September 18, 2024 • 59 mins
In Part 2, Ronnie Coleman continues his conversation with Shannon Sharpe, offering a deeper look into his life as one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. He shares insights on using HGH and the extreme difficulty of the last week before competitions, admitting he was so exhausted that he had to hire someone just to load weights onto the rack. Ronnie reminisces about his mom’s cooking, saying he didn’t need to follow a strict diet because her meals were so good. He even shares a tip about baking potatoes to resemble French fries. Despite his intense regimen, he notes that he maintained a negative body fat percentage and rarely ever got sick, only three times in his life.
Ronnie dives into his impressive personal records (PRs), including a 500 lb bench press, 800 lb deadlift, 800 lb squat, 2300 lb leg press, and curling 225 lbs, revealing that walking lunges were his favorite movement. He claims to have the best back of all time and explains the importance of back muscles in bodybuilding. When asked about his Mount Rushmore of bodybuilders, Ronnie lists his top picks and reflects on why he couldn’t win nine Mr. Olympia titles in a row.
He opens up about the moment he realized his body was giving out, especially during his 2007 competition, where he struggled to stand on stage and ultimately broke down emotionally. Ronnie also discusses the toll that bodybuilding took on his body, mentioning the 13 neck and back surgeries he’s undergone, and how he knew his career was ending after that final show in '07.
Despite the physical hardships, Ronnie has no regrets other than not squatting 800 lbs more than twice. He reflects on how winning Mr. Olympia changed his life, allowing him to escape poverty for the first time. He notes that while some of his size could’ve been achieved without supplements, keeping up with the competition required them. He humorously adds that social media has made him more famous than he ever was, with only Arnold Schwarzenegger being more renowned in the bodybuilding world.
Ronnie talks about his disappointment over not winning nine Mr. Olympia titles in a row and recalls training with his competitors, like Flex Wheeler and Jay Cutler, who were intimidated by his strength. He also details his struggles with surgeries, explaining that his muscles were too big for standard procedures, and after his screws broke post-surgery, no lawyer in Dallas would take his malpractice case.
The episode takes a personal turn as Ronnie opens up about relearning to walk after his surgeries, undergoing stem cell treatment in Mexico, and how it eliminated his pain. He expresses hope that he’ll be walking without crutches within the next year. Despite his challenges, Ronnie still goes to the gym six times a week, calling it both mental and physical therapy.
Ronnie reflects on why he never became a trainer, claiming no one could keep up with his intensity. Even Deion Sanders wanted him to train him and his wife, but Ronnie declined. He also shares the grueling experience of touring in China for three weeks, calling it the hardest thing he’s ever done, and recounting a memorable meal where he saw the eye of a chicken in his dish.
Lastly, Ronnie discusses his family life, proudly mentioning his eight daughters—one for each of his Mr. Olympia titles—and takes Shannon through a typical day as a father. He talks about his current diet, explaining that he now prefers chicken thighs and ground beef because he got sick of chicken breasts and steak.
#Volume
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thank you for coming back. Part two is underway. How
difficult was it for you, because, Ronnie, some of the time,
I mean, when I saw you in Old One, and
we're gonna talk about this, I believe Old One was
the best I've ever seen anybody building I've been to
a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Of Everybody said that you was two fifty seven, and
I remember whatever, I forty seven and I'm looking at you,
I'm like, I don't believe anybody builder, even at their peak,
could beat Rodney. Today.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm talking about Lee, I'm talking about Delian, I'm talking
about Samir, I'm talking about you know, at that point
in time.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Ronnie, everybody said that.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Everybody said, did you know when you went into that
when obviously when you looking.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
At yourself, Oh yeah, I ain't got no chance. I
was so rial. My my my brother said I was
skinning the skull. You was, Yeah, you was. I mean,
you can see the onions and my in my on
my brain, you can see how hard I was. You know,
pack me see my skull. That was so hard. That's
(01:01):
why you called it skin the scull.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Have you ever been able to because as you started
moving up, and I think three is you stepped on
the stage round about two ninety five to eighty five,
the heaviest I've ever been in my life. Now, you you,
I mean, we're never going to see a man that
size that condition again. But I still believe two thousand
and one with your best, with the best condition you've
ever been.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Everybody says that, but I always go back to ninety eight.
I look at those ninety eight pictures and that was
me coming out with a brand new car. I looked
that good, right, And you know, once you get a
new car, it's kind of hard to keep it new.
(01:43):
So I called, you know, me kind of like sharpening
it up every show, you know, And I'm getting a
little bigger every show, but I'm keeping my condition down.
And in two thousand and one, I took it to
another level by staying on a diet after the Olympia
(02:04):
and coming in that much harder. Yes, that's probably one
of one of that's the hardest I've ever been. You
you know, like you said, and everybody said that conditioning
is the best ever nobody, And look, that's not a
slight of anybody. Build them, no, past them, present, no, exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
And I followed the sport for forty years, nobody would beating.
Nobody at their best could beat you that day.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
And I totally agree with you. Nobody. Yeah, that was
a physique.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You tell the story about how like insulin would help
put it. So when did when did growth get implemented
to the sport, because we see, I think.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
There was always it was always there a lot of
people that things that growth makes you big, but it doesn't.
It kind of makes you lean. It does what it said,
It helps you to grow haller. It was actually made
for kids, yeah that suffer from exact that nature. Yes,
(03:08):
but it don't really don't make you big. It may
make makes such a little bit harder, yes, and uh,
you know everything that you could use to get harder,
you muth use it. And G's was one of those things.
But it was very expensive, very very very very and
a whole lot of people could afforded back then, you know,
(03:29):
especially when you're getting it from the pharmacy and you
ain't got no inshowing showing they don't even you use
pressures on that. But you got gotta do what you gotta.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Do, you know, and you have to find ways to
try to to try to make do what you have
to make do exactly the last A lot of people
lose the show. Probably the last week, the hardest week
of all, because now it's really a mind because I
still got to train, do a little cardio, I gotta lift,
(04:01):
and my man, I'm hungry running.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I'm hungry the whole time, every single day. I can't
wait til til a millal times. As a matter of fact,
I was so tired in the gym I couldn't even
lift my weights and put them on the bar. I
had to hire somebody to load my bar so I
(04:26):
can lift it. And you watch my video, You'll see
my best friend in the world. They'll leave loading up
the weights, handing me the dumbbells, everything, because I was
so tired, that exhausted from eating one hundred and twenty
five grams of carbs every day. So, like I said,
I had calls with two meals and I burned that up,
(04:51):
you know. And I'm even see I burned that on
the on the treadmill. Yes, So by the time I
got to the gym, I'm I'm going off heard coming, Yeah,
I'm on fumes. And like I said, I never forget it.
The first time I tried to load the weight and
lift it car hell by the time I loaded the
(05:13):
weight on. Now that's what that was. The workout right there,
because you know I'm loading weight was.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
So amazing, rightning is that even the last week you
still lifted.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I'm still lifting heavy. I'm still lifting heavy up to
that last week. Like a couple of days out from
the show, you know, I kind of calmed down. You know,
a lot of lightweight, do a lot of whole, whole
bunch of reps. But for the most part, I'm ball
to the wall, going as heat as I possibly can.
(05:47):
Did you like did you? Did you like that food?
I mean, do you do? You love the food? Because
my mom was the greatest cook ever because you cooked
a lot of your meals for you to cook all
of my meals for me, and it was like I
would The food was so good good. It was like
I wasn't even on a diet. You know, I'm putting
(06:08):
barbecue sauce on it. Catch up, you know a fry.
People think those were actually French fry. What I did
was bottle crinkle cutter, cut them up with that crinkle cutter,
sprayed a little pam on the bottom of the trade,
and then I was spray at the top to give
(06:29):
it that brown like, to put it in the oven,
let it cook for about forty five minutes. I even
had a timer and I would time it for forty
five minutes. When they got red ready, they were golden
brown and crispy. They looked just like French fry. And
everybody thought I was eating French fry, but I was
(06:50):
just eating cut up potatoes with a crinkle cutter made
to look like French fries, you know. And it's kind
of a psychological thing too. You know, you gotta play
tree with your body. I got with your body. Yeah, because,
uh man, those some some of them days were kind
of dark.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Yeah, So so give us a glimpse of the last
Let's just say the show's on a Saturday. You got
pre judge who's gonna be in that morning, and then
you got the night show. Ye give us to save
probably the last the last three days, because you're probably
gonna arrive if the show's on Saturday, you're probably gonna
get there Thursday.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
No, you got that, Wednesday, I got that Tuesday. Okay, okay, Yeah,
I'm trying to get there and get acclimated because we're
on Central Time. Here THEMN specific time over there, So
I'm trying to get there and get acclimated to that time.
That time's gonna change, and it takes a couple of days. Okay,
you're gonna get acclimated to that. By the way, you're
gonna get your food out. We're gonna get Yeah. I
(07:49):
take all my food with men. Okay, you took all
your food. I took all my food with men. My
mom will cook it and I will put it in
this cooler. I had a like a plastic cooler, but
the kept food real nice and warm, you know, kept
what I needed cold cold. And I would take all
my food with me and eat all my food for
(08:10):
like what about two three days? Two days. I got
there on Tuesday. My mom came in on Thursday with
another big bag of food, so that would for the
whole week. You know, I eat I think. I weighed
and measured everything I put in my mouth. I weighed
and measured it out, you know, sixteen ounces of protein,
(08:36):
whatever carb it was. Most of the time it was
like five ounces of potatoes, you know, six ounces of potatoes.
And I weighed everything and measured everything to make sure
I'm getting their appropriate amount of carbs getting their appropriate
mount of protein.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Also, were you a big were you a big rice eater?
Or was it mainly for your cars? Was mainly potatoes,
mainly potatoes and rice.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
So I'm the most simplest either out there and people
don't believe it's the truth. And I I I highly
recommend no one try this. I didn't eat vegetables. Huh.
I didn't like them. Well, how did you? How did so?
If you what you non carved me is what are
(09:24):
you gonna get supplements? I had? I was taking all
these fiver supplements, iron supplements, everything. Yeah, and that's how
I got my my my green vegetables in Yeah. Don't
don't do that. Only Ronni Cooman can do that.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Yeah, Because I mean I'm not the biggest vegie vegie
either either, but I understand that when I can't get
a complex carb of potato or rice veggiet is it.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Not for me? I could never eat I ain't vegetable
no matter what what I tried. Wow, still to this day,
I can't eat them.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
How did did you track your body? Did you track
your body fat in the off season? Like, okay, I'm
two seventy five, Okay, I don't. I don't need to
get up with this because it's hard to me. The
harder you get, the higher you get up there, you
got to bring that down.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
I weighed myself every single day, sometimes twice a day,
sometimes three times a day. I'm weighing myself and you know,
trying to measure my fat. I remember I took this
one test and my body fat was so low. It
wasn't even a half a percent. It was point three three.
(10:42):
They would dip me under water and my numbers were negative.
It was like minus two body fat. And then they
would use these calca on my skin. That's why I
had a little bitter fat. Point three to three, not
even a half a percent. Man, you get a cold, Man,
(11:03):
you've been in a hospital about seven day. I never
got a cold, never had the flu what never ever
had the flu. I don't get sick. I can remember
three times in my life I was sick. I remember
I was going to school one day and now I
(11:24):
was junior high. I got I threw up on my
way to school. The next time I was in my
apartment complex. I threw up and didn't go to work
that day. And the last time I can remember what
was the first day I moved in my house. I
threw up at midnight. I was in bed sleeping, and man,
(11:51):
it just came out of nowhere. I threw up right
there on the carpet, brand new carpet. But Vic it
was there. She cleaned that up real good for me.
And those were all the time that I can remember
being like sick, you know, and nothing else I can be.
(12:13):
I think I had a cold or maybe once or
twice while I was coughing and stuff. I would get
that every now and then. I couldn't take the last
time I had one. Now it's been so long. While
I was just doing a little coughing that last said
maybe three or four days or something like that.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
After you won the first Olympia in ninety eight, how
well did you sleep subsequent Olympias?
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Well, the night after every Olympia, I never slept. I
was righted up. But I slept six hours a day,
every single day all the way up to the show.
Six hours a day. You was never you was never rested,
like damn. I show hope, Man, I showed, hope. I
hit this peak. I'm sure, hope. I'm ready to go
(13:02):
tomorrow morning. I know psychologically, I was ready. Mentally I
was ready. Physically I was ready, and I had that
confidence that was so high it didn't bother me in
my sleeping. I slept like a big old's big olds
tipping baby, rightdie? What are your prs?
Speaker 1 (13:26):
If I was someone asked you, say, Rodney, what's the
most weight you've ever bitched? Squatty dead lift press?
Speaker 2 (13:35):
I know, I'm all bitch. I did five hundred for
five or six reps. It's on tape. Deadlift is on tape,
eight hundred for two. Squad It's on tape also eight
hundred for two. I could have got six, but that's
you know, No. Here they're leg press twenty three hundred
(13:59):
for nine, right. And you know curling, I've curled two
twenty five before from maybe like eight seven eight reps.
But you know, I don't really count all that kind
of stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
But you a military press of Rodney. I mean see
the press for three fifteen for twelve.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Yeah, I think, like wait.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I think I think the most amazing thing, Ronnie, was
you doing those and the hot ass dallar Son the
parking lot.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
You're doing the walking Love walking twenty five. That's that was.
That was kind o heavy here, just a little bit heavy,
but not that heavy. And I always look forward to
doing it because that was one of my favorite exercises
and that when those straighted glutes came.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
That's where that gum tired was gonna come. When you
spin it around. Yep, you see that Christmas tree in
that little back.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, and them glu glutes. Yeah, that's my favorite shot
from the back. Put my hands out. But uh, I
did that walking lunch every single week out there in
that parking line. I remember one time it was snowing outside.
I'm like, here we go. You got to slipping and sign.
(15:17):
I'm out there slipping and sign with two twenty five
doing my walking lunches right so, no matter what the
hell and high water, I'm doing my walking lunches righting.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
When it comes like the back, I look at you
and most of the Olympias, if you go back to
look at the guys that have won more, I gotta.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Have a back.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Lee Haney had the back day and Yate had the back.
Ronny Coleman had the back even if he didn't win
but one but now see mur yeah a good bae.
Joel Stubbs, he didn't win but he had a great
bagdat you look at a field back good back. Yeah,
Ky Green didn't win with back back. If I were
to say, everybody at the absolute best, and I put
(15:58):
y'all up on the stage, who winnings?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Who went back? Really?
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Who winning back? Double bye, real latch bread? All of
those blown to me.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Real light lights out, lights out, yep, and double by
every single time. I'm gonna win every single time for
those are my shots. That's that's you do my money.
If it was close and we got to the back,
it was over for job. It was lights out, real
lash bread. And that's why I called it on stage.
(16:34):
We're doing this thing called the Challenge round. I remember
and uh Me and Jayson only two guys left. Uh
for first and second. It's lights out, real latch bread.
Game over.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Yeah, buddy brother, give me your mount rushmore bodybuilders.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Oh okay, we got on on at the top. Got
Lee had uh in the second place. I'm on say Thursdays,
I got eight Olympias. I don't put old Field and
four since he got seven Olympias, and I guess I
put the Doian in since he got he can't get
up there. You ain't got the postsponsible. Oh he got
(17:21):
he didn't make it. Those are my top bodybuildings in
the world today, rightning you and I don't know if
this had played a role. I remember when you lost.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
And I think it was two thousand and five, two
thousand and six, when you lost to J six two
thousand and six. Yeah, they changed the formn because remember
they moved it was one day, it was on a
Friday and then on a Saturday.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Yep. Exactly. Do you think that played a role in
you not getting nine because normally if in the morning
that that didn't have anything to do with it. Uh,
for the most part, you know, I kind of body
kind of gave out on me. My back got to
the point where I could barely stand on stage. Really,
(18:08):
I was in so much pain. I mean, I was
dying out there. But they've changed that format actually in
ninth like two thousand and one. Yep, in two thousand
and one, because I remember I was losing the prejudging
(18:30):
because I had already did the Auto Classic and I'd
never ever done that before. My body was so tired
and so exhausted. I was going to the hospital the
morning of the two thousand and one miss Olympia. I
never forget it. The night before, my girl was putting
(18:54):
on my tan. I was in the bathroom and talking
to the I have my friends over that to my friends,
and all of a sudden, I was faint and I
wake up. I'm in the bathtub and I'm like, what
that damn happened. I'm actually everybody, what happened. I get
(19:16):
in this bathtub. They're like, dude, you fainted. I'm like
what Like? They was like, yeah, you fainting it. I'm like,
oh man, what's up with that? Well, the next morning,
I wake up, I can't even get out of bed,
and I'm like, oh my god, it's over. And I
(19:39):
was so tired and so exhausted. I felt like I
was dying. I mean, I don't really know how it
feels well when a person is dying, but the way
I felt it felt like it was over there. I
didn't have no energy. I was tired, I was exhausted.
(20:02):
I couldn't get out of bed because my lad was
so heavy. And I called Chad. I was like, Chad,
I'm going to the hospital. I was like, forget this
Olympia stuff. You know, I ain't trying to die for
no show, right, you know, I don't need it that bad.
And Chad said, man, no, you don't work too long
(20:24):
for it. You don't put too much into this. And
I'm like, man, but he's like, just drab some water
and drink and until you feel better. Well, I grabbed
a gallon of water and I drank the whole thing exactly.
That's exactly what happened. I got to that stage and
(20:45):
I was watered down, and they like, man, you losing
the show. Check and you said they got you in
second place. I'm like what She's like, Yeah, He's like,
we got to go to the room. We got put
all this water off of you. So that's what we did.
We went to the room. Chad hit me with that
powder and I started peeing for at least two hours.
(21:11):
Every twenty minutes, I was going to the bathroom and
I picked so much water off me that I was
back to my old self again. Start at the night show.
The old runner came back and won that show. And man,
that was the hardest Olympia and the hardest show I've
(21:33):
ever competed in. Because I ain't never ever felt like
I was dying. That was that was that was my
clue to body only peaked once a year and you
got to pick the show that you go peek in.
And I never did the all the classes again. And
(21:54):
I remember that because you almost lost over one jay
in first me and second, but you came back and
then O two was close again, and they said, Rodney, man,
they gained it on you, and yeah, you want big?
Is that what y'all want? I came in because they
told me, man, you're getting too big. You need to
come in a little lighter, come in flatish vav too.
(22:18):
I'm like, okay, so that's what I did. I came
in a little lighter, came in a little flat and
they was like, man, you can't look like that again.
We're gonna have to take this thing from you. And
I'm like, oh, hell no, I ain't going out like
that right. So I used to take three months off
after every Olympia. Two thousand and two not that year.
(22:44):
I'm like, they are not taking this from me. They
want to go to the war, I'll take I'll take
them the war. And that was the attitude that I
went to the gym with every single day. And I
was trying to I was trying to lift the gym
up I would put like it's waistack held two hundred
(23:07):
and fifty pounds. I'm putting another two forty five on
and trying to get as many reps as possible because
they ain't taking this Olympia from me. I don't work
too hard to this spot, to get to this spot.
And uh, it was like that every single day they
(23:28):
want to go to the war. I'll take them the war.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
If you go on stage at two eighty five, how
big are you get in the off season?
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Three thirty? What three hundred and thirty pounds in all things?
Speaker 1 (23:44):
If you have eleven if you had to guess at
two hundred and eighty five pounds when you stepped on stage,
what do you think your body.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Fat WASO point three three or less? Even at eighty
five to eighty five? Yep, even at to eighty five.
I was that lean because when I did the point
three to three I wasn't even in contest shape. I
was like six weeks a hour or something like that. Wow,
(24:13):
So I can imagine what I'd be in contest shape right,
negative numbers probably, so at two eighty five I'm probably
right around that same body fact, when you walked out.
I remember watching it. You watch you walked out. You
(24:33):
had to crown on he had you had to in
your hand. I'm the king. You had to Did you know.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
They had you righting when they saw you backstage?
Speaker 2 (24:46):
They had to know it was over. Yep, they knew
it was over, Todd.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Nobody had ever been that big, that condition. I mean,
the guys get that big in the off season. They
ain't nearly that condition. No, But for.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
You to get that and be conditioned, I mean you
can still you could still see the Christmas Street. You
still had the strity glops, the hamster, everything still there.
And uh, I debts. I knew it was over with
I'm wonna come out and show you. I'm gonna come
out with this king outfit.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
But did you know that probably there was not a
chance that you're gonna ever be able to get that
way look like that?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Again, Anything is possible, That's what I always say, Anything
is possible. And uh, after that, I did you know
come in at two ninety five and the I think
it was ninety two thousand and four. I think I
(25:49):
was two ninety five on stage. Of course I wasn't
as ripped, you know at two ninety five, but I
was still pretty big and pretty hard striding glops. I
still had all my striketion, just just not as crispy,
not as yeah, but you know still wan yeah bottom
(26:09):
lying is I still want you know.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
When did you know it was over? When did you
just know, like, this is it? This is my last Olympia.
I got nothing else to give to this sport. I've
given everything I possibly cared to this sport and it's over.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Two thousand and seven, I was standing on stage and
they was going through Compassion, and man, I was really
struggling to stand on stage. I'm like, oh, yeah, this
is it. I ain't doing no more after this, because
just to stand on stage, I was none a lot
(26:48):
of pain, excruciating pain, and it was start on my
feet and go all the way up to my hips,
and just to walk was a chore. And every time
I came off stage, I would have to go and
sit down because I couldn't stand no longer. And I
(27:14):
knew right then on stage it's over. Bob handing me
to Mike and I completely fell apart, you know, trying
to tell everybody this was, this was it, and you
know my time has come. You know it was very heartbreaking,
you know how it is you have to retire from
sport that you loved so much, you got so much
(27:38):
passion for. Like I said, I'd do it for free,
you know, if I had to, And I did it
for free as the amateur.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
But you know, the mind is willing, but the body
just as enablement body and body can't keep up with it.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
You know, they said nobody had defeated for the time,
and nobody ever will.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Did you know you said you hurt your back in
high school? You hurt your neck in high school? Now,
but did you think it? I mean what I mean
from twenty seventeen, you had like twelve thirteen surgeries, your
back had everything's few. I think you got back maybe
one of your own vertebrates in your back, your hips? Yeah,
did you think you was gonna get this bad?
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Running? Never in the media did I think you would
get this bad. I've had thirteen surgeres like you said,
I've had eight back surgeries, three neck, two hip, and
uh I'm still hanging now. Yeah, I'm still working out
six days a week and I still got that passion.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
I read where you said internally, everything's fine. I feel internally,
all my organs are functioning properly, my kid needs are doing, my.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Livery doing everything hard, everything everything.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
It's just just at my back and my hips, my knees.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Balance is pretty much gone for the most part.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
Do you look back at like, so you don't think
squatting nothing right here?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
I mean, think about how much weight.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
That's a lot of weight over the course of your
career that you've.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Lifted seven years. Yes, it is what I got.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
You're lifting millions of pounds, millions of pounds, and you
know that takes a total little bout it.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
You know eventually it's going to catch up with you.
And that's what happened to me in two thousand and seven.
All that band and heavy lifting finally caught up with
me and it was time to go.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Do you ever look back. You're home with your beautiful family,
sit in the bed, like, damn, was it all worth it?
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Never? To this day, I said, if I had to
do over again, the only thing I would do is
squat that eight man. A hundred still bothered me. Eight
hundred still bothered me. After all this time, I'm like, man,
(30:08):
I blew it. I blew my opportunity to squad eight
hundred and six reps. You remember that. I remember like
it was yesterday. I remember putting it up. I'm like,
why did I put this? Duff? I had at least
four more reps in me. If you if you go
back and listen to the table saying, oh man, that
was life. I should have did more reps.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Did you think about because I remember the same thing.
I thought the same thing. I remember I was working
out in Roaps gym and I went up to the
one hundred and seventy pound dumb bells and other than you,
I'm the only way to ever moved those.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, so I didn't. I did five.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
I did five, like I did five reps with it,
and I was like, Rope said, dog, you could do
the one eighties. Only Ronnie Coleman has ever done those
one eighties. And I remember saying to myself, dog, I
get them next week, because I had already did over
the one forty one, fifty one, sixty one seventy. I said,
I'm a little tired. I'll get it next week. Next week.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
That's my only regret on the weight room.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
And I didn't at least attempt the one aided because
you were the only one that's ever moved them.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Yep, yeah, that wasn't nothing for me back It was
like you moving like they were one hundreds. Yeah, I
did two hundreds for twelve reps, you know, right, so
one of a it ain't nothing.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
How did winning the olympa Olympia? How did that change
Ronnie Coleman's life? Man, I was a lot more richer.
I was broke for thirty four years of my life.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
My first Olympic, I finally made some money money, finally
made some money and finally came up in the world.
It was the greatest feeling ever to finally make some money. Well,
I didn't have to, you know, worry about uh my
next meal, or worry about how car, no, a lot
(32:02):
of that stuff. So it was the greatest feeling ever
to this day. I mean, can't nothing top that, you know,
Like I said, win in that first Olympia, it was
the greatest feeling ever. It was. It was so good
and so great. I can't even describe how good it was,
(32:22):
how wonderful it was to finally win something that I
truly enjoyed doing. I had the most passion in the
world for doing It's hard to put in words. It's
just that enjoyable. It's hard to put in word because,
like I said, I never even dreamed about winning the Olympic,
(32:45):
because I never thought it was possible. Right. I got
into bodybuilding for a free membership to the gym, right
and never even considered winning the Olympia. All I was
thinking about, Hey, I get a chance to work out
for free, and I'm gonna make the best and I'm
gonna do my best, you know when I get there
on stage, Because you know, that's how athletes athleague thinking.
(33:09):
We got gotta be our best and everything we do,
and we got to challenge ourselves to be even better.
And that's what I was doing every time I went
to the gym.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
When it comes to fame and bodybuilding, I mean, really
only it's Arnold and then you.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
I mean, when you go even these new bodies, it's you.
I mean I see the crowds.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
I mean I remember when you when the exposed and
when you came, and it's like the Red Sea Party
because everybody wanted to everybody wanted to see you.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Everybody just wanted to say I saw it. I touched
and I touched his arm. He's bigger He's bigger than
you think exactly. That's what I hear all the time.
And social media has taken my career to another level.
I'm more busier now than I've ever been in my
whole entire life. This year is the busiest year ever
(34:09):
that I've had in my career because I've been on
the road at least every single weekend, just about every
single week. I've been going for weeks at a time,
sometime two weeks at a time, and it's been going
on since January. And this is the only time I've
(34:35):
had off in a long time. I got two weeks
to be at home and I'm hitting the road again.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
What if they have social What if they have social
media back where you were doing what you were doing right.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
It, Man, I'd be the king of the world pretty
close to it now, but I'll be on a whole
another level of being king of the world. People say
that having known you, haven't been around, you haven't seen you.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
People like, well, he could have never been that size
had he not taken the supplementation.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Yeah, but I think yeah, for sure easily. You know,
I was almost there in the off season, for sure.
But uh, it contributed somewhat to it, you know, getting
just a little bit harder and being a little bit
bigger on stage, for sure. But if you on stay
(35:45):
with guys that are doing things that they're doing, you
can't compete with them doing the same things. Yeah, what
I was doing, like you just said, I'm just trying
to uh a level of paint plant the field. And
that's the way I looked at it for the most part.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Had it not been that way, I wouldn't have never
you know, did what those guys were doing.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
When you when you lost it, when you finally got
beat it, because like you said, Lee retired, nobody ever
defeated he. No, Drian lost in Lee his before Lee retired.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
And so you I mean, I'm sure you wanted to
like get the nine away and be done with it, yep,
And it didn't happen.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
We were disappointed, highly disappointed. He's still disappointed till this day.
You think you want, you think you want. I know
I won, but you know they say change is good
and uh, change gonna come about sometime or another. And
(36:56):
that was the time you should have told him it's
gonna be your last year, all right. I don't think
it would have made nothing. I don't think it would
have made no difference. They already had it and in
their mind, and it was made up as soon as
we walked out there on today. They had already decided
to change. Is going to happen this year? Did you?
(37:19):
Did you ever train with any your competitors? Yep, yep.
Me and Jay trained together all the time, at least
when we go to the gym show. You know, we
would train together. From the n Stead's show. Uh so
we trained together together on the road flex not so much.
(37:41):
He ain't want to train with me, but he gave
you all the tools. He should have kept some of
that to himself. That came to Metroflex and tried to
work out, and he did one set. If you had
done did once said it was done. He's like, man,
it's too hot in here, and you really lifting too
(38:04):
much weight. I know what I'm getting myself into it,
and I ain't about to do it. And he was done.
And for more point, Jay was the only one who
would try to work out with me and keep up
with me. But you know I was killing him too.
He good at you now either. Once I put them
(38:25):
fireplaces on that on that squad. He was done.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
It was out, Ronnie. Look thirteen surgers is twenty seventeen.
Here my back, shoulder neck nineteen ninety six year suffered
the HERNI eatey disk yep.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Waiting to address that.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
So now.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Read you almost paralyzed due to artificial support. You got
fourteen screws, two cages, two rods. In twenty eighteen you
had the intested for the inserting screws out of your back,
had to go back in there. In twenty nineteen, had
to fix four broken screws in your back.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
Yep. One year I had three surgeries from broken screws.
They said, uh, I waited too much. I was too
muscular for those screws. I find found the doctor that
they had some better screws on my last surgery. Oh,
in for worth, I was wonder the doctor in dollars
(39:18):
and those screws just wasn't working for me. What made
for a man that wasn't made for a man in
my size? And I found out the hard way I could.
I can remember like it was yesterday. I went in
the surgery, I went in the recovery room, I came
out of recovery and went straight to my room and
(39:41):
about an hour later, the nurse came in. She's like,
I need to check your bandages. She said, I need
you to turn over and I turned and wow, I'm like, Susan,
did you hear that? She's like, yeah, I heard that.
I'm like what was that? Like, I'm like, I don't know,
(40:01):
and I turned back over again. Pou, I'm like, did
you that study? Yeah, I heard that again. And I
didn't think nothing of it until I went to the
doctor three days later for or follow up. He's like, man,
those screws and broke again. We got have you do
(40:23):
another surgery? Like that's what that was when that nurse
had me to turn over. That was those screws breaking
right out of surgery. That's a bad practice. Well, we
tried to see it and they was like, well we
can't take this case.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
They they gonna side with the doctor. They're gonna say
something like you you've been working out and all this
kind of stuff. So we had they had to tell
me that. Yeah. Well, the all was like Alan tried
every lawyer here in Dallas and nobody would take the case. Wow.
(41:08):
I mean she tried everything in her power to pursue
it and called the doctor up and he was like, sorry,
you know, I ain't nothing being to do, but if
you sue, we gonna take your court and you're gonna lose.
And she decided the best thing to do was to
(41:30):
drop in because we didn't want to go in now
and spend all this money and to lose. So that's
what we did. We just dropped it and to forget it.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
You know, when the doctors told you said, Ronnie, you're
not gonna be able to walk like you once could.
You can take a few steps here or there, but
you're gonna be relegated to your scooter.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
What's going through your mind? You got a family, got kids.
They never even said nothing like that. They didn't know.
They told me I was be fine. I was gonna
be back to normally in no time. Just go to
our We went to rehabilitation right after surgery. Every single
time I would go to the hospital, they had me
(42:15):
in the hospital, rehab hospital for like three months, what
three whole long months and rehab hospital, and man, it
was the hardest thing ever, but I came out of
there still in a wheelchair. It finally got to the
(42:37):
point where where I went to crutches, and I went
also to therapy here locally for another two months, and
it got to the point where I was almost able
to walk without the crutches, and UH insurance ran out
(42:57):
and I'm like, oh, I can just go to the
gym and just do this on my own. I went
to gym and tried to do it. It's never worked out,
not the same. So I recently took it back up.
I'm like, I'm gonna give it one mold shot because
I'm tired of sitting in this wheelchair. I want to
(43:18):
walk without, you know, crutches and get my balance back.
So I'm no, no, I'm going to therapy twice a
week and then other three days I'm out there in
my pool doing therapy out there. I do it every night.
I'm like midnight, one in the morning out there doing
(43:39):
like forty five many too an hour or work out
in the pool. He told my all exit I need
to do so like, I go out there and do
that and thanks for getting a little bit better. So
I'm gonna give myself about another year and a half
at least to get back on my feet. I'm going
(44:00):
doing stem cell right and that has helped tremendously.
Speaker 3 (44:03):
You know.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
That took away pretty much all the pain I was
going through. Really, Yeah, that helped out a whole lot.
So I've been doing that at least three times, four
times a year. I try to go like every three
or five months, and it has old. You're going overseas though,
to get that done. I'm going to Mexico because they
(44:25):
won't do it here. You know, they want you to
take those pain medications, right. You know. I go over
there and it's working out real good. You know, I said,
it's pretty much eliminated all my pain and it's helping
me to get back to walking again. So I say,
but then the next year and a half, I'm gonna
(44:47):
be back to walking without crutches.
Speaker 1 (44:49):
You're getting the stem cells in your back or your
helps your knees where you're getting the stem cells.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
It's actually iv that they just put in your arm
and it goes out out the whole entire body. And
for the most part. I got an email from a
guy a long time ago, it was probably about almost
three years ago, told me about, uh, the stimsale guy
(45:17):
over in Mexico. And you know, I went over there
and he worked out a pretty good you know. And
I said, I was in a lot of pain when
when I first went, and then after one injection the
pain subsided a whole lot. And the more I go,
the less painful it is for me. Now. So I
(45:40):
just had my last one was probably back in I think, uh,
right before except June, June for June, yeah somewhere. Now.
I been on the road so much and did so
many trips I count of forget it, but uh, I
think the last one was in June. And the guy said, man,
(46:03):
you want to come back this time in like three months,
so you know, we can get ahead of this thing.
I sold. I'm like, okay, I'll see what I can do.
So I'm getting ready to go back one more time,
probably in November, because I think things at at sowing
down for me. So I'm gonna try to go in
November and have another one. Like I said, every time
(46:23):
I go, I get just a little bit better. So
I think about another year, maybe a year and a half,
after going to all this therapy and doing all this
therapy in the pool, I should be back to walking
without crutches. That's my goal. Ronnie. You still go to
(46:44):
the gym six days a week, six days a week.
Is that your mental therapy? That's my mental therapy and
my physical therapy. That's something that I'm gonna have to
do the rest of my life, right because it works
out real good for me. Why he never became a trainer, Runnie,
(47:10):
I don't think anybody could keep up with what I'm
gonna put him through. RODDI, yeah, I know, I know,
so I'm just gonna be wasting my time in there.
So I'm like, I don't want to do nothing that
I don't have a lot of passion for. So training
(47:32):
is not my thing. I've had all kinds of people.
Dion call me, have me to train. I'm like, no,
I don't train people. I find somebody, but that's just
not my thing.
Speaker 1 (47:44):
You know, crime he wanted you to train him, or
he wanted you to train somebody in his family.
Speaker 2 (47:49):
He wanted me to train him and his wife. And
I'm like, no, I'll do that, and my thing, I'm
not into training people. It was like ten fifteen years,
this is a long time ago. But I told him too,
I don't. I just don't trained people. I don't have
a patience and I don't have time for anything. That
(48:11):
I really don't have a lot of passion for. So
I'm into things that I have passion for. Like I
started my own company back in twenty eleven. I have
this Ronnie Coleman City City see my product thinking. And
we've had this company now for about thirteen years, and
every year it gets a little bit better. You know,
we started out at like four million in revenue. I
(48:36):
think the last two years is increased up to almost
twenty million. Wow. So you know, every year it increased
in revenue, and we're hoping to get this thing the
twenty and then after that, you know, thirty after that
(49:00):
want to you're gonna sell or you want to keep it.
I'm gonna keep it because it's just one of those
things that, uh, you know, it's a challenge for me,
and I look forward to a challenge, challenge each and
every single day because I know if I put my
mind to somebody that I can't do anything I want.
(49:20):
I learned that from them when in eight mister Olympus
in the road. It's all about hard work, dedication, passionate
and motiv motivation. And I have all that for for
what I'm what I'm doing now, making the sacrifices I
have to make, you know, being on the road for
three weeks at a time. I remember one time we
did this tour in China for three weeks. It was
(49:43):
the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, trying
to eat that nasty Chinese food the whole three weeks
I was there. I never had a good meal. You
don't lay Chinese food. I hate chin got right chicken right.
Their chicken is not like our chicken. I remember one
(50:07):
time I went to a restaurant and I ordered chicken
and rice and I'm like, man, this is dry. It's
not that good. And I'm eating and I look and
I still say, the eyes looking right back at me.
I'm like, what the hell is going on here? Man?
(50:30):
They put the whole chicken in the air I dig
deliver it further. Some legs had the chicken feed in there,
they had the chicken feet in there. Now they had
the whole chicken there there And like I tell you,
I looked at and some eyes looking right back at me.
Speaker 1 (50:51):
But you know, we grew up in the country, so
chicken fee we used to. I don't know if you
ate them, but I ate chicken fee. Where I was
grew up at you ain't et no chicken.
Speaker 2 (50:57):
We didn't eat no chicken fee no, no. You know,
we ate the drumstick about as far as it went.
You know, we didn't do the feat.
Speaker 1 (51:09):
How many times a day do you get when you
go somewhere or do people ask you for workout tips?
Speaker 2 (51:15):
Just about everywhere I go and tell them, you know,
you got to learn from somebody that's very knowledgeable, right,
because knowledge is power. The more you have, the better
off you're gonna be so fine. Somebody that's you know
that has a record, you know has a record, Well,
(51:38):
they've taken somebody and made them a champion. Taking somebody
made a real good right and just find that person
and learn as much as your possle can from. Does
Chad still change train people? Yep? Chad is still training
people to this day. Really, Yep. He told me he
had seventy clients. What mm hmm. He's kind of he's
(52:03):
kind of behind the scenes. He doesn't he don't train
the big name guys anymore. He had a few guys
up there in the top five. But for the most
chat part, Chad, he's uh, he's had a lot of
problems lately, he's been in in and out of the
hospital for certain illnesses. Uh. As a matter of fact,
(52:27):
I think he's in the hospital right now because I
talked to him a couple weeks ago and he's telling me,
you he's on the verge of dying. I'm like, what
he's like, Yeah, man, I've been catching a lot of
hell lately. Well, I don't know what it is, but
he's real sick. And uh, like I said, he's in
(52:50):
the hospital now, you know, struggling for his life now.
And uh, he's doing the best he can, but he's
still real sick. You know. He's just one of those
things that happened. His wife used to achieve and has
cancer and the cheese cheese real sick too, So they
going through it over there. I don't know what it is,
but just one of those things that happens to you
(53:14):
in life. You know, you married, you got eight daughters. Yep,
you ain't got no you got no boys, no boy,
eight daughters from my eight olympias.
Speaker 1 (53:31):
So what I mean, what's it? I mean that many
feed that many women in the house. Obviously you're happily married.
I mean, so what's what's the typical day what's a
typical dad day for Roddy Cober.
Speaker 2 (53:44):
Well, sometimes I take the kids to school and I
try to Yeah, I got to escalator just like a bus,
but I try to, uh, at least if I don't
take them out to pick them up. So I picked
the kids up from school every single day. I don't
(54:06):
get up until about two o'clock in the afternoon, two o'clock.
I go to bed at six o'clock. What are you
doing all the other time? Oh, it's just that that night.
I got used to it.
Speaker 3 (54:19):
You know.
Speaker 2 (54:19):
When I work for the police department, I went to
bed around about four o'clock every every morning, and we'll
wake up at seven. Well now I'll moved it back six.
So you go to bed at six, get up at two. Yep.
I eat a meal, go pick the kids up, take them,
(54:40):
get some neat, come back home, drop them off and
go to the gym. You know, I do at least
our cardio every day. I do at least hour waits
every day. So you know, my line life hadn't changed
too much from where used to be, except for you know,
(55:02):
taking the kids to school and dropping them off. But
for the most part, I'm still doing the same thing
I always did. I eat the same food, chicken and
rice and steaky potato.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
Yeah, what I was about to ask you, so, how
different is is Ronny Coleman's died now compared to when
he was competing.
Speaker 2 (55:20):
Back then, I ate chicken breasts, So now I eat
chicken thighs like flavor. Yeah yeah, but and uh, you know,
I also still go to like ah, I go to
I Hop now eat them. Sometimes I get pancakes, pancakes, yeah,
(55:42):
but sometimes I'll get you know, chicken and rice there. Yeah,
they got pretty good chicken at A. Yeah, they got
pretty good chicken. So I get chicken and rice or
chicken and corn or something like that, you know, just
just to change it up a little bit. And I
used to eat none but file at. Then I went
(56:07):
to Ribby. I was about to say, you get you
get the bone in everybody, Bone in everybody my favorite one.
It does have that bone does have that flavor. But
bone does have that flavor. But for the most part,
you know, the bone is kind of hard to find here,
so most of the time I just get the regular
ribbi without the bone. Well, I kind of got tired
(56:30):
of steak, so I switched to ground beef. Really yep,
I eat like the two ground beef patties maybe for
now three I go to three. It wasn't the over
size what they are well in one city, yep, I
mean two three ground beef patties topped the offs with
(56:54):
a little cheese. So you like, so you make hamburger
out of but you just eating the meat. No bun.
I eat baked potato with that, okay, so playing bake
potato nothing only you know, and uh, pretty much like
same way I hate back at the day, you know,
except uh, I don't do that. I didn't new ground beef.
(57:15):
That was filt mion, right, that's all. I was filat mignon.
And if I was allowed to have some cars, it
would be a baked potato, right. But for the most part,
you know, there's no cars, so it was just steak
by itself. You never liked fish, so you never ate
card halibu or anything like that. Never ate none of
(57:36):
that sal no, none of that. I never had fish
in my die and it was always steak and chicken
and turkey. That was it. So you just didn't like it.
I like fish, Uh, you just it didn't put that
thickness on me like I wanted to. But I thought
it was like when you're coming down, would you like
(57:57):
you know?
Speaker 3 (57:57):
No?
Speaker 2 (57:59):
No, yeah, still still steak. Still stick it with the steak. Yea.
So it was steak and chicken and turkey my whole diet.
That's all I was taking chicken and turkey, Okay, No,
no fish, nothing else, no other kind of means. I
ain't ready too many many out there that you get
(58:22):
from the store anyway.
Speaker 1 (58:23):
Guys, I just had a conversation and a workout with
Rodney Coleman right that. I really appreciate the workout, appreciate
the sit down. We know they're gonna love it. Oh yeah,
congrats on everything you do. But appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (58:34):
Rnning Cocher all my life, grinding all my life, sacrifice, crustle,
bad price, wanta slice? Got the brother disap all my life.
I been grinding all my life, all my life, grinding
all my life, sacrifice, crustle, back to price, want a slice?
Speaker 2 (58:52):
Got the brother of diceat.
Speaker 3 (58:54):
All my life.
Speaker 2 (58:55):
I've been grinding all my life. Kay,
Thank you for coming back. Part two is underway. How
difficult was it for you, because, Ronnie, some of the time,
I mean, when I saw you in Old One, and
we're gonna talk about this, I believe Old One was
the best I've ever seen anybody building I've been to
a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Of Everybody said that you was two fifty seven, and
I remember whatever, I forty seven and I'm looking at you,
I'm like, I don't believe anybody builder, even at their peak,
could beat Rodney. Today.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm talking about Lee, I'm talking about Delian, I'm talking
about Samir, I'm talking about you know, at that point
in time.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Ronnie, everybody said that.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Everybody said, did you know when you went into that
when obviously when you looking.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
At yourself, Oh yeah, I ain't got no chance. I
was so rial. My my my brother said I was
skinning the skull. You was, Yeah, you was. I mean,
you can see the onions and my in my on
my brain, you can see how hard I was. You know,
pack me see my skull. That was so hard. That's
(01:01):
why you called it skin the scull.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Have you ever been able to because as you started
moving up, and I think three is you stepped on
the stage round about two ninety five to eighty five,
the heaviest I've ever been in my life. Now, you you,
I mean, we're never going to see a man that
size that condition again. But I still believe two thousand
and one with your best, with the best condition you've
ever been.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Everybody says that, but I always go back to ninety eight.
I look at those ninety eight pictures and that was
me coming out with a brand new car. I looked
that good, right, And you know, once you get a
new car, it's kind of hard to keep it new.
(01:43):
So I called, you know, me kind of like sharpening
it up every show, you know, And I'm getting a
little bigger every show, but I'm keeping my condition down.
And in two thousand and one, I took it to
another level by staying on a diet after the Olympia
(02:04):
and coming in that much harder. Yes, that's probably one
of one of that's the hardest I've ever been. You
you know, like you said, and everybody said that conditioning
is the best ever nobody, And look, that's not a
slight of anybody. Build them, no, past them, present, no, exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
And I followed the sport for forty years, nobody would beating.
Nobody at their best could beat you that day.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
And I totally agree with you. Nobody. Yeah, that was
a physique.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You tell the story about how like insulin would help
put it. So when did when did growth get implemented
to the sport, because we see, I think.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
There was always it was always there a lot of
people that things that growth makes you big, but it doesn't.
It kind of makes you lean. It does what it said,
It helps you to grow haller. It was actually made
for kids, yeah that suffer from exact that nature. Yes,
(03:08):
but it don't really don't make you big. It may
make makes such a little bit harder, yes, and uh,
you know everything that you could use to get harder,
you muth use it. And G's was one of those things.
But it was very expensive, very very very very and
a whole lot of people could afforded back then, you know,
(03:29):
especially when you're getting it from the pharmacy and you
ain't got no inshowing showing they don't even you use
pressures on that. But you got gotta do what you gotta.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Do, you know, and you have to find ways to
try to to try to make do what you have
to make do exactly the last A lot of people
lose the show. Probably the last week, the hardest week
of all, because now it's really a mind because I
still got to train, do a little cardio, I gotta lift,
(04:01):
and my man, I'm hungry running.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I'm hungry the whole time, every single day. I can't
wait til til a millal times. As a matter of fact,
I was so tired in the gym I couldn't even
lift my weights and put them on the bar. I
had to hire somebody to load my bar so I
(04:26):
can lift it. And you watch my video, You'll see
my best friend in the world. They'll leave loading up
the weights, handing me the dumbbells, everything, because I was
so tired, that exhausted from eating one hundred and twenty
five grams of carbs every day. So, like I said,
I had calls with two meals and I burned that up,
(04:51):
you know. And I'm even see I burned that on
the on the treadmill. Yes, So by the time I
got to the gym, I'm I'm going off heard coming, Yeah,
I'm on fumes. And like I said, I never forget it.
The first time I tried to load the weight and
lift it car hell by the time I loaded the
(05:13):
weight on. Now that's what that was. The workout right there,
because you know I'm loading weight was.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
So amazing, rightning is that even the last week you
still lifted.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I'm still lifting heavy. I'm still lifting heavy up to
that last week. Like a couple of days out from
the show, you know, I kind of calmed down. You know,
a lot of lightweight, do a lot of whole, whole
bunch of reps. But for the most part, I'm ball
to the wall, going as heat as I possibly can.
(05:47):
Did you like did you? Did you like that food?
I mean, do you do? You love the food? Because
my mom was the greatest cook ever because you cooked
a lot of your meals for you to cook all
of my meals for me, and it was like I
would The food was so good good. It was like
I wasn't even on a diet. You know, I'm putting
(06:08):
barbecue sauce on it. Catch up, you know a fry.
People think those were actually French fry. What I did
was bottle crinkle cutter, cut them up with that crinkle cutter,
sprayed a little pam on the bottom of the trade,
and then I was spray at the top to give
(06:29):
it that brown like, to put it in the oven,
let it cook for about forty five minutes. I even
had a timer and I would time it for forty
five minutes. When they got red ready, they were golden
brown and crispy. They looked just like French fry. And
everybody thought I was eating French fry, but I was
(06:50):
just eating cut up potatoes with a crinkle cutter made
to look like French fries, you know. And it's kind
of a psychological thing too. You know, you gotta play
tree with your body. I got with your body. Yeah, because,
uh man, those some some of them days were kind
of dark.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Yeah, So so give us a glimpse of the last
Let's just say the show's on a Saturday. You got
pre judge who's gonna be in that morning, and then
you got the night show. Ye give us to save
probably the last the last three days, because you're probably
gonna arrive if the show's on Saturday, you're probably gonna
get there Thursday.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
No, you got that, Wednesday, I got that Tuesday. Okay, okay, Yeah,
I'm trying to get there and get acclimated because we're
on Central Time. Here THEMN specific time over there, So
I'm trying to get there and get acclimated to that time.
That time's gonna change, and it takes a couple of days. Okay,
you're gonna get acclimated to that. By the way, you're
gonna get your food out. We're gonna get Yeah. I
(07:49):
take all my food with men. Okay, you took all
your food. I took all my food with men. My
mom will cook it and I will put it in
this cooler. I had a like a plastic cooler, but
the kept food real nice and warm, you know, kept
what I needed cold cold. And I would take all
my food with me and eat all my food for
(08:10):
like what about two three days? Two days. I got
there on Tuesday. My mom came in on Thursday with
another big bag of food, so that would for the
whole week. You know, I eat I think. I weighed
and measured everything I put in my mouth. I weighed
and measured it out, you know, sixteen ounces of protein,
(08:36):
whatever carb it was. Most of the time it was
like five ounces of potatoes, you know, six ounces of potatoes.
And I weighed everything and measured everything to make sure
I'm getting their appropriate amount of carbs getting their appropriate
mount of protein.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Also, were you a big were you a big rice eater?
Or was it mainly for your cars? Was mainly potatoes,
mainly potatoes and rice.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
So I'm the most simplest either out there and people
don't believe it's the truth. And I I I highly
recommend no one try this. I didn't eat vegetables. Huh.
I didn't like them. Well, how did you? How did so?
If you what you non carved me is what are
(09:24):
you gonna get supplements? I had? I was taking all
these fiver supplements, iron supplements, everything. Yeah, and that's how
I got my my my green vegetables in Yeah. Don't
don't do that. Only Ronni Cooman can do that.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Yeah, Because I mean I'm not the biggest vegie vegie
either either, but I understand that when I can't get
a complex carb of potato or rice veggiet is it.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Not for me? I could never eat I ain't vegetable
no matter what what I tried. Wow, still to this day,
I can't eat them.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
How did did you track your body? Did you track
your body fat in the off season? Like, okay, I'm
two seventy five, Okay, I don't. I don't need to
get up with this because it's hard to me. The
harder you get, the higher you get up there, you
got to bring that down.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
I weighed myself every single day, sometimes twice a day,
sometimes three times a day. I'm weighing myself and you know,
trying to measure my fat. I remember I took this
one test and my body fat was so low. It
wasn't even a half a percent. It was point three three.
(10:42):
They would dip me under water and my numbers were negative.
It was like minus two body fat. And then they
would use these calca on my skin. That's why I
had a little bitter fat. Point three to three, not
even a half a percent. Man, you get a cold, Man,
(11:03):
you've been in a hospital about seven day. I never
got a cold, never had the flu what never ever
had the flu. I don't get sick. I can remember
three times in my life I was sick. I remember
I was going to school one day and now I
(11:24):
was junior high. I got I threw up on my
way to school. The next time I was in my
apartment complex. I threw up and didn't go to work
that day. And the last time I can remember what
was the first day I moved in my house. I
threw up at midnight. I was in bed sleeping, and man,
(11:51):
it just came out of nowhere. I threw up right
there on the carpet, brand new carpet. But Vic it
was there. She cleaned that up real good for me.
And those were all the time that I can remember
being like sick, you know, and nothing else I can be.
(12:13):
I think I had a cold or maybe once or
twice while I was coughing and stuff. I would get
that every now and then. I couldn't take the last
time I had one. Now it's been so long. While
I was just doing a little coughing that last said
maybe three or four days or something like that.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
After you won the first Olympia in ninety eight, how
well did you sleep subsequent Olympias?
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Well, the night after every Olympia, I never slept. I
was righted up. But I slept six hours a day,
every single day all the way up to the show.
Six hours a day. You was never you was never rested,
like damn. I show hope, Man, I showed, hope. I
hit this peak. I'm sure, hope. I'm ready to go
(13:02):
tomorrow morning. I know psychologically, I was ready. Mentally I
was ready. Physically I was ready, and I had that
confidence that was so high it didn't bother me in
my sleeping. I slept like a big old's big olds
tipping baby, rightdie? What are your prs?
Speaker 1 (13:26):
If I was someone asked you, say, Rodney, what's the
most weight you've ever bitched? Squatty dead lift press?
Speaker 2 (13:35):
I know, I'm all bitch. I did five hundred for
five or six reps. It's on tape. Deadlift is on tape,
eight hundred for two. Squad It's on tape also eight
hundred for two. I could have got six, but that's
you know, No. Here they're leg press twenty three hundred
(13:59):
for nine, right. And you know curling, I've curled two
twenty five before from maybe like eight seven eight reps.
But you know, I don't really count all that kind
of stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
But you a military press of Rodney. I mean see
the press for three fifteen for twelve.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Yeah, I think, like wait.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I think I think the most amazing thing, Ronnie, was
you doing those and the hot ass dallar Son the
parking lot.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
You're doing the walking Love walking twenty five. That's that was.
That was kind o heavy here, just a little bit heavy,
but not that heavy. And I always look forward to
doing it because that was one of my favorite exercises
and that when those straighted glutes came.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
That's where that gum tired was gonna come. When you
spin it around. Yep, you see that Christmas tree in
that little back.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, and them glu glutes. Yeah, that's my favorite shot
from the back. Put my hands out. But uh, I
did that walking lunch every single week out there in
that parking line. I remember one time it was snowing outside.
I'm like, here we go. You got to slipping and sign.
(15:17):
I'm out there slipping and sign with two twenty five
doing my walking lunches right so, no matter what the
hell and high water, I'm doing my walking lunches righting.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
When it comes like the back, I look at you
and most of the Olympias, if you go back to
look at the guys that have won more, I gotta.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Have a back.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Lee Haney had the back day and Yate had the back.
Ronny Coleman had the back even if he didn't win
but one but now see mur yeah a good bae.
Joel Stubbs, he didn't win but he had a great
bagdat you look at a field back good back. Yeah,
Ky Green didn't win with back back. If I were
to say, everybody at the absolute best, and I put
(15:58):
y'all up on the stage, who winnings?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Who went back? Really?
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Who winning back? Double bye, real latch bread? All of
those blown to me.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Real light lights out, lights out, yep, and double by
every single time. I'm gonna win every single time for
those are my shots. That's that's you do my money.
If it was close and we got to the back,
it was over for job. It was lights out, real
lash bread. And that's why I called it on stage.
(16:34):
We're doing this thing called the Challenge round. I remember
and uh Me and Jayson only two guys left. Uh
for first and second. It's lights out, real latch bread.
Game over.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Yeah, buddy brother, give me your mount rushmore bodybuilders.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Oh okay, we got on on at the top. Got
Lee had uh in the second place. I'm on say Thursdays,
I got eight Olympias. I don't put old Field and
four since he got seven Olympias, and I guess I
put the Doian in since he got he can't get
up there. You ain't got the postsponsible. Oh he got
(17:21):
he didn't make it. Those are my top bodybuildings in
the world today, rightning you and I don't know if
this had played a role. I remember when you lost.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
And I think it was two thousand and five, two
thousand and six, when you lost to J six two
thousand and six. Yeah, they changed the formn because remember
they moved it was one day, it was on a
Friday and then on a Saturday.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Yep. Exactly. Do you think that played a role in
you not getting nine because normally if in the morning
that that didn't have anything to do with it. Uh,
for the most part, you know, I kind of body
kind of gave out on me. My back got to
the point where I could barely stand on stage. Really,
(18:08):
I was in so much pain. I mean, I was
dying out there. But they've changed that format actually in
ninth like two thousand and one. Yep, in two thousand
and one, because I remember I was losing the prejudging
(18:30):
because I had already did the Auto Classic and I'd
never ever done that before. My body was so tired
and so exhausted. I was going to the hospital the
morning of the two thousand and one miss Olympia. I
never forget it. The night before, my girl was putting
(18:54):
on my tan. I was in the bathroom and talking
to the I have my friends over that to my friends,
and all of a sudden, I was faint and I
wake up. I'm in the bathtub and I'm like, what
that damn happened. I'm actually everybody, what happened. I get
(19:16):
in this bathtub. They're like, dude, you fainted. I'm like
what Like? They was like, yeah, you fainting it. I'm like,
oh man, what's up with that? Well, the next morning,
I wake up, I can't even get out of bed,
and I'm like, oh my god, it's over. And I
(19:39):
was so tired and so exhausted. I felt like I
was dying. I mean, I don't really know how it
feels well when a person is dying, but the way
I felt it felt like it was over there. I
didn't have no energy. I was tired, I was exhausted.
(20:02):
I couldn't get out of bed because my lad was
so heavy. And I called Chad. I was like, Chad,
I'm going to the hospital. I was like, forget this
Olympia stuff. You know, I ain't trying to die for
no show, right, you know, I don't need it that bad.
And Chad said, man, no, you don't work too long
(20:24):
for it. You don't put too much into this. And
I'm like, man, but he's like, just drab some water
and drink and until you feel better. Well, I grabbed
a gallon of water and I drank the whole thing exactly.
That's exactly what happened. I got to that stage and
(20:45):
I was watered down, and they like, man, you losing
the show. Check and you said they got you in
second place. I'm like what She's like, Yeah, He's like,
we got to go to the room. We got put
all this water off of you. So that's what we did.
We went to the room. Chad hit me with that
powder and I started peeing for at least two hours.
(21:11):
Every twenty minutes, I was going to the bathroom and
I picked so much water off me that I was
back to my old self again. Start at the night show.
The old runner came back and won that show. And man,
that was the hardest Olympia and the hardest show I've
(21:33):
ever competed in. Because I ain't never ever felt like
I was dying. That was that was that was my
clue to body only peaked once a year and you
got to pick the show that you go peek in.
And I never did the all the classes again. And
(21:54):
I remember that because you almost lost over one jay
in first me and second, but you came back and
then O two was close again, and they said, Rodney, man,
they gained it on you, and yeah, you want big?
Is that what y'all want? I came in because they
told me, man, you're getting too big. You need to
come in a little lighter, come in flatish vav too.
(22:18):
I'm like, okay, so that's what I did. I came
in a little lighter, came in a little flat and
they was like, man, you can't look like that again.
We're gonna have to take this thing from you. And
I'm like, oh, hell no, I ain't going out like
that right. So I used to take three months off
after every Olympia. Two thousand and two not that year.
(22:44):
I'm like, they are not taking this from me. They
want to go to the war, I'll take I'll take
them the war. And that was the attitude that I
went to the gym with every single day. And I
was trying to I was trying to lift the gym
up I would put like it's waistack held two hundred
(23:07):
and fifty pounds. I'm putting another two forty five on
and trying to get as many reps as possible because
they ain't taking this Olympia from me. I don't work
too hard to this spot, to get to this spot.
And uh, it was like that every single day they
(23:28):
want to go to the war. I'll take them the war.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
If you go on stage at two eighty five, how
big are you get in the off season?
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Three thirty? What three hundred and thirty pounds in all things?
Speaker 1 (23:44):
If you have eleven if you had to guess at
two hundred and eighty five pounds when you stepped on stage,
what do you think your body.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Fat WASO point three three or less? Even at eighty
five to eighty five? Yep, even at to eighty five.
I was that lean because when I did the point
three to three I wasn't even in contest shape. I
was like six weeks a hour or something like that. Wow,
(24:13):
So I can imagine what I'd be in contest shape right,
negative numbers probably, so at two eighty five I'm probably
right around that same body fact, when you walked out.
I remember watching it. You watch you walked out. You
(24:33):
had to crown on he had you had to in
your hand. I'm the king. You had to Did you know.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
They had you righting when they saw you backstage?
Speaker 2 (24:46):
They had to know it was over. Yep, they knew
it was over, Todd.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Nobody had ever been that big, that condition. I mean,
the guys get that big in the off season. They
ain't nearly that condition. No, But for.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
You to get that and be conditioned, I mean you
can still you could still see the Christmas Street. You
still had the strity glops, the hamster, everything still there.
And uh, I debts. I knew it was over with
I'm wonna come out and show you. I'm gonna come
out with this king outfit.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
But did you know that probably there was not a
chance that you're gonna ever be able to get that
way look like that?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Again, Anything is possible, That's what I always say, Anything
is possible. And uh, after that, I did you know
come in at two ninety five and the I think
it was ninety two thousand and four. I think I
(25:49):
was two ninety five on stage. Of course I wasn't
as ripped, you know at two ninety five, but I
was still pretty big and pretty hard striding glops. I
still had all my striketion, just just not as crispy,
not as yeah, but you know still wan yeah bottom
(26:09):
lying is I still want you know.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
When did you know it was over? When did you
just know, like, this is it? This is my last Olympia.
I got nothing else to give to this sport. I've
given everything I possibly cared to this sport and it's over.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Two thousand and seven, I was standing on stage and
they was going through Compassion, and man, I was really
struggling to stand on stage. I'm like, oh, yeah, this
is it. I ain't doing no more after this, because
just to stand on stage, I was none a lot
(26:48):
of pain, excruciating pain, and it was start on my
feet and go all the way up to my hips,
and just to walk was a chore. And every time
I came off stage, I would have to go and
sit down because I couldn't stand no longer. And I
(27:14):
knew right then on stage it's over. Bob handing me
to Mike and I completely fell apart, you know, trying
to tell everybody this was, this was it, and you
know my time has come. You know it was very heartbreaking,
you know how it is you have to retire from
sport that you loved so much, you got so much
(27:38):
passion for. Like I said, I'd do it for free,
you know, if I had to, And I did it
for free as the amateur.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
But you know, the mind is willing, but the body
just as enablement body and body can't keep up with it.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
You know, they said nobody had defeated for the time,
and nobody ever will.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Did you know you said you hurt your back in
high school? You hurt your neck in high school? Now,
but did you think it? I mean what I mean
from twenty seventeen, you had like twelve thirteen surgeries, your
back had everything's few. I think you got back maybe
one of your own vertebrates in your back, your hips? Yeah,
did you think you was gonna get this bad?
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Running? Never in the media did I think you would
get this bad. I've had thirteen surgeres like you said,
I've had eight back surgeries, three neck, two hip, and
uh I'm still hanging now. Yeah, I'm still working out
six days a week and I still got that passion.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
I read where you said internally, everything's fine. I feel internally,
all my organs are functioning properly, my kid needs are doing, my.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Livery doing everything hard, everything everything.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
It's just just at my back and my hips, my knees.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Balance is pretty much gone for the most part.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
Do you look back at like, so you don't think
squatting nothing right here?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
I mean, think about how much weight.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
That's a lot of weight over the course of your
career that you've.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Lifted seven years. Yes, it is what I got.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
You're lifting millions of pounds, millions of pounds, and you
know that takes a total little bout it.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
You know eventually it's going to catch up with you.
And that's what happened to me in two thousand and seven.
All that band and heavy lifting finally caught up with
me and it was time to go.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Do you ever look back. You're home with your beautiful family,
sit in the bed, like, damn, was it all worth it?
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Never? To this day, I said, if I had to
do over again, the only thing I would do is
squat that eight man. A hundred still bothered me. Eight
hundred still bothered me. After all this time, I'm like, man,
(30:08):
I blew it. I blew my opportunity to squad eight
hundred and six reps. You remember that. I remember like
it was yesterday. I remember putting it up. I'm like,
why did I put this? Duff? I had at least
four more reps in me. If you if you go
back and listen to the table saying, oh man, that
was life. I should have did more reps.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Did you think about because I remember the same thing.
I thought the same thing. I remember I was working
out in Roaps gym and I went up to the
one hundred and seventy pound dumb bells and other than you,
I'm the only way to ever moved those.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, so I didn't. I did five.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
I did five, like I did five reps with it,
and I was like, Rope said, dog, you could do
the one eighties. Only Ronnie Coleman has ever done those
one eighties. And I remember saying to myself, dog, I
get them next week, because I had already did over
the one forty one, fifty one, sixty one seventy. I said,
I'm a little tired. I'll get it next week. Next week.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
That's my only regret on the weight room.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
And I didn't at least attempt the one aided because
you were the only one that's ever moved them.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Yep, yeah, that wasn't nothing for me back It was
like you moving like they were one hundreds. Yeah, I
did two hundreds for twelve reps, you know, right, so
one of a it ain't nothing.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
How did winning the olympa Olympia? How did that change
Ronnie Coleman's life? Man, I was a lot more richer.
I was broke for thirty four years of my life.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
My first Olympic, I finally made some money money, finally
made some money and finally came up in the world.
It was the greatest feeling ever to finally make some money. Well,
I didn't have to, you know, worry about uh my
next meal, or worry about how car, no, a lot
(32:02):
of that stuff. So it was the greatest feeling ever
to this day. I mean, can't nothing top that, you know,
Like I said, win in that first Olympia, it was
the greatest feeling ever. It was. It was so good
and so great. I can't even describe how good it was,
(32:22):
how wonderful it was to finally win something that I
truly enjoyed doing. I had the most passion in the
world for doing It's hard to put in words. It's
just that enjoyable. It's hard to put in word because,
like I said, I never even dreamed about winning the Olympic,
(32:45):
because I never thought it was possible. Right. I got
into bodybuilding for a free membership to the gym, right
and never even considered winning the Olympia. All I was
thinking about, Hey, I get a chance to work out
for free, and I'm gonna make the best and I'm
gonna do my best, you know when I get there
on stage, Because you know, that's how athletes athleague thinking.
(33:09):
We got gotta be our best and everything we do,
and we got to challenge ourselves to be even better.
And that's what I was doing every time I went
to the gym.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
When it comes to fame and bodybuilding, I mean, really
only it's Arnold and then you.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
I mean, when you go even these new bodies, it's you.
I mean I see the crowds.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
I mean I remember when you when the exposed and
when you came, and it's like the Red Sea Party
because everybody wanted to everybody wanted to see you.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Everybody just wanted to say I saw it. I touched
and I touched his arm. He's bigger He's bigger than
you think exactly. That's what I hear all the time.
And social media has taken my career to another level.
I'm more busier now than I've ever been in my
whole entire life. This year is the busiest year ever
(34:09):
that I've had in my career because I've been on
the road at least every single weekend, just about every
single week. I've been going for weeks at a time,
sometime two weeks at a time, and it's been going
on since January. And this is the only time I've
(34:35):
had off in a long time. I got two weeks
to be at home and I'm hitting the road again.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
What if they have social What if they have social
media back where you were doing what you were doing right.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
It, Man, I'd be the king of the world pretty
close to it now, but I'll be on a whole
another level of being king of the world. People say
that having known you, haven't been around, you haven't seen you.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
People like, well, he could have never been that size
had he not taken the supplementation.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Yeah, but I think yeah, for sure easily. You know,
I was almost there in the off season, for sure.
But uh, it contributed somewhat to it, you know, getting
just a little bit harder and being a little bit
bigger on stage, for sure. But if you on stay
(35:45):
with guys that are doing things that they're doing, you
can't compete with them doing the same things. Yeah, what
I was doing, like you just said, I'm just trying
to uh a level of paint plant the field. And
that's the way I looked at it for the most part.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Had it not been that way, I wouldn't have never
you know, did what those guys were doing.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
When you when you lost it, when you finally got
beat it, because like you said, Lee retired, nobody ever
defeated he. No, Drian lost in Lee his before Lee retired.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
And so you I mean, I'm sure you wanted to
like get the nine away and be done with it, yep,
And it didn't happen.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
We were disappointed, highly disappointed. He's still disappointed till this day.
You think you want, you think you want. I know
I won, but you know they say change is good
and uh, change gonna come about sometime or another. And
(36:56):
that was the time you should have told him it's
gonna be your last year, all right. I don't think
it would have made nothing. I don't think it would
have made no difference. They already had it and in
their mind, and it was made up as soon as
we walked out there on today. They had already decided
to change. Is going to happen this year? Did you?
(37:19):
Did you ever train with any your competitors? Yep, yep.
Me and Jay trained together all the time, at least
when we go to the gym show. You know, we
would train together. From the n Stead's show. Uh so
we trained together together on the road flex not so much.
(37:41):
He ain't want to train with me, but he gave
you all the tools. He should have kept some of
that to himself. That came to Metroflex and tried to
work out, and he did one set. If you had
done did once said it was done. He's like, man,
it's too hot in here, and you really lifting too
(38:04):
much weight. I know what I'm getting myself into it,
and I ain't about to do it. And he was done.
And for more point, Jay was the only one who
would try to work out with me and keep up
with me. But you know I was killing him too.
He good at you now either. Once I put them
(38:25):
fireplaces on that on that squad. He was done.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
It was out, Ronnie. Look thirteen surgers is twenty seventeen.
Here my back, shoulder neck nineteen ninety six year suffered
the HERNI eatey disk yep.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Waiting to address that.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
So now.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Read you almost paralyzed due to artificial support. You got
fourteen screws, two cages, two rods. In twenty eighteen you
had the intested for the inserting screws out of your back,
had to go back in there. In twenty nineteen, had
to fix four broken screws in your back.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
Yep. One year I had three surgeries from broken screws.
They said, uh, I waited too much. I was too
muscular for those screws. I find found the doctor that
they had some better screws on my last surgery. Oh,
in for worth, I was wonder the doctor in dollars
(39:18):
and those screws just wasn't working for me. What made
for a man that wasn't made for a man in
my size? And I found out the hard way I could.
I can remember like it was yesterday. I went in
the surgery, I went in the recovery room, I came
out of recovery and went straight to my room and
(39:41):
about an hour later, the nurse came in. She's like,
I need to check your bandages. She said, I need
you to turn over and I turned and wow, I'm like, Susan,
did you hear that? She's like, yeah, I heard that.
I'm like what was that? Like, I'm like, I don't know,
(40:01):
and I turned back over again. Pou, I'm like, did
you that study? Yeah, I heard that again. And I
didn't think nothing of it until I went to the
doctor three days later for or follow up. He's like, man,
those screws and broke again. We got have you do
(40:23):
another surgery? Like that's what that was when that nurse
had me to turn over. That was those screws breaking
right out of surgery. That's a bad practice. Well, we
tried to see it and they was like, well we
can't take this case.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
They they gonna side with the doctor. They're gonna say
something like you you've been working out and all this
kind of stuff. So we had they had to tell
me that. Yeah. Well, the all was like Alan tried
every lawyer here in Dallas and nobody would take the case. Wow.
(41:08):
I mean she tried everything in her power to pursue
it and called the doctor up and he was like, sorry,
you know, I ain't nothing being to do, but if
you sue, we gonna take your court and you're gonna lose.
And she decided the best thing to do was to
(41:30):
drop in because we didn't want to go in now
and spend all this money and to lose. So that's
what we did. We just dropped it and to forget it.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
You know, when the doctors told you said, Ronnie, you're
not gonna be able to walk like you once could.
You can take a few steps here or there, but
you're gonna be relegated to your scooter.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
What's going through your mind? You got a family, got kids.
They never even said nothing like that. They didn't know.
They told me I was be fine. I was gonna
be back to normally in no time. Just go to
our We went to rehabilitation right after surgery. Every single
time I would go to the hospital, they had me
(42:15):
in the hospital, rehab hospital for like three months, what
three whole long months and rehab hospital, and man, it
was the hardest thing ever, but I came out of
there still in a wheelchair. It finally got to the
(42:37):
point where where I went to crutches, and I went
also to therapy here locally for another two months, and
it got to the point where I was almost able
to walk without the crutches, and UH insurance ran out
(42:57):
and I'm like, oh, I can just go to the
gym and just do this on my own. I went
to gym and tried to do it. It's never worked out,
not the same. So I recently took it back up.
I'm like, I'm gonna give it one mold shot because
I'm tired of sitting in this wheelchair. I want to
(43:18):
walk without, you know, crutches and get my balance back.
So I'm no, no, I'm going to therapy twice a
week and then other three days I'm out there in
my pool doing therapy out there. I do it every night.
I'm like midnight, one in the morning out there doing
(43:39):
like forty five many too an hour or work out
in the pool. He told my all exit I need
to do so like, I go out there and do
that and thanks for getting a little bit better. So
I'm gonna give myself about another year and a half
at least to get back on my feet. I'm going
(44:00):
doing stem cell right and that has helped tremendously.
Speaker 3 (44:03):
You know.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
That took away pretty much all the pain I was
going through. Really, Yeah, that helped out a whole lot.
So I've been doing that at least three times, four
times a year. I try to go like every three
or five months, and it has old. You're going overseas though,
to get that done. I'm going to Mexico because they
(44:25):
won't do it here. You know, they want you to
take those pain medications, right. You know. I go over
there and it's working out real good. You know, I said,
it's pretty much eliminated all my pain and it's helping
me to get back to walking again. So I say,
but then the next year and a half, I'm gonna
(44:47):
be back to walking without crutches.
Speaker 1 (44:49):
You're getting the stem cells in your back or your
helps your knees where you're getting the stem cells.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
It's actually iv that they just put in your arm
and it goes out out the whole entire body. And
for the most part. I got an email from a
guy a long time ago, it was probably about almost
three years ago, told me about, uh, the stimsale guy
(45:17):
over in Mexico. And you know, I went over there
and he worked out a pretty good you know. And
I said, I was in a lot of pain when
when I first went, and then after one injection the
pain subsided a whole lot. And the more I go,
the less painful it is for me. Now. So I
(45:40):
just had my last one was probably back in I think, uh,
right before except June, June for June, yeah somewhere. Now.
I been on the road so much and did so
many trips I count of forget it, but uh, I
think the last one was in June. And the guy said, man,
(46:03):
you want to come back this time in like three months,
so you know, we can get ahead of this thing.
I sold. I'm like, okay, I'll see what I can do.
So I'm getting ready to go back one more time,
probably in November, because I think things at at sowing
down for me. So I'm gonna try to go in
November and have another one. Like I said, every time
(46:23):
I go, I get just a little bit better. So
I think about another year, maybe a year and a half,
after going to all this therapy and doing all this
therapy in the pool, I should be back to walking
without crutches. That's my goal. Ronnie. You still go to
(46:44):
the gym six days a week, six days a week.
Is that your mental therapy? That's my mental therapy and
my physical therapy. That's something that I'm gonna have to
do the rest of my life, right because it works
out real good for me. Why he never became a trainer, Runnie,
(47:10):
I don't think anybody could keep up with what I'm
gonna put him through. RODDI, yeah, I know, I know,
so I'm just gonna be wasting my time in there.
So I'm like, I don't want to do nothing that
I don't have a lot of passion for. So training
(47:32):
is not my thing. I've had all kinds of people.
Dion call me, have me to train. I'm like, no,
I don't train people. I find somebody, but that's just
not my thing.
Speaker 1 (47:44):
You know, crime he wanted you to train him, or
he wanted you to train somebody in his family.
Speaker 2 (47:49):
He wanted me to train him and his wife. And
I'm like, no, I'll do that, and my thing, I'm
not into training people. It was like ten fifteen years,
this is a long time ago. But I told him too,
I don't. I just don't trained people. I don't have
a patience and I don't have time for anything. That
(48:11):
I really don't have a lot of passion for. So
I'm into things that I have passion for. Like I
started my own company back in twenty eleven. I have
this Ronnie Coleman City City see my product thinking. And
we've had this company now for about thirteen years, and
every year it gets a little bit better. You know,
we started out at like four million in revenue. I
(48:36):
think the last two years is increased up to almost
twenty million. Wow. So you know, every year it increased
in revenue, and we're hoping to get this thing the
twenty and then after that, you know, thirty after that
(49:00):
want to you're gonna sell or you want to keep it.
I'm gonna keep it because it's just one of those
things that, uh, you know, it's a challenge for me,
and I look forward to a challenge, challenge each and
every single day because I know if I put my
mind to somebody that I can't do anything I want.
(49:20):
I learned that from them when in eight mister Olympus
in the road. It's all about hard work, dedication, passionate
and motiv motivation. And I have all that for for
what I'm what I'm doing now, making the sacrifices I
have to make, you know, being on the road for
three weeks at a time. I remember one time we
did this tour in China for three weeks. It was
(49:43):
the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, trying
to eat that nasty Chinese food the whole three weeks
I was there. I never had a good meal. You
don't lay Chinese food. I hate chin got right chicken right.
Their chicken is not like our chicken. I remember one
(50:07):
time I went to a restaurant and I ordered chicken
and rice and I'm like, man, this is dry. It's
not that good. And I'm eating and I look and
I still say, the eyes looking right back at me.
I'm like, what the hell is going on here? Man?
(50:30):
They put the whole chicken in the air I dig
deliver it further. Some legs had the chicken feed in there,
they had the chicken feet in there. Now they had
the whole chicken there there And like I tell you,
I looked at and some eyes looking right back at me.
Speaker 1 (50:51):
But you know, we grew up in the country, so
chicken fee we used to. I don't know if you
ate them, but I ate chicken fee. Where I was
grew up at you ain't et no chicken.
Speaker 2 (50:57):
We didn't eat no chicken fee no, no. You know,
we ate the drumstick about as far as it went.
You know, we didn't do the feat.
Speaker 1 (51:09):
How many times a day do you get when you
go somewhere or do people ask you for workout tips?
Speaker 2 (51:15):
Just about everywhere I go and tell them, you know,
you got to learn from somebody that's very knowledgeable, right,
because knowledge is power. The more you have, the better
off you're gonna be so fine. Somebody that's you know
that has a record, you know has a record, Well,
(51:38):
they've taken somebody and made them a champion. Taking somebody
made a real good right and just find that person
and learn as much as your possle can from. Does
Chad still change train people? Yep? Chad is still training
people to this day. Really, Yep. He told me he
had seventy clients. What mm hmm. He's kind of he's
(52:03):
kind of behind the scenes. He doesn't he don't train
the big name guys anymore. He had a few guys
up there in the top five. But for the most
chat part, Chad, he's uh, he's had a lot of
problems lately, he's been in in and out of the
hospital for certain illnesses. Uh. As a matter of fact,
(52:27):
I think he's in the hospital right now because I
talked to him a couple weeks ago and he's telling me,
you he's on the verge of dying. I'm like, what
he's like, Yeah, man, I've been catching a lot of
hell lately. Well, I don't know what it is, but
he's real sick. And uh, like I said, he's in
(52:50):
the hospital now, you know, struggling for his life now.
And uh, he's doing the best he can, but he's
still real sick. You know. He's just one of those
things that happened. His wife used to achieve and has
cancer and the cheese cheese real sick too, So they
going through it over there. I don't know what it is,
but just one of those things that happens to you
(53:14):
in life. You know, you married, you got eight daughters. Yep,
you ain't got no you got no boys, no boy,
eight daughters from my eight olympias.
Speaker 1 (53:31):
So what I mean, what's it? I mean that many
feed that many women in the house. Obviously you're happily married.
I mean, so what's what's the typical day what's a
typical dad day for Roddy Cober.
Speaker 2 (53:44):
Well, sometimes I take the kids to school and I
try to Yeah, I got to escalator just like a bus,
but I try to, uh, at least if I don't
take them out to pick them up. So I picked
the kids up from school every single day. I don't
(54:06):
get up until about two o'clock in the afternoon, two o'clock.
I go to bed at six o'clock. What are you
doing all the other time? Oh, it's just that that night.
I got used to it.
Speaker 3 (54:19):
You know.
Speaker 2 (54:19):
When I work for the police department, I went to
bed around about four o'clock every every morning, and we'll
wake up at seven. Well now I'll moved it back six.
So you go to bed at six, get up at two. Yep.
I eat a meal, go pick the kids up, take them,
(54:40):
get some neat, come back home, drop them off and
go to the gym. You know, I do at least
our cardio every day. I do at least hour waits
every day. So you know, my line life hadn't changed
too much from where used to be, except for you know,
(55:02):
taking the kids to school and dropping them off. But
for the most part, I'm still doing the same thing
I always did. I eat the same food, chicken and
rice and steaky potato.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
Yeah, what I was about to ask you, so, how
different is is Ronny Coleman's died now compared to when
he was competing.
Speaker 2 (55:20):
Back then, I ate chicken breasts, So now I eat
chicken thighs like flavor. Yeah yeah, but and uh, you know,
I also still go to like ah, I go to
I Hop now eat them. Sometimes I get pancakes, pancakes, yeah,
(55:42):
but sometimes I'll get you know, chicken and rice there. Yeah,
they got pretty good chicken at A. Yeah, they got
pretty good chicken. So I get chicken and rice or
chicken and corn or something like that, you know, just
just to change it up a little bit. And I
used to eat none but file at. Then I went
(56:07):
to Ribby. I was about to say, you get you
get the bone in everybody, Bone in everybody my favorite one.
It does have that bone does have that flavor. But
bone does have that flavor. But for the most part,
you know, the bone is kind of hard to find here,
so most of the time I just get the regular
ribbi without the bone. Well, I kind of got tired
(56:30):
of steak, so I switched to ground beef. Really yep,
I eat like the two ground beef patties maybe for
now three I go to three. It wasn't the over
size what they are well in one city, yep, I
mean two three ground beef patties topped the offs with
(56:54):
a little cheese. So you like, so you make hamburger
out of but you just eating the meat. No bun.
I eat baked potato with that, okay, so playing bake
potato nothing only you know, and uh, pretty much like
same way I hate back at the day, you know,
except uh, I don't do that. I didn't new ground beef.
(57:15):
That was filt mion, right, that's all. I was filat mignon.
And if I was allowed to have some cars, it
would be a baked potato, right. But for the most part,
you know, there's no cars, so it was just steak
by itself. You never liked fish, so you never ate
card halibu or anything like that. Never ate none of
(57:36):
that sal no, none of that. I never had fish
in my die and it was always steak and chicken
and turkey. That was it. So you just didn't like it.
I like fish, Uh, you just it didn't put that
thickness on me like I wanted to. But I thought
it was like when you're coming down, would you like
(57:57):
you know?
Speaker 3 (57:57):
No?
Speaker 2 (57:59):
No, yeah, still still steak. Still stick it with the steak. Yea.
So it was steak and chicken and turkey my whole diet.
That's all I was taking chicken and turkey, Okay, No,
no fish, nothing else, no other kind of means. I
ain't ready too many many out there that you get
(58:22):
from the store anyway.
Speaker 1 (58:23):
Guys, I just had a conversation and a workout with
Rodney Coleman right that. I really appreciate the workout, appreciate
the sit down. We know they're gonna love it. Oh yeah,
congrats on everything you do. But appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (58:34):
Rnning Cocher all my life, grinding all my life, sacrifice, crustle,
bad price, wanta slice? Got the brother disap all my life.
I been grinding all my life, all my life, grinding
all my life, sacrifice, crustle, back to price, want a slice?
Speaker 2 (58:52):
Got the brother of diceat.
Speaker 3 (58:54):
All my life.
Speaker 2 (58:55):
I've been grinding all my life. Kay,
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.