Ron Love – Complete Profile: Height, Workout, Diet

Ron Love is a retired professional bodybuilder from Detroit, Michigan. He competed in the 1980s and the 1990s era of bodybuilding and left a lasting legacy in the sport. This article explores his complete biography, competition history, workout routine, diet, and statistics.

Ron Love (Big Ron)

Born: July 2, 1951
Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Residence: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Nickname: Big Ron
Height: 6′ 0″ (183 cm)
Competition Weight: 225 to 255 lbs (103 kg)
Off Season Weight: 275 to 300 lbs (125 kg)

Ron Love Biography

Early Life

Ron Love was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1951. He was one of only a few black students attending Denby High School at that time and was still a force to be reckoned with as an athlete. Young Ron was an active kid and played sports like football, baseball, basketball, and track. Involvement in these activities ignited a passion for sports in him which only intensified in the following years.

Love first tasted success in football when he was selected for the University football team in his freshman year. He was a perfect blend of exceptional talent, hard work, and dedication.

Ron Love also found success in baseball and basketball as he had the necessary attributes like strength, speed, and agility. However, he did his best work in football and got a lot of recognition because of his performance in the sport.

The Detroit native got a football scholarship to attend college after graduating from high school. He was an important asset to the team and helped them win several games and find a way into the playoffs. He played as a wide receiver in the sport and was irreplaceable at the time. The track also provided Ron Love an opportunity to shine as he participated in several sprint events and helped his team win many championships.

Early Career

Ron Love became a much sought-after player when he finished college as many professional teams were interested in getting him on board.

He eventually signed a contract with the Detroit Lions and played several seasons for the team. Ron Love was then traded to the San Francisco 49ers. He played football for quite a few years and built a formidable reputation in the sport.

Ron Love proved his excellence in other sports as well as he played baseball for several teams. He achieved these heights with dedication and hard work and soon became one of the most respected athletes in the sporting world.

Transition to bodybuilding

Bodybuilding was not Ron Love’s preferred sport in the beginning. He turned towards the weight room to get stronger and improve his performance in the sports he was already playing. However, he realized that he had the talent and genetics to become a bodybuilder following an unfortunate incident.

Love became a policeman in 1972, and he was shot in the leg in the line of duty in 1975. An unfortunate incident, certainly, but it did have an upside, as the subsequent rehabilitation led to his involvement in lifting weights and bodybuilding.

The Detroit native decided to pursue a career in bodybuilding seriously and started exploring and studying different training methods and systems devised by the greatest minds in history.

He realized that his body responded the best to high-intensity training and he could pack serious muscle efficiently in a relatively short amount of time. For the uninitiated, high-intensity training involves lifting heavy weights for relatively fewer reps.

Ron Love went on to adapt every aspect of the bodybuilding lifestyle once he started seeing results and soon became ready for competition. He started competing at local and regional shows as his first step into the ultra-competitive environment soon became the talk of the town due to an impressive physique that was worthy of a bigger stage. Love became the 1982 NPC Michigan Championships winner and never looked back after that.

Professional bodybuilding career

Ron Love became one of the most fierce competitors and popular bodybuilders of his time with a ferocious spirit and an excellent physique. During his ten-year-long bodybuilding career, he competed in NPC and IFBB, winning several pro shows and placing in the top seven in several others.

Ron Love’s first major victory came when he became the NPC Junior USA heavyweight and overall champion in 1985. He then went on to secure the IFBB Pro card with another win at the NPC National Championships in the same year.

Ron Love made his professional bodybuilding debut with a second-place finish at the 1986 IFBB Night of Champions. His first pro show victory came at the 1987 IFBB World Pro Championships.

The multi-talented athlete made his Olympia debut in 1986 and walked away with a top-ten finish, placing eighth at the show. Coincidentally, this also proved to be his best Olympia placing as Ron Love was placed ninth or below in the rest of his seven Olympia appearances.

After his Mr. Olympia debut, Ron Love moved to Los Angeles but stayed only one month because the lifestyle was too superficial for his preferences. If you judged by only the handful of magazine feature articles written about him, you would tend to think that Love was not a major player in the muscle world.

Although he did not win an Olympia competition or get a top placing at the prestigious competition, the Detroit native was always a formidable challenge to the top contenders and gave the most successful competitors of his time a run for the money whenever they clashed with him on stage.

Ron Love participated in quite a few Grand Prix shows during his career and won several professional competitions. He also participated in other high-profile competitions like the Ironman Pro Invitational and the Arnold Classic. The veteran bodybuilder called it a career after finishing 14th at the 1993 Olympia.

His prodigious contest resumé, boasting 69 IFBB pro-contests in seven years, proves otherwise. He participated in every contest held in 1987, 13 of 15 in 1989, and 12 of 14 in 1991, and overall he finished in the top five in 17 contests. His heart was on the posing dais. Ron Love lives in Detroit where is also still available as Personal Trainer at Powerhouse Gym.

Competition History

1982

• NPC Michigan Championships – Overall Winner
• NPC Michigan Championships (Medium) – 1st place
• NPC National Championships, Light Heavyweight – 16th place

1983

• NPC National Championships, Heavyweight – 12th place
• NPC USA Championships, Heavyweight – 13th place

1985

• NPC Junior USA Championships, Heavyweight – 1st place
• NPC Junior USA Championships – Overall winner
• NPC National Championships, Heavyweight – 1st place
• NPC USA Championships, Heavyweight – 6th place
• IFBB World Amateur Championships, Heavyweight – 3rd place

1986

• IFBB Night of Champions – 2nd place
• IFBB Mr. Olympia – 8th place

1987

• IFBB Detroit Pro Championships – 3rd place
• IFBB Grand Prix France – 9th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany (2) – 10th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany – 7th place
• IFBB Night of Champions – 3rd place
• IFBB Mr. Olympia – 9th place
• IFBB World Pro Championships – 1st place

1988

• IFBB Grand Prix England – 11th place
• IFBB Grand Prix France – 7th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany – 7th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Greece – 8th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Italy – 6th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain (2) – 6th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain – 10th place
• IFBB Mr. Olympia – 9th place

1989

• IFBB Arnold Classic – 8th place
• IFBB Grand Prix England – 8th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Finland – 7th place
• IFBB Grand Prix France – 7th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany – 8th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Holland – 10th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Melbourne – 5th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain (2) – 8th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain – 6th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Sweden – 8th place
• IFBB Niagra Falls Pro Invitational – 1st place
• IFBB Night of Champions – 5th place
• IFBB Mr. Olympia – 10th place
• IFBB World Pro Championships – 6th place

1990

• IFBB Grand Prix England – 10th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Finland – 12th place
• IFBB Grand Prix France – 9th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany – 11th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Holland – 15th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Italy – 13th place
• IFBB Olympia – 12th place

1991

• IFBB Arnold Classic – 14th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Denmark – 3rd place
• IFBB Grand Prix England – 4th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Finland – 2nd place
• IFBB Grand Prix Italy – 2nd place
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain – 2nd place
• IFBB Grand Prix Switzerland – 2nd place
• IFBB Musclefest Grand Prix – 4th place
• IFBB Night of Champions – 5th place
• IFBB Olympia – 11th place
• IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Invitational – 6th place
• IFBB San Jose Pro Invitational – 1st place

1992

• IFBB Arnold Classic – 12th place
• IFBB Grand Prix England – 7th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany – 8th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Holland – 6th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Italy – 7th place
• IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational – 8th place
• IFBB Mr. Olympia – 9th place
• IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Invitational – 5th place

1993

• IFBB Arnold Classic – 11th place
• IFBB Grand Prix England – 9th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Finland – 6th place
• IFBB Grand Prix France (2) – 9th place
• IFBB Grand Prix France – 7th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany – 9th place
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain – 8th place
• IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational – 11th place
• IFBB Mr. Olympia – 14th place

Ron Love Workout

Ron Love studied different training systems and concluded that high-intensity training suited him the best. At the peak of his activity level, Love trained six days a week. His training routine consisted of weight training and cardio. The combination helped him build muscle and burn fat.

He followed the old-school individual muscle split and had a training session dedicated to arms, chest, shoulders, back, legs, and abs. However, he made changes to the routine depending on the goal and sometimes clubbed two or more muscle groups in each session, e.g. chest and triceps, back and biceps, etc.

Although the veteran bodybuilder was a huge proponent of high-intensity training, he did not shy away from trying other training methods and employed high-volume work as and when needed. He often switched between steady-state cardio and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to get the most out of the cardio sessions.

In conclusion, just like most old-school bodybuilders, Ron Love’s training philosophy had no room for weakness or a weak mindset. He still believes in pushing the body to increase its capacity and his training routine was designed to promote growth in terms of functional strength, flexibility, stamina, and endurance.

Ron Love Diet

Ron Love adapted every aspect of the bodybuilding lifestyle once he decided to pursue it as a career. Training alone can not guarantee the results as the body needs the necessary building blocks to grow, which are only provided by a proper diet and nutrition.

The Detroit native was always known for his discipline and work ethic. He implemented the same in his diet as well. Ron Love followed a high-protein diet that also contained healthy amounts of fats and carbohydrates.

He refrained from processed foods and got most of his calories from a clean diet that consisted of lean sources of protein like chicken breast, egg whites, and lean cuts of beef. He also ate ample amounts of fruits, nuts, and vegetables to get dietary fiber and micronutrients.

Although he focused on getting most of the nutrition through a clean diet, Ron Love was not averse to using supplements to meet the requirements. However, he used them to assist the diet and not to replace it altogether.

To Conclude…

While highly accomplished athletes like former Mr. Olympia winners have a place in the pages of history, bodybuilders like Ron Love tend to get forgotten. Although he never won a major professional competition like Mr. Olympia, Ironman Pro, or the Arnold Classic, the veteran bodybuilder excelled at his craft and presented tough challenges to the most elite bodybuilders of his generation.

Ron Love Image Gallery

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