The origin of bodybuilding is traditionally attributed to the interval between 1880 and 1953, however, if you look at this phenomenon as widely as possible, you can talk about its popularity back in ancient Greece. It was then that the cult of the beauty of the body was considered one of the main and harmoniously fit into the concept of kalokagatii, according to which the perfection of form was equated with the perfection of content.
A very significant contribution to the development of bodybuilding was made by Charles Atlas, whose comic book heroes in the fifties actively encouraged the younger generation to engage in the development of their own body in general and musculature in particular. So we can say that it was superheroes who became the first significant role model in relation to bodybuilding.
Over time, supporters of the beauty of the body became more and more, until it became a professional activity, providing for participation in various competitions. It is about the regular and winner of such events that will be discussed in this article.
The birth of a future star
Probably, at the beginning of his life, Ronnie Coleman could not have imagined that he would be engaged in bodybuilding and would become so famous thanks to this. An outstanding bodybuilder was born in Louisiana in a town called Monroe, from where at an early age he moved with his parents to the city of Bastrop.
The very birth of a bodybuilding star was not without an omen of a future career. His mother, being far from the most fragile representative of the fair sex, almost died during childbirth - Ronnie Coleman was such a large child that this beautiful event almost ended in a real tragedy.
early years
Since the father of the bodybuilder did not live with his family, the future “Mr. Olympia” had to make his contribution to the rather meager family budget from an early age. Literally from school, Ronnie Coleman stepped into adulthood: combining several work in his spare time, he managed to play basketball and baseball, although the young man preferred American football to both sports. At the age of 12, the future bodybuilder had a weight of 80 kg with a height of 180 cm. Then Ronnie Coleman did not even think about professional bodybuilding, and he saw the bar only from the side and never touched it.
A bit of powerlifting and a bit of luck
Nevertheless, training gave the future bodybuilder real pleasure, for which the young athlete began to visit the gym. During this period, the training program of Ronnie Coleman was far from intricate - the young man was not particularly versed in the variety of sports equipment and literally clutched at everything that came to hand. For the most part, he was attracted to powerlifting - the future champion liked to challenge himself and achieve his goals, but American football was inseparable from his favorite sport at that time.
In this rather tough game, Coleman showed remarkable patience and perseverance, which soon made it possible to achieve success in the chosen path. Representatives of Grambling University almost immediately noticed the young athlete, so Ronnie became his student.
Atypical accountant
It would seem how intelligent can be a person who has chosen bodybuilding as his profession? Ronnie Coleman effortlessly destroyed the prevailing stereotype of a near-inflated guy. He was not only admitted to the university on special conditions, but also graduated with honors. Oddly enough, among the huge selection of proposed options for the future bodybuilder was involved in accounting.
After graduation, Ronnie went to try his luck in Dallas, but he could not find his place in the sun at once. At first, the future champion simply delivered newspapers and delivered pizza, and only with time did he manage to achieve the position of accountant. The new work, although it brought considerable income, took away an incredible amount of mental energy and required a kind of deal with conscience, so that in such a rhythm the future “Mr. Olympia” Ronnie Coleman did not last long - only 2 years.
Fulfillment of a childhood dream
Having abandoned this dirty business in the literal sense of the word, the future bodybuilder decides to embark on the path that he had dreamed of since childhood and enlisted in the ranks of the American police. It was this step that became one of the most important in the life of the future eight-time “Mr. Olympia” - the work in the station provided Coleman with not only stable (albeit not so big) earnings and free medical insurance, but also the opportunity to spend any time in the gym, where and let him begin to perfect his own body of the future star.
Perhaps the life of a bodybuilder would have been completely different if his friend had not been called to a new gym, which opened not far from their place of work. It was there that an athletically built man was noticed by Brian Dobson, to whom the institution belonged. The eye was definitely set on the budding bodybuilders of this man - Dobson immediately drew attention to what Ronnie Coleman can rightfully be proud of: the strength indicators of the athlete, his excellent physical shape, perspectivity and excellent genetics of the future bodybuilder.
The entrepreneurial owner of the hall immediately turned to the future “Mr. Olympia” with a proposal to represent Dobson's sports club at bodybuilding tournaments, but he was not interested in the proposal. A policeman-athlete hesitated with a response until he received at his disposal a free annual subscription to the hall. Ronnie Coleman could not refuse such a thing and from that moment his professional training began.
First victories
The bodybuilder’s path to the competitive podium is hardly long. Changes made by Dobson in Coleman’s training system, hard work on the result and skillful leadership of Mark Hanlon, who became a partner of a bodybuilder, quickly paid off.
3 months after the start of active work on the body of the future “Mr. Olympia,” Ronnie was able to easily win the amateur tournament called “Mr. Texas,” and the next year he became the absolute world champion among amateurs, after which he went on to become a professional league.
The start of real tournaments
Despite a rather loud and impressive start, Ronnie Coleman’s bodybuilding career soon became a real lull. For four years, the bodybuilder remained in the shadow of his rivals, not achieving any significant results. It should be noted that Ronnie did not lose time, devoting every free minute to intensive training.
The first truly significant event in Coleman’s life was the victory in Canada in the 1996 competitions. But, no matter how pleasant the famous laurel crown may be, in life far from everything always goes smoothly. Along with success, Ronnie received a serious spinal injury, which threatened not only the termination of Coleman's career as a bodybuilder, but also serious health problems.
Very many representatives of the strong half of humanity, having found themselves in such conditions, would have saved and tried to find themselves in something else. Ronnie, as you know, did not.
The start of Mr. Olympia
For the first time in this kind of championship, Coleman took part in 1996, but then he was not even able to get into the top 5 - the bodybuilder took sixth position in the overall ranking. The next year in this regard was even less successful and in the tournament he managed to win only ninth place, which, of course, did not satisfy Ronnie's ambitions.
Wanting to improve his performance, the bodybuilder turned to Flex Wheeler for professional advice, which he subsequently circumvented in the championship. It was this athlete who introduced the future eight-time “Mr. Olympia” to Chad Nichols, thanks to which the career of a bodybuilder literally took off.
Everything was revised during this period: Ronnie Coleman’s diet, physical activity, his lifestyle and daily routine. Such an integrated approach allowed to win first place in the tournament "Mr. Olympia", held in 1998. It was then that Ronnie managed to get around Flex Wheeler himself, whom, incidentally, was not upset at all. Subsequently, Coleman was waiting for another seven such triumphs.
Champion Training System
It is quite obvious that it is impossible to achieve such outstanding achievements without working as hard as possible. Champions always choose their own, very special way, and Ronnie Coleman is far from an exception in this regard. A characteristic feature of his work program can be called a balanced alternation of two different training methods: power loads and pumping, better known among bodybuilders as pumping.
Bodybuilder's power cycles go with maximum intensity - almost to the limit. From the point of view of most professional trainers, Ronnie does not work well enough, if not incorrectly. For example, exercises are performed by a bodybuilder at an explosive continuous pace, not to mention the fact that there are no pauses at the end points of a particular action.
The eight-time Mr. Olympia insists that the muscles are best built up by repeatedly repeating the same loads, following one after another in a strictly defined order. Constant increase in load, in his opinion, leads to continuous growth and development of certain muscle groups. The main thing in this matter is to stop in time so as not to bring your own body to a state of overtraining.
As for pumping cycles, the standard set of Ronnie Coleman includes an average of 3-4 exercises, repeated in 4 sets. As a result, each bodybuilder training includes about 12 sets of 10-15 repetitions of each exercise. If we talk about the structure more specifically, it should be noted that the exercises differ in their orientation: 2 sets are performed in explosive technique and 2 more in isolation, with a greater share of technicality.
This training technique allowed the bodybuilder not only to take prizes in leading tournaments, but also to go down in history. The press of Ronnie Coleman kicking and lying causes admiration and a certain amount of envy literally around the world. Still - the bodybuilder masterfully copes with loads of up to 1044 kg.
Make money
Oddly enough, it is this process that Ronnie Coleman considers the most important in his life. It should be noted that he succeeds with great success. Numerous seminars, workshops, lectures and trainings bring the bodybuilder considerable income. In 2012, the bodybuilder also launched his own line of sports nutrition. Ronnie Coleman's protein is a success with bodybuilders all over the world, despite the relatively high cost compared to peers.
Despite the fact that the bodybuilder considers his main goal to be earnings, which is quite clearly expressed in his work, the eight-time Mr. Olympia is still listed as a police officer, thus maintaining closeness to his childhood dream.