Ronnie Coleman is the benchmark of modern bodybuilding. Coleman put the mass monster era into high gear. Regularly competing near or above 280 lbs, Coleman looked huge on stage. The eight-time Mr. Olympia looked unstoppable in his prime. Ronnie took some extreme measures to look and perform the way he did. In his latest Instagram post, the King revealed a lot about his mindset.

Many fans think Ronnie’s work ethic, diet, and heavy lifts are the secret to his success. However, the King credited one thing that few consider when talking about Coleman. Coleman also revealed what he avoided doing.

Ronnie Coleman reveals what you can’t do when you’re a champion

Seven-time Mr. Olympia, Ronnie Coleman revealed the secret to his success. Coleman posted a picture of himself on Instagram. It’s a picture from a time when Ronnie was at his biggest. The bodybuilding legend wrote, “This was one of my heaviest weights and the first time I stepped onstage at over 280 pounds.” In his post, Ronnie further mentioned, “I was always thinking I need to train harder and lift heavier if I was going to keep the title.”

The King constantly thought about how he could train harder. Coleman wrote, “The hardest thing to do was to stay focused because sometimes you just want to take it easy, relax and just chill.” However, Coleman warned by iterating, “You can’t do that if you wanna be World Champion eight years consecutively.”

Ronnie never lost focus of his goal, which was to keep the Mr. Olympia title for as long as possible. While he was still glad that he could keep the title for eight years. In the same post Coleman also wrote, “Looking back I had no idea this was possible.”

READ MORE: Besides His Unbelievable Strength, Ronnie Coleman Once Revealed How the Police Department Utilized His Writing Talent: “They Even Used My Writing to Train Rookies”

So far, Ronnie is truly the greatest bodybuilder of the 21st century. From being the biggest on stage to lifting the heavies in the gym, only one bodybuilder came close to the King. The 7-time Mr. Olympia, Phil Heath, came close to equalling Ronnie’s record, he fell short and hasn’t made a comeback yet.

The trick that helped the King get huge

Almost everyone who knows about Ronnie Coleman knows the King used to lift very heavy weights. Many think his current condition is because of those extreme workouts. However, according to Ronnie, one should never sacrifice weight for reps. The trick is to find the balance between lifting as heavy as one can without dropping a lot of reps. To find that ideal combination one has to test the limit of both.

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According to the legend, staying focused was harder than anything else. When the man who lifted 800 lbs in the gym of multiple reps says the focus is the hardest thing, there must be a reason for it. While Ronnie became Mr. Olympia in 1998, it was his focus and hunger that allowed the King to reign supreme. During his prime, no other bodybuilder could match Ronnie. Even Jay Cutler said that he didn’t beat the best version of Ronnie Coleman.