any stress / inflammation, start filling him up and drying him out...without giving all his secrets away!”
Majolagbe is entering a 212 field containing established Olympia names and several athletes making their own first appearances on bodybuilding's biggest stage.
For Smart, there is a straightforward benchmark when it comes to judging the success of a debut.
“If anyone who cracks top 10 on their Olympia debut it would be seen a huge success,” he said. “But if we can push for top five that would be considered a win for us.”
The ambition is clear, but so is the longer-term thinking. Because Smart is not looking at this Olympia as the destination. He sees it as another stage in Majolagbe's development.
At three days out from his Olympis debut, FrontDouble checked in with Team Smart again. Asked how Yinka is feeling with the big one just hours away, Smart said: "Anyone who is close to Yinka will tell you he is a man of little words. His confidence comes from execution.
"The work has been done. Face sunk, glutes peeled. That’s his talking.
It's been very relaxed here in Vegas this week. It’s just eat, train, pose, rest. We’ve been here over and over. We know what’s needed."
Asked how far he believes his athlete can go in the sport, Smart does not hesitate.
“After seeing the progress he’s made over the last five years and seeing how much progress he’s still making year to year, I know he has the potential to go all the way to the very top.”
Then comes the line that perhaps sums up his belief in Majolagbe better than anything else.
“There is no ceiling cap for him.”
On Friday, Yinka Majolagbe gets his first opportunity to find out just how high that ceiling might be.
Leave a Reply