Secrets Of Ronnie Coleman's Training
For breakfast, Ronnie Coleman ate big
Grits
Two cups of egg whites from eggology
One slice of processed cheese for flavour (all of these items were mixed in a bowl.
Cup of coffee. From there, he headed off to his first workout, in Metroflex Gym in Arlington. This gym really looked hardcore. It was reminiscent of Dorian Yate's Temple gym in England. All the weights and plates looked old and well used, the temperature was sky high, and there were bags of dog food scattered all around. Wow! Talk about a gym. Day 1: Calves / Shoulders Calves: Ronnie is often criticized for having calves which are too small. If you agree with this statement, after watching this video, you may leave with a different opinion. Ronnie's calves are most certainly large - probably some of the largest in bodybuilding history. I would say easily in the top 10 for sheer size. The reason why Ronnie's calves look small is because his thighs are so monstrous. His calves may not have that classic diamond shape of rival Jay Cutler, but they are huge nevertheless. Here are the exercises and weights Ronnie used for his workout:
Seated Calf Raises - 4 plates / 5 plates / 6 plates
Leg Press Calf Raises - Lots of plates on this one! What some of you may or may not know is that Ronnie Coleman is a devoutly religious man. After his calves workout, the owner of Metroflex gym, his training partner, and Ronnie, all said a prayer, hoping for a victory at the 2003 Mr. Olympia contest. Then Ronnie went on to his shoulders routine for the day. Here are his exercises and weights:
Dumbbell Shoulder Presses: 65, 120, 140, 160 pound dumbbells. He managed to get his heaviest set (320 pounds total) for 6 reps. Ronnie is amazingly strong!
Machine Side Raises: Warmup, followed by two sets superset with machine shoulder presses.
Front Raises: 40, 50, 60 pound dumbbells.
Cable Crossovers for delts: Four sets.
Barbell Shrugs (behind the back) for four sets. For those of you familiar with Lee Haney's bodybuilding video produced in the late 1980s, you may remember that Lee was a big advocate of behind the back barbell shrugs as opposed to barbell shrugs to the front. Lee's reasoning was simple: Your traps are situated on your back, so working them from the back makes the most sense. Ronnie's workout lasted a total of 1 hour and 23 minutes. The time was now a little after 2PM, and Ronnie was off to the Black Eyed Peas for his second meal of day
Chicken breast
Corn
Beans
Cornbread
Glass of water And Ronnie wasn't done his workout for the day quite yet. He then went to his home gym to do cardio on the stairmaster. It was 100 degrees in his home gym and Ronnie did the stairmaster as he watched TV. Next was his 6PM meal at the Black eyed peas. He had the same meal he did at 2PM. Next was his 10PM meal (#4 for the day) at the Outback Steak House:
Baked Potato
Fries
Steak Thursday, August 7, 2003: Ronnie started the day early at around 9:30AM and ate the same breakfast he did the day before. But now we get to see some of Ronnie's vitamin supplementation. Wow! Talk about a big list:
Vitamin E
CQ10
Chromium
Multivitamin
Vitamin C
Celebrex
St. Joseph
Aspirin 81 mg
Calcium
ZMA
Variety blend of Omega 3
Prostate tablet
Leutine tablet for eyes
Liver tablet
DHEA
Energy Pills
Multivitamin Next Ronnie spent some time signing photos from FLEX magazine or from orders off his website. He had dozens of photos to sign. Next Ronnie waso off to the gym again. There were slight audio problems in the car due to Ronnie's loud car stereo playing "Gangsta Party". Day 2: Quads / Hamstrings
Quads:
Leg Extensions - Ronnie did five sets, increasing the weight each time. On his final set, he was doing the full stack plus some extra weight he threw on.
Deep Squats - Ronnie started off with 225 pounds, then went up to 405, and 495, which to Ronnie was "nothing but a peanut". On his fourth set, the real weight started - he did 745 pounds for four reps, followed by the biggest set - 800 pound squats for two deep reps. He used wraps for his knees, and an Inzer advanced design power suit, and a belt for safety.
Leg Press - the heavy weight wasn't over yet! Ronnie started off with 1350 on the leg press, then did 1710 for 12 reps, followed by 2070 for 10! Being sure to have his knees wrapped and wearing a belt, Ronnie did 2250 for eight reps (50 plates in total!). It may have even been more than 2250 pounds if you factor in the weight of the leg press sled.
Hamstrings:
Single Leg Curls for four sets.
Straight Legged Deadlifts - 225, 225, 275 pounds. Then at 3:15PM, he was off to the Black Eyed Peas for his second meal of the day, which was the same as he had at the Black Eyed Peas before. Once again, after his second meal, he went home to do some cardio on the stairmaster in the 100 degree heat. Meal three of the day was also at the Black Eyed Peas, and once again, was the same as before. Next, the DVD showed Ronnie at his massage therapist - Angela, whose qualifications were EYSERY, RMT, LPTA, CWT, STS. She massages Ronnie once weekly at his home and had been doing so for the past two years when this video was filmed (in 2003). She was a physical therapist assistant by trade and noted that Ronnie was her biggest client, and that every now and then, Ronnie would bring in other bodybuilding friends to get massaged by her, but that normally she doesn't see people of Big Ron's size. This was followed by meal four for the day, once again at the Outback Steakhouse. Day 3 - Abs / Chest / Triceps Ronnie started off this day the same as the previous ones - with his big egg white and grits breakfast, followed by his collection of vitamins. Then went off to the gym for a workout. Abs / Chest / Triceps:
Abs:
Crunches (One Arm) on Bench (Warmup)
Two Arm Crunches on Bench.
Butterfly Crunches.
Cable Crunches
One Arm Crunches on Bench
Butterfly Crunches X Two sets
One Arm Crunch on Bench
Two Arm Crunch on Bench
Butterfly Crunch
Cable Crunch. Ronnie may not have the best abs in the world, but it is not due to a lack of training or dieting correctly. The shape of Ronnie's abs are genetic (same as how the shape of your abs are genetic), but he most certainly works them out as hard as any other part. Here is a picture which shows that Ronnie definitely has good abs in some poses:
Chest: Next Ronnie was out to hammer his chest. Wearing gloves and using chalk, Ronnie hit the flat bench presses to start:
Flat Bench Presses - 135, 225, 315, 405, 495 for five reps on his heaviest set.
Incline Bench Presses - 225, 315, 405 for nine reps on his heaviest set.
Decline Bench Presses - 225, 315, 405 for 10 reps on his heaviest set.
Triceps:
Triceps Dumbbell Extensions for three sets using 75 pounds for 15 reps.
Dips Machine for three sets.
Ticeps Pressdowns for three reps (going up to 140 pounds in weight). At 3PM, Ronnie trecked down to the Black Eyed Peas once again, for his second meal of the day - which was the same as usual. Then back to his home gym for cardio on the stairmaster in 90 degree heat. At 6:40PM, Ronnie headed to the Black Eyed Peas again for his third meal of the day, and at 10:30PM he headed to the Outback Steakhouse for meal four. Saturday, August 9, 2003 Day 4 - Ronnie's Home Gym Workout
Calves
Donkey Calf Raises (Machine) - Three sets.
Machine Calf Raises - Three sets.
Seated Calf Raises - Five plates for Three sets. Like I said, no matter what you say about Ronnie's calves, they are huge! Sure, they may not have the classic shape of Jay Cutler's calves, but they are huge, nevertheless. For the next workout, Ronnie went back to Brian Dobson's Metroflex gym to work back and biceps. Day 5 - Back / Biceps:
Back:
Lat Pulldowns - Four sets using the whole stack and extra weight for the last set.
Behind the Nexk Pulldowns - Three Sets.
Cable Rows - Three Sets using the whole stack and two additional plates.
Dumbbell Pullovers - Three sets using a 160 pound dumbbell.
Biceps:
Machine Curls - Three sets using the full stack.
Alternate Standing Dumbbell Curls - Three sets (75 pound dumbbells).
Machine Curls - Three sets. Ronnie followed this up with posing in Metroflex gym. He did the following poses:
Front Double Biceps.
Front Lat Spread.
Side Chest.
Side Serratus.
Most Muscular.
Side Triceps.
Crab Most Muscular.
Rear Lat Spread
Back Double Biceps. And let me tell you - Ronnie was HUGE! He had muscle in places most people don't have muscle - he had muscle in places most people don't have PLACES! He looked like an alien! Here is a photo from www.flexonline.com of Ronnie Coleman's HUGE back from the 2003 Mr. Olympia contest:
By bodybuildingpro.com
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