If you’re looking to get serious about your bodybuilding and fitness goals, then you’re going to want to take a look at Ronnie Coleman’s diet plan and supplements.
Widely regarded as one of the best professional bodybuilders in history, Ronnie Coleman achieved legendary status through his dedication, drive, and disciplined approach to nutrition. His diet plan is considered one of the most comprehensive and stringent out there due to the sheer amount of detail he applied to his nutritional routine.
In this blog post, we’ll be exploring the specifics of Ronnie Coleman’s diet plan and supplement routine, giving you insight into how he achieved such incredible results. We’ll also touch on the importance of getting sufficient amounts of essential nutrients from your daily meals to reach your own fitness goals.
So if you’re ready to kick-start your training with a winning combination of healthful food choices and strategic supplementation, let’s dive right in!
Contents
An Overview Of Ronnie Coleman’s Diet
Ronnie Coleman’s diet was focused on helping him maintain his muscular physique, while also allowing him to cut weight when necessary. During the off-season, he would often consume hamburgers and fried chicken for the extra calories and fats needed for muscle growth.
However, when he needed to cut weight he would switch his meal plan up to include more lean meats such as chicken and plenty of vegetables.
When preparing meals, Ronnie had a few rules that he stuck to ensure that he was getting the most out of his food.
He believed in eating several small meals throughout the day rather than only 3 large ones to keep his energy levels up throughout the day.
He also liked to eat whole foods like fruits and vegetables instead of processed foods which are generally higher in sodium and added sugars.
Additionally, Ronnie always made sure that all his meals were packed with proteins since it helps build muscle mass and aids in recovery after a hard workout session.
ONCE COLEMAN SAID, “MY BIGGEST COMPETITION IS ALWAYS MYSELF. I MEAN NO DISRESPECT, BUT I DO NOT LOOK AT ANY OF THE GUYS AS BEING MY COMPETITION FOR THE SIMPLE REASON THAT I CAN’T CONTROL HOW THEY ARE GOING TO LOOK”.
Though this diet may seem extreme it is important to note that Ronnie always took care to make sure that he ate plenty of healthy foods as well so that he could stay energized and healthy. This was an incredibly effective way for him to get the nutrition that he needed while still maintaining a lean physique ideal for bodybuilding competitions.
With proper planning, discipline, and dedication it is not difficult at all to follow a similar diet to Ronnie’s while still enjoying all your favorite foods!
A Detailed Look At Ronnie Coleman’s Diet Plan
Proteins: Protein is essential for muscle growth and repair, as well as providing energy throughout the day. As such, it should come as no surprise that Ronnie consumes an astounding 546g of protein per day! This comes from lean sources such as chicken, turkey, fish, and eggs.
He also consumes protein supplements such as whey protein powder to help meet his daily requirements.
Fats:
Fats are an important source of energy but can also lead to weight gain if consumed in excess.
As such, Ronnie keeps his fat intake to 150g per day—mainly from sources like olive oil, nuts, and avocados.
Carbohydrates:
Carbohydrates provide your body with energy and should make up around 50-60% of your daily calorie intake.
To ensure he has enough energy for intense workouts and competitions, Ronnie consumes 474g of carbohydrates every day—from sources like oats, brown rice, and sweet potatoes.
Calories:
To maintain his shredded physique all year round, Ronnie consumes a whopping 5562 calories every single day! This includes lots of lean proteins and healthy fats along with plenty of complex carbohydrates to fuel his active lifestyle.
What The 8X Mr. Olympia Eats In A Day
- Meal One: Ronnie would have 3- 5 g of arginine – an amino acid that helps with muscle growth and recovery.
- Meal 02: He would then have ¾ cup of semolina (a type of wheat flour), 2 cups of egg whites, and a cup of coffee.
- Meal 03: Ronnie didn’t eat lunch in the traditional sense; instead, he would take pre-workout stimulants (BCAA) as well as post-workout supplements (like whey protein) before hitting the gym. After his workout, he would take another dose of arginine to help with muscle growth and recovery.
- Meal 04: 16oz Chicken breast, 1 ½ cups of red beans, 1 and ½ cups of brown rice, 2 slices of cornbread–Lean proteins like chicken breast are important because they provide essential amino acids needed to build muscle while complex carbohydrates like brown rice provide sustained energy throughout the day; red beans are high in fiber and minerals like iron so they make for an excellent side dish to any meal; cornbread provides additional carbohydrates for energy but can be replaced with whole grain bread if preferred.
- Meal 05: At 7:30 pm he’d have another dose of arginine before having 500 g chicken breast, 1 baked potato, and water at 8 pm.
- Meal 06: He’d wrap up the day with 250 g beef plus 140g chicken breast, 1 baked potato 120 g French fries, and 230 ml lemonade
- Meal 07: post-workout supplement just before bedtime at 1 am.
- Meal 08: To top it all off at 1:30 am he’d have 4 scoops of whey protein as a nightcap to help build muscle mass while sleeping!
Ronnie Coleman’s Supplements: The Ultimate List
Whey Protein Blend
A whey protein blend is one of the most important supplements for any serious bodybuilder, and Ronnie Coleman was no exception. Whey protein helps build muscle faster than other proteins, so it’s important to make sure you get enough each day. It’s also good for overall health and can help improve your immune system.
Look for a whey protein blend that contains a mix of fast-acting and slow-release proteins so that you get the benefits throughout the day.
BCAA (Branch Chain Amino Acids)
BCAAs are essential amino acids that are naturally found in food sources like eggs, meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products.
They are important because they help with muscle growth and recovery after workouts. BCAAs provide energy during exercise and can also help reduce fatigue afterward. Ronnie Coleman was known for his rigorous workout routine, so he likely relied on BCAAs to fuel him during his intense workouts.
L-Arginine
L-arginine is an amino acid found in many foods like red meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, nuts, seeds, beans, and grains.
It helps increase blood flow throughout the body by producing nitric oxide which helps relax arteries and veins allowing for more oxygenated blood flow throughout your muscles during workouts or competitions.
L-arginine can also help enhance endurance levels during workouts which could explain why Ronnie Coleman was able to stay at peak performance despite grueling training sessions day after day.
Breaking Down Ronnie Coleman’s Intense Workout Routine
Ronnie Coleman’s weekly workout routine consists of 6 days of intense training with 1 rest day per week.
His workouts are split up into 3 main categories. Here is a breakdown of each day’s workout routine:
Mondays & Fridays: Quads/Hams/Calves
On these days, Ronnie does exercises such as squats, leg presses, leg curls, lunges, and calf raises for quads, deadlifts and good mornings for hams; and seated calf raises for calves.
He trains each muscle group until failure before moving on to the next one.
Tuesdays: Back & Triceps
Ronnie trains his back by doing exercises such as pull-ups (wide grip), bent-over rows (underhand grip), deadlifts (sumo grip), and shrugs (barbell).
For the triceps, he does dips (close grip) and overhead extensions or skull crushers (dumbbell or barbell). Again, he trains each muscle group until failure before moving on to the next one.
Wednesdays: Shoulders
On Wednesdays, Ronnie focuses solely on shoulders with exercises such as military press (seated or standing), lateral raises (dumbbell), front raises (dumbbell) shrugs (dumbbell or barbell), and reverse flyes (cables). As usual, he trains each muscle group until failure before moving on to the next one.
Thursdays: Chest & Biceps
On Thursdays Ronnie does chest exercises such as flat bench press, incline bench press, and decline bench press.
For biceps, he does bicep curls (barbell or dumbbell) and hammer curls (standing or seated). Again he trains each muscle group until failure before moving on to the next one.
Saturdays: Chest/Triceps/Abs On Saturdays
Ronnie splits his time between chest exercises such as:
- flat bench press
- incline bench press
- decline bench press
- tricep exercises such as dips (close grip)
- overhead extensions and skull crushers
- and abs exercises like sit-ups crunches leg lifts
He then finishes off with some stretching to cool down after all that hard work!
Sunday:
Rest Day
Wrapping Up
If you’re looking to get yourself into amazing shape, look no further than Ronnie Coleman’s diet and exercise plan. His regimen emphasizes eating nutrient-dense foods, avoiding processed foods and sugar, consistency with high-intensity workouts and weight training, and plenty of rest.
