"Your calves will die" - Samir Bannout calls out bodybuilders using enhancement drugs

Samir Bannout is a former IFBB professional bodybuilder from Lebanon. He won the 1983 Mr. Olympia title by defeating the likes of Mohamed Makkawy, Lee Haney, and Frank Zane. Samir was also the first Middle Eastern bodybuilder to win the prestigious Mr. Olympia title.

Last month, the 2022 Mr. Olympia concluded with Hadi Choopan being crowned the champion in the Open division category. In a video posted on the Old School Labs YouTube channel, Samir Bannout was seen interacting with John Hansen and Nick Trigili. During the interaction, the 1983 Mr. Olympia champion spoke about bodybuilders injecting substances into their calves.

Bannout said:

"Please listen, anytime you inject something into the head of your calves, right out there, your calves will die."

The former Mr. Olympia insisted that injecting into the calves is not a good idea. He then had some words of advice for bodybuilders who inject drugs into their lower body. Samir Bannout said:

"Your calf muscle will die. I don't care who you are. So take this advice from me, and I'm not going to list the names of who had that problem before, but I can list at least five or six people - very well-known famous people that have done that. They took a shot in their calves to bring a more diamond kind of look, but it's completely backfired. You guys got to listen to me."

The former bodybuilder asked the current generation of bodybuilders to take his advice not to use drugs to enhance their calf muscles.

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Samir Bannout speaks about Iain Valliere and bodybuilders using drugs in their calves

Speaking on the topic of bodybuilders using enhancement drugs for their calves, Samir mentioned Iain Valliere. Iain Valliere finished in 11th place at the 2022 Mr. Olympia. Bannout said:

"I definitely know Iain is not posing as a Mr. Olympia champion - not good enough. But I have to point out to a lot of people out there, and I want you to take this seriously, and I don't need to do this in a derogatory way or being rude. If you notice on Iain's calves, both heads of the diamond part of the calves was messed up. And I don't know if I should be talking about it openly."

Samir Bannout then pointed out examples of bodybuilders whose calves were ruined due to calf-enhancing drugs by bringing up the names of Ahmad Haider and Dennis Wolf. The former bodybuilder said:

"I know a Lebanese champion Ahmad Haider who had good calves, and whoever, whoever, they gave him these [drugs] ill-advised, and messed his calves up. You know remember Dennis Wolf is one of my favorite people. Dennis Wolf had beautiful calves."

Bannout insisted that Dennis Wolf wouldn't go out of his way to inject drugs into his calves. The former bodybuilder claimed that he was sure that the coaches of Dennis would have instructed him to take injections in his calves and it backfired. He continued:

"Dennis Wolf was a hair away from winning the Olympia, then his calves completely disappeared."

Samir Bannout further stated that he wanted the current generation of bodybuilders to listen to his advice. He said:

"You know what, I don’t want to make enemies here. I know several. I know about 10-15 people that had that same problem and I am 100 percent aware of the cause, so don’t inject anything into your calves guys. Please listen. If you don’t want to listen, I don’t give a shit. Your calves will be like a fucking needle. You won’t be able to walk on fucking wood because your calves is going to stick to the fucking stage. You’re going to have no calves by injecting shit into your calves."

Samir Bannout, the 1983 Mr. Olympia champion, has these strong words of advice for the current generation of bodybuilders, but it's up to them if they're going to listen to the words of a Mr. Olympia title winner.