Jesse James West attempted to match mass monster Samson Dauda during a chest and shoulder workout.
Jesse James West has trained alongside some of the biggest names in fitness, but standing next to Samson Dauda presented an entirely different challenge.
West recently joined the former Mr. Olympia for a chest and shoulder workout, attempting to keep up with the massive weights Dauda routinely throws around in the gym. The difference between the two was immediately striking, with Dauda weighing well over 300 pounds and making the muscular West look comparatively small.
“Hold on one sec, dude. I’m like a toothpick. Look at this,” West joked while standing alongside Dauda.
The workout quickly showed that the difference wasn’t just visual.
Jesse James West Attempts Samson Dauda’s 360-Pound Smith Machine Press
Dauda, who is fresh off a runner-up performance at the 2026 Mr. Olympia, started the session with incline Smith machine presses and made it clear that an empty bar wasn’t much of a warmup.
“The bar? The bar don’t weigh anything,” Dauda told West.
The weights continued climbing until Dauda reached three plates per side, approximately 360 pounds including the bar. Dauda powered through 12 reps before West stepped underneath the same weight.
West managed 10 reps with some assistance before deciding to try four plates per side for a single rep. With plenty of help from Dauda, he eventually got the weight up.
“My hand hurts,” Dauda joked when West asked how much assistance he had provided.
The size difference became even more obvious when the pair moved to different machines. Dauda explained that his size has actually made fitting into certain pieces of gym equipment increasingly difficult.
West, meanwhile, slid comfortably into the same machine before looking at Dauda and declaring, “You make me look small. This is crazy.”
Dauda continued moving massive weights through machine presses, cable flies and shoulder work, frequently using nearly the entire weight stack. West did his best to match him, but eventually conceded the competition.
“Okay, you win,” West said.
Samson Dauda Says He Eats Around 7,500 Calories Per Day
Training wasn’t the only area where West struggled to comprehend Dauda’s size.
Dauda revealed that he is currently consuming approximately 7,500 calories per day to maintain his enormous off-season physique.
“It takes a lot to maintain over 300 pounds,” Dauda said.
West explained that he eats around 2,500 calories when getting shredded, prompting Dauda to admit there are times when he misses being able to eat like a normal person rather than constantly consuming meals to maintain his bodybuilding mass.
Despite the extreme weights, Dauda offered a surprisingly simple answer when West asked for his biggest muscle-building tip.
“Just enjoy this,” Dauda said of training. “The gym is my life, man. It’s my therapy.”
Jesse James West Poses Next To Mr. Olympia: ‘Eight Billion People, One Samson’
The workout ended with perhaps the biggest visual comparison of the entire session.
West and Dauda went through several mandatory bodybuilding poses together, with Dauda even giving West pointers on his posing technique.
West was stunned by Dauda’s proportions up close, repeatedly comparing the size of the former Olympia champion’s arms and shoulders to his own head.
Posing also gave Dauda an opportunity to explain another part of bodybuilding that casual fans often underestimate.
“People don’t realize how much it takes out of you actually hitting a pose and squeezing every muscle in your body…It actually does drain you out.”
West ultimately couldn’t keep up with the 2024 Mr. Olympia, but that was probably never the real expectation.
Instead, the workout offered a rare sense of scale for just how massive an elite Men’s Open bodybuilder actually is. West possesses an impressive physique of his own, yet next to Dauda, the difference was almost comical.
As West put it after experiencing the full effect of training and posing alongside the Olympia champion:
“Eight billion people, one Samson.”
Image embed via Instagram @jessejameseast
