Champion Bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman Talks Steroid Use with Joe Rogan

What kind of steroids were dudes doing back then? I mean, basic. You know, you got, you know, your test, D-ball. It's just basic stuff, you know. And back then, you know, because the D-Ed come in and, you know, was trying to find out what we were all doing, they may be able to do it legally. So, you know, you had to go to the doctor and get all these prescriptions. And you would give prescriptions for steroids? Yeah. What kind of steroids would they give you a prescription for? Like, in a kind of test, you need it. They would give growth hormone. They'd give prescriptions, because once the DEA came in, they was like, what are y'all doing? What are y'all taking? But when you think, like, the DEA, shouldn't you be out there catching people, selling meth? Why are you going after bodybuilders who are also cops? That seems ridiculous. Because they had kids out there that were taking it and committing suicide. See, I didn't know what that was when I was a kid. They were committing suicide because they were getting depressed from the steroids or coming off of it? Coming off of it. Yeah. So they're trying to figure out, you know, what are y'all doing? We got to get y'all off this stuff. And so that's when you got a doctor that was willing to prescribe everything. So was this while you were doing Mr. Olympian? Yeah. So all that stuff was above board. It was all legal. Yeah, everything was legal back then. And what is, is that the case now? You know what? That was just when the heat was on, you know. I don't know if, I don't think they got the heat on the guys now and like that now. So the DEA would come to you and you would just say, hey, here's my prescriptions. Yeah. And they would go, all right. Yeah. Mm-hmm. One time you didn't, if you didn't have prescription, they took your stuff. Really? Yeah. So they'd find whatever you had and take it from you. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. How did they know where it was? You told them. Oh, okay. Okay. Because otherwise they put you in jail. Yeah, yeah. Then search your house, you know, get a search warrant. So they're like, well, I got this and this and that. I would imagine you would have to take something to be as big as you were when you were at your peak. Oh yeah, yeah, for sure. It's not really possible to be that big without it. Without it, no. You can't get that big. Another thing you gotta have too is genetics. Yes. You know, look at the baseball players that have taken stuff and look at us. Yeah. You know, they can't get that big and they're not gifted for it. Well, they didn't try either, right? They weren't trying to get that big. Like guys like Kinsako, he got pretty fucking big. They couldn't get that big if they wanted to. Really? So it's a small percentage of the population that could get that big. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And probably like one percent that could get as big as I got. Hmm. And I was the only guy. Nobody duplicated that sense. And you would be in that condition. Right. And be healthy. Right. You know, I don't have any health problem beside the, you know, the back. The injuries. The injuries, yeah. My liver, my kidneys, and my heart, it's all good. Did you, while you were doing things, did you get frequent blood tests? Every three to four months. And the doctor would go over everything and make sure everything was fine. Everything's always good. That seems to be the big misconception about steroids is that people think steroids kill you. And people think you're taking like tons of stuff. I wasn't taking tons of stuff. I probably wasn't taking no more than what those baseball players were taking. Just working out more. Lifting more. Lifting more. Lifting more. And gifted. Genetically for it. Dorian Yates said basically the same thing. Yeah, yeah. It wasn't that he was taking a lot. Yeah, yeah. Not compared to a lot of guys. Yeah, exactly, yeah. People think I was taking massive amounts of stuff. If I'd been taking massive amounts of stuff, I wouldn't, I don't think I'd be here. I don't think I'd be as healthy as I am now. Right. You know, besides my back surgery, neck surgery, I'm all good. Like I said, my, living my kidneys and heart and everything still holding up real good. Now, when you would get off for that three month period, would you cycle off of everything? No, cold turkey. Cold turkey? Yeah. Really? Cold turkey. I didn't take anything or nothing. And what did you feel like over those three months? Normal. Really? Normal. Didn't bother me a bit. So you just, you got just great genetics, man. Craziest ever. Yeah, I mean, obviously there's no way you could take all, you know. Cold turkey, I stopped everything. One day I'd be taking, you know, a bunch of stuff. Next day, nothing. And your body would just feel normal. Body felt normal. Didn't bother me a bit. That's so crazy. Didn't get depressed or nothing, you know. Yeah. Felt normal. That's just your knowledge. Yeah, I still was strong. Wow. I could still, you know, squat, you know, I could squat, you know, 700, 800 naturally. Wow. So you basically cap a lot of your gains. Yep, my, yep, my was still 300, I'm still 300 pounds, you know, without taking all that stuff. And so then after three months, then you would slowly ramp back up? Slowly ramp back up, yeah. And all this under doctor supervision? All this under doctor supervision. Yeah, and all, all, all the while I'm getting my blood work done every three to four months. So a lot of guys, after they're done competing, then they have to get on testosterone replacement therapy because the endocrine system's kind of messed up. Exactly. Did you have to do that as well? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It seems like that's just a part of the sport, right? Yeah, yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. It's interesting though, because like for the longest time, these guys were doing these ads in magazines, and they were attributing everything to some supplement that they were selling, or some creatine, or some this, or that, you know, all that stuff does something. It helps you out a little bit. But it's not gonna get you. It's not gonna get you 330 pounds with 3% body fat. No. No, it's definitely not gonna do that. Was that something that you were allowed to talk about while you were competing? Yeah, I mean. Did it come up? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. No, I talked about it. I didn't have no reason to hide it. People. It seems like people were hiding it. People were not stupid. No, when you got that big. Yeah. But it seemed like there was an era where bodybuilding kind of tried to pretend that they weren't taking it. Yeah, yeah, because all those people committing suicide, and kids taking all that stuff, and doing it the wrong way, you know. Not having it prescribed, and all this kind of stuff. Also, the more is better philosophy. Black market, getting bad stuff, you know. Right, yeah. But there were some guys that would just say, well, the way to win is to take way more than everybody else. Yeah. And see what your body could tolerate. Yeah. Yeah. The more you take, the better you're gonna be. I knew a guy like that. Yeah. And he wound up having a heart attack. Exactly. We used to call him garden hoses, because his arms looked like garden hoses for veins. Yeah. He had just these giant veins all over his arms. It didn't make sense. But he was just on everything. Yeah. Yeah, but he didn't make it to 30. Yeah. Some people, yeah, they do it the wrong way. I didn't start taking anything until I was 30. Really? Yeah. Remember, I was drug free for a long time. What? And I did everything naturally for a long, long time, because I was, like I said, gifted. Right. Yeah. What inspired you, what made you decide when you were 30 that you had to do something? Got tired of getting my ass kicked. Yeah. In competitions? Yeah. Uh-huh. The highs I would place were like 30 or something. You know? Mm-hmm. After a while, you know, you competitive. You shit. Other guys got a competitive advantage on you. Mm-hmm. So that makes this thing equal. Does this something somebody suggested to you? Yeah. Yeah. So people in the gym, like, hey Ronnie. No, one of the competitors suggested that to me. Guy by the name of Flex Weaver. Oh, okay. Best friend in the world. That guy was fucking huge. Huge. Huge. He taught me everything I know. Did he really? Yeah. He also got me the best nutritionist ever. That's how I won my first Olympia. So is that how most guys find out about steroids from other guys who are competing? If you were smart, that's the way you would do it. Somebody that's successful. Somebody that knows, yeah, what they're doing and somebody that's successful at it. Not something dumb trainer. Right. That think they know. Right. You know, Flex had won, you know, major contests and was a real experienced bodybuilder at the time. You know, I'm still new to the sport. Right. Until I was 24. I think he started probably when he was like 16, 17. Somewhere in there. I never did that kind of stuff because we didn't have it where I was from. How much of a night and day difference was it once you started taking stuff? As far as conditioning, night and day. Night and day and your ability to work, to put in work. No, no. That didn't change. All the way to the condition of your body? Yeah, the only thing that changed was conditioning. What do you mean by that? Didn't go up that much. Yeah. Yeah.