Joe Rogan Experience #1489 - Ronnie Coleman

1. 0:00 – 1:47

   From small-town strength to late-start bodybuilding (Louisiana → Texas police work)

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:00

      ... one. Mr. Coleman.

   2. RCRonnie Coleman0:01

      What's going on? (laughs)

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:02

      Great to meet you, brother. It's a real honor. I mean, you are, uh, li- when I was, like, really into bodybuilding and reading the magazines, and I always said that you look like a dude who they invented in a Marvel comic book to kill the Hulk.

   4. RCRonnie Coleman0:16

      (laughs)

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      Like, that's what you looked like when you were in your prime, man. I mean-

   6. RCRonnie Coleman0:20

      Yeah, I felt like I probably could too, like, in those days. (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:23

      I mean, goddamn, you were freakishly huge. It was crazy to see. It was like, you know, I remember w- f- s- paying attention to bodybuilding from the beginning, like the Franco Columbu and Schwarzenegger days-

   8. RCRonnie Coleman0:33

      Mm-hmm.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:33

      ... to what you guys had become, you know, when you were in your prime. You just redefined everything. Everything was just so extreme.

   10. RCRonnie Coleman0:42

       Yeah, we was, we were pretty, pretty, uh, tough back in the old day. E- everything was hard, you know. The guys that I was competing against were real good. And, you know, I just came out of nowhere, you know, because I, I got into bodybuilding real late. You know, where I'm from, we didn't have it, and I didn't find out about it until I graduated college, went out to, uh, Texas and started working for the police department.

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:03

       How old were you at the time?

   12. RCRonnie Coleman1:04

       I was about 24.

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:05

       So that's when you started bodybuilding?

   14. RCRonnie Coleman1:07

       That's when I started. But I had been working out, you know, since I was 12, 13. --

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:11

       For sports?

   16. RCRonnie Coleman1:12

       Yeah, well, no. I had- I was on the powerlifting team.

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:14

       Oh, okay.

   18. RCRonnie Coleman1:15

       I did powerlifting, uh, in high school. So I was on the powerlifting team. And, you know, I got ... Where I'm from, Louisiana, it's a real small town. Most of the, a lot of the guys are kind of big like me, kind of strong like me. You know, a lot of people don't understand, but strength is something like a natural, na- uh, a natural gift, you know?

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:35

       Mm-hmm.

   20. RCRonnie Coleman1:35

       You, you can work on it and get better at it, but you also have to be gifted a little bit.

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:41

       Have to have a nice base.

   22. RCRonnie Coleman1:42

       Yeah, you have to have a nice base, and you have to have a little talent. (laughs)

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:47

       Yeah.

2. 1:47 – 3:36

   Natural gifts and extreme numbers: deadlifts, size, and the genetics conversation

   1. RCRonnie Coleman1:47

      You know, like that, this guy, uh, I think, I can't even remember his name, but, uh, he deadlifted 1100 pounds.

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:53

      Oh, that, uh, the, the Game of Thrones guy?

   3. RCRonnie Coleman1:56

      Yeah, yeah. Uh-

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:58

      The Mountain?

   5. RCRonnie Coleman1:58

      That, that's a gift, you know? That's talent.

   6. JRJoe Rogan2:01

      Yeah.

   7. RCRonnie Coleman2:01

      Yeah, yeah, he's gifted. Everybody can't do that, you know. I, I did 800, you know, for a couple of reps, but, uh, (laughs) I don't think I can do 1100.

   8. JRJoe Rogan2:10

      That's a lot of weight.

   9. RCRonnie Coleman2:11

      That's a lot of weight. (laughs)

   10. JRJoe Rogan2:11

       Uh, he's an enormous human being though. That guy-

   11. RCRonnie Coleman2:13

       Yeah, yeah.

   12. JRJoe Rogan2:14

       ... that's a Viking right there.

   13. RCRonnie Coleman2:15

       Yeah. You, you have to ha- you have to have a lot of weight to be able to pull a lot of weight like that too.

   14. JRJoe Rogan2:20

       Yeah.

   15. RCRonnie Coleman2:20

       So ...

   16. JRJoe Rogan2:21

       You, in your career, you were known for lifting large amounts of weight too.

   17. RCRonnie Coleman2:26

       Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I was saying, you know, I started powerlifting when I was in high school, you know. I had the, like, the, the gift of strength, you know. Uh, I was pretty strong in high school, you know, my, all throughout my college days. And, uh, you know, it was just something that I, I think I was kind of born with it a little bit, you know. 'Cause uh, you don't just start lifting heavy weights like that all of a sudden, you know. You have to have a, like I said, you have to have some kind of natural talent for it.

   18. JRJoe Rogan2:52

       Well, there are some crazy photos of you during the Mr. Olympia days when you were a police officer. Is that you? Look at that.

   19. RCRonnie Coleman2:58

       (laughs) Yeah, that's, that's me in the ninth grade on the left, and that's me winning the-

   20. JRJoe Rogan3:02

       What happened to your arm on the left? You got a cast on.

   21. RCRonnie Coleman3:04

       Yeah, I broke my-

   22. JRJoe Rogan3:05

       You fuck somebody up?

   23. RCRonnie Coleman3:06

       (laughs) Yeah. No. I-

   24. JRJoe Rogan3:07

       (laughs)

   25. RCRonnie Coleman3:08

       ... I kind of fuck with said, uh, though I was playing football and, uh, I think I fell on my wrist or something and, and cracked it or something.

   26. JRJoe Rogan3:15

       Hmm.

   27. RCRonnie Coleman3:16

       And that's me winning the, the, uh, Mr. Universe, turning pro in the middle. And that's me winning the '99 Mr. Olympia far right there.

   28. JRJoe Rogan3:26

       Wow.

   29. RCRonnie Coleman3:27

       (laughs)

   30. JRJoe Rogan3:28

       Damn, you were big.
3. 3:36 – 4:26

   Growing into a monster: Olympia weights, judges saying “too big,” and the long muscle-building timeline

   1. RCRonnie Coleman3:36

      That was my second Olympia. I only weighed about 255 there.

   2. JRJoe Rogan3:39

      What's the biggest you ever got?

   3. RCRonnie Coleman3:40

      I was 295 my seventh one.

   4. JRJoe Rogan3:44

      (laughs)

   5. RCRonnie Coleman3:45

      (laughs) So I put on a little bit more weight as I got-

   6. JRJoe Rogan3:48

      Geez.

   7. RCRonnie Coleman3:48

      ... on up there.

   8. JRJoe Rogan3:49

      But is it one of those things where you just kind of have to keep up with everybody else and everybody just keeps getting bigger and bigger?

   9. RCRonnie Coleman3:55

      No, it was that thing with me ... I was trying to distance myself from everybody else.

   10. JRJoe Rogan3:59

       Ah.

   11. RCRonnie Coleman4:00

       So I kept getting bigger and bigger, so nobody would catch up with me.

   12. JRJoe Rogan4:04

       Oh.

   13. RCRonnie Coleman4:04

       (laughs) And what a lot of people don't understand is you see me big up there like that, but, you know, it took a long time for me to get there.

   14. JRJoe Rogan4:12

       Hmm.

   15. RCRonnie Coleman4:12

       You know, that, that didn't happen overnight. I put on about five pounds of muscle, between five and 10 pounds of muscle a year. And that came from all that, you know, that heavy lifting, a lot of eating. A lot of eating. (laughs)

4. 4:26 – 8:42

   The food engine: six meals a day, waking up to eat, and ultra-low body fat claims

   1. JRJoe Rogan4:26

      What was a, what was a standard meal for you?

   2. RCRonnie Coleman4:29

      I mean, it, it, it wasn't a lot to me, you know, but if, if somebody, you know, normal tried to eat it, it'd probably be a lot. So I'd eat probably, like, uh, a pound of chicken, uh, grilled breast, you know, with, uh, half a cup of rice.

   3. JRJoe Rogan4:46

      That was a normal meal?

   4. RCRonnie Coleman4:47

      Yeah, that was normal, normal.

   5. JRJoe Rogan4:48

      And how many of those did you have a day?

   6. RCRonnie Coleman4:49

      I had about six meals a day, you know. It's, it's kind of hard to eat like that, you know. So I would have to wake up in the middle of the night to eat and go back to sleep.

   7. JRJoe Rogan5:00

      Really?

   8. RCRonnie Coleman5:00

      Yeah.

   9. JRJoe Rogan5:01

      Was that annoying?

   10. RCRonnie Coleman5:02

       No, no. (laughs)

   11. JRJoe Rogan5:04

       I would think that'd be annoying. You're tired and sleeping and got to wake up to eat.

   12. RCRonnie Coleman5:08

       No, you kind of get used to it.

   13. JRJoe Rogan5:09

       Yeah.

   14. RCRonnie Coleman5:10

       You- when you eat like that, you, you're hungry every three hours.

   15. JRJoe Rogan5:13

       Oh, really?

   16. RCRonnie Coleman5:14

       Yeah, every two, three hours you're hungry 'cause I'm not, I'm not eating a lot of fat, you know?

   17. JRJoe Rogan5:19

       Right, right.

   18. RCRonnie Coleman5:19

       It's, it's lean, you know. I'm not eating a lot of carbs, so it's just, it's, it's a little, a little bit of food at a time for me it was.

   19. JRJoe Rogan5:28

       And you would get down to how much, what percent body fat?

   20. RCRonnie Coleman5:31

       I was 0.33.

   21. JRJoe Rogan5:34

       0.33? What does that mean?

   22. RCRonnie Coleman5:36

       (laughs)

   23. JRJoe Rogan5:37

       Is that less than 3%?

   24. RCRonnie Coleman5:38

       That's, that's less than half a percent.

   25. JRJoe Rogan5:40

       Less- oh, 0.33. Like, what?

   26. RCRonnie Coleman5:43

       0.33.

   27. JRJoe Rogan5:44

       How does a human get that low?

   28. RCRonnie Coleman5:46

       Uh, I, I got, I got it attributed to my genetics.

   29. JRJoe Rogan5:50

       But was it also, like, uh, a trickle-down system? Like, off season, say if you ... like, how many weeks would you, would it take for you to get ready for Mr. Olympia?

   30. RCRonnie Coleman5:59

       10 to 12.
5. 8:42 – 10:08

   Police officer while winning Olympias: custom uniforms, station gyms, and coworkers lifting

   1. JRJoe Rogan8:42

      (laughs) I remember there's a photo of you when you were still on the police force. And you were also ... I don't know if you were Mr. Olympia when you were on the police force? Were you? We-

   2. RCRonnie Coleman8:49

      Yeah, three times, yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan8:50

      And then you, uh, eventually left the force?

   4. RCRonnie Coleman8:52

      Yeah. Mm-hmm.

   5. JRJoe Rogan8:53

      You were so big. You're sitting there with the uniform on. I'm like, "There is no way that's a regular uniform."

   6. RCRonnie Coleman8:59

      No, it's not. No, it is not a unif- I, I-

   7. JRJoe Rogan9:01

      Did you wear those shorts? (laughs) That can't be real. Did you, did you arrest people with those shorts on?

   8. RCRonnie Coleman9:07

      No, I made those shorts myself.

   9. JRJoe Rogan9:08

      (laughs)

   10. RCRonnie Coleman9:10

       (laughs) But we did wear shorts though. We did have shorts for the-

   11. JRJoe Rogan9:12

       Yeah.

   12. RCRonnie Coleman9:13

       ... police department. I think you see that picture right there, I got on shorts in, in the briefing room, but th- they're not showing my legs right there.

   13. JRJoe Rogan9:20

       Right there?

   14. RCRonnie Coleman9:21

       But ... Yeah, right there.

   15. JRJoe Rogan9:22

       Yeah.

   16. RCRonnie Coleman9:22

       Yeah, I, I have on shorts if you, if, if ... That, that's, that picture is actually bigger than that, but you just can't see it.

   17. JRJoe Rogan9:29

       Did that inspire other guys you worked with to start lifting too?

   18. RCRonnie Coleman9:33

       Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan9:35

       I mean, I would imagine.

   20. RCRonnie Coleman9:35

       Other guys did start lifting, yeah. We had ...I think we had a, uh, gym at the station.

   21. JRJoe Rogan9:39

       Oh, really?

   22. RCRonnie Coleman9:40

       Every- ev- every- We had about four or five stations, every station has a gym. We have a training center with a huge gym.

   23. JRJoe Rogan9:46

       Really?

   24. RCRonnie Coleman9:47

       Yeah. I started working out there when I first hired on. I worked out, me and the chief and some other guys. We all worked out together there, for, for a while.

   25. JRJoe Rogan9:55

       And this is in the beginning, before you were gigantic.

   26. RCRonnie Coleman9:58

       When I first hired on. Yeah before I got real, real big, you know. You know, I had to start small. I w-

   27. JRJoe Rogan10:02

       Of course. Everybody's a baby at one point in time.

   28. RCRonnie Coleman10:04

       Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was abou- I was 215 when I first started.

6. 10:08 – 16:30

   Accidental bodybuilder: free gym membership, side hustles, and no early Olympia dream

   1. JRJoe Rogan10:08

      Now, when you first started, did you have this idea that one day that ... Was this a dream?

   2. RCRonnie Coleman10:13

      No, no. No, no. No. Uh, I did it 'cause the guy gave me a free membership to the gym.

   3. JRJoe Rogan10:17

      (laughs)

   4. RCRonnie Coleman10:18

      I, I never had a dream. (laughs)

   5. JRJoe Rogan10:21

      (laughs)

   6. RCRonnie Coleman10:21

      Uh, I, I just wanted a free membership 'cause I, I was poor back then and I couldn't, you know, afford to pay for a gym membership, 'cause I just hired on there. And coming from Domino's Pizza where I ... you know, I had to eat pizza every day (laughs) to surv- survive 'cause I didn't ma- make that much money. By the time I got to the police department, man, I was still struggling and, uh, trying to get back on my feet, and I couldn't afford a membership still, you know. And, uh-

   7. JRJoe Rogan10:43

      And this is when you were 24?

   8. RCRonnie Coleman10:45

      Yeah, uh-huh, I was 24.

   9. JRJoe Rogan10:46

      So you were just a big guy?

   10. RCRonnie Coleman10:49

       Yeah. I, I, I've been-

   11. JRJoe Rogan10:49

       Just regular big?

   12. RCRonnie Coleman10:50

       ... I'd been big and muscular my whole entire life.

   13. JRJoe Rogan10:53

       But regular big? Not like Mr. Olympia big?

   14. RCRonnie Coleman10:57

       Well, uh, I would say-

   15. JRJoe Rogan10:58

       But-

   16. RCRonnie Coleman10:58

       ... put a picture up there, uh, that I ... somebody took not too long ago. 'Cause I ... when I (laughs) when I first got into the sport of bodybuilding, uh, I was doing security at a Mr. Olympia event. And most of the people that ... in the audience thought that I should be on stage back then.

   17. JRJoe Rogan11:17

       Really?

   18. RCRonnie Coleman11:18

       I didn't think so, you know, but they thought that. I had 22, 23-inch arms back then.

   19. JRJoe Rogan11:23

       (laughs)

   20. RCRonnie Coleman11:23

       I had, I had that little 22 (laughs) 22, 20, 21, 22-inch arms in college.

   21. JRJoe Rogan11:29

       N- how big were they when you were at your biggest?

   22. RCRonnie Coleman11:32

       24.

   23. JRJoe Rogan11:33

       24.

   24. RCRonnie Coleman11:33

       That's the biggest they got.

   25. JRJoe Rogan11:35

       That's like a waist.

   26. RCRonnie Coleman11:37

       (laughs) Yeah, some girl. (laughs)

   27. JRJoe Rogan11:39

       Yeah, but like, uh, like a, like a runner.

   28. RCRonnie Coleman11:42

       Yeah. Well, well actually-

   29. JRJoe Rogan11:43

       Like, like Zach Bitter. I bet Zach Bitter got a 24-inch waist.

   30. RCRonnie Coleman11:45

       (laughs) Actually my waist was like 29 when I first started.
7. 16:30 – 18:13

   Training philosophy: heavy weights with bodybuilding reps (and the high-school strength base)

   1. JRJoe Rogan16:30

      Now, powerlifting and lifting heavy is always a very controversial thing amongst bodybuilders, right? 'Cause some bodybuilders never lifted as heavy as you did.

   2. RCRonnie Coleman16:39

      No, no.

   3. JRJoe Rogan16:40

      What was your philosophy on that?

   4. RCRonnie Coleman16:42

      Uh, to each his own, you know? I lifted heavy because that's what I liked to do, and that's what I was able to do. And like I said, I just was kind of like ... in a way, I was kind of gifted to be, uh, strong like that, you know? And it was something that I was ... I, I always was. E- even when I was in high school, I was benching about 350.

   5. JRJoe Rogan17:01

      Wow.

   6. RCRonnie Coleman17:02

      Almost 400, you know?

   7. JRJoe Rogan17:04

      In high school?

   8. RCRonnie Coleman17:04

      And I was squatting 500, o- over 500 in high school. (laughs)

   9. JRJoe Rogan17:08

      So that's just always something that's been a part of you?

   10. RCRonnie Coleman17:10

       That's ... I always ... yes, that was something, something that's been a part of me.

   11. JRJoe Rogan17:12

       Now, what does a ... w- when bodybuilders work out, for the most part, it's a lot of high reps-

   12. RCRonnie Coleman17:18

       Yeah, yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan17:18

       ... with weight that's not necessarily ... What ... How would you do it?

   14. RCRonnie Coleman17:20

       I did it the same way, you know? I started out at, you know, like, 20 reps, you know, warming up, and then 15 reps, then like, um, 12, 10, something like that my ... on my last, um, heavier set.

   15. JRJoe Rogan17:35

       So you still were doing fairly large number of repetitions?

   16. RCRonnie Coleman17:38

       Still doing fairly, uh, large number of repetitions, yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan17:41

       But much higher weight than a lot of folks were?

   18. RCRonnie Coleman17:44

       Yeah, like, so when I went up ... when I squatted, I went up to like 600. I would do like, you know, 12 to 15 reps with that.

   19. JRJoe Rogan17:52

       (laughs)

   20. RCRonnie Coleman17:54

       And benching, same, I would go up to like 400, 12 to 15 reps with, with that.

   21. JRJoe Rogan18:02

       That's a tremendous-

   22. RCRonnie Coleman18:02

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan18:02

       ... amount of weight.

   24. RCRonnie Coleman18:04

       Yeah, yeah, yeah. It sounds like it. (laughs)

   25. JRJoe Rogan18:07

       Yeah.

   26. RCRonnie Coleman18:08

       Until you, uh, go up against some of these guys that's doing crazy amounts of weights. (laughs)

8. 18:13 – 19:59

   Thirteen surgeries: disc herniation story, refusing early surgery, and the long decline

   1. JRJoe Rogan18:13

      Now, you've also ... since then, you've, you've had a bunch of surgeries and-

   2. RCRonnie Coleman18:18

      13 so far.

   3. JRJoe Rogan18:20

      And what, what started that off?

   4. RCRonnie Coleman18:23

      Well, I kinda hurt my back in high school when I was power lifting and, uh, then I hurt it again in college when I was playing football, hurt my back and neck. And I did chiropractic for a long time. And then one day in the gym, uh, I hurt it, uh, like in '96, I kinda herniated a disc. And, uh, I guess it just got worse over, over time.

   5. JRJoe Rogan18:51

      So when you herniated that disc, what did you do to treat it?

   6. RCRonnie Coleman18:55

      Nothing. No- nothing. I went to the chiropractor. (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan18:57

      Chiropractor?

   8. RCRonnie Coleman18:58

      Yeah.

   9. JRJoe Rogan18:58

      Yeah.

   10. RCRonnie Coleman18:59

       I've been doing chiropractic all my life.

   11. JRJoe Rogan19:01

       Yeah.

   12. RCRonnie Coleman19:01

       So I didn't, you know, I didn't have a surgery or nothing like, like that when I herniated that disc. They, they offered me the, to have surgery. I chose no. (laughs)

   13. JRJoe Rogan19:11

       So the surgery they wanted to do was probably trim the disc down?

   14. RCRonnie Coleman19:14

       Yeah. Mm-hmm.

   15. JRJoe Rogan19:14

       'Cause it was pushing against a nerve.

   16. RCRonnie Coleman19:15

       Mm-hmm. Yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan19:16

       Yeah?

   18. RCRonnie Coleman19:16

       Laminectomy, whatever they call it.

   19. JRJoe Rogan19:18

       Yeah. And, um, so 13 of those, huh?

   20. RCRonnie Coleman19:22

       Thir-

   21. JRJoe Rogan19:22

       Now, now-

   22. RCRonnie Coleman19:23

       Well, no, no, no.

   23. JRJoe Rogan19:23

       ... 13 surgeries?

   24. RCRonnie Coleman19:24

       E- eight back, uh, like two or three hip, two or th- two, two or three neck.

   25. JRJoe Rogan19:29

       Exhales deeply ] And did this all, like, happen all at once where it's like it feel- it felt like everything was falling apart? Or was it like you get a surgery and then you're better for a little while and then you hurt something else?

   26. RCRonnie Coleman19:42

       Uh, yeah, something like that. Yeah. 'Cause the first one was back, the second one was back, and then I think the third one was neck. And then, uh, back, back, and then hip, back, back, back-

   27. JRJoe Rogan19:58

       Exhales deeply ]

9. 19:59 – 30:00

   Fused spine and ‘RoboCop’ hardware: hips replaced, cages/rods/screws, and nerve pain

   1. RCRonnie Coleman19:59

      ... hip. (laughs)

   2. JRJoe Rogan19:59

      And, now, what, what did you get done to your hips? You get your hips replaced?

   3. RCRonnie Coleman20:02

      Yeah. Yeah. Both of 'em.

   4. JRJoe Rogan20:03

      Oof.

   5. RCRonnie Coleman20:04

      And, like, what was age? What year was that? 14, I think? Yeah, 14.

   6. JRJoe Rogan20:09

      And how are those now?

   7. RCRonnie Coleman20:10

      Uh, I just had hip surgery, uh, in January. Uh, it's, it's, it's holding up a little bit better now. Uh, one, one kind of went bad. The sockets broke.

   8. JRJoe Rogan20:21

      Oh.

   9. RCRonnie Coleman20:22

      And they had to replace both of them. And, uh...

   10. JRJoe Rogan20:26

       'Cause they say they only last a certain amount of years, right?

   11. RCRonnie Coleman20:28

       Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Every night ... I had the, uh, titanium ones. And the titanium are the, the hardest ones 'cause they rough. And they titanium, and they kind of hard on the body.

   12. JRJoe Rogan20:40

       Oh, yeah?

   13. RCRonnie Coleman20:40

       And because of that, you know, and me working out and all this kind of stuff, and it kinda just broke the sockets.

   14. JRJoe Rogan20:47

       Well, I follow you on Instagram. And, uh, I watch your workouts, and it's, it's inspiring that after all this you still love working out. I mean-

   15. RCRonnie Coleman20:55

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan20:55

       ... you can really tell. I mean, you enjoy it.

   17. RCRonnie Coleman20:58

       It's still a hobby. (laughs) Look forward to it every day.

   18. JRJoe Rogan21:01

       D- does it give you any pause at all knowing that you've been through all these surgeries and-

   19. RCRonnie Coleman21:07

       Nah. (laughs)

   20. JRJoe Rogan21:09

       No?

   21. RCRonnie Coleman21:09

       You know when you're doing something that you truly love and enjoying doing, that's what you look forward to doing all the time.

   22. JRJoe Rogan21:15

       So really the-

   23. RCRonnie Coleman21:15

       Regardless of, you know, how you feel, you know? Of course I'm still in pain and all that kind of stuff, but...

   24. JRJoe Rogan21:21

       Are you in pain all the time?

   25. RCRonnie Coleman21:23

       Yeah. But long as I'm doing what I love doing, I'm okay. You take that away, then-

   26. JRJoe Rogan21:30

       Right.

   27. RCRonnie Coleman21:30

       ... I probably won't be okay. (laughs)

   28. JRJoe Rogan21:32

       But, so, like, just even sitting here right now, you're in pain?

   29. RCRonnie Coleman21:35

       Uh, just a minimum amount. It's nothing, nothing major. You know, if you're an athlete, you're in pain all your life.

   30. JRJoe Rogan21:43

       Yeah.
10. 30:00 – 41:23

    Trying to get better: stem cells, PRP, Regenokine, and the hope of removing screws

    1. RCRonnie Coleman30:00

       Uh, I mean, you know, maybe one day they'll come out with something that'll help get it stronger. I was thinking about trying the stem cell thing.

    2. JRJoe Rogan30:09

       Yeah.

    3. RCRonnie Coleman30:09

       Yeah. They said that, that should help a lot too right there.

    4. JRJoe Rogan30:13

       Well, there's, uh, a bunch of places that they do it where they could do it with a lot stronger stem cells than they could do in America, like the-

    5. RCRonnie Coleman30:20

       Yeah.

    6. JRJoe Rogan30:20

       ... place in Colombia does it, and, um, there's a place in Panama that I actually sent my mom.

    7. RCRonnie Coleman30:25

       Yeah.

    8. JRJoe Rogan30:25

       My mom, they wanted to, uh, give her a knee replacement, and, um, the doctors just didn't want to operate right away. And I was like, "Mm, I want... Let me, let me see-"

    9. RCRonnie Coleman30:35

       Yeah.

    10. JRJoe Rogan30:35

        "... if we can send you down to Panama. Let me see if Dr. Reardon..." He'd been in here before with-

    11. RCRonnie Coleman30:40

        Yeah.

    12. JRJoe Rogan30:40

        ... uh, Mel Gibson, and he was talking about Mel Gibson's dad. And Mel Gibson's dad was in real bad shape when he was 92.

    13. RCRonnie Coleman30:47

        Ooh.

    14. JRJoe Rogan30:47

        And then, now, he's 100 and he's fine.

    15. RCRonnie Coleman30:49

        Wow.

    16. JRJoe Rogan30:49

        I mean, he's gone back there a bunch of times, keeps going back for stem cells.

    17. RCRonnie Coleman30:53

        Yeah.

    18. JRJoe Rogan30:53

        Anyway, long story short, my mom was scheduled to get a knee replacement. I sent her down to Panama and six months later, it started to feel good. Eight months later, no pain at all.

    19. RCRonnie Coleman31:03

        Yeah.

    20. JRJoe Rogan31:03

        It, it, it really did a great. And then I sent her down a second time. It's, it's pretty amazing stuff, what they can do.

    21. RCRonnie Coleman31:09

        Yeah. So that's, that's, that's my thing to do next.

    22. JRJoe Rogan31:12

        Yeah.

    23. RCRonnie Coleman31:12

        And, uh, people I've talked to that, they, uh, think it will do me a lot of good, lot of good.

    24. JRJoe Rogan31:18

        So is it, there's scar tissue around the nerves that's pushing against the nerves now? 'Cause if all the discs are gone and everything's fused, what's irritating the nerves?

    25. RCRonnie Coleman31:28

        Scar tissue, uh, all that hardware. I got 14 screws-

    26. JRJoe Rogan31:34

        (exhales) .

    27. RCRonnie Coleman31:35

        ... two, two cages. Uh, I got two rods about this long in there too. So it's a lot of hardware, a lot of cages, and, uh-

    28. JRJoe Rogan31:47

        What do the cages look like?

    29. RCRonnie Coleman31:50

        (sighs)

    30. JRJoe Rogan31:50

        So it's a cage around your spine?
11. 41:23 – 44:29

    Life now: crutches/wheelchair logistics, parenting four kids, travel habits, and never getting sick

    1. JRJoe Rogan41:23

       So what, what is a... what's a normal day like for you these days?

    2. RCRonnie Coleman41:26

       Well, I got four kids at home. Five, six, eight, and nine.

    3. JRJoe Rogan41:35

       So that keeps you busy.

    4. RCRonnie Coleman41:36

       That keeps me extremely busy. (laughs)

    5. JRJoe Rogan41:40

       (laughs)

    6. RCRonnie Coleman41:40

       Uh, I'm, I'm taking them to Burger King every day. And, um, I'm just, you know, riding around with them, doing what I do. You know? (laughs) If I like to go to the carwash and wash the car, then they with me. Uh, I go over a friend's house with them, you know, they, they with... they're with me. So-

    7. JRJoe Rogan42:00

       And most of the time, you're just walking on these crutches?

    8. RCRonnie Coleman42:02

       Yeah. I'm always on c- (laughs) Yeah. I'm always on the crutches. So yeah, yeah, they... I, I hang out with them all day now. That's, that's, that's, uh, that's my day. Before, you know, I was going on, on... I was on the road every other weekend.

    9. JRJoe Rogan42:16

       Mm-hmm.

    10. RCRonnie Coleman42:16

        Or every two weeks.

    11. JRJoe Rogan42:18

        Seminars and things along-

    12. RCRonnie Coleman42:18

        Seminars, you know, all that kind of stuff. Appearances. But since the virus, I've been hanging with them. They've become my best friend.

    13. JRJoe Rogan42:28

        Are you enjoying that?

    14. RCRonnie Coleman42:29

        Yeah, yeah.

    15. JRJoe Rogan42:30

        There's something that... A lot of people found some enjoyment from-

    16. RCRonnie Coleman42:33

        It's, it's, it's-

    17. JRJoe Rogan42:34

        ... this being locked at home.

    18. RCRonnie Coleman42:35

        Yeah, it's a lot of fun. Yeah.

    19. JRJoe Rogan42:36

        Yeah.

    20. RCRonnie Coleman42:36

        Uh, I-

    21. JRJoe Rogan42:38

        'Cause it forces-

    22. RCRonnie Coleman42:38

        I got to-

    23. JRJoe Rogan42:38

        ... you to take time off.

    24. RCRonnie Coleman42:39

        Yeah. I got used to it. Now I got lazy.

    25. JRJoe Rogan42:41

        (laughs)

    26. RCRonnie Coleman42:43

        Now I just wanna stay home now. (laughs)

    27. JRJoe Rogan42:45

        Well, there's something nice about being home a lot. I mean-

    28. RCRonnie Coleman42:48

        It is.

    29. JRJoe Rogan42:48

        ... I've only been on the road a couple times since this lockdown.

    30. RCRonnie Coleman42:52

        There's a lot of niceness about being home.
12. 44:29 – 48:55

    Competition routines: water intake, supplements, carnivore-lean diet, cheat night, and 3-month off-season breaks

    1. JRJoe Rogan44:29

       Now, when you were competing, were you ... Uh, I mean, you're eating all these meals a day. Were you drinking a shitload of water too? Like, how much water you drinking?

    2. RCRonnie Coleman44:39

       Like a shitload of water. Uh, like you said, I was drinking, like, two, three gallons a day.

    3. JRJoe Rogan44:44

       Two or three gallons a day?

    4. RCRonnie Coleman44:45

       The gym I worked at, there's no AC, and it's 105, 110 sometimes.

    5. JRJoe Rogan44:51

       Oh, it's in Fort Worth, this gym?

    6. RCRonnie Coleman44:53

       It's in, uh, Arlington, which is right next to Fort Worth.

    7. JRJoe Rogan44:55

       That's hot as fuck. (laughs)

    8. RCRonnie Coleman44:56

       Yeah, it's, yeah, exactly. And then when I worked for the police department, I had this vest on all the time.

    9. JRJoe Rogan45:01

       Mm-hmm.

    10. RCRonnie Coleman45:01

        So I was drenched every day after work, so I'm a- I'm always drinking water there. So y- y- you have to drink a lot of water.

    11. JRJoe Rogan45:10

        Now-

    12. RCRonnie Coleman45:10

        You have to.

    13. JRJoe Rogan45:11

        ... a- as far as, like, supplements and nutrition and vitamins and things along those lines, you were talking about what you ate, but, like, what other stuff would you take?

    14. RCRonnie Coleman45:19

        Uh, I had a nutritionist, so he did my whole plan. And, uh, some of the stuff I don't even remember that he (laughs) had, had, had me doing. But it was, it was quite a bit of stuff.

    15. JRJoe Rogan45:31

        Was it based on blood work? Like, do your blood work and then-

    16. RCRonnie Coleman45:34

        Yeah, I did blood works probably, like, three, three times a year. And, uh, uh, he, he made sure I, I got, got plenty of vitamins and plenty of minerals and other things, you know. 'Cause I didn't, I didn't, I didn't like vegetables, so he would kinda supplement, you know, (clears throat) vitamins and stuff for that.

    17. JRJoe Rogan45:55

        You didn't eat vegetables at all?

    18. RCRonnie Coleman45:56

        At all.

    19. JRJoe Rogan45:57

        Really?

    20. RCRonnie Coleman45:57

        No.

    21. JRJoe Rogan45:58

        Some people think you don't need them. There's a whole-

    22. RCRonnie Coleman46:01

        That was me. (laughs)

    23. JRJoe Rogan46:02

        (laughs) There's a bunch of people that are on what's called a carnivore diet. Have you heard that?

    24. RCRonnie Coleman46:06

        Yeah, that, yeah, that's me. (laughs)

    25. JRJoe Rogan46:08

        Yeah, uh, there's a bunch of people that don't eat vegetables. They basically mostly eat meat.

    26. RCRonnie Coleman46:13

        Yeah, I would, I would eat, uh, baked potato and, uh, rice. That was about it.

    27. JRJoe Rogan46:22

        But m- why is it mostly chicken? Why does, why do bodybuilders mostly eat chicken? 'Cause it's so lean?

    28. RCRonnie Coleman46:27

        Lean, yeah.

    29. JRJoe Rogan46:28

        Mm-hmm.

    30. RCRonnie Coleman46:28

        Lean, uh, chicken breasts, you know, it's the leanest you can get, pretty much.
13. 48:55 – 1:08:42

    Police and policing today: brutality debates, defunding, training standards, and ‘bad apples’

    1. JRJoe Rogan48:55

       When you stopped, when you retired for good, was that difficult to do? Was it difficult to change your life?

    2. RCRonnie Coleman49:02

       That's, that's still difficult to do.

    3. JRJoe Rogan49:03

       Still?

    4. RCRonnie Coleman49:03

       Mm-hmm.

    5. JRJoe Rogan49:05

       Yeah?

    6. RCRonnie Coleman49:05

       (laughs) Yeah, I missed working police department and, uh, competing, both.... uh, (sighs) yeah, yeah. I miss 'em tremendously.

    7. JRJoe Rogan49:14

       Just because of the action? Just-

    8. RCRonnie Coleman49:16

       Yeah.

    9. JRJoe Rogan49:16

       ... you know?

    10. RCRonnie Coleman49:17

        Mm-hmm. Being ... having a purpose-

    11. JRJoe Rogan49:21

        Yeah.

    12. RCRonnie Coleman49:21

        ... basically.

    13. JRJoe Rogan49:24

        Um, obviously this is a crazy time for the police.

    14. RCRonnie Coleman49:27

        Oh, yeah. It wasn't like that when I was police. (laughs)

    15. JRJoe Rogan49:29

        Yeah? What was it like?

    16. RCRonnie Coleman49:30

        Oh, it was much easier.

    17. JRJoe Rogan49:32

        Well, where you were was probably a, a more relaxed place?

    18. RCRonnie Coleman49:36

        (clears throat) It was some crazy people.

    19. JRJoe Rogan49:37

        Yeah? (laughs)

    20. RCRonnie Coleman49:39

        Yeah. Uh, we had a lot of crazy people, actually. A lot of crazy people. I didn't know people were that crazy till-

    21. JRJoe Rogan49:45

        Till you joined force?

    22. RCRonnie Coleman49:46

        ... yeah, I done for. Yeah. We had what? Uh, we started with 300 and something thousand when I got there, uh, when I retired it was about almost 600,000 people. The city grew that big-

    23. JRJoe Rogan49:58

        Hmm.

    24. RCRonnie Coleman49:58

        ... over, over, what, 15 years. Yeah. So I worked there over 15 years.

    25. JRJoe Rogan50:04

        Well, we're in the middle of a crazy time when it comes to police and police brutality.

    26. RCRonnie Coleman50:07

        Oh, man.

    27. JRJoe Rogan50:09

        And did you see a lot of that shit when you were on the job?

    28. RCRonnie Coleman50:11

        No.

    29. JRJoe Rogan50:12

        No?

    30. RCRonnie Coleman50:12

        No, we didn't ... You didn't have to mistreat people d- back then. At least me, and m- and most of the guys I worked with. We were all professional. Everybody had to have a four-year degree. Uh, (clears throat) the- (laughs) they ... use of force was appropriately applied, so I remember, I got in trouble a couple times. Uh, well, one time I got in trouble while I- uh, I almost, I almost used too much force on a guy. But, uh, I got ... I was vindicated and all I did was just, you know, bend his arm back, put handcuffs on him. But in the process of doing that, he got a bloody nose and a bloody mouth and arm ripped outta socket a little bit. (sighs) But, you know, you, you just doing what you had to do to, you know-
14. 1:08:42 – 1:11:59

    The craziest lifts: 800-lb squat regret, 2,300-lb leg press, and why his knees survived

    1. RCRonnie Coleman1:08:42

       Yeah. Yeah. All the fun I had in the gym, the... Uh, I had, I had a lot of fun lifting all that heavyweight. People ask me i- if I had any regrets. Uh, yeah, I have some re- regrets. I didn't, I didn't, uh, go heavy enough.

    2. JRJoe Rogan1:08:55

       Really?

    3. RCRonnie Coleman1:08:56

       There was one time I was squatting at 800, you know? And I thought it was going to be heavy, you know, because I had deadlifted that bi- already.

    4. JRJoe Rogan1:09:03

       Mm-hmm.

    5. RCRonnie Coleman1:09:04

       But I was squatting it this time, and I didn't take into effect the, the, the, the, the gr- the gravity of the situation.

    6. JRJoe Rogan1:09:11

       (laughs)

    7. RCRonnie Coleman1:09:11

       You know, when you pulling from the floor, you know-

    8. JRJoe Rogan1:09:12

       Right.

    9. RCRonnie Coleman1:09:13

       ... uh, gravity. When you got it way up here on your shoulder, uh, gravity's way down there, so it's less pulling.

    10. JRJoe Rogan1:09:19

        Mm-hmm.

    11. RCRonnie Coleman1:09:19

        So when I went down for the first rep, I'm like, "Is this 800?" Uh, and I came back up. I'm like, "I'm gonna do another one. It's still easy." But I had in my mind two-

    12. JRJoe Rogan1:09:30

        Mm-hmm.

    13. RCRonnie Coleman1:09:30

        ... because I had already done two on the, on the deadlift. And I put it up, and I'm like, "Oh, man. I could've did at least three or four more."

    14. JRJoe Rogan1:09:38

        That bothers you to this day?

    15. RCRonnie Coleman1:09:39

        That bothers me to this day.

    16. JRJoe Rogan1:09:40

        (laughs)

    17. RCRonnie Coleman1:09:41

        To this day. But I went to the leg press and did 23-hun- 2,300 pounds on the leg press for eight reps.

    18. JRJoe Rogan1:09:52

        How much?

    19. RCRonnie Coleman1:09:52

        2300. 2,300. That would crush me now.

    20. JRJoe Rogan1:09:58

        For eight reps?

    21. RCRonnie Coleman1:09:58

        Eight reps. Yeah. That's on YouTube also.

    22. JRJoe Rogan1:10:02

        That doesn't even make sense.

    23. RCRonnie Coleman1:10:03

        Yeah.

    24. JRJoe Rogan1:10:04

        That's a car.

    25. RCRonnie Coleman1:10:05

        You had, you had to, you had to add it up with a calculator.

    26. JRJoe Rogan1:10:08

        (laughs)

    27. RCRonnie Coleman1:10:09

        Yeah, I had to bring out a calculator to, to add that up-

    28. JRJoe Rogan1:10:12

        Wh-

    29. RCRonnie Coleman1:10:12

        ... lifting so much weight.

    30. JRJoe Rogan1:10:13

        Why would you lift so much weight?
15. 1:11:59 – 1:24:19

    Steroids in bodybuilding: prescriptions, DEA scrutiny, cycling off, TRT, and genetics vs dosage

    1. JRJoe Rogan1:11:59

       Goddamn. Now, what kind of steroids were dudes doing back then?

    2. RCRonnie Coleman1:12:05

       Uh, I mean, uh, basic. You know, you got, you know, your tests, uh, D-Ball. Um, it, it's just basic stuff, you know? And back then, you know, because the DEA had come in, uh, and, and, you know, was, was trying to find out what we were all doing, they, they, they made us do it legally. So all, you know, you had to go to the doctor and get all these prescriptions.

    3. JRJoe Rogan1:12:33

       And you would get prescriptions for steroids?

    4. RCRonnie Coleman1:12:35

       Yeah.

    5. JRJoe Rogan1:12:35

       What kind of steroids would they give you a prescription for?

    6. RCRonnie Coleman1:12:38

       Like, any kind of tests you needed, they would give, uh, growth hormone. They'd give pres- prescriptions 'cause once the DEA came in, they was like, "What are y'all doing? What are y'all taking?" (laughs)

    7. JRJoe Rogan1:12:52

       (laughs) But when you think, like, the DEA, shouldn't you be out there catching people selling meth?

    8. RCRonnie Coleman1:12:59

       Yeah, but-

    9. JRJoe Rogan1:12:59

       Why are you going after bodybuilders who are also cops? That seems ridiculous.

    10. RCRonnie Coleman1:13:02

        'Ca- 'cause they had kids out there where they were taking it and committing suicide.

    11. JRJoe Rogan1:13:08

        Wow.

    12. RCRonnie Coleman1:13:09

        See, I didn't know what that was when, when I was a kid.

    13. JRJoe Rogan1:13:14

        They were committing suicide because they were getting depressed from the steroids?

    14. RCRonnie Coleman1:13:17

        Not... Yeah, not-

    15. JRJoe Rogan1:13:17

        Or coming off of it?

    16. RCRonnie Coleman1:13:17

        Coming off of it.

    17. JRJoe Rogan1:13:18

        Yeah.

    18. RCRonnie Coleman1:13:19

        So they, they trying to figure out, you know, "What, what are y'all doing? Um, uh, what do..." (clears throat) "We, we, we, we gotta get y'all off this stuff."

Episode duration: 1:32:49