What does everyone think about Ronnie Coleman's post-retirement actions?

[Matt]

By that I mean - his training, his surgeries, the fact that he has used [is using?] the assistance of a walker to get around.  Recall the pill container he had, where he was medicated for just about everything, and the interview with Dave Palumbo in New York where Ronnie pulled out a bottle of morphine pills, which he said don't even work for him anymore.  

It must be hard for the king of the jungle to fall, but compare Ronnie's post-retirement actions with those of Shawn Ray for example.  It seems to me that Shawn was always thinking about his future.  He knew he would not be able to look like he did forever, and he seemed to be mentally prepared for it.  Shawn could have upped the steroid and GH use and been a top four competitor until the age of 40 or more [he retired shortly after turning 36, at the 2001 Mr. Olympia - although did not explicitly announce his retirement then].  Instead, Shawn decided that he didn't want to continue to tax his body with age, and went out relatively on top - with a fourth place finish at the most elite bodybuilding contest in the world.

For everything Ronnie did, is he happy with his post-contest - I hate to say stupidity, but - inappropriate training, given his surgeries?

Ronnie has made a lot of money and has had what appears to be a wonderful life - at least from age 30 onward [I can't speak for his childhood through to early young adulthood].  I just personally hate to see the guy almost fall apart in front of our eyes.

I looked into 2008 contests that I think Ronnie could have won one or more of.  My view is that he should have competed in one [or even three] of these 2008 contests, won it [or more than one], then left us in a way where we could still be thinking "You know what - I bet he could have won another Mr. Olympia if he stuck around."  These are the contests [in alphabetical order], and their actual winners - none of the competitors who won these contests were at Ronnie's level by the time Ronnie retired in 2007:

1. 2008 Atlantic City Pro [won by Melvin Anthony]
2. 2008 Europa Supershow [won by Toney Freeman]
3. 2008 Houston Pro Championships [won by Silvio Samuel]
4. 2008 New York Pro Championships [won by Kai Greene]
5. 2008 Tampa Pro Championships [won by Toney Freeman]

It would have been neat for him to win one or more of those shows and retire on a W, even if that would be considered a "downgrade" from his previous success.  Ultimately Ronnie gets to decide what he does or does not do, but I am of the impression that what made Ronnie the champion that he was, also ultimately broke him - it's simply a fact that he can't put on the brakes.  And - like Dorian before him - his body ended up putting on the brakes for him when his mind did not.

I made the following video years ago, and even more can be added to it now:

[dj181]

I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I........

[Matt]

I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I........

Got it.   I went back and bolded and underlined every instance of I, and a my that I also caught.  

Maybe this will help me make a determination if I am speaking about myself too much, or...maybe it will just end up costing me time in looking over my posts.  We shall see.  

[calfzilla]

We don't

[Henda]

He’s a fucking idiot, he still throws weights around with the same sloppy form that injured him initially

[Ted SuperSet]

Me me me me me

[Matt]

He’s a fucking idiot, he still throws weights around with the same sloppy form that injured him initially

This is why I love Getbig.    Henda, do you think there is a solution to that?  Or do you think it's just way too psychologically complex to attempt to do anything about?

You can ignore everything from this point on, I just talk about myself here, LOL [sorry guys]:

There are some things that I say that other people would be terrified to say...but just as that is true of me, it is also true of others.

Henda basically took the words out of my mind - but since I'm currently contemplating going back to expos again, I have to be somewhat careful of what I say on here.  Although David Henry and I are cool now, he was NOT happy to see me in person.  I do believe he was more upset with the fact that I am a Getbigger, as opposed to something I personally wrote.

Fuck, I can't help speaking about myself so much.  Just trying to explain why I don't want to trash pros too much - it's one thing to do it behind a computer screen, but quite another matter to see them in person, knowing you previously said that.

PS - having been involved with the expo scene and having ran a medium-sized bodybuilding website for a little over a decade, I hope people can understand that I post about my experiences so much because I have had a lot of firsthand personal experiences.    I'll try to keep it to that, and not boast about winning some local strongman contest or something.

Me me me me me

I'm starting to think that I can't help it.  

I'm going to try my best to post respectful and on-topic posts, rich with related information...then just cross my fingers and hope it works.  

 

[Tha Grim Lifter]

I started noticing a lot of little pains training too heavy once I went into my 30's towards the end of every training cycle. I started training lighter and still going to failure but with slower reps so I still felt everything. Probably look better and never have had an issue since.

Ronnie, and Dorian, should have backed off over time. Training to failure still stimulates the muscle, going too heavy puts you in a position of injury especially as you get older, not because of age so much but because you know how to train and feel everything so there's no need to be crazy and go too heavy. Ronnie could have won more Olympias. Now he's just being stupid. He could go in, pick a weight, go to failure even if lighter and he would still do what he needed to do to maintain without so much injury risk.

[Van_Bilderass]

What Ronnie does is not logical. But you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Just let him do his thing, he's not changing.

He still talks about a competitive comeback 

Regarding Dorian, his training wasn't extremely heavy and it was low volume so not a huge amount of overuse trauma. But he was unlucky to have brittle tendons. Dorian wouldn't have survived many days training like Ronnie. Enormous volume, enormous loads, horrible form.

[Matt]

I started noticing a lot of little pains training too heavy once I went into my 30's towards the end of every training cycle. I started training lighter and still going to failure but with slower reps so I still felt everything. Probably look better and never have had an issue since.

Ronnie, and Dorian, should have backed off over time. Training to failure still stimulates the muscle, going too heavy puts you in a position of injury especially as you get older, not because of age so much but because you know how to train and feel everything so there's no need to be crazy and go too heavy. Ronnie could have won more Olympias. Now he's just being stupid. He could go in, pick a weight, go to failure even if lighter and he would still do what he needed to do to maintain without so much injury risk.

Agreed.  Luckily for Dorian, while his intensity may have ended his career earlier than what it otherwise could have been, it's good that he didn't carry on that style of training well into retirement.  Ronnie, on the other hand, just doesn't seem able to stop.  It's sad to me because Ronnie is 53 now - he's no spring chicken, and I don't think being wheelchair-bound for life due to paralysis is out of the question at this point.  It's as if he looks at these injuries as being like a badge of honour or something?  

I'm reminded of ZONE CAPONE from MuscleMayhem.    Kwon probably knows him.  

While on the topic, what else did you do to overcome those little nagging issues that came about in your thirties?  For me, I found that just throwing in a little more warming up with my opening sets with lighter weight made a huge difference.  By the time I got to my heaviest sets, I felt ready.

Rub A535 is also nice.  

[Van_Bilderass]

Agreed.  Luckily for Dorian, while his intensity may have ended his career earlier than what it otherwise could have been, it's good that he didn't carry on that style of training well into retirement.  Ronnie, on the other hand, just doesn't seem able to stop.  It's sad to me because Ronnie is 53 now - he's no spring chicken, and I don't think being wheelchair-bound for life due to paralysis is out of the question at this point.  It's as if he looks at these injuries as being like a badge of honour or something?  

I'm reminded of ZONE CAPONE from MuscleMayhem.    Kwon probably knows him.  

While on the topic, what else did you do to overcome those little nagging issues that came about in your thirties?  For me, I found that just throwing in a little more warming up with my opening sets with lighter weight made a huge difference.  By the time I got to my heaviest sets, I felt ready.

Rub A535 is also nice.  

ZONE CAPONE was a part of Piana's 5% army, lol. Apparently ran into some health problems so he filled his body with oil and tattoos instead of drugs. Check his IG 

I'm 40 and I warm up for up to 2 hours before heavy deads or squats, no joke 

[ratherbebig]

i do leg extensions, no warm up
saves me 2 hours

[Spike]

I saw him on the ‘untitled action Bronson show’ the other day


Would barely stand up


Was asked if he wanted a dab I.e. smoked herb — he declined , said he didn’t


Looked really lean tho - still on the good gh

[Zillotch]

how does talking about this dim witted black man enrich your life?

[DanzigBrah]

how does talking about this dim witted black man enrich your life?

I'll have you know Coleman graduated magma cum loud with a degree in accounting.

[NelsonMuntz]

By that I mean - his training, his surgeries, the fact that he has used [is using?] the assistance of a walker to get around.  Recall the pill container he had, where he was medicated for just about everything, and the interview with Dave Palumbo in New York where Ronnie pulled out a bottle of morphine pills, which he said don't even work for him anymore.  

It must be hard for the king of the jungle to fall, but compare Ronnie's post-retirement actions with those of Shawn Ray for example.  It seems to me that Shawn was always thinking about his future.  He knew he would not be able to look like he did forever, and he seemed to be mentally prepared for it.  Shawn could have upped the steroid and GH use and been a top four competitor until the age of 40 or more [he retired shortly after turning 36, at the 2001 Mr. Olympia - although did not explicitly announce his retirement then].  Instead, Shawn decided that he didn't want to continue to tax his body with age, and went out relatively on top - with a fourth place finish at the most elite bodybuilding contest in the world.

For everything Ronnie did, is he happy with his post-contest - I hate to say stupidity, but - inappropriate training, given his surgeries?

Ronnie has made a lot of money and has had what appears to be a wonderful life - at least from age 30 onward [I can't speak for his childhood through to early young adulthood].  I just personally hate to see the guy almost fall apart in front of our eyes.

I looked into 2008 contests that I think Ronnie could have won one or more of.  My view is that he should have competed in one [or even three] of these 2008 contests, won it [or more than one], then left us in a way where we could still be thinking "You know what - I bet he could have won another Mr. Olympia if he stuck around."  These are the contests [in alphabetical order], and their actual winners - none of the competitors who won these contests were at Ronnie's level by the time Ronnie retired in 2007:

1. 2008 Atlantic City Pro [won by Melvin Anthony]
2. 2008 Europa Supershow [won by Toney Freeman]
3. 2008 Houston Pro Championships [won by Silvio Samuel]
4. 2008 New York Pro Championships [won by Kai Greene]
5. 2008 Tampa Pro Championships [won by Toney Freeman]

It would have been neat for him to win one or more of those shows and retire on a W, even if that would be considered a "downgrade" from his previous success.  Ultimately Ronnie gets to decide what he does or does not do, but I am of the impression that what made Ronnie the champion that he was, also ultimately broke him - it's simply a fact that he can't put on the brakes.  And - like Dorian before him - his body ended up putting on the brakes for him when his mind did not.

I made the following video years ago, and even more can be added to it now:

I live by  the Centennial Botanical Conservatory in one of the many homes I own on Balmoral Street in Thunder Bay Ontario. My name is Matt Canning. I'm 37 years old. I believe in talking about myself and a balanced diet and rigorous exercise routine which keeps me at 170lbs at 5'9. In the morning if my face is a little puffy from the tears that fell to my pillow while crying myself to sleep after my mother yelled at me the night before I put on an ice pack  while doing doing bodyweight squats. I can do 100 now. After I remove the ice pack I post my first manifesto of the day on getbig waxing poetic about Art Atwood and how if he only listened to me he would have lived to be 42. In the shower I get a parsh, but I avoid masturbating because I am going to the clinic to check my sperm levels later today to see if I can produce my 8th child with another one of Thunder Bay's fine single welfare moms, Then I apply an herb-mint facial mask which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine, which includes checking my bitcoin values, arguing on getbig about how Ronnie Coleman should have entered the Northern Ontario Strongman competition in which I sponsor, but as well I competed in the lightweight category at 5'9 and 170lbs. They put my picture in the newspaper I type to BeThere and post the article for the 100th time. I always use an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older, and with people who look older, well I fear for their health. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion, while I get into an online argument with Vince Goodrum about how Blacks have lower IQ's than whites and how I proved that by being the best white teaching assistant Lakhead University ever had before they wrongfully terminated me for getting caught masturbating in the genderless washroom writing my strong opinions on facebook. There is an idea of a Matt Canning. Is he a racist? Does he really want 7 more children with 12 strange women? Will he ever get to write for MD?. But there is no real me. Only an entity. Something illusory. And though I can troll all you getbiggers, and you can groan at your computer as I drone on and derail a thread by making the most non related topics all about myself, and maybe you can even sense that I am in fact a talented bodybuilding journalist, I simply cannot separate my crazy opinions from reality.

[Mobil]

I believe he's got a heart of gold..met him several times and was always polite and respectful...

[Skeletor]

Yeah Buddy!

[Hypertrophy]

Lee Haney pointed out in one of his training videos that you needed to “save the joints”. Look at Lee today and you can see he was right. Heavy lifting extracts a toll on your body over time. No surprise there.

[Kwon]

Got it.   I went back and bolded and underlined every instance of I, and a my that I also caught.  

Maybe this will help me make a determination if I am speaking about myself too much, or...maybe it will just end up costing me time in looking over my posts.  We shall see.  

I against I

[Mr.1derful]

I'll have you know Coleman graduated magma cum loud with a degree in accounting.

He's no doubt a Mensa member.  

[tres_taco_combo]

Lee Haney pointed out in one of his training videos that you needed to “save the joints”. Look at Lee today and you can see he was right. Heavy lifting extracts a toll on your body over time. No surprise there.

 

[Hypertrophy]

I live by  the Centennial Botanical Conservatory in one of the many homes I own on Balmoral Street in Thunder Bay Ontario. My name is Matt Canning. I'm 37 years old. I believe in talking about myself and a balanced diet and rigorous exercise routine which keeps me at 170lbs at 5'9. .

Correction: 5’9.3”  Unless it’s at 7 AM. Then it’s 5’9.35”

Sorry Matt- you make it too easy, lol

[The Scott]

I'll have you know Coleman graduated magma cum loud with a degree in accounting.

 

[Fortress]

Coleman responded so well to drugs that his strength FAR exceeded his natural structural integrity. He’s not some Viking with a Terminator-like frame.