Ronnie Coleman – interesting facts

Ronnie Coleman – interesting facts

An impossibly muscular black man in dark glasses, driving a Hummer with loud rap music coming from it, no this is not a scene from a gangster movie. It’s just Ronnie Coleman – 8-time Mr. Olympia driving to his next killer workout at a “gym” called Metroflex Gym.

There are some people who are different than others. Ronnie Coleman is undoubtedly one of them and there are also people who would like to know more about them. And it is for those people that I have prepared this article – it is a summary of information and interesting facts about Ronnie’s life:

Ronnie is the owner of not only a huge mass of muscle (when Ronnie arrived at the Mr. Olympia 2003 contest with an incredible 130 kg and turned his back, the winner was decided. And when he came back a year later another 4 kg heavier, he was the winner the moment he stepped on the podium…), but also the strength that lies within them…

Ronnie Coleman – interesting facts – The Unbelievable (2000)

The second training video from his preparation for Mr. Olympia 2000, in which a few weeks before the competition, at a body weight of 130 kg, he performed the following feats:

• 12 bench presses with 90 kg one-arms
• 2 deadlifts with 365 kg
• 8 deadlifts with 220 kg
• T-bar rowing: 9x 265 kg
• Front squats: 4x 265 kg
• Shoulder shrugs with 90 kg one-arms

Ronnie Coleman – interesting facts – The Cost of Redemption (2003)

Video of his volume training for Mr. Olympia 2003, where he performed the following feats with a body weight reaching 140 kg:

• Squat: 2x 365 kg
• legpress: 8x 1020 kg
• 6 shoulder presses with 72.5 kg one-arms
• shoulder shrugs with 333 kg barbell
• 4 pure bench presses with bodybuilding technique with 225 kg

The Relentless (2006)

The latest video so far, where he appears with an out-of-competition weight of 147.5 kg. Worth mentioning is the shoulder shrug with 113.5 kg one-arms that Brian Dobson, owner of the Metroflex Gym and the man who basically introduced him to bodybuilding, bought him for his birthday.

So many performances from the dvd and now from another barrel.

Ronnie Coleman – interesting facts

• at a body weight of 120kg, he did 79 bench presses with a 100kg barbell in 1999 (for the record, Arnold Schwarzenegger did 60)
• for a photo shoot just three weeks before Mr. Olympia 2003, he performed a squat with a weight of 388 kg
• while shooting a video for a BSN supplements commercial, he did several reps of seated triceps extensions with a 130 kg EZ bar (see link)
• Ronnie Coleman used a barbell up to 140 kg for lunges
• Ronnie routinely performed biceps lifts with 100 kg and front squats with a 90 kg single bar
• in 2005, at a bodyweight of 145kg, he did 5 reps of 290kg V-bar deadlifts in a back workout (the V-bar broke in the middle of the set, so the set was not completed – unfortunately 🙂

Ronnie Coleman – interesting facts

Brian Dobson had this to say about his training weights, “Unfortunately, his craziest training weights are not recorded anywhere. What he did in the Unbelievable video is not his absolute peak. For example, once during an oblique chest press with the one-handers, he did 14 clean presses in the entire movement path with the 100-pound one-handers, but it’s not recorded anywhere. And the same in other exercises. Remember, in Unbelievable, he was training for the 2000 Olympia and maybe before the 2003 and 2004 Olympia he was much bigger and stronger.”

Ronnie himself revealed about his training motivation:
“Can there be anything more motivating than coming to the gym and breaking your personal best in one of the hard core exercises? When that happens, I can’t wait to get back in the gym and try to beat it again”

Ronnie Coleman – interesting facts

As a further point of interest, I offer some perhaps more or less interesting information from Ronnie’s life:

• He has a younger brother and two sisters, has two daughters, and is now newly married to personal trainer Ronaida Christine Achkar.
• Ronnie’s maximum weight: 150 kg
• Chest circumference: 147.5 cm
• Arm circumference: 61 cm
• Best parts: arms
• Favourite parts: legs
• Favorite exercise: squat
• Since his first Olympia in 1992, when he weighed 100kg, he has put on more than 30kg of muscle over a 12-year period…
• He graduated from Grambling University with a red diploma and is a chartered accountant
• Favourite city: Hong Kong
• Favourite food: pizza
• Favourite book: The Bible (Ronnie is a strong believer)
• Favorite band: Too Short
• Favourite song: Its going down by Young Joc (this song also appeared at Olympia 2006 during the free line-up)
• Favourite colour: dark blue
• Favourite film genres: horror and drama
• Happiest when: not on a diet
• Owns 4 cars namely: a Cadillac, a Bentley (worth $180,000), a Hummer and a Dodge Viper
• Annual income: about $600,000
• He has been working out at the Metroflex Gym for 19 years.
• He would invite to his dream party: Janet Jackson Halle Berry
• Secrets to success: God, hard work, supportive people.
• Life creed: “I can do anything I want. Nothing can stop me.”

Some interesting thoughts and quotes in conclusion:

Ronnie Coleman – interesting facts

“My time has always been distinctly goal-oriented. I always got up at the same time, ate at the same time, went to the gym at the same time, and never let it distract me. It is a kind of self-preservation instinct for me. When you want to do something, you look for a way to achieve it. If you don’t, then you don’t achieve it.

“If I put regular training high enough in my hierarchy of values, then normal busyness and/or other hobbies can’t deter me from achieving my goals.”

“Everyone wants to have muscles, but no one wants to lift damn heavy weights.”

“The hardest part of training is consistency. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go. The secret to my success is to train consistently and always try to get stronger, train harder and grow in size.”

“God had certain plans for me. He gave me certain abilities and I just act accordingly. Everything I do, I do for God.

…There’s something about God, the writing is already on the wall at MetroFlex:

The truly strong man knows, that power comes from GOD.