quietly with yourself and taking inventory of your thoughts, your pros, your cons. Bodybuilding definitely forces you to do that.”
On balance, and why he doesn’ t believe in it
When asked how he balances bodybuilding with the rest of his life, Ron doesn’ t pause.“ You don’ t,” he says flatly.“ You find a way to integrate it.” He points to what that can look like: still going to the movies but bringing your own chicken and rice, or having an honest conversation with grandma about why you’ re not eating everything on the table.“ She’ ll still love you,” he says.“ But you still go home for that visit. That’ s what’ s important.”
That same philosophy carries into how he coaches.“ Coaching is actually much more fulfilling than competing,” he says. The most nervous he’ s ever felt at a bodybuilding show wasn’ t as a competitor, he explains, it’ s sitting in the audience watching a client fight for a pro card, feeling more helpless than he ever did on stage himself.“ I can’ t spot you. I can’ t do anything. I just gotta watch, and hope that everything we talked about manifests itself.” The athletes who succeed, he’ s noticed, share one quiet trait:“ Work ethic that’ s extremely strong but not loud, the person who can outwork everyone in the gym but doesn’ t need to let everyone know it.”
What separates a coachable athlete from one who isn’ t, in his experience, comes down to communication.“ It’ s the same thing as any other relationship. You gotta communicate,” he says. He points to a recent client, days out from a show, whose diet needed adjusting to manage water retention without cutting carbs. When a change he made upset her stomach, she spoke up right away, and together they found a fix.“ That’ s what you need in person,” he says, contrasting it with athletes who quietly push through discomfort and only mention it after the fact.“ Why didn’ t you say something?”
On wellness, minding your own business
Asked what wellness means to him, Ron starts with the mind.“ You can’ t really set out on the path of building this vessel of physical wellness without your mind being in the right place,” he says.“ I’ ll go a step further, I would also say it’ s about support. Sometimes support isn’ t always someone helping. At times, it’ s also someone stepping back. They respect your journey to the point that they’ re not going to interfere with it or be selfish with their own needs. And they let you know that they are there for you if you need them for anything, and they allow you to finish your journey.”
He’ s also candid about a habit he sees across the fitness world, bodybuilding included: an us-versus-them mentality.“ You’ ll have a lot of people get into CrossFit or HYROX, and their discipline becomes their gospel, and then they try to convert everyone from what they’ re already doing to do what they do.” His answer to it is simple.“ A big part of wellness is being comfortable in your own skin and not getting caught up in what someone else is doing. Stop the comparison.” So, what does wellness mean to Ron, ultimately? His answer, without hesitation:
“ Minding your own damn business.”
Ronald“ RPG” Gordon is an IFBB Pro bodybuilder based in California’ s Inland Empire, known for his towering frame and dramatic X-shape physique. Born in 1983, Gordon has competed since 2016, earning his IFBB Pro Card at the 2018 NPC North American Championships. He splits his year between Kuwait, training with coach Abdullah Al-Otaibi, and California, where he trains at Fitness Mania. Fresh off a 4th-place finish at the 2025 Detroit Pro, Gordon has become one of the most talked-about names in the open division, with Olympia ambitions ahead.
FlexzoneLifeMagazine. com 25