Champ visits event
Date: 19-03-2007
Posted by: Anabolic Info TeamUnited States |
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After being mobbed by fans and signing countless autographs Saturday, Ronnie Coleman took time to answer questions from aspiring bodybuilders and even stated his opinion on steroids in sports.
The eight-time Mr. Olympia champion appeared, but did not compete, at the National Physique Committee’s Upper Midwest Bodybuilding & Fitness/Figure Championships at North Dakota State’s Festival Hall.
“People have their own opinion on what people do and you can’t really change that,” Coleman said about steroids.
Even though there is drug testing in bodybuilding, it still doesn’t always work, Coleman said.
“It would be hard to prove what anybody did in the first place,” said Coleman, who weighs anywhere from 250 to 300 pounds depending on training. “They have been testing forever but who’s going to believe what the tests say anyway?”
Coleman said that getting the right information about training is the key. He said he has been training since he was 12, but didn’t know how to properly until he started seriously training at age 26.
“If I would have known about (proper technique) 10 years earlier, I would be a lot further along than I am now,” he said.
Coleman performed a short routine for the audience at the end of Saturday’s competition. The event was made up of amateurs, with top placers qualifying for a national tournament.
“This is a beginning show,” said event director Tom Kemper. “It’s kind of a broad spectrum of people.”
The 43 men and women participating competed in classes ranging from teenage to
50-plus years of age.
Although Coleman said he has seen the sport grow, he knows that there will always be limitations on the number of participants.
“This is one of the hardest sports in the world to do because of all the restrictions and sacrifices,” Coleman said.
Coleman said that when he played football for Grambling State, he never had to watch what he ate or how late he stayed out, which he does today.
Coleman is eyeing another Mr. Olympia title in September. Last year, Coleman took second at the event after winning it eight consecutive years. He is tied for the all-time lead in Mr. Olympia titles with Lee Haney. The two are ahead of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won the event seven times.
Despite being 42 years old, Coleman said that he said he doesn’t think about retiring as he takes it “year by year.”
“I have never been one to make any long term goals,” he said. “I have been around so long, you never know when its going to be over and done with.”
Coleman, who became a police officer after college, still works part-time as a reserve police officer in Arlington, Texas.
