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Love Quote by Ronnie Coleman

"When you love something as much as I love bodybuilding you don't have to do much extra to push yourself, it just happens. There were some tough times and when those came up I just used my mental strength to push through knowing that my mind controlled everything"

About this Quote

Coleman is selling a particular kind of American myth: obsession as a renewable energy source. In his telling, discipline isnt a grim daily negotiation; it is the natural byproduct of loving the thing hard enough. That framing matters because it recasts bodybuilding, often caricatured as vanity or brute repetition, as a genuine vocation. If you are devoted, he implies, you dont need motivation hacks or inspirational posters. The work becomes its own gravity.

The subtext is tougher and more strategic. Coleman nods at suffering ("some tough times") but refuses to linger there, folding pain into a narrative of control. "My mind controlled everything" is less metaphysics than competitive psychology: the body will fail, the schedule will grind you down, injuries and fatigue will bargain for your attention, and the only lever left is the story you tell yourself about who is in charge. He is staking his legacy not just on freakish strength but on authorship over his inner weather.

Context sharpens the intent. Coleman rose in an era when bodybuilding was becoming both more professionalized and more spectacle-driven, and his persona was equal parts blue-collar authenticity and superhuman output. The quote works because it bridges those worlds: love makes the grind relatable; mental mastery makes the results seem earned rather than merely genetic. It is also a subtle rebuke to the audience looking for shortcuts. If you need "extra" to push yourself, maybe you do not love it enough, or maybe you have not trained the one muscle Coleman insists decides the rest: the mind.

Quote Details

TopicPerseverance
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Coleman, Ronnie. (n.d.). When you love something as much as I love bodybuilding you don't have to do much extra to push yourself, it just happens. There were some tough times and when those came up I just used my mental strength to push through knowing that my mind controlled everything. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-you-love-something-as-much-as-i-love-172918/

Chicago Style
Coleman, Ronnie. "When you love something as much as I love bodybuilding you don't have to do much extra to push yourself, it just happens. There were some tough times and when those came up I just used my mental strength to push through knowing that my mind controlled everything." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-you-love-something-as-much-as-i-love-172918/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"When you love something as much as I love bodybuilding you don't have to do much extra to push yourself, it just happens. There were some tough times and when those came up I just used my mental strength to push through knowing that my mind controlled everything." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-you-love-something-as-much-as-i-love-172918/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.

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When you love bodybuilding you dont have to push yourself
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About the Author

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Ronnie Coleman (born May 13, 1964) is a Athlete from USA.

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