"Mr. Olympia" Ronnie Coleman: biography and photos. Ronnie Coleman's training program, nutrition rules

The birth of bodybuilding is traditionally attributed to the gap between 1880 and 1953, but if you look at this phenomenon as widely as possible, we can talk about its popularity even in ancient Greece. It was then that the cult of beauty of the body was considered one of the main and harmoniously fit into the concept of calocagathy, according to which the perfection of form was equated with the perfection of content.

Charles Atlas made a very big contribution to the development of bodybuilding, the comic book heroes in the fifties actively encouraged representatives of the younger generation to develop their own body as a whole and musculature in particular. So we can say that it was the superheroes that became the first significant example to follow in relation to bodybuilding.

Over time, the supporters of the beauty of the body became more and more until it became a professional activity, involving participation in all sorts of competitions. It is about the regulars and winners of such events that this article will be discussed.

The birth of the future star

Probably at the beginning of his life, Ronnie Coleman could not imagine that he would be engaged in bodybuilding and become so famous due to this. An outstanding bodybuilder was born in Louisiana in a town called Monroe, where he moved with his parents to Bastrop at an early age.

The very birth of a bodybuilding star was not without omens of a future career. His mother, being by no means the most fragile of the fair sex, almost died during childbirth - Ronnie Coleman was such a large child that this wonderful event almost ended in a real tragedy.

early years

Since the father of the bodybuilder with his family did not live, the future "Mr. Olympia" had to make its contribution to a rather meager family budget from an early age. Literally from the school bench Ronnie Coleman stepped into adulthood: combining several works in his free time, he managed to play basketball and baseball, although both sports were preferred by American football. 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 the bar saw only from the side and never touched her.

A bit of powerlifting and a bit of luck

Nevertheless, training gave the future bodybuilder a real pleasure, for which the young athlete began to attend the hall. During this period, Ronnie Coleman's training program was far from intricate - the young man did not particularly understand the variety of sports equipment and literally grabbed for 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 the place of his favorite sport was inseparably occupied at that time, American football.

In this rather tough game, Coleman showed remarkable patience and perseverance, which soon allowed him to succeed in the chosen path. The young athlete was noticed almost immediately by representatives of the University of Grembling, thanks to which Ronnie became his student.

Atypical accountant

It would seem, how intellectual can be a person who has chosen as his profession bodybuilding? Ronnie Coleman, without much effort, destroyed the established stereotype of a close-knit boy. He was not only admitted to the university on special terms, but also graduated with honors. Ironically, among the huge selection of proposed options for the future bodybuilder attracted exactly accounting.

After graduating from high school Ronnie went to try his luck in Dallas, but he could not find his place under the sun. At first, the future champion simply carried newspapers and delivered pizza, and only eventually he managed to achieve the position of accountant. The new work, although profitable, took away an incredible amount of mental energy and demanded a kind of deal with the conscience, so that in this rhythm the future "Mr. Olympia" Ronnie Coleman did not last very long - just 2 years.

Fulfilling the dream of childhood

Throwing this dirty in the literal sense of the word, the future bodybuilder decides to embark on the path that he dreamed of since childhood and is enrolled in the ranks of the American police. This step was one of the most important in the life of the future eight-fold "Mr. Olympia" - the work in the site provided Coleman with not only stable (albeit not that big) earnings and free medical insurance, but also the opportunity to spend as much time as possible in the gym, where And began to improve the body of the future star.

Perhaps the life of a bodybuilder would have developed quite differently, do not call his friend into a new gym that opened near their place of work. It was there that the athletically built man was spotted by Brian Dobson, who owned the institution. On the budding bodybuilders, this man's eye was definitely nudged - Dobson immediately drew attention to what Ronnie Coleman can rightfully be proud of: the athlete's strengths, his perfect physical shape, the promise and the excellent genetics of the future bodybuilder.

Enterprising owner of the hall immediately turned to the future "Mr. Olympia" with a proposal to represent the Dobson sports club in bodybuilding tournaments, but the proposal was not interested. The policeman-athlete hesitated with an answer until he got a free annual subscription to the hall. From such a Ronnie Coleman could not refuse and from that moment began his professional training.

First victories

The path of a bodybuilder to the contest podium is difficult to call a long one. The changes that Dobson made to Coleman's training system, the diligent work for the result, and the skillful leadership of Mark Hanlon, who became a partner of the bodybuilder, quickly came to fruition.

Already 3 months after the beginning of active work on the body of the future "Mr. Olympia" Ronnie was able to easily win in the amateur tournament called "Mr. Texas", and the following year he became the absolute champion of the world among fans, after moving to professional League.

The beginning of these tournaments

Despite a rather loud and impressive start, in the bodybuilding career of Ronnie Coleman soon came a real calm. 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 spare minute to intensified training.

The first truly significant event in Coleman's life was the victory in Canada, in the 1996 competition. But, no matter how pleasant the famous laurel crown, in life, not always everything develops smoothly. Together with the success Ronnie received a serious spinal injury, which threatened not only the completion 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 surrendered and tried to find themselves in something else. Ronnie, as you know, did not.

The beginning of "Mr. Olympia"

For the first time in this kind of championship Coleman took part in 1996, but then he could not even go to the top 5 - the bodybuilder took the sixth position in the overall ranking. The next year in this respect was even less successful and in the tournament he managed to win only the ninth place, which, of course, did not satisfy Ronnie's ambitions.

Wanting to improve their performance, the bodybuilder asked for professional advice to Flex Wheeler, who later went around the championship. It was this athlete who introduced the future eight-time "Mr. Olympia" with Chad Nichols, thanks to which the career of the bodybuilder literally went on takeoff.

Revised during this period, absolutely everything: Ronnie Coleman's diet, exercise, his way of life and the daily routine. Such an integrated approach made it possible to win first place in the tournament "Mr. Olympia", held in 1998. It was then that Ronnie managed to get by Flex Wheeler himself, whom, incidentally, did not upset him at all. Subsequently, Coleman was waiting for seven more such triumphs.

System of training for the champion

It is obvious that it is impossible to achieve such outstanding achievements without working on yourself as hard as possible. Champions always choose their own, very special way and Ronnie Coleman - is not an exception in this respect. A characteristic feature of his work program can be called a balanced alternation of two different training techniques: power loads and pumpkin, better known in the bodybuilding environment as pumping.

The bodybuilder's bodybuilding cycles pass with maximum intensity - almost at the limit of possibilities. From the point of view of most professional coaches, Ronnie does not work technically, if not to say wrong. For example, exercises are performed by a bodybuilder in an explosive continuous pace, not to mention the fact that there are no pauses at the end points of an action.

The eight-fold "Mr. Olympia" insists that the musculature is best built up by repeatedly repeating the same loads, following one after another in a strictly defined order. Constant buildup of the load, in his opinion, leads to the continuous growth and development of certain muscle groups. The main thing in this matter is to stop in time to not bring your own body to the state of overtraining.

As for pumping cycles, Ronnie Coleman's standard set includes, on average, 3-4 exercises, repeated in 4 sets. As a result, each bodybuilding training includes about 12 sets of 10-15 reps 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 engineering and 2 more are in isolation, with a greater degree of technicality.

This method of training allowed the bodybuilder not only to win prizes in leading tournaments, but also to go down in history. Ronnie Coleman's footwork and lying down cause admiration and a certain amount of envy literally around the world. Still - the bodybuilder masterfully copes with loads up to 1044 kg.

Make money

Strangely enough, this is the process Ronnie Coleman considers the most important in his life. It should be noted, it succeeds with great success. Numerous seminars, master classes, lectures and trainings bring the bodybuilder a considerable income. In 2012, the bodybuilder also launched his own line of sports nutrition. Protein Ronnie Coleman enjoys success among bodybuilders around the world, despite the relatively high cost in comparison with analogues.

Despite the fact that the main goal of his bodybuilder considers earnings, which finds quite clear expression in his work, the eight-time "Mr. Olympia" is still listed as a police officer, thus preserving the closeness to his childhood dream.