Ronnie Coleman has constantly been one of the enigmas of bodybuilding with his physique setting an idealistic blueprint for ages to come. Championing the mass monster trend of the sport, Coleman gained the title of ‘King of Bodybuilding’ with a whopping eight Mr. Olympia trophies to his name. Yet, there have been some debates on how the icon went about achieving these milestones.
Elite bodybuilders Dennis James, Milos Sarcev, Chris Cormier, and Melvin Anthony sat down to weigh in on Coleman’s routine in the 90s. The highly debated aspect of the champion’s bodybuilding journey at this point was his ‘natural’ status.
Certain drugs and steroids have often been a part and parcel of many bodybuilders’ training journeys. Given Coleman’s huge structure and insane muscle definition in the 90s, one would doubt if he was ‘all natural’. However, Sarcev argued:
“I got a phone call from Andrea Presti from Italy and he was asking me to go on podcast with him and talk about Ronnie being natural back in ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94 then because nobody believes it…he was!”
The others immediately affirmed, acknowledging how despite the controversies surrounding it, Coleman was indeed natural. Cormier recalled:
“He did the universe in ’91 and he passed the test. I didn’t even go to the test! I said ‘I’m not gonna go Ronnie’s placed ahead of me. I know he’s natural so why would I waste my time going even to get tested!'”
There’s no denying the fact that Ronnie Coleman’s physique was a class apart. Many wished for the kind of genetics and training that came together to produce what his body structure looked like back then. But what brought him to that level was not only good genes and hardcore workout but also a humongous diet.
Ronnie Coleman once revealed his infamous IHOP breakfast
Getting big in bodybuilding meant eating huge amounts of food. Coleman would often resort to six meals a day in order to get in as many calories as possible. One of these meals would be a large breakfast at the popular chain of restaurants – IHOP.
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The icon had a go-to order that he stuck with for about 30 years straight! Going to IHOP every day for breakfast meant a fixed serving of pancakes, egg whites, bacon, and coffee. However, in a vlog where he revisited his favorite diner, Coleman revealed that he ended up spending about an estimated $136,875 over the years on breakfast alone! Considering how it turned out to be the food of the champion, it’s only natural for Coleman to go all out on it!
