How Robust Was Ronnie Coleman? Trying Again on the Unimaginable Power of the 8-Time Mr. Olympia

Eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman was one of the vital highly effective bodybuilders of the ’90s and 2000s. His training movies unfold broadly on DVD and all through the then-nascent health web neighborhood, resulting in numerous bodybuilding followers taking “The King‘s” hard-and-heavy exercises as inspiration for their very own routines.

Even as we speak, Coleman’s feats proceed to be a speaking level amongst gym-goers, with a lot of his outdated coaching movies gathering tens of thousands and thousands of views on YouTube.

[Related: How Strong Was Arnold Schwarzenegger? We Look Back at the Oak’s Short-Lived Powerlifting Career]

Coleman was a bodybuilder who legitimately hoisted plates like a powerlifter. He constructed upon the high-intensity training style employed by Dorian Yates and ratcheted the weights even larger, hitting max lifts on the deadlift and squat that almost all couldn’t compete with.

However to know how and why Coleman grew to become synonymous with strength and mass, it’s mandatory to know why and the way he skilled.

Constructing Ronnie Coleman

If Ronnie Coleman’s coaching fashion is paying homage to a powerlifter’s routine, it’s as a result of he really dabbled in powerlifting competitions throughout his early days as a bodybuilder. A younger Coleman competed in — and won — a handful of deadlift-only meets in his native Texas within the early ’90s, and his physique responded extremely nicely to the coaching routine.

By means of his Olympia reign, he mixed the excessive reps favored by bodybuilders with the high-weight strategy present in powerlifting circles. And oftentimes, his coaching objectives boiled down to 1 easy tenet: Carry heavier on daily basis.

“To me, although, each exercise is model new as a result of I’ve a brand-new aim,” Coleman once said. “I intend to carry yet another pound, or get yet another rep, or a portion of yet another rep, or a fraction-of-an-inch extra of a rep with those self same workouts than in my earlier exercise.”

That mindset is mirrored while you see a few of Coleman’s workouts spelled out. Rep ranges for giant, complicated actions might be wherever from 12 to 2 reps, with the weights getting heavier and heavier over the course of five or six sets. Pay attention to his squat protocol from one in all his typical legs workouts:

Coleman claimed to have used almost the identical exercise routine for a big portion of his profession. He skilled six days every week, utilizing a body part split, and the one factor that modified was that he constantly sought to extend the load lifted throughout all muscle teams.

How Robust Was Ronnie Coleman?

How sturdy, then, was Ronnie Coleman? Each his official and unofficial feats have to be mentioned to get an concept.

As a powerlifter, Coleman competed on the annual Texas Deadlift Basic from 1991 to 1994. In keeping with Open Powerlifting, his heaviest official pull was 330 kilograms (727.5 kilos) at 29 years outdated. However Coleman’s later lifts from his Olympia-era coaching movies are probably extra acquainted to followers as we speak.

In 2000, a DVD known as The Unbelievable got here out displaying Coleman deadlifting 800 kilos with straps and gloves for 2 reps. And bear in mind, this was simply 5 and a half weeks out from the Mr. Olympia contest.

Relating to the bench press, current footage of Coleman from his 2003 coaching video The Price of Redemption showcased the bodybuilder urgent 500 kilos for 5 reps. Bodybuilding journalist Greg Merritt noted that he as soon as witnessed Coleman bench press 200-pound dumbbells for 12 reps. That’s coupled with an unverified story from Coleman, who mentioned he as soon as barbell-benched 225 kilos for 72 reps.

That very same video included footage of Coleman’s well-known 800-pound squat, which he hit for 2 reps in a squat swimsuit and knee wraps. (It presently has a whopping 61 million views as of February 2023.) In later years, he mentioned his biggest training regret was not taking pictures for 5 reps.

Whereas the large three lifts are probably the most spectacular, Coleman additionally confirmed his power in a wide range of different workouts. In keeping with Merritt, Coleman leg pressed 2,325 kilos for eight reps and T-bar rowed round 570 kilos for 9 reps at one level. There are additionally the 735-pound shrugs and 160-pound dumbbell shoulder presses that add to the mystique.

How Does Ronnie Coleman’s Power Examine to Champion Powerlifters?

The numbers listed above are only a pattern of Coleman’s power. Nonetheless, if we take these deadlift, squat, and bench press totals and run them by means of BarBend‘s 1-rep max calculator, we get a really normal estimate of what his max totals may have been:

Deadlift: 373.21 kilograms (822.8 kilos)
Squat: 373.21 kilograms (822.8 kilos)
Bench: 255.24 kilograms (562.5 kilos)

Although in no way official, this is able to put his powerlifting whole at 1,001.6 kilograms (2,208.1 kilos). Whereas Coleman’s weight fluctuated a superb deal throughout his bodybuilding, his typical 300-pound-plus (136 kilograms) low season weight would firmly sit within the 120 kg+ class if he pursued aggressive powerlifting meets throughout his prime.

To check these numbers to an elite powerlifter on the time, Brian Siders won the 2003 IPF Males’s World Powerlifting Championships within the 125 kg+ class with an outfitted whole of 1082.5 kilograms (2,386.5 kilos). In 2022, Jesus Olivares had a raw total of 1,022.5 kilograms (2,254.2 kilos) within the 120 kg+ class on the IPF World Basic Championships.

Comparisons with powerlifters are enjoyable, however we will’t put an excessive amount of emphasis on them owing to using the 1-rep max calculator and Coleman’s use of gloves and straps for the deadlift, which wouldn’t be allowed in an official competitors.

How Does Ronnie Coleman’s Power Examine to Different Bodybuilders?

BarBend beforehand printed a bit on a number of the strongest bodybuilders in historical past, which featured Coleman alongside previous and current stars. The outcomes had been attention-grabbing.

By way of deadlifts, Coleman’s 800 kilos for 2 reps — and potential 822.8-pound max — was later challenged by Stan Efferding, who pulled 380 kilograms (837.7 kilos) uncooked in an official powerlifting meet. Likewise, the late Dallas McCarver pulled 383 kilograms (845 kilos) in a coaching session whereas nonetheless in his 20s. And in January 2023, IFBB Professional League competitor Joe Mackey pulled 412.8 kilograms (910 kilos) at C.T. Fletcher’s “Iron Wars VII” occasion.

On the again squat, Efferding additionally had Coleman beat with a 387.5-kilogram (845-pound) competitors squat. One among Coleman’s contemporaries, Johnnie Jackson, boasted a 374.6-kilogram (826-pound) squat. On the bench, Efferding additionally has Coleman beat with 284.9 kilograms (628 kilos).

A Closing Phrase on Ronnie Coleman’s Power

Although there have been bodybuilders stronger than Coleman, none of them maintained his huge power whereas concurrently racking up a historic Mr. Olympia dynasty.

Coleman pushed the bounds of his personal power seemingly in each coaching session, however he additionally needed to rigidly guarantee his physique was symmetrical, trimmed down, and stage-ready when it got here time for the present. There may be good cause why Coleman is rightly referred to as “The King.”