Don’t believe the rumors that Coleman will be back on stage for the 2008 Arnold Classic. When he hints of his possible appearance in that show, he’s talking about 2009, and even then, it’s with an emphatic “maybe.”
To squelch those rumors, he explains, “I’ve been competing non-stop since 1990, doing about five shows a year with no break, none whatsoever. Even when I was doing the Mr. Olympia, I always did the European shows afterward — I never missed one of those; so I plan on taking the entire year of 2008 off, hopefully to get a good long rest for my body, after tearing it down for so many years. I won’t train as hard as I normally do, then hope to come back in ’09 renewed and rebuilt. If I do the Arnold Classic and win, then I’ll do the Mr. Olympia; but only if I win the Arnold. That would be the first show I’d come back to; I’ve always wanted to do it again. Meanwhile, I’m still training, because I have guest posings coming up. I’m eating good and working out every day. Nothing has changed, except that I’ll take a good year off to heal up and rest up. I’m just getting ready for ’09.”
