Iain Valliere breaks down the two approaches to beating Big Ramy ahead of the Mr. Olympia 2021.
We are less than one week away from the biggest bodybuilding event of the year – Mr. Olympia 2021. This will be Big Ramy’s first chance to defend his champion status. Will he prove his win to be more than just a fluke? Or will he be another athlete to join the one and done list of single Olympia champions? Only time will tell – but in the meantime we spoke with qualified Olympia competition Iain Valliere on whether or not Ramy can be defeated. He thinks it’s a tough mountain to climb – but there is a slim margin to beat Ramy. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Iain Valliere details the only two ways that Big Ramy can be defeated at the Mr. Olympia 2021.
In 2020, Big Ramy showcased the greatest physique of his career. For the first time ever, his conditioning matched his enormous size. This made him a powerhouse and nearly unstoppable. Returning champion Brandon Curry could not hold up – nor could seven time former Olympia champion Phil Heath. Ramy was fully realized. It earned him a spot on the short list of Olympia champions.
It’s been a near year since that epic victory. We are just under a week before the Mr. Olympia 2021. This is our first time to see Big Ramy on stage competing again. Traditionally, Big Ramy’s biggest weakness has been the consistency of his conditioning. One year he will be close to on point. The next he would be completely off point. Just because Ramy won a Mr. Olympia title doesn’t mean the consistency problem will be fixed.
That being said, Big Ramy’s impressive physique in 2020 might also signal he has learned what is needed to keep his conditioning consistent. We’ll soon find out this weekend. During our conversation with fellow Olympia competitor Iain Valliere – we asked his take on Big Ramy’s physique and how he could be potentially toppled from his throne. The way Valliere sees it, there are only two viable tactics for defeating Big Ramy.
The first is to beat him in size. If a competitor can show up with insane size and conditioning to at the very least match Big Ramy – then he can lose the title. The second tactic is to look at Ramy’s weakness and exploit them. This means that a bodybuilder would focus less on size and more on absolute superior conditioning and aesthetics. Iain Valliere thinks that no competitor is currently poised to succeed with the first tactic. This leaves only conditioning and aesthetics as the superior route to defeat Ramy.
“I think there’s two ways to beat Ramy,” Iain Valliere stated in our interview. He continued:
“It’s going to come down to either a guy with really really crazy shape like a Brandon or a Nathan but compiled with really good conditioning. Or it’s going to come down to someone bigger with better conditioning. I don’t see anyone being bigger than Ramy so I think the way to beat Ramy is with detail and shape. I think trying to be bigger than the biggest guy is insanity.”
Looking back at the 2020 Mr. Olympia, Iain Valliere saw Brandon Curry as the closest competitor to take down Big Ramy.
“I think someone like Brandon last year could have closed that gap if his conditioning was a little better. Because he has the shape, he has the symmetry, he has that silhouette of, like, a very very dominant bodybuilder with the bubbliness and flow and tiny waist. Where he was just a little subpar was his conditioning in comparison [to Big Ramy]”
Iain Valliere goes on to state that Brandon Curry is still a superb athlete and is only critiquing his physique in comparison to Big Ramy. In fact, Iain Vailliere even takes himself out of the equation – stating that he is not in the right place to beat someone like Ramy at this year’s competition.
So it seems, according to Iain Valliere, the Mr. Olympia 2021 title will teeter on two factors. How on point Big Ramy is with his conditioning and how on point a rival competitor can raise the bar to exploit Ramy’s weaknesses. It all hangs on the delicate blade of a knife.
You can watch Iain Valliere’s full breakdown on tackling Big Ramy at Mr. Olympia 2021 by watching our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above!
