Just a few weeks ago, Jay Cutler sat down with Kyle Wilkes and Andrew Berry at the Unwracked podcast, talking about everything from bodybuilding to business.

During this conversation, he talked about his long-time rival, Ronnie Coleman.

“I used to talk a little bit about Ronnie Coleman, man. Like, we’d go to Steve Weinberger’s gym, you know, and we’d fly in on Friday, and Friday was Ronnie’s leg day. And I talk about this all the time—he’d be in the corner squatting, you know. It’d be like four plates, five plates, six plates. I’m like, 'Man.'”

Fans may already know the extent to which Coleman would push himself. Just look at his YouTube. It had the same signature purple gym tights Cutler would become familiar with. And Coleman gave fans incredible moments with his 800 lbs squats or 2300 lbs leg press.

“He was crazy, crazier than me. I have to give him credit. Ronnie Coleman is a different breed, man. That guy. No one was more motivated to go to the gym than him... He was an animal when it came to the gym, a complete animal. I don’t care who there today—there’s no one like Ronnie Coleman.”

And Jay Cutler has some great memories with Coleman

Last year, during a Q&A session, Jay Cutler was asked about his favourite memories with Ronnie Coleman, and the question certainly caught the 4x Mr Olympia off-guard.

After thinking for a while, Cutler expressed that Russia holds a very special place for him, “competing in Russia. We went to Romania together. Probably Pittsburgh every year.”

“June would be full-tilt prep. We were still in that relaxed state, so we’d eat together, we’d train together. I’d kind of get an idea of where his head is at, where my head is at. And remember, we were top two for years, so to sit there and be able to relax, have some pizza together, it was a rare occasion.”

Ronnie Coleman dominated Jay Cutler for years at the top of the sport. But in 2006, Cutler finally peaked, dethroned Coleman at Mr. Olympia, ended his historic reign, and ushered in a new era of bodybuilding. Years later, they are still friends, sometimes poking at each other.

Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar