Bodybuilders are getting bigger than ever. Jon Hotten on the freakish world of rippling abs and exploding quads
There’s an undeniable thrill in standing next to the biggest man in the world. Of the six billion bodies on the planet, the vastest, the baddest, the most extreme, is just inches away, oiled and clad in sparkly posing trunks.
Ronnie Coleman, 41 years old, the reigning and seven-time Mr Olympia, comes from Texas and he’s as huge as the state, with comic-book arms, a superhero’s chest, widescreen thighs. When he fires up his six pack, the cuts in his abs are so deep you could slide a pound coin into one and never see it again.
The bare facts are impressive enough. In contest shape, he weighs 295lb (21st) with four-per-cent body fat (David Beckham has about 10 per cent). His upper arms have a circumference of 25 inches, one thigh is three feet around, several inches greater than his waist. His muscle dwarfs the bits of his body that refuse to grow. His head, his hands and his feet look like they belong to someone else, someone smaller.