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Bodybuilding legend's eye-opening revelation defies logic

Bodybuilder Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman flexing during an interview.
Bodybuilder Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman during an interview with host Jay Leno in 2001. (Getty Images)

Joe Rogan has expressed his awe at body building phenom Ronnie Coleman after a stunning revelation on his podcast.

Coleman is a retired professional bodybuilder and became known all over the world after winning eight straight Mr Olympia titles.

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The larger-than-life figure recently appeared on UFC commentator Rogan’s podcast and he was stunned after learning the rigours it took to keep a bodybuilder’s physique in shape.

“What a lot of people don’t understand is you see me big up there, but it took a long time for me to get there,” Coleman told the Joe Rogan Experience.

“I didn’t get there overnight.

“I put on … between five and 10 pounds (2-4.5kg) of muscle a year, and that came from all that heavy lifting (and) a lot of eating, a lot of eating.”

Coleman said he ate roughly 450g of chicken, with half a cup of rice on an astonishing routine, which interrupted his sleep pattern.

“I had about six meals a day,” Coleman said.

“It’s kind of hard to eat like that so I would have to wake up in the middle of the night to eat and go back to sleep.

Mr. Olympia Winner Ronnie Coleman flexes his muscles.
Mr. Olympia Winner Ronnie Coleman performs during the Grand Prix Russia bodybuilding contest in 2004. (REUTERS/Anton Denisov AS/THI)

“You kind of get used to it. When you eat like that, you get hungry every three hours. Every two or three hours you’re hungry because I’m not eating a lot of fat. It’s lean, I’m not eating a lot of carbs so it’s a little bit of food at a time.”

Rogan stunned at Coleman’s peak condition

But what really stunned Rogan was Coleman’s admission on just how impressive his physique was at its peak.

After explaining he initially started to body build so he could gain free access to his gym, Coleman said he peaked at 0.33 per cent body fat.

To put this into perspective, an athlete on average will have anywhere between 6-13 per cent body fat.

“That’s less than half a per cent,” Coleman clarified.

Rogan replied in astonishment: “What? How does a human get that low?”

Incredibly, during his seventh Mr Olympia, Coleman said he weighed up to 135kg and even pushed out to 150kg in the off-season.

Unfortunately for Coleman, he admitted on the podcast he has suffered some excruciating health issues due to his extreme training intensity throughout his career.