WORK HARD, BUT WORK SMART............

Last night I watched a documentary about Ronnie ‘The King’ Coleman. For those of you not au fait with the name, Ronnie is perhaps the greatest bodybuilder of all-time, and without a doubt the strongest!

Between 1998 and 2005 he won bodybuilding’s elite competition, the Mr Olympia, eight times in succession - bringing him level with Lee Haney as the most successful Mr Olympia of all time and ahead of the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger who won seven!

Even in the crazy world of bodybuilding Ronnie was considered a phenom by his fellow competitors due to the sheer size of his muscles and all round invincibility aura.

And no other competitor worked out like Ronnie - he really did push his body to the limits, and far beyond.

As a serving Police Officer, his life purely was solely focused on stopping criminals and hitting the gym!!

From the 2500 pound leg presses, the 800 pound squats, to the mammoth bench and shoulder presses - Ronnie really did match his nickname of ‘the King’ when it came to lifting the weights, bringing the intensity and putting in the hard work.

However, Ronnie’s story has eventually taken a turn in the opposite direction.

After being defeated by Jay Cutler in the 2006 Olympia, Ronnie’s health has taken major hits in recent years.

He currently walks with crutches and has serious spine and leg problems which doctors are trying to lessen through regular operations and physio.

Whilst he still frequents the famous Metroflex gym where he started his journey, it’s suggested by doctors he is worsening his condition by doing so.

This brings me back to many of my posts......

Those who regularly watch my videos and read my posts will be familiar with me talking about ‘smashing workouts’, pushing the limits and working out at a high intensity!

This is all true and what I believe is needed to gain the health and fitness you deserve, HOWEVER......

Pushing the limits and upping the intensity MUST NEVER be done at the expense of:

- The correct form and technique 

- The right range of motion/movement 

- Training in a safe and ‘smart’ way

To often you will witness gym goers lifting heavy weights, then swinging there body all over the place in an attempt to gain the momentum needed to perform the unnatural movement attempting!!

This is how injuries, minor and major, occur! If you are training like this you may have gotten away with it up to now, but it will come to bite you at some point!

For all Ronnie’s greatness, he did train to unmanageable excess on many occasions, and this is almost certainly what has lead to his current health issues.

And this is not a slight or attack on bodybuilders or bodybuilding - I find it an amazing ‘sport’ and there are many examples of elite competitors who are now in great health and fitness in the later years of their lives.

The key is to train extremely hard, but also extremely smart and safe????

Ian David Worthington

Creator, Owner and Coach at GymWolfPT.com