"Big Ron"

(The King: Ronnie Coleman)

Ronnie Dean Coleman was born on May 13^th, 1964, in Monroe Louisiana (Harris). He grew up playing football where he became familiar with the weight room, and lifted for countless hours to get bigger and stronger for the season. Coaches and teammates referred to Ronnie as, “The hardest working kid on the squad” (Harris).  After high school he went to Grambling State University to play football and graduate Cum Laude with a BS in Accounting (Harris). Soon after graduating Ronnie left Louisiana and relocated to Dallas, Texas in hope of finding better job opportunities.

Unfortunately, Ronnie’s job search didn’t go as well as he thought it would and he ended up working for Domino’s as a pizza delivery boy (Harris). He was completely dissatisfied with his job and when reflecting upon it stated, "I dreaded every day working there, but I knew I was destined for something better." He left his job at Domino’s and joined the Arlington police force. Having always lifted and stayed in very good shape Ronnie was more than fit for the job. Below is an image of Ronnie in his police uniform.

(Ronnie Coleman)

In 1989 Ronnie was advised by a fellow officer to join Metroflex gym, one of the best hardcore gyms around (Harris). There he would meet his new training partner, owner of Metroflex, Brian Dobson. Dobson shared with Ronnie his expertise in bodybuilding training and within only four months Ronnie was ready for his first show. In 1990 Ronnie Coleman was on stage for the first time at the Mr. Texas bodybuilding competition and won with ease (Harris). He continued to compete in a few other amateur competitions until he showed in the NPC Nationals, where he would compete two times (Harris). Even though Ronnie placed fourth in the competition during his second show, he was sent by the NPC to Poland to compete in international bodybuilding competitions. He devastated the other heavyweight bodybuilders and received his IFBB pro card in 1991 (Harris).

It was official; Ronnie Dean Coleman received his pro card and was welcomed into the league of professional bodybuilders.  In 1998, after years of hard work and competing Ronnie finally achieved the greatest accomplishment in the sport of bodybuilding, received the Sandow trophy, and was granted the title of Mr. Olympia. He would go on to win Mr. O each consecutive year up until 2005 (Harris). This achievement makes Ronnie Coleman tied for the most Mr. Olympia titles in the history of bodybuilding. The only other competitor to achieve 8 Mr. O titles was Lee Haney. 

A video below shows Ronnie Coleman as he win's his first Mr. Olympia title, and also raw footage of his training throughout the years. 

Works Cited

Harris, Ron. Ronnie Coleman: His Rise to the Top and How He Stayed There. 

                      RonnieColeman.com, 2000-2007. Web. 15 March 2011. 

Ronnie Coleman. n.d. Web. 15 March 2011. <http://befit4free.net>. 

"Ronnie Coleman Tribute 2011." 9 February 2011. Online Video Clip. Youtube. 

                     15 March 2011. 

The King: Ronnie Coleman. 2005. Web. 15 March 2011. 

                      <http://musclebase.blogspot.com/>.