Ronnie Coleman details his wild 600g protein diet that had him waking up in the middle of the night to eat

Eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman changed the standards of bodybuilding with his monstrous physique. Coleman will go down as one of the era-defining personalities in the sport's history.

Breaking multiple records and defeating many bodybuilding giants, Coleman was a genetic freak who outworked everyone in the room.

Ronnie Coleman, who was competing against the likes of Kevin Levrone and Jay Cutler, had to ensure that he was eating well in order to secure his wins at the Olympia stage. For this, Coleman consumed around 600 grams of protein daily. Competing at 220lbs in his first pro show, Coleman went up to around 290lbs during his prime bodybuilding years.

Consuming such a high amount of calories and protein required a lot of sacrifice and hard work from the ex-police officer. In a recent YouTube video with boxer Tommy Fury, Ronnie Coleman talked about his eating habits during his prime. He said:

“I used to think it was all about lifting in the gym until I hooked up with my last nutritionist Chad. If you wanna get big, you have to eat big. He took me from my 10 ounces of chicken, steak, turkey, whatever meat, to 16.” (22:00)

“That’s how I got 600 grams of protein. I went from eating five meals a day to six meals a day. Only way I could do six was wake up in the middle of the night while I was sleeping, eat and going back to bed.”

While this definitely came as a shock to Tommy Fury, Coleman admitted that it is way too much food for him to consume now.

“I probably can’t eat half of what I used to eat. When I first started, as my first pro show, I was 220.”

Fury then asked Coleman how much he weighed for his last pro show, and the former bodybuilder's response left the boxer shocked. Coleman said:

"295. On stage."

Ronnie Coleman once had a near-death experience due to extreme dehydration

During the conversation with Tommy Fury, Coleman also talked about some of the consequences of extreme dieting. While preparing for Mr. Olympia 2001, in an attempt to get as dry as possible, Coleman was extremely dehydrated, which resulted in a near-death experience.

Talking about the incident, Coleman said:

“I tried to do the Arnold Classic that year. And I found out the body only peaks once a year and I thought I could do it twice..almost took me out…Never made that mistake again.”

Fortunately, Coleman was told by his nutritionist to consume a gallon of water, which helped him a lot. Despite the tragic incident, Ronnie Coleman still managed to secure the victory at Mr. Olympia 2001.