Ronnie Coleman was an absolute genetic anomaly.

At this point it’s pretty hard to argue against the idea that Ronnie Coleman is one of the best to ever do it. Winning eight Olympia championships and dominating the competition for much of his career grants Ronnie Coleman that status alongside Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Bodybuilding is by no means an easy task to take up, even if you’re genetically gifted. But among all the naturally gifted bodybuilders out there, Ronnie Coleman is still in his own class.

With the 2017 Arnold Classic right around the corner, photos have surfaced of the legend Ronnie Coleman while prepping for the 2001 event of the same name. The photos show exactly how beastly Ronnie Coleman was and that he truly was a one of a kind bodybuilder. Take a look at the Instagram posting below that not only features the images of Coleman, but also the details of his preparation for the show as well.

I was going to hold these pics until Thursday, but with the @Arnoldsports right around the corner – I just couldn’t wait – these photos were taken at about the same time. Here are the NEVER before seen pics of Ronnie Coleman taken on February 17, 2001 – exactly 2 weeks before the Arnold Classic. When Ronnie contacted me right after the 2000 Mr. Olympia, he asked me if I thought we could do the 2001 Arnold, without causing any problems with his 2001 Mr. Olympia prep. At the time I said, “Absolutely” – but that would end up being a mistake and that’s another story for another time. From the get go, I told him, “Let’s see how far we can push your conditioning – let’s just push conditioning to the next level!” And, of course, Ronnie said, “Let’s do it!” It was a very simple plan: Grits, rice, potatoes, steak, chicken – and of course BBQ sauce – that was it! Nothing fancy, just hardcore, old school dieting. What we did end up doing for this diet that was different from before, was continuously change the amounts, based off of his training. We would literally talk, daily. This would give me a feel for how he was feeling, based off his emotions – how he sounded on the phone, how his energy levels were – did he seem upbeat or drained/tired? Then I would get the update on his weight and how his training went for the day. From there, daily, we would constantly change his diet. Carbs would sometimes go as low as 100 grams daily and as high as 500 grams daily. Proteins were more stable – only fluctuating between 400-500 grams. Because he didn’t get too far out of shape and we didn’t push his weight very high after the 2000 Mr. Olympia, his body came around very quickly – so we actually ended up adding in more cheat days during this diet than ever before. Because Ronnie was extremely regimented – even his cheat days were planned out with specific foods and amounts at specific meals.

A post shared by Chad Nicholls (@thedietdoc) on Feb 21, 2017 at 9:59pm PST

A post shared by Chad Nicholls (@thedietdoc) on Feb 21, 2017 at 10:03pm PST

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