Samir Bannout reacts to Big Ramy’s physique at the Mr. Olympia 2020.
Samir Bannout is a legend in the world of bodybuilding. A competitor with an incredible physique, he eventually solidified his status by becoming Mr. Olympia in 1983. With an incredible reputation and successful pedigree, we decided to ask Bannout about his thoughts on the Mr. Olympia 2020. More specifically, his reaction to Big Ramy’s physique and big win. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Samir Bannout critiques Big Ramy’s Olympia-winning physique.
After many years of ups and downs, Big Ramy finally won the Mr. Olympia in 2020. It was quite a rollercoaster of a journey – with some fans unsure if he was ever going to actually pull it off. Then everything clicked and Big Ramy showcased one of the greatest physiques of his career. It earned him the title of Mr. Olympia 2021.
True to his name, Big Ramy represents the modern look of pro bodybuilding. He has incredibly massive size – sometimes weighing close to 300 pounds on stage. This size had always been a push-pull aspect of his success. His mass monster look was reminiscent of Ronnie Coleman – but it also took away from his conditioning. This ultimately put him on a path of falling short at the Olympia for nearly a decade.
Samir Bannout recognizes this when analyzing Big Ramy’s latest showing that earned him the gold. According to Bannout, Ramy had so much massive size on him – that he was easily able to take off some points to work on conditioning without losing his freak factor. In fact, this is the element that Bannout believes was off all these years. Ramy didn’t have the confidence, or perhaps the guidance, to cut off some weight.
Samir Bannout has been watching Big Ramy’s career from the start. He’s even, in fact, had some one on one conversations with Ramy throughout the years. From what Bannout can gather, there was some element of disconnect between Ramy’s talent and his training in Kuwait.
There’s no denying that the Oxygen Gym crew can help transform bodybuilders into mass monsters worth noting. Brandon Curry struggled through his mid-career only to completely change gears upon moving to Kuwait. He eventually won the Mr. Olympia title for himself in 2019. The training in Kuwait helped Big Ramy in this way too – but when it came to the finish line – something was off.
“I think Ramy with his coach was saying… that they are going back to the old school way with Big Ramy,” Samir Bannout states in our interview. “When Ramy was in Kuwait, he was trying very hard with the Camel Crew and sometimes they weren’t on the same page.”
Samir Bannout goes on to say that trainers and coaches are not solely responsible for Big Ramy’s success or failure. Bannout praises Big Ramy’s work ethic and heart for the sport.
“Everybody wants to get the credit… but come on, Ramy is working very hard.” Bannout continues to say in our conversation. “All he needs is the minor tweaking to make him pop.”
There is no one right way to win a Mr. Olympia show. The road to success is different for each individual. Big Ramy simply took some time to find what works best for him. In 2020, Samir Bannout saw a bodybuilder in complete form. His size and conditioning finally met in the middle for a superior physique.
You can watch Samir Bannout’s full comments and analysis of Big Ramy in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above!
