Eight-time Mr. Olympia champion, Ronnie Coleman, sits down with Shannon Sharpe at Club Shay Shay for a deep dive into Ronnie's life, career, and incredible journey in bodybuilding. In Part 1, they go way back, discussing Ronnie's upbringing in Louisiana where he grew up working on a farm, chopping cotton, and dreaming of becoming a professional football player. He reflects on his time playing football at Grambling State University, describing it as the greatest time of his life, even though a neck injury he sustained there would impact him for the rest of his bodybuilding career.
Ronnie talks about his early passion for weightlifting, which started when his mom bought him a 110 lb weight set from Walmart at the age of 12. He also shares stories about his various odd jobs, including working as a sports writer and editor in the journalism department, and graduating cum laude with a degree in accounting. Despite these accomplishments, he took on a job delivering pizzas at Domino’s to make car payments, where he ate pizza every day for two years, eventually trading slices for burgers, fried chicken, and tacos from neighboring fast-food joints.
Shannon and Ronnie delve into his entry into the world of bodybuilding. Ronnie recalls walking into a gym for the first time, where the owner predicted he could win Mr. Olympia. After initially placing third in nationals during his first year, people began speculating about whether he was using steroids. Ronnie also talks about his grueling training regimen, eating a pound of protein with every meal, and how his strict discipline set him apart from other bodybuilders who would frequent strip clubs while he stayed focused.
He also shares his decision to start using steroids in 1995, and how the path to qualifying for Mr. Olympia was tough, with many struggles that nearly caused him to quit. Ronnie recounts the surreal moment of winning his first Mr. Olympia title, which was so overwhelming that he fainted on stage and doesn't remember what anyone said to him. Throughout the conversation, Ronnie reflects on how his job as a police officer helped ground him and bring a sense of normalcy to his otherwise intense life in bodybuilding, as well as how his weightlifting routine differed from the standard bodybuilding approach.
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Hello, Welcome to another episode of Club Shay Shape. I am your host, Shennon Sharp. I'm also the propriud of Club Sha Shade. The guy that's stopping by for conversation and a drink today.
Man.
He's a legend, the most successful and strongest bodybuilder of all time. He won twenty six IBIFBB professional titles. He won the Mister Olympia eight times in a row. Richard's a retired Lee Haines record for the most Olympia victories. He's the first man to win the Arnold Classic and the Olympia title in the same season.
I happen to be at that two thousand and one Arnold Classic.
He's considered by many to be the greatest bodybuilder of all time, A considered his his He's a member of the International Sports Hall of Fame, he received the honor Classic Lifetime Achievement Award and inspiration to many walk in the world lightweight Baby yeah, buddy, the King, the icon.
Here he is Ronnie Coleman, Roddy, how you doing man.
As man in a little while, Bro, we go back a long way because I remember when you came back in the late nineties. Used to come back to rope who used to train me? Rope Man guest pose at it as it shows. So we come you. You've come a long way. I've come a long way, Bro, I got my own Kanye. This is my Kanye shaved by Laportier.
Oh cool.
And I want to toast your career the most unbelievable professional bodybuilding career ever.
Thank you. That's a little bro. Growing up you're from Louisiana.
Yep, Barney raised the Louisiana So growing up, obviously you work. You probably worked on a farm or farml like labor.
Yes, sure, I sure did. Shopping that okay. So what did Runne Coban want to be when he was a kid.
I wanted to be a professional football player, okay, yeah, and I played high school, junior high college, didn't make it to the pros.
So you grow up, so you played also, you play football, you played basketball, You just mainly played football.
I mainly played football. I didn't play basketball. I did a little track also, but football was my thing.
Right, Okay, so you go to so you went to Grambling. Yeah, GSU played.
For the legendary coach rob Eddie Robinson. What was that experience?
Like? Man, it was a lot of fun.
I mean, we had the greatest time of all had the greatest coach of all time, Edi robb and we lived the jayas fun life. And it was real hectic on the road because everybody was trying to get coach rob especially when he broke that record.
Correct.
But it was probably the greatest time of my life, greatest experience of my life, for sure. I often want to go back to those days, but you know how that is. But that was the greatest time of my life by far.
So you you.
Mentioned like growing up you wanted to play professional football. You got a college scholarship to go GSU. But I heard you injured your neck. Was that probably the main reason why you didn't make it?
Or was it ability? Well?
I had a lot of injuries, but first of all, I didn't I didn't go on scholarship. I walked on, walked on, yeah, and tried out and then made the team. But I initially I hurt my back real bad, real bad. It started probably when I was like a sophomore. I went to the chiropractor, went to the bunch of doctors. Nobody could find out anything wrong. But the chiropractor said, uh, you know, I can help you get it back to normal where you be, you know, function real good.
And he did.
And I went to him probably about every single day for about four or five months, and then I backed off and and started going.
Like twice a week.
But uh, finally I got it back to where I could function real good. And it wasn't no big problem. I injured my neck well one day in practice, but it wasn't It wasn't nothing serious, nothing like yeah, yeah making the tackle.
Uh.
It did keep me out for about two days of practice, but you know that that was about it.
Uh.
For for the most part, A lot of people think, you know, lifting the weights is what Uh I injured my back, but it was actually playing football, uh, my sophomore year. And those injuries they follow you throughout your life. I mean it it never went away, and uh, when I got here in Dallas, I picked up a compact once again, and uh, it would be time.
That I had to go like every day for a while.
And then in ninety six I did Injure honeyid the dish getting ready for the Honor classes kept me out for about two weeks, but I went to the chiropracticy. That's when I got into massagic therapy also, and that helped me out a lot. But I still was able to do the Honor Classic, and that was in March. It was always in March, and I got it back to where I could squat real heavy and dead lift real heavy. In two thousand and one, I there lifted about eight hundred for a couple of reps, and three I squatted at eight hundred for a couple of reps, So I was pretty I got it.
Pretty much back to normal use around that time.
Do you think about what could have been had you not had those injuries?
Like, could you believe you could have.
Squatted excess of nine hundred one thousand pounds, had left maybe nine hundred one thousand pounds.
Have those thoughts ever gone through your mind?
Like, Man, if I'd never had these injuries, I only imagine just how strong I could have been.
Yeah, every single day.
I still regret not deadlifted that eight hundred more than two reps, because at the time I knew I had already deadlifted it anyway, But squatting it, I was like, if I can only just get two reps I got did on dead mail, I'll be set right. But I got to it, and uh, those two reps were a lot lighter than I thought, And I was like, man, I could have did it at least four more reps with that eight hundred.
It was just that light.
So all so I'm like, I'm not gonna tempt fade again. I'm getting ready for the Olympia. I don't want to blow out another dish, correct, So I like, I know.
What I do.
I'll just load up the leg press and try to make up for it. So we went to the leg press. I litted up with twenty three hundred pounds.
Well, you couldn't put it the more weight on it, right, It couldn't put them are weight on it. That's what I mean when I say we loaded it up, y'all abould have had every.
Forty five that was in the jail, had it on the left pretty much, but Brian keeps quite a few of those laying around. But I did do that for nine reps and saw the made up for it. But you know, it ain't eight it ain't eightred, it ain't eight hundred on the squad.
But you were power You also were a power You started out as a powerlift.
Yeah.
I started powerlifting in high school and we would go from state to state doing powerlifting meets and I did okay, nothing spectacular. I did that for like two years, and then our powerlifting team kind of folded. So I did it like my sophomore year, my junior year, and like I said, I did pretty good. When I came out to Dallas, I ended some more like it wasn't a full uh, I would lifted me. It was something like a deadlift meet. And I did a lot of old in which I dead lifted probably like seven fifty but the highest I got.
But uh, class, you're in two twenties. What weight class were you in the two twenties?
What? Yeah? In high school?
Yeah, and then I went to one ninety eight and I think my senior year I weighed one eighty five. In high school, I didn't get to the two hundred til I.
Got to college. And got to college.
Oh yeah, I think I went all the way up to like two twenty five somewhere in there, playing middle linebacker.
Right, So were you Did you lift a lot in college? I mean, what was your weight program?
Like? In college?
We didn't have one. We didn't have one. No, none existed. If you want to lift weight. They had a small weight room by the side of this room here that you you go if if you got up at like six in the morning, they keep it over from six to seven for one hour. But it was volunteering, right, But as far as mandated or required weight training, none at all.
Was weightlifted always one of your passions?
Oh yeah, yeah it My passion started with that when I was about twelve years old. When I was around ten eleven, everywhere I went people always asked me if I worked down, if I worked down, and I'm like no, no, no.
Well I finally got tired of saying no.
I like I'm gonna say yeah, you know, right, So I picked up I had my mom buy me one hundred and ten pound wastset from Walmart, and I started working out in the backyard, you know, and the plastic was plastic went, yeah, you know what it was, and right around twelve, you know, I kind of fell in love with it and it just took off from there.
You know.
Like I said, I joined the power Distant team like in I think I think I was fourteen when we started that powerlifting team, So that was like a couple of years later, and that's when I really got into it, right. But I got that passion from early age. You know, lifting in my backyard with my friends. Uh, we all had mostly curl stuff. You know, we're just curled and do some overhead pressings, but nothing serious, you know, just having fun. And uh, that's where my passion came from lifting in the backyard.
And now all of a sudden, you can start to see your body start to transform, and you start to see you get muscle definition, you start to get peaks on the bicep yep, and now all of a sudden you're like, okay, yeah, this looks good.
You were from that point on, You was hooked from that point on.
Yeah, you were talking, we were talking early off set that you had some odd jobs. I think you said in college when you once you got to college, you started you was delivering pizzas or something with that college and when we got here.
Not yet, that was in Dallas. But in college I had some odd jobs too.
What do you do in college? I worked for the police department in college. Uh huh yeah.
In college it was called a work study. Okay, okay, yeah, yeah yeah. Instead of the pail grade, you got to work study had to go. Yeah yeah, I got pailgram, but they didn't pay the full full tuition, so I had to do work study. So I did the police department and uh, all we did was just wrote tickets, parking tickets. We did uh like transfer to the bank, you know, helped uh citizens drop the money off.
And that was about it.
Then when that work study ran out the next year, I got on at the journalism department doing uh writing, sports writing, and uh I had a lot of fun with that.
I was a pretty good writer at the time.
And then uh, when the sports editor left, they promoted me to sports editor. And that was a real real hard job because we had to put the newspaper together correct, So you had to measure out everything, measure out your and and all that. But I never really cut on. But you know, my instructor, she mostly helped me out with that a lot. But I did all the editing, you know, all the stories that came in, and uh, it was it was another great experience for me.
So you go to college, you're going to you graduate. I think you graduated cum.
Laude yep instead of thank you loudy.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was pretty pretty studious when I was going to school. I studied every single night. I was in accounting, so I had to study alo and and I wanted to be the first one in my family to get a college degree. So that motivated me really hard to do everything thing in my power to get that degree. And when I got it, it was the greatest feeling ever, you know. But uh, I kind of regret not staying in college a little while longer because, like I said, it was the greatest time. It was the greatest time of my life.
Then that's okay, So now you realize, like, you know what, this NFL thing might not work out.
When did you transfer? What did you want? When you got to college? You got a degree, it's in a county.
Yeah, I don't know if you ever put that degree to work, because you came to Dallas and you started to became a police officer and the rest is kind of go out there.
Actually, I came to Dallas and uh. I tried to get a job in accounting. I went on a lot of interviews and most of the time they were like, well, we need somebody with experience.
I'm like, well, you give me a job and I get some How did I go get it when you will give an opportunity back there? So I did that for almost two years. Wow.
But at the same time, I had a car note that I had to pay. So I had got a car. On this college program, you could buy a car and your first car note wasn't due to three months later.
Wow.
So I went out and bought this car, brand new nineteen eighty seven some bird GT and my first payment was coming up, and I'm like, oh, man, I ain't got I got no money.
I need to get a job. I need to get a.
Job real bad. So I took the first thing that came along. And the first thing that came along was Domino's Pizza.
So you a pizza, You're a delivery driver.
I'm a delivery driver slash assistant manager. So I made pizzas and delivered them and at the end of the night, I you know, collected all the money and counted and took it to the bank and all that kind of stuff. But I did that for two long years, and when I didn't make enough money doing that, I got made a side job delivering newspapers.
Okay, So here I am with a.
College degree, great accounty in a county, graduated koolaudy, and I'm delivering pieces and throwing newspapers. And I couldn't wait to get out of Domino's Pizza.
Right.
So I'm like, you know what, this thing with the accountant is not working out. So every time every week I got the newspaper, there was always a classified ad and now for a hiring police officer, no experience needed. So I'm like, oh, man, get on a police department. You know I can use my mental ability as well as my physical ability.
Right.
I always got some bad crooks out there, uh, trying to start some trouble.
So uh, that's what I did.
I applied for the police department after two years working at Domino, and Arlington hired me in March nineteen eighty nine. March twenty, nineteen eighty nine was my first day, and at the time I was living in Irving, and when I graduated the academy, I moved to Arlington and I've been here ever since.
Delivering pizzas. Did you deliver more than you ate? Or you ate more than you delivered? I eat way more than I delivered. You've been an uber driver. You got a terrible grade. It's been awful.
But I ate pizza every single day, sometimes twice a day. And and now do you like peapa?
Finally? No or not anymore?
I finally got tired of eating pizza back about a year and a half into it. So that was a burger King next door, and I'm like, I bet they tied eating burglars. I called Burger King, Hey, y'all tired of eating burgers?
Yeah?
I like, yeah, I want to trade pizza for burger Yeah.
I finally got tired to eat burgers.
So there was a Kentucky Fried Chicken chicken door than them, so I called them with the same you know, yep, yep, And they was like yep, so I'm eating fried chicken. But you know, it was like two or three others in there, you know, And I was trading out taco taco tacos for chicken. I trade out everything for pizza, and uh it worked out, you know. But after my last year of working with Dominoes, I think the only time I ate pizza after that was when I won the Olympia and the reason why becaulled. I love cheese, and the first thing came to my mind that had cheese on it was pizza, So I would eat Dominoes.
Well, I need Dominoes.
I probably had to eat Dominoes and I worked at so I called Pizza Rate pizza right after the show, and I wanted more cheese after that, so I went to McDonald's and got a cheeseburger.
Wow.
So okay, So now you move to Arlington. You're a police officer. Yeah, are you power are are you? Are you powerlifting?
Still? Nope?
You're giving up powerlifting. I transitioned to bodybuilding. Yeah no, no, no no. I would work out maybe maybe once or twice a week. You know, while I was on the h An Academy.
In the academen, well, when I graduated and my first day on the job, on the guys came to me.
We were on a call together. He's like, man, where you work out at? You pretty big?
I'm like, I work out the station He's like, oh, I ain't no wait there for you, And I'm like, you right the side of this room.
No waiting. Now He's like, well, once you come to metro Flec Gym.
So the next day I go to met Flec Gym and the owner, Brian Doctor, said, man, you pretty big.
You know. I had twenty two in charms, so I was pretty big, and so you always you always cut up, brocked up like that exactly all my whole life, pretty much.
So everywhere I went, you know, I was the biggest in the strong guy in the room and actually even in college, high school, everywhere, you know. So when I went to Metroflect, Brian saw that and he's like, man, you got a pretty good physic there. You all to take up bodybuilding. I'm like, no, dude, I can't do bodybuilding. I just got the job police department, and I heard those guys had to take steroids, and I definitely can't die because I'm a Kentucky fried chicken burger king eating guy, you know, and died in eight ain't exactly it's not for me. Well that went on for about what three four days. That fourth day, Brian finally said, I tell you, I give you a free membership to the gym if you competing this show coming out about three four months. He's like, I teach you how to train as a bodybuilder. I teach you how to die, I teach you how to pose. I'm like, dude, you should have lived with that free thing, because at the time, you know, I was struggling playing my bills, and anything free good sounded real good to me. So I'm like, yeah, I'll do it for a free membership. So Brian taught me how to poll dant, you know, just trained as a bodybuilder. And my first show was Mister Taxa. That show was April seventh, nineteen ninety. I went in, won first and overall.
Wow. My second show, same thing.
The next week, April fourteen, nineteen ninety I went in, won first and overall. And that continued for about a couple of months, you know, and then I qualified for the Nationals. My first year in Nationals, I got third, and it wasn't you know, you got you got to get first place. You all to turn pro, correct, So I didn't turn pro that year. The next year I would go back to the Nationals and I get fourth.
Damn.
Yeah, I know I'm going backwards, same thing I said. Damn, But if you could pass the drug test, you could qualify for the Universe team. In the Universe, they take five guys from each weight class and you go compete in the Mster Universe in Catalyists, Poland. Well, the first three guys couldn't pass the drug test. Matter of fact, there were forty four guys in my class. I was the only one who showed up to take drug test. Of course I passed because I was drug free back then. And I go to the Universe in Catawist, Poland, and two o'clock in the morning they waken me up take a drug test.
I'm like, man, well, let's coming from I already took a drug test.
Well, when we got there, they brought everybody in a room, a big room. It was a gymnasium actually, and they made everybody strip down and get on the scale. From everybody stripped down getting on this gay they picked the only guys they thought won steroids. Of course, me being the big, yeah, big guy out there and ripped up. They showed me two o'cogan one take a drug test. Of course you know I passed it and won my weight class and that qualified me to turn program. Wow yep, and I also qualifized for Miss Olympia from winning you know, uh winning my class.
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The one thing that I noticed about powerlifters is that they have very dense muscles. They're normally very from the back when you look at their traps, their run boys, their spinal directors, their.
Glue, their hams, their legs.
Because you got a squat yep, and you pull a lot of weight that dead lift, there's nothing better for the chain muscles than deadlan.
Yep, yep, that's true.
So did you know going in that the work that you had done in high school and a little bit after college, that that was gonna be such a big help to you and your bodybuilding careers.
Not at the time, I never even thought about bodybuilding because one from nobody bodybuilding correct.
I didn't even know what bodybuilding was about.
When Brian told me I could win Misster Olympiu, I'm like, what's that?
That's the big He saw that, Ronnie, you go into the gym, he sees that much potentially you, that you can be through days from day one, from day one, he told me that.
And you all natural, all natural.
So remember I had twenty two inches, so I still look pretty good.
So I remember because I remember the photo or you had the box fade and you had to police utter pormo. Yeah, so what year did you take that photo? That was ninety seven? Ninety seven, Yeah, yeah, ninety seven. So you qualified for the Olympia. But you want a couple of pro shows. Didn't you win the Canadian Pro Show? My first pro show.
Was Canada in Toronto. I won my first show in nineteen ninety five, right, and when we won my second proot show Canada again nineteen ninety six, and the whole time, you know, I'm trying my best to get to the Olympia, and I got to Olympia by qualifying and winning.
Those pro shows. Yes, my first Olympia.
Nineteen ninety two, I didn't get a call out. I stood up there on stage and had, you know, the best seat in the house.
They totally overlooked me.
They overlooked me so bad they ain't called me for no comparison. Nineteen ninety three, I didn't even qualify for the Olympic because I didn't place it in the top three in any pro show I did.
I got like six seven somewhere down there. Nineteen ninety four.
I finally qualified for the Miss Olympia in nineteen ninety four, still drug free, and I go in and I do Miss Olympia and I get fifteenth place.
So I'm moving up. Things are getting good for me.
Nineteen ninety six, I qualified for winning the Canada Cup. I go in and I get eleventh places, so I'm steady moving over soldol nineteen ninety seven, I qualified, but I went into Canada cover again. They loved me in Canada. They loved me and I love them. So that year, you know, I kind of fall back and Shannon nineteen ninety seven was a hard year for me, my first shorter year. I go in Iron Man, I never did these springs, these fall shows before, and I get third place and the guy who beat me was a guy about this tall, weighed about one hundred and ninety pounds, soaking wet, and here I am two hundred and almost forty pounds and he beat me. And I'm like, wait a minute, the thing's supposed to happen, right, I said, I can a guy that shortened and that you know, that's small, that small beat me. You know, I'm five eleven, all of I'm gonna like, I say, almost two hundred and forty pounds. And the next week was an Ano Classic. Okay, I go into Orno Classic and Lee Priest's beat me again. I'm going by to call out yeah, and I look. I get back to my room. I look at my girlfriend, Vicki Gates. She was a pro bodybuild at the time.
I just bump into her. She worked with Franklin on the tour.
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, saw Kelly Yeah, And I like, Vicki, you know what, I don't need this bodybuilding thing. I got a job with the police department with benefits and everything. I was like, this is my last show. And she looked at me and she's that boy shut up. And I thought to myself, you know what, I can't quit bodybuilding because if I quit bodybuilding, I lose my free membership to the gym. All you were thinking about a free membership, free membership to the gym, because I said, I worked off for that free membership.
I wasn't about to give it up.
Well, actually I ended up beating the previous okay, so I felt pretty good. Then I went to the all of I mean, went went to the Olympia and uh, the year before ninety or six, I placed seventh, but they moved me up to six, I think because nasal failed the drug test. The drug test and back then right for diuretics. So in nineteen ninety seven, I'm like, man, if I can just make the tough five, I'll be all good.
Well I got eleventh, I mean, I got nice.
And I'm like, oh man, I already did this pity party thing, so that.
Ain't gonna work. I ain't gonna quit, So I continue on.
And nineteen ninety eight comes around and I qualified Miss Olympia again and went into Canada.
So you tell me go back to Canada.
I gep going back to Canada every year, so I know I got a real good chance to win it. I don't want to like four years in the row. I'm like, okay, i gotta go back to Canada again.
So not to cut you off, right, So you said I got fifteenth place, I've got eleventh place. I've got ninth place. I've got seventh place in the Olympia, and I'm totally drug free.
Well, in nineteen ninety five, Flex Wheeler was winning all the shows he went to.
Actually was nineteen ninety four.
He was winning. He won on the Classics. Yep, he was on the tour. He was winning all the shows on the tour. And I remember when I was in college, I was always the mortest guy in my class in the county, and but if I wasn't this morning I would go study with this morning guy to you know, increase my grade.
Okay.
So I'm like, I'm gonna take that same valosity with with Flex. So I went to Flex's room. It was real kind of late that night, and I'm like, Flex, uh man, I'm tired of getting my butt whooped all these shows.
And I hear you guys, are you know, taking the juice?
You know, I had say something and he's like, yeah, man, if you want to get up there with the big dogs, you got to do what the big dog do.
Okay. So I'm like, well, what do you do? Well?
Flex named out a whole bunch of you know, steroids drugs that they take, and he said, I got a budget that can get everything for you.
So I'm like okay.
So my first time ever having anything to do with drugs was nineteen ninety five and that's when I won my first pro show, Canada Cup. Canada Yeah, Canada Cup, and I'm like, okay, I guess Flex was done. Yeah. So after that, I'm like, you know what, I'm tired of getting my budet. I'm I'm just gonna do what these guys do. But we ran into a little problem along the way and DA came in and you know, they like.
Uh, well you gots doing. What are you taking? So I'm like, well, this is pretty much what I'm doing.
He's like, well, we're gonna have to confiscate, confiscate gad and you know, and take everything from you.
I'm like okay. So I went out and it.
Had the clinics that you can go to and get you know, there was legally right. The only thing you had to take these blood blood work like you had to get the blood done.
Yeah.
So I went to one of those clinics and start doing everything legally. But I had to, you know, take these blood tests and everything came out pretty much normal.
So I was okay. So I was all right.
Now you know I could do everything legally. I ain't got to worry about, you know, getting in trouble from doing what I was doing. And from from from that point on, my career just took off. In nineteen ninety eight, when I went to the Olympia, Flex was the successor. Everybody said Flex was gonna win because right because there was a stretch there. Lee had taken over. Lee had won eight straight. Lee retired, No, no, no, Dorian Yate, Yeah come in sixth straight. Oh that's fourteen years. They've only had two guys to win the O. Lee Haney, he retires after eight. Dorian Yate ext win six. He retires. Now Flex is the natural. Everybody's like, hey, it's all flecks Flex showly lose, okay, And uh I wasn't nowhere in there because I hadn't got ain't nowhere in the top five, right, So it was Flex, NASA, Sean Kevin so in the nine ed Olympia, that's what they was calling out. And I'm like, oh man, here we go again. And I got ninth the year before, and I'm like, if I could only make the top five, man, I'll be happy and satisfied because I'm really just doing this for free membership to the gym.
I ain't really thinking about winning the Olympia.
And that never even occurred to me because I said, well, I'm from nobody did body building. We didn't know anything about it. Brian taught me everything I knew about body building. Well, the only thing was Flex was winning all the shows. And you know they were had those guys, you know, picked to when you'll be the successor. Well, Flex call me on the phone one day and like, man, who you working with. I'm like, dude, I'm doing my own thing. He's like, oh man, I got this guy chatted Nick because he he could, you know, make it make it here, even down here, and make a difference in your physique. So I called Chad. Chad didn't call me back, so I called flex again.
I ain't flex. This guy's not calling me back. Man.
You told me to come the guy and he was gonna help me out. And he called me back. He's like, no, just keep calling he'll call you back. So I called him again. Well, this time he called me back, you know, and I hook up with him. He changed everything I was doing. He changed my diet. You know, I went from eating five meals a day to eating six meals a day.
Okay.
I went from ten ounces to twelve ounces of protein with each meal to sixteen ounces.
You eat a powder protein a meal.
The pound of protein of meal. And I'm trying everything. My powders stuffed this food and it ain't working. So I'm like, man, he said, I gotta I gotta eat this food to get big. So I just kept eating and eating. My body finally adjusted to it. I was finally able. It took me about three four months, wow, for my body to adjust one hundred grams of protein with each meal. We talked about one hundred grams of chicken, steak, turkey. You know you eat fish back then, No, I didn't eat fish. Uh, Chad didn't have me on fishing, and I didn't really too much care for fishing either, because I eat fish and I be.
You had a lot of fiber in your system, boy, you will be back.
He had me on all kinds of fibers uplements, and I was going to the bathroom after each minute five times yep and uh.
And another thing was I couldn't need five meals.
Uh. You know, I've worked full time police department. I'm working, uh, working out every day. I'm doing cardio. That's another thing Chad did. He increased my cardio from one hour a day to two hours a day. And I'm like, oh, man, you really doing a number on me here. And you know, I made it work. And you know, like I said, I was finally able to eat that eat. There was one hundred grams of protein. The only thing was I couldn't get the six meals in. So Chad was like, well, you need to eat this food if you want to get big, she said, try and waking up in the middle of the night, eating me and going back to bed. So that's what I did. I went to bed every night about four o'clock and I will wake up.
Four o'clock afternoon, No, no, four o'clock in the morning because you work in the police.
Yeah, I'm working proment.
So I would get up at seven, eat a meal, go back to bed at eight, a whole hour. Well, it worked out pretty good, and they caught on and I was able to do an hour in the morning on on treadmill I had right by my bed. You know, I get out of bed, jump right on the treadmill. Was it fast the cardio? Yeah, fast cardio. So I did that and when I finished that, I would eat my first meal, go to the gym. I got there about twelve thirty, almost one. I only worked out an hour each day, one hour maybe hour fifteen minutes at the motor. I would get home about two fifteen somewhere there. I would get take a shower, get dressed, go to work. I had to be there at three. I got there at three, and I would eat my next meal at three and we get a forty five minute lunch break. So I'd eat my next meal at that lunch break, and I got off at eleven o'clock every night. So I would come home, eat another meal, take a shower and everything, and sit around do some me meal and I would eat my last meal, which was a protein shape I just just drank one hundred grand protein and I'd go to bed, like I said, around about four o'clock.
And that was the whole day. And that was that was my camp. You know.
I didn't go no strip clubs. I didn't go out to no clubs.
I didn't go. You ain't had no time. I had no time there you go.
But come to find out, Flex told me, man I went to the strip club every day when I got my workout.
They had already told me I was gonna win in Olympia. What you did? What?
It's like, yeah, yeah, guess what I did. I'm like, dude, I didn't go to no strip club. I didn't go nowhere. You know, it was job worked a gym back home. So basically you're eating around, you're eating. You're eating like every three hours, every two and a half hours.
Exactly every three hours. I'm eating a meal every three hours. You're eating a meal. Yep.
And it's working out pretty good if the thing's going according to plan. And so nineteen ninety eight Olympica rolls around, everybody's saying Flex go in, you know, and we get to show. They calling out the Flex NASA Kevin Sean I'm like, oh man.
Here we go again.
All I want to do is make the top five and I'll be okay. Well, somewhere along the line they started calling me out. Okay, I'm like, okay, thanks, looking up, I might have a chance to make the top five.
Well.
I can remember, like it was yesterday. I'm like, you know, they could be standing there, all six of us on stage, and I'm like, you know, I don't want to be called six. I mean, I don't like God, please don't let me because six. They called out sixth places and it wasn't mean. And I'm like, thank you, geesu. And I'm like, okay, I got fifth. You know, I've accomplished my dream, did what I always wanted to do, make the top five. Fifth place call it wasn't me. I'm like, wait a minute now, oh something one on here, fourth place called wasn't me. I'm like, oh man, every time it came time for a name to be called, I'm expecting to hear my name all the way up to.
Me and Flex standing on stage.
I remember like yesterday, and uh, I knew in my heart that I was gonna get second place because they already said Flex was gonna win. So I'm thinking the whole time, they're gonna call flex name for first. And I can remember, like yesterday they called our flex name for a second, and I'm like, they called.
Me out for first. I'm like, oh man, they made a mistake.
And I'm like, wait a minute, no, they wouldn't make mistake that big and that I hit the floor yep, and I was out pretty much out cold. I fainted just like that. And uh. The only thing I remember was Vicky coming on stage and helping me get off off that floor.
And I didn't know. I didn't know what had happened.
I didn't know I was down on the floor that long until I watched this tape. Flex came over and said something to me. Chris came over and said something to me. I don't I ain't heard it. I don't remember none of that. I don't remember none of that. And when I got up, I'm like, oh man, I don't know. I don't want the Olympia other this is the best thing that ever happened in my life. I never in a million years thought I went in Olympia. I never even dreamed the wind in the Olympia because I didn't think it was possible.
But Ronnie, as you're prepping for the show, like you said, okay, we know Dorian retired. Yeah boom, okay, flex great cemetery, those round belly muscles, everything. Please when you look at the sand down statue, that's flex, seem like it fle see like flex wheeler.
And so how'd your prep are?
You looking at yourself every couple of weeks like you look like a damn I'm getting a little bigger, I'm getting a little leaner, as big as I am, as lean as I am, because you all, he's gonna be the bigger man on stage. Basical only guy during that time that could challenge you for size.
Was natal and natural exactly.
He was the only one. Everybody else was gonna have to beat you with lines. He conditioned it because when it came to size, nobody could touch you.
Nobody had that.
But you had to be looking at yourself like, well, okay, you start to see the Christmas tree start to come in, You start to see the last when you do the real last.
Yes, everything was coming in.
The only thing was I was working with Chad Nicholas and the night before the show he had me eat so many cars. I mean I was eating a thousand metograms for cars a day and that you're carving up.
Yeah.
And he started that like on Wednesday or Thursday, I forget whatever the day it was. And I was stuffing myself with food and I felt pretty good, you know, because when I was prepping for the contest, I could only eat one hundred in twenty five one hundred and fifty rams of carbs a day a day, and that's like two meals three at the most. And when he put me on those thousands, man, I felt like I was in heaven, right. I mean, it was the greatest feeling ever. Thousand milligrams were carved every single day. And by the time I got the Friday, I was so stuffed. I was so full. I lost my conditioning. I'm like, oh man, I'm messed up again. I rule my chance to make the top five and everything. So I'm like call Chad, like, Chad, Man, I done messed up.
Man.
The bigger mistake stake ever. He's I like, all my conditioning has gone gone. He's like, man, don't worry about that.
I got you.
So he come out of the room, give me some kind of powder and put some water in and drink that. Okay, well, okay, man, I'm gonna stay up all night going to the bathroom. I woke up the next morning. I'm so nervous. I ain't looking at a mirror. I don't even see myself. And every time I got close to a mirror, I would look away. I'm in backstage. I'm like, I don't want to see how I look, because I know I look pretty bad after seeing myself last night. So I avoided all mirrors that whole entire morning, the whole entire day. Actually, I didn't know how I looked intil the pictures came out in the magazine.
Wow. Yeah, back then we didn't have camera phone. Oh, you didn't have cameraphone.
But Ronnie, you know being backstage, and I've been backstage and seeing you guys at the Olympia and the arnol uh and and but guys know like, damn.
Good, you see I'm big and bull running. Look man, you see Dacer So well, they're not whispered going on because I didn't hear anything.
I was so you know, focused on me and trying to make the top five. That I mean when Joe Wheeler even came back there. He never said anything to me. He's like, man, I need you on my team. And he's like, I can get you guest hoods all around the world. All got to do is drain my team. I'm like, you want me on your team?
Like, ain't Joe. I'm look pretty good? Like heah, you look real good.
I'm like, yeah, whatever, just just just gassing me up.
He ain't really serious about that.
Uh.
Come to find out, he was serious about it, and Uh, I still didn't get it.
I still didn't know how good I looked because I avoided every mirror that I came by sold. Like I said, when they called me for first I lost it. I mean I was in complete shock.
Other than working with Chad, he changing your diet, everything, I was doing your weight, your weight.
Scheme, the sets that you did.
Uh. Back then, there was no such thing as time but attention. It seemed to be the way to go. Now that you bring the rate down, it's a three three tempo down, whole three tempo up running.
You lifted weights.
But I noticed when I look at your physique back then, and I look at the guys now, they don't seem as grainy you.
Used a lot of bar bell. You wasn't a whole You wasn't a machine guy. You did that bitch.
You did heavy dumb bells. You did show the press exactly, did t bar you did bar bell roll, you did iron iron. Everything was pretty much free weight, Yes, yes, I didn't.
I probably did maybe one or two machines, right, And uh everything was heavy, yes, yes.
Yes, But even even like the last couple of weeks, when guys are normally tapering off as far as weight, you were still lifting because I think you were probably like a month out when you squad eight.
Hundred a dead lift.
Now I was a month's out when I dead lifted at eight hundred, right, But when I squatted it, I was probably three months.
But I was I was.
I was a whole lot heavier too, right, So that that's why I did eight hundred was so light to me, I was full of cars. I wasn't diying, right, and uh it was super light. I mean I couldn't believe how light it was.
So you win that Olympia in ninety eight, you gotta be on top of the world. You're like, man, is it everything that you thought it would be? If you were it could be because you didn't even vision yourself winning it.
Exactly.
You win that when you get back to your room and you order that piece of honey and you and Vicky talk what's going through your mind?
Righting, I'm I'm still in short, I still can't believe I won. It still hadn't hit me yet. But you know, I'm I'm so overjoyed. I'm like in another world pretty much, because I can't believe I just won the Miss Olympia, the biggest body building test in the world, something that I, like, I said, I didn't even dream of it.
I never even thought I had a chance.
But I put in the work. You know how disciplined football players are got to be. And I stuck to my routine. I never ever cheated on my diet. I didn't go out and party. I didn't do anything but work on my body and and uh went to work every day.
That was all I did.
And uh that happened every single contest. You know, I'm always gonna you know how we are, We always gonna challenge ourselves.
Yeah, yeah, to be the best.
You know, even though we are not the best, We're gonna challenge ourselves to be the bed and Like I said, I had so much passion for it. It was the easiest thing in the world for me to go to the gym each and every single day. And then I fell in love with working for the police department also, so I had two things that I look forward to doing each and every single day. Going to the gym and going to work. I mean, I love working for the police department. It was so much fun and it gave me a chance to escape being a bodybuilding right. You know, when I'm at work, I'm just Ronnie Coleman, police officer, not Ronnie Coleman the bodybuilding. And that's all I'm thinking about because people like that trying to kill you. Yeah, so I'm thinking about, you know, making all my life. Yeah, I'm thinking about making it home each and every single night. But at the same time, I'm enjoying what I'm doing. I'm loving what I'm doing because every single day it was something different. It was never the same day every single day, and that's what I look forward to, doing something different every single day. And I had so much passion for work for the police Department. I would do it for freedom and then actuality. That's what happened in two thousand and one when they told me I could no longer work for the police department. Why you can work for because I was taking off too much. I would take off for like three months for the Olympia. Every show I would do, I would take about almost maybe two months to a month sometimes, but the regular SHO show, there wasn't that much time.
The runner.
You wouldn't really do it for one show. I can only recall you do it maybe a handful of times. You did two shows of the Cason, you did the arland O one, which and you did the r did you did the it O one. But for the most part, you didn't do it for one show. One show every year.
But you know that one show was the most important thing, for sure in the world to me.
And I also did the European two after Yeah, you did it too.
Yeah, every every single year, so miss Olympia and then the tour. And on the tour we had like sometimes seven shows, right, and I would do seven shows in eleven days, And you know that's a grind.
It is, I mean, because traveling you go to hole water exactly as hard as.
I remember this one show. There's one tour I was doing everything in my power to get rid of water. No matter what I did, it wouldn't come off. I'm getting fifth place, sixth place. Everybody's beating me, and Kevin is winning every show. So I'm like, man, I usually winning all these shows. I used to keep it this conditioning. So I put a flexwet on him. I went by his room like it was almost midnight. When I got there, he had his room. He was still up.
I'm like, man, what are you doing to win all these shows? Now? You keeping your conditioning.
He goes over to his coffee maker, pulled out his coffin maker, pulled me up a cup of coffee, and then he pulled out a bottle of vodka and poured that in the coffee.
I'm like, what dad, they gonna do with that? He's like here go. I'm like, dude, I don't drink no vodka.
Man, I can do the coff bus nothing, not the vodka. He's like, you wanted to know what I was doing. This is what I'm doing to win the show. I'm like okay and say, okay, I drank that coffor. I was like, man, stain't too bad. Give me another cup, but you all night though, I'm up peing all night again, and I go to the show the next day, and man, I win. I beat Kevin in nineth This was in nineteen ninety seven, so that's a pretty big deal for me. I never in my life be killing my whole time. Kevin won the ninety one men National. That's when he turned pro as right, and he got second in the Olympia the next year.
So I'm thinking, hey, you know.
Things looking up for me. I got a chance to do something in this word now. So I put that all behind me and I never did that coffee and vodka think again.
Plus I hooked up with Chad. He had some better than that. He had some kind of powder.
He would pull it and he put it in the glass and put some water in it.
Drink did I'm like okay, And it.
Would help me going to the bathroom for like two hours straight every twenty minutes, just dropping all his water.
And it worked pretty good.
But don't you worry about Ronnie when you when you do that or flattening out, because a lot of times the water was in the muscle. It gives you that full look and sometimes you could flatten. Now, you see, guys, so good the day before the show and then get on the show like, bro, what did you do?
That's why I was eating a thousand milligrams RBS every single day so I wouldn't flat now and I never did them.
Car orbs really did a number on me. Did the trick.
Because it's onto something because you cut your water yep, and now you put the car there to pull the water that to put the muscle the water back into the monks exactly, and uh we it's like a science project, really is.
And another kick I ain't never told nobody it is.
We We would use insulin to uh make it go faster, and some would push it in the muscle real quick, real fast. Well you know if you try it without it, it wouldn't work.
Its good and all of that. It worked to a tea. I know.
I was I was big on stage. I was ripped, I was full, you know, and that's how I beat those guys.
Wow.
So I'm trying to figure out, Okay, so what was your rep in set scheme?
Yep?
He had me doing like twenty reps you know to start out weight.
No no, no, no, this is a one.
Up okay, And I'm peering Medden up every every since. So I was started out at like one, one thirty five on the bench, twenty reps. Put another plate on there, fifteen reps, put another plate on.
There, like twelve, twelve reps. And my last ridge, would you know with another plate would be ten reps. None under ten, yeah, none under ten. And if you watch me work out, I'm never locking out. No, And the reason for that is I'm trying to keep the tension on the muscles the whole time. And when you lock out, you hurt your joints. You get a lot of joint pain. And I stayed as far away from that as possible. And people thought I was doing half reps. I'm like, no, I ain't doing no rep. I'm doing a.
Full rep on the muscle right, I ain't using my joints at all, And I never had any joint problem even to this day, I'm still doing twenty reps with everything. This concludes the first half of my conversation. Part two is also posted and you can access it to whichever podcast platform you just listen to part one on. Just simply go back to Club Shashay profile and I'll see you there.