Ronnie Coleman is one of the best bodybuilders on this planet and he impressively bagged the Mr Olympia title for eight years in a row – more times than Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The 52-year-old fitness fanatic may have retired back in 2007, after placing fourth in his last Mr Olympia competition, but Ronnie’s physique is still as stacked as ever – putting many men his age to shame.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Star Online, Ronnie spilled everything he knows about beating the bulge and slashing your body fat percentage.
When it comes to getting lean, the muscle man said it all starts with one thing – nutrition.
Ronnie explained: “All of that starts with your diet.
“If you ain’t eating right you might as well quit doing everything else because you’re wasting your time.
“Everyone is really different when it comes to burning fat though so you kind of have to experiment and see what works.
"For me, I needed to keep my fat really low but I could eat high carbs as long as they were clean.
“Some people are the opposite or kind of in the middle of that.
“Really, it’s trial and error but they do have some genetic tests these days where you can figure a lot of that stuff out without having to do the trial and error part.
“I didn’t have that when I was young so I had to do it the hard way by trying different things and tracking my progress.”
The American star stressed the importance of working with a nutritionist or trainer who has experience and success with transforming people’s physiques, especially if you’re a beginner.
Ronnie said: “Learn from them then you can branch out on your own when you’re comfortable.
“Also I didn’t have all of the information that is available on the internet these days so do some research and homework on your own too.”
Meanwhile the legendary lifter previously spoke to us about exactly what it takes to become a world champion bodybuilder, how he hones his mammoth muscles and his top bulking advice.
As for his best muscle-boosting exercises, Ronnie advises an “old school” approach to training.
He said: “The best exercises are the old school hard ones that no one likes to do. Squat, deadlift, bent over rows.
“The best range for building muscle is 12-15 reps. Although I do believe heavy sets work but they cant be the staple of your training.
“Most of it should be in that 12-15 rep range but I’ll never tell anyone to not go for some heavy 1-2 rep sets just for the hell of it.
“I loved doing that.”
Ronnie Coleman will be attending the new fitness expo FitConUK at the Olympia in London from the 21st to the 23rd April. For more information on the expo or to purchase a ticket please visit fitcon.co.uk.
