Legendary bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman was renowned for lifting insanely heavy weights during his career. Following the retirement of Strongman legend Brian Shaw, Coleman shared his reaction to some of Shaw’s most impressive lifts on YouTube.
Ronnie Coleman is widely regarded as one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. He presented a jacked package with freakish muscle mass, size, and conditioning in the Men’s Open division. In addition to his look, Coleman made a name for himself with his brutally heavy workouts. He took home the top prize at the 1998 Mr. Olympia and went on a dominant run that saw him win eight Sandow trophies against the likes of four-time champ Jay Cutler, Flex Wheeler, Chris Cormier, and Kevin Levrone.
Given the intense nature of his training, Coleman would eventually suffer from a string of injuries. He needed multiple back surgeries and had trouble walking properly. Fortunately, Coleman made great progress in recovery after getting stem cell treatment. He credited the therapy for helping him recover earlier this year.
As of late, Coleman joined social media fitness sensation Jesse James West for a powerlifting style workout a few months ago. West pranked Coleman by using fake weights to exaggerate his lifts. Coleman conceded he was stunned to see West seemingly lift 700 pounds on the squat with ease.
‘The King’ gave fans a look into four of the greatest bodybuilding poses he incorporated in his performance routine on stage two months ago. He detailed how each pose brought out his strongest features and overall package in the best way possible.
He teamed up with former 212 Olympia champ and Men’s Open standout Derek Lunsford for a grueling back and biceps workout last month. Both men discussed their training philosophies as Coleman mentored him through the session. A few weeks later, Coleman extended his support for Lunsford again by backing him to dethrone reigning Mr. Olympia Hadi Choopan at the next event.
The 58-year-old credited fellow legend Flex Wheeler for his immense success in the sport last month. He revealed Wheeler connected him to prolific bodybuilding guru Chad Nicholls, who led him to his first Mr. Olympia victory.
Two weeks ago, the 2023 World’s Strongest Man contest concluded with the win of Mitchell Hooper and the exit of Brian Shaw, widely considered to be one of the greatest strength athletes ever. The four-time WSM winner had announced it would be his final appearance in the build-up to the show.
Brian Shaw is one of the most accomplished strongmen in history. He has won the World’s Strongest Man title four times, in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016. He has also won the Arnold Strongman Classic three times, in 2011, 2015, and 2017. He is the only person to win both competitions in the same year twice. He has set numerous world records in events such as the Atlas Stones, the Hummer Tire Deadlift, and the Rogue Elephant Bar Deadlift.
Shaw was a regular feature of the WSM events with 16 participations in total. He stands as the fourth-winningest Strongman of all time with 26 international contest wins under his belt. During his decorated career, Shaw battled it out against fellow legends Eddie Hall, Hafthor Bjornsson, and Zydrunas Savickas.
Ronnie Coleman reacts to Brian Shaw’s insane Strongman lifts
In a recent YouTube video, Ronnie Coleman shared his reaction to some of Brian Shaw’s jaw-dropping lifts in Strongman contests.
Coleman started by commenting on Shaw performing the Tire Carry.
“Running with them big old heavy ass tires. Running like it ain’t nothing to it and it wasn’t nothing to it.”
Then, he weighed in on Shaw lifting a 530-lb (240.4-kg) bench press and a 1,091 pounds (494.8 kilograms) deadlift.
“530 pounds like it’s 330 pounds easy to lift.”
“1,000-pound deadlift like it ain’t nothing to it but to do it. Pull it, lightweight baby. That’s how you do it. Make the thousand pounds look like a hundred pounds.”
The next clip was Shaw’s 2016 deadlift of about 980 pounds followed by a lower body exercise.
“That was easy, lightweight. Go ahead and put another 45, 50 pounds on there.”
“I don’t know how much weight that is but I see it’s got to be pretty heavy. I don’t know what kind of contraption that is but ain’t nothing easy about what he’s doing.”
Coleman was astonished by Shaw’s crazy strength on the Kettlebell Toss and Overhead Press.
“Those awesome big ass kettlebells and he tossed them like they peanuts. Those are 60-pound kettlebells, holy sh*t!”
“This is one of the hardest I think I’ve seen. He’s just hopping it like it ain’t nothing.”
Finally, Coleman wrapped up by lauding Shaw for his insane Car Deadlifts and Truck Pull.
Recently, Ronnie Coleman made headlines for selling his home of 26 years for $495,000 in Texas over a week ago. He utilized the home gym during his days of competing on stage, making it a great piece of bodybuilding history.
Coleman gave his take on iconic bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger’s strongest lifts last week. He offered to train with Schwarzenegger following the reaction video.
You can watch the full video below.