Fans and former Mr. Olympia Samir Bannout are excited to witness Hunter Labrada back on a bodybuilding stage. In a recent YouTube video, Bannout opened up on Labrada’s potential for the 2024 season, and the improvements he needs to make to find success at his next contest.
As the son of bodybuilding star Lee Labrada, it didn’t take long for Hunter Labrada to establish his footing in the deep end of the IFBB Pro League. Before taking his talents to the sport’s biggest event of the year, Labrada bounced back with one of his best and most conditioned looks to date at the 2023 Tampa Pro. He also competed at the Texas Pro but fell short of Andrew Jacked en route to gold.
Last year, Labrada secured sixth place in the 2023 Olympia, a contest won by the two-division champion Derek Lunsford. Possessing all of the tools needed to contend for the Sandow trophy, Bannout broke down where Labrada can improve to ensure his qualification for the grand show on the horizon.
Samir Bannout Opens Up on Hunter Labrada’s Potential, Says He Is ‘Big Enough’
Although Bannout acknowledged that Hunter Labrada was in guest posing shape, he believes the Open star should focus on conditioning, hardness, and presentation instead of size.
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“You and I saw him at the Tampa Pro and he was fantastic, he was the best I’ve seen him in years. I think had he stayed around that weight and kept looking harder, because he’s big enough, he’s big enough.
I’m not impressed with that look [from guest posing] right now, yeah he’s big, impressive, but when you look at Samson he is a lot taller so he needs to be right around 300 pounds in the off-season.”
Bannout worries that with excessive size, Labrada will appear blockier on stage.
“Hunter starts to look more blocky right now but again, of course, that’s off-season. I’d rather see Hunter shredded to the bone if he wants to win competitions.”
While size plays a significant role in Open Bodybuilding, Bannout believes Hunter should take a page out of his father’s book and ‘win the war with harmony and balance.’
“Yeah his arms are huge, 23 inches,” said Bannout. He’s a big boy, really big. I can’t believe it when Lee was carrying him on stage and he was in a diaper. Unbelievable. He’s very impressive for sure.”
“He’s got a pretty good balance, the reason why I say that is because Hunter has a pretty balanced body. You win the war with harmony and balance. If you fight the war just like I’m bigger than you war, I think that could backfire.”
Should Labrada devote himself to getting ultra-shredded and masterful presentation, Bannout believes that will be his winning formula.
“His father fought that war with his harmony and lines, and he was a runner-up in the Olympia how many times, so from my perspective, if he follows similar analogies, similar styles, getting ultra shredded, I mean ultra shredded with masterful presentation, that would win. I would say that would be more my choice for him to do.”
According to Samir Bannout, Labrada has become ‘beyond big,’ arguing that he doesn’t need to boast 23-inch biceps.
“Honestly, I’m not in favor of bigger and bigger and bigger, I’m in favor of big enough and shredded. He’s beyond big. Why do you need 23 inches?
Look I still look at Arnold’s photos today, and I’m still impressed. Arnold when he was big his midsection stayed small but when you’re 300 pounds and your waist measures 40 inches, to me, that’s not pretty. That’s not pretty. That’s not bodybuilding.”
Having made his name in an era that rewarded thin waists and aesthetics, Samir Bannout believes Labrada’s time would be better spent on conditioning than adding more size.
“From my perspective, you got to keep it pretty,” adds Samir Bannout. “Don’t take me wrong, I’m impressed with Hunter but my opinion, what do I think he should do, is get gnarly shredded and continue to be more masterful as posing. His posing has improved a lot but still could be better. If he continued to listen to his father and Keith Klein, these two are major allies and they understand old-school bodybuilding.”
“We do know it requires more mass nowadays but remember, too much of anything could work the opposite so he’s big enough. He’s big enough. So, after that, no more comment.”
Despite being in the heat of his off-season, Hunter Labrada has kept his training sessions focused and intense. He recently linked up with bodybuilding influencer Sam Sulek and led him through a demanding leg day workout. Labrada has also been honest about his new modified push-pull-legs training split for 2024.
Fans and Bannout included look forward to seeing Hunter Labrada back on a contest stage. He has until September 15, 2024, to earn his qualification for Mr. Olympia’s 60th anniversary taking place October 10-13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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