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Facebook: Ronnie Coleman Signature Series
Instagram: @RonnieColeman8Shawn Rhoden’S PittSbuRgh
gueSt PoSing
It was funny to see how upset people got about Shawn Rhoden and how he looked
guest posing at Jim Manion’s Pittsburgh show back in early May. Of course, he was out
of shape, he hadn’t competed since September and he was 18 weeks out from the Mr.
Olympia! I guest posed at the Pittsburgh show something like 10 times, and I was never
in shape in the spring either. I guess the difference is that I was always real big, around
300 pounds or more. Shawn wasn’t as big as usual, and he was carrying a lot of body fat.
People will accept you if you’re a little smaller but ripped, or bigger and smooth, but you
can’t be small and smooth. He made a post that he had been living a balanced life and
making sure his body was rested. I used to rest for three months from October to December
and took all that time off from training to let my body recover. I would eat up in those three
months, too. My bodyweight never got below 285-290, and then I would be right back in the
gym on New Year’s Day giving it 100 percent at every workout. I had to, because I wanted
to keep my Mr. Olympia title and I knew all those other guys were dying to beat me.
I do feel bad for Shawn in the respect that nobody back in the day used to judge you
for how you looked at a guest-posing appearance. We didn’t have social media back then,
so if you were fat and someone took a picture, it wouldn’t be out in the magazines for at
least three months. Now you see pictures and video of it in less than three minutes! It’s
a different time for sure. But I will say this. If I was representing the sport and the Mr.
Olympia title and I knew the bodybuilding world would be watching and judging me, I’d
want to look a certain way. I also wouldn’t be slacking as late as May, because I knew I had
to stay ahead of all those other guys who were busting their butts every day to take my
title away from me.Kai gReene:
Should he get a Special invite?
If it were up to me, I would give Kai Greene a
special invitation to compete at this year’s Mr.
Olympia. A lot of the current competitors don’t
agree, because they feel like he should have to
qualify just like they do. The man was runner-up
to Phil Heath three years in a row, though. Those
three years were a lot like
when me and Jay Cutler
used to go back and forth.
It was exciting for the fans.
With the exception of Kevin
Levrone getting a special
invite in 2016, the last man
who got one was Günter
Schlierkamp, and he got
around five I believe. The
first four times he went to
the Olympia, he didn’t place
twice, and then he was 12th,
then 15th. But I never cared
that he was on that stage
without having qualified.
Whoever was on that stage
and however they got there,
I was ready to take them
on. It was also easier to
qualify for the Olympia back
then. You could get there
by being in the top 10 at the
Mr. Olympia the year before, or that season if you
placed top five at the Arnold Classic or Night of
Champions. Top three at all other shows qualified.
That’s why we always had 25 or more men in the
Olympia every year in those days. I can see why
the guys who have to do a bunch of shows now
and get points to qualify would be upset that Kai
would just get invited. But I’d love to see him up
there again this year.“ nobody back in the day used to
judge you for how you looked
at a guest-posing appearance.
we didn’t have social media
back then, so if you were fat
and someone took a picture, it
wouldn’t be out in the maga-
zines for at least three months.
now you see pictures and video
of it in less than three minutes!”
July 2019 musculardevelopment.com MD 111