What Happened to Ronnie Coleman?

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Aanchal Rao
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What Happened to Ronnie Coleman- Tech Preview

Ronnie Coleman was a really famous bodybuilder who won lots of big awards. However, something happened to him that completely changed his life and his career in bodybuilding.

In This Article hide
1 Who is Ronnie Coleman
2 Ronnie Coleman’s Age
3 Ronnie Coleman’s Weight
4 What happened to Ronnie Coleman? What surgeries did he have
5 Ronnie Coleman’s injury that ended his successful bodybuilding career
6 Where is Ronnie Coleman now
7 Ronnie Coleman Lifting Heavy Weights
8 Ronnie Coleman’s Surgeries
9 Ronnie Coleman Now
10 Conclusion
11 Some FAQs
11.1 What is going on with Ronnie Coleman
11.2 Did Ronnie Coleman lose the Mr. Olympia title
11.3 Is Ronnie Coleman in a wheelchair now
11.4 Why does Ronnie Coleman still exercise

Who is Ronnie Coleman

Ronnie Coleman is a super famous bodybuilder. He won a big competition called Mr. Olympia eight times and won 26 other important bodybuilding contests.

However, now he cannot move around very well.

Ronnie Coleman’s Age

Ronnie Coleman was born in Mississippi on May 13, 1964. He is now 58 years old. He became a professional bodybuilder when he was 24 years old.

Ronnie Coleman’s Weight

When Ronnie Coleman was at his best, he weighed 300 pounds (about 136 kilograms).

What happened to Ronnie Coleman? What surgeries did he have

Ronnie Coleman became really famous for lifting extremely heavy weights as a powerlifter and bodybuilder. However, doing that took a big toll on his body and made him very unhealthy. He had to have many surgeries and other medical treatments. Because of all this, he lost most of his ability to move and had to use a wheelchair.

Ronnie Coleman’s injury that ended his successful bodybuilding career

In 1996, Ronnie Coleman hurt himself really badly while doing squats. He did not go to the doctor right away, and that decision changed his life forever.

Because of this injury, he had a very serious problem with his spine, and he also hurt his back, shoulder, hips, and neck really badly from lifting heavy weights. He had a damaged disk in his back, and even after he found out, he kept working hard, which made things worse. He had to go through 13 surgeries.

He had to get two new hips and try many other treatments to make the pain from his damaged back disks better. However, these surgeries and treatments made his injuries and health problems even worse, and he lost most of his ability to move around.

Where is Ronnie Coleman now

After he stopped competing, Ronnie Coleman had many health problems that made it hard for him to move around. He uses crutches because of issues with his spine and other health problems.

However, even with all these issues, he still exercises, but with lighter weights. He is also active in the world of bodybuilding and fitness.

Because of exercise and therapy, he has been able to get some of his mobility back, and he can walk with some help. Many people look up to his workout routine.

Besides all this, he owns a company that sells good sports and health supplements, as well as clothes for people who love going to the gym and bodybuilders.

So, that is what happened to Ronnie Coleman and what he is up to now.

During his impressive career in bodybuilding, Coleman won many big awards. Some of them were the Canada Pro Cup in 1995 and 1996, Mr. Olympia from 1998 to 2005, World Pro Championships in 2000, and Grand Prix Russia in 2003, among others.

People also called him the greatest bodybuilder of all time, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, because he had one of the most massive and impressive bodies.

Ronnie Coleman Lifting Heavy Weights

In 1998, Ronnie Coleman won his first of eight Mr. Olympia titles in a row. He was always busy defending this big bodybuilding title and traveling around the world as a famous bodybuilder. He did not have time for surgery, and he did not stop lifting heavy weights. Instead, he got even bigger and stronger.

In 2000, while getting ready for his third Mr. Olympia win, he lifted a really heavy barbell with 755 pounds on it for four times, and then he lifted 800 pounds for two times. In 2003, when he was preparing for his sixth Mr. Olympia win, he squatted with 800 pounds for two times.

These incredible lifts were not part of his usual training routine. He did them for workout videos that he sold on DVD. However, he always trained with heavy weights. For example, in 2003, he did a bench press with 495 pounds for five times.

Let us focus on the barbell squat, the exercise that caused his first injury when he was a teenager and his first herniated disc in 1997. Even when he was competing, Ronnie Coleman kept squatting with heavy weights. I saw him squat with 585 pounds 10 times, going very deep with each squat, in 2005 before he won his eighth and final Mr. Olympia title. He pushed himself so hard that his nose even bled.

That is almost the same weight he lifted in 2003, but this time, he did not have any special equipment, and he did not even have someone to help him. He was also 41 years old. The next year, when he was 42, he front squatted with 495 pounds for 10 times.

He just kept going, training his legs twice a week, doing back squats in one workout and front squats in another.

Ronnie Coleman’s Surgeries

Ronnie Coleman stopped competing in bodybuilding after the 2007 Mr. Olympia. Only then did he listen to a doctor who had recommended spinal surgery 10 years earlier before he won eight Mr. Olympia titles and did thousands of squats. This was the first of many surgeries, but none of them really worked well.

In 2014, he had to get both of his hip joints replaced. In December 2015, after a long plane ride to Russia, his back started hurting a lot, and it got worse. Two days later, he could not walk properly and had to use crutches to move around for a long time. The next month, back in Texas, he had surgery on his back that took 13 hours, and things went downhill from there.

In 2018, he had three more surgeries on his spine, making it his 8th, 9th, and 10th back surgeries. One was to connect some vertebrae, another to fix screws from a previous surgery that had broken, and a third to replace all the screws with bigger ones.

However, the surgeries did not stop there. In 2020, he had to get both of his hip joints replaced again because one had broken. In total, he has had 13 surgeries: two on his hips, two on his neck, and nine on his back. He has had surgery on all 25 discs in his spine.

Almost all of his spine is fused together with screws, cages to hold discs in place, and rods that are about 18 inches long, except for one disc, which is now herniated.

Ronnie Coleman Now

Nowadays, Ronnie Coleman can only walk short distances without needing crutches. If he walks too far, his legs start feeling weak because of the nerve damage in his back. He still exercises regularly, but he uses lighter weights, and he follows a bodybuilder’s diet, but he eats only three meals a day instead of the six or more he used to eat when he was competing.

He turned 59 years old on May 13. He has a successful company that sells nutritional supplements. He is married and has four young daughters. He recently decided to sell his house in Arlington, Texas, to move into a bigger one with his family of six.

Ronnie Coleman is still trying to find ways to ease his pain and get some of his mobility back. Since October 2020, he has been going to a clinic in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for treatments like stem cell therapy and hyperbaric therapy, as suggested by Joe Rogan. After one of these treatments, he wrote on Instagram: “As long as I have a plan, I have a chance. As long as I am alive, I have a chance to overcome this obstacle.”

Conclusion

Can we learn something from Ronnie Coleman’s story? Many people think we can. Yes, Coleman won the Mr. Olympia title eight times, but so did his role model, Lee Haney, who believes in moderate workouts and weights and is still healthy at 63. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with seven Mr. Olympia wins, has no known pain or mobility problems at 75; he rides his bike to the gym every day.

Phil Heath also has seven wins and is still doing well at 43. Dorian Yates, who won six Olympia titles, is known for intense workouts with heavy weights in the ’90s. He had some muscle injuries but avoided heavy squats after his first few years of training. Today, at 61, he is into biking and yoga.

So, was it the heavy squats that caused Ronnie Coleman’s mobility problems? He thinks his first herniated disc in 1997 came from a squat session, but he does not blame heavy weights. Instead, he blames his genetics and, most importantly, the surgeries that did not go well.

He continued lifting heavy weights for ten years after his disc injury. Would things have been different if he had surgery right away in 1997? We cannot be sure.

Maybe he could walk, run, and live without pain today. However, given how unsuccessful the surgeries were, it is also possible that he would have made things worse and maybe never become Mr. Olympia.

Some FAQs

What is going on with Ronnie Coleman

He still exercises regularly, but he uses lighter weights now, and he follows a bodybuilder’s diet, but he eats only three meals a day instead of the six or more he used to eat when he was a competitive bodybuilder. He celebrated his 59th birthday on May 13. He also has a successful company that sells nutritional supplements.

Did Ronnie Coleman lose the Mr. Olympia title

Yes, in 2006, Ronnie Coleman lost the Mr. Olympia title to Jay Cutler. This was a big deal because it was only the second time in the history of the competition that a multi-champion, Mr. Olympia, lost his title (instead of retiring).

Is Ronnie Coleman in a wheelchair now

Yes, Ronnie Coleman, also known as “The King,” is in a wheelchair now. He has had many health problems that have made it difficult for him to walk. In a recent interview, he talked about the best way to ease his pain.

Why does Ronnie Coleman still exercise

Even though he is in a wheelchair and cannot walk, Ronnie Coleman still enjoys lifting weights. He likes the feeling of being strong. His arms usually work, so he plans to keep exercising them. He has had 12 surgeries on his spine, which have been quite frustrating for him.

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