It’s been over a year since we last were able to connect with legendary bodybuilding trainer George Farah. We felt it was long overdue – so we invited him back to speak with us about the latest events in pro bodybuilding. This includes his take on the biggest shows and new champions crowned in 2020 – and what he expects for the remainder of 2021.
That’s why in our follow up full length interview with George Farah – we dive into the Olympia 2020 and Big Ramy’s victory. Farah had previously trained Ramy so it was interesting to get his opinion now as an outsider looking in.
Over the past few months we’ve released multiple GI Exclusive segments from our interview with George Farah. We are now releasing the full length interview. Beyond our discussion about the Olympia and Big Ramy, other topics include – Farah’s honest opinion on Phil Heath’s comeback, the biggest mistake bodybuilders make cutting weight, and more!
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George Farah was Big Ramy’s on and off coach over the past few years of Big Ramy’s career. But like many other coaches along the way – Ramy refused to stay put. With each passing Olympia he didn’t win, Ramy tried out different coaches to find the best fit for victory. He found himself returning to Farah a few times during this period.
George Farah holds no ill will towards Big Ramy for these changes. “We are adults,” he claims in our interview. Farah understands that an athlete will ultimately do what he thinks is best for his career. While Farah enjoyed his time training Ramy – especially because of his potential – Farah understood that Ramy had to find his own path.
That being said, George Farah was extremely happy for Big Ramy to win the Mr. Olympia in 2020. He knew for years that if Ramy could get on point, he would be unstoppable. He still believes that now. Though he admits that anything can happen and it remains to be seen if Ramy will return on point again or continue his rollercoaster up and down career. Farah hopes to see him remain champion in the future.
We also asked George Farah why he thinks Big Ramy changed coaches so often throughout his career. As we briefly mentioned above, Farah thinks that Ramy needed to find his own path. He was hungry to win – and wanted to try out all options to see what worked best.
While George Farah is not angry about Big Ramy leaving him as a coach, he does admit that he finds himself somewhat sad. This is partially due to the fact that Farah finds Ramy to have one of the biggest hearts in bodybuilding. But it’s also because Farah strongly believes that he could have gotten Ramy the Mr. Olympia title sooner.
Farah made a point to mention that Heath is still one of the greatest of modern bodybuilding. In fact, his physique was still impressive compared to most on stage. That’s why ultimately, George Farah 100% agrees with the final score given to Heath.
shape during the off season. While bulking and cutting is a typical cycle for competitive bodybuilders – the bulking phase should not get too out of control in order to avoid HGH bubble gut and abdonimal distention. Farah holds nothing back when explaining this during our interview:
“WHATEVER YOU’RE DOING, YOU’RE STILL GOING TO LOSE MUSCLE WHEN YOU DIET DOWN. ESPECIALLY IF YOU GAIN A LOT OF FAT. THAT’S WHY I TELL PEOPLE, LISTEN, DON’T CALL YOURSELF A BODYBUILDER IF YOU DON’T HAVE YOUR ABS IN THE OFF SEASON.”
George Farah goes on to say how he “never understands” how bodybuilders are so shocked when they start cutting and end up losing much more weight than expected. This is because they put on more fat than they think – and unfortunately – muscle is always lost as well during this process.
That’s why a dirty bulk is often frowned upon by serious competitive bodybuilders. Dirty bulk is when you eat any kind of unhealthy food simply to build weight while you are pumping up muscle in the gym. A clean bulk relies on healthier foods so that you have less fat during the bulking phase.
Wrap Up
George Farah provides a unique insight into the world of bodybuilding. A sort of insider breakdown of physiques, training, and nutrition. There are far many more topics we discussed in our hour plus interview that could be vital for anyone looking for insight into optimizing bodybuilding training. So make sure to watch our latest full length GI Exclusive interview with George Farah above!
