Written by Chad Nicholls
11 September 2006
 

Contest Guru

By Chad Nicholls

 

The Biggest Mr. O Ever!

 

Throughout the history of bodybuilding, one question has always continued to surface no matter what phase bodybuilding goes through- "Will we ever see a 300-pound Mr. Olympia?" I believe we're going to see the closest thing to a 300-pound Mr. Olympia in this year's Ronnie Coleman. After all these years, when you think of Ronnie, you think of thick, ripped, crazy muscle. This year's lineup brings the heavy hitters, who are primed with fully loaded physiques in an attempt to end Ronnie's reign. But Ronnie's ready for a brutal assault on the competition and is pulling out all the stops to break more than just the consecutive win record- he wants to break the record for combining the most size and freakiest conditioning on a Mr. Olympia- distancing himself even more and setting yet another new standard for the rest to follow. Our plan for Ronnie for this year's Mr. Olympia competition has been for him to come in as big as possible, but still show incredible shape and conditioning as that's the only way to break the record and win nine consecutive Mr. Olympia titles.

At the beginning stages of his diet, watching his progress, I had guessed Ronnie would be in the high 280s for this year's showing. Since the diet and his preparation have progressed, I've seen dramatic changes, not only to Ronnie's physique, but also to his shape and muscle size. What's crazy, when you think about it, is that Ronnie's going for his ninth straight Mr. Olympia win and this is potentially the biggest Ronnie has ever been. Usually, when someone goes on a string this long, they just hope to maintain their size and conditioning, but once again, Ronnie is striving to raise the bar.

            In 2003 and 2004, Ronnie came very close to giving us a 300-pound Mr. Olympia- weighing 285 and 290. This year however, Ronnie will be giving us as close to 300-pounds as possible. As I'm writing this column, we're four weeks away from the show and I just received an incredible set of photos showing what Ronnie looks like after his lowest set of carb days ever- and he's still currently 305 pounds! He's only about 10 pounds away from where I need him to be before carb loading and when we load Ronnie, he always gains around 10-12 pounds. Then, after pulling water, he loses another 10 pounds, so when all is said and done, I believe Ronnie will step onstage anywhere from 297-300 pounds- Ronnie's heaviest ever!

            In the past, many have shaken their heads at the prospect of a 300-pound Mr. Olympia, thinking that no one would be able to have shape and conditioning at that size. However, on Sept. 30, 2006, Ronnie will show us the combination of freakishly incredible size, structure and fantastic conditioning, giving us the Mr. Olympia many consider only a fantasy.

            I've worked with Ronnie since his Mr. Olympia winning streak began back in 1998. After all these years, his body has adapted to the type of dieting I created for him and I feel this is one variable in Ronnie's tremendous success. With Ronnie's body becoming used to a high-protein/low-carb diet year after year, he's enabled his body to maintain more and more muscle each year, while learning to function on lower amounts of carbs, thus helping him to hold onto size, rather than burning up muscle in order to become leaner and more shredded. By adapting to this type of diet and learning to function on low carbs, he's able to mentally withstand the challenges of training and performing cardio on such a diet. By maintaining strength and holding onto muscle, I've been able to increase his protein intake even more, which compensates somewhat for the lack of carbs. This will also enable us to hold onto the size, whereas at this point, normally it's easy to begin burning up muscle while chiseling away at the last little bits of fat still remaining on the physique. I'm looking forward to seeing the end result onstage at the show and watching Ronnie break the record and make history!

            Once again, I'm happy to open up my mailbag and answer the training questions you've requested the answers to. From football to bodybuilding to mixed martial arts, I'm receiving great questions from athletes in all types of sports. But one thing remains constant no matter what sport you're training for- you all have to diet, train hard and follow a solid vitamin and mineral regimen to keep healthy and make the most of your performances both in and out of competition.