Sleeping was terrible.
I'd get on a scale and I was
like, "Oh, this is real."
"This is your fighting weight."
I plan on, tonight and
tomorrow, bringing the pain.
Ain't that something?
Man! How long are you staying?
- You tell me, it's done.
- Okay.
8 p.m., so we got
an hour and 45 minutes.
-We can end this tonight.
-Right.
See, I know what it feels like
to win the first one
and have to defend
the second time.
That's the hardest sh*t.
There's no feel about it.
'Cause if you feel,
you're conflicted.
Because if it controls you,
you're done.
-Yeah, you're done.
-You're done.
-You do something stupid.
-Yep.
Tonight it has to be
one emotion, that's it.
Yeah. Well, I know what that is.
-Yeah.
-k*ll 'em all.
The elusive eight.
It was tied,
the all-time record,
with Lee Haney
and Ronnie Coleman.
In the world of bodybuilding,
this would be
the biggest comeback of all.
He was up against
having his whole stomach
be put back together.
He knew that this could be
the end of his career.
I am greatness. I am
opportunity waiting to happen.
The road downhill starts when
you believe that it's over.
Was he ready to close
that chapter in bodybuilding?
Was he ready
to leave that behind?
I wasn't afraid of work.
I wasn't afraid
of passing out in the gym.
Everything was crumbling.
Was it just to win
number eight?
That person
that was there before
isn't the same.
To introduce
the greatest bodybuilder
on the planet...
the recipient of the 2017
iconic Sandow Trophy.
The seven-time...
...Mr. Olympia,
Phil "The Gift" Heath!
This was
a really difficult year
to promote local and regional,
um, Olympia qualifying events.
In many cases,
promoters weren't even
allowed to sell tickets,
which means they took
big financial losses
just to make sure these
athletes had every opportunity
to compete and to qualify
for the Olympiad.
As the most coveted titles
in the world are up for grabs,
we hope to see you guys
all out there in December
to witness history.
Athletes like myself,
they just want an opportunity
to get onstage,
to show their art.
Without bodybuilding shows,
I have to totally pivot
into another career.
For us to hear that more
athletes have been qualified
is a beautiful thing.
It's dope.
The Mr. Olympia is,
and forever will be,
the greatest bodybuilding show
on the planet.
In over 190 countries,
bodybuilding exists.
Fifteen people
in an over 50-year time period
have won the Mr. Olympia.
In America, bodybuilding
probably ranks maybe 20th.
On ESPN, we see cup stacking
on that sh*t over bodybuilding.
I don't know why.
But bodybuilding
in these other countries
that don't have the big three,
with the baseball,
football, basketball,
bodybuilding is king.
You could be
a great bodybuilder,
win a bunch of pro shows,
and once you get
to that Olympia stage,
you could be
sh1tting in your pants.
I remember backstage,
everybody was pumping up.
And I look over and I see some
of the other guys pumping up.
And I'm like, "Holy moly.
Am I in the right place?"
They do battle
to win the ultimate prize,
the Sandow Trophy,
which you see sitting behind me.
You pay to see something
that makes no sense.
What is that muscle?
None of these guys have it,
but he has it.
The roar on that f*cking stage.
Oh, boy.
You're gonna compete
against your idols
who now become your rivals.
I'm at the place
where the gods exist.
It's impossible. It's a dream.
It's last man standing.
Just like Jordan,
just like Ali,
just like some guy
known as The Rock
who used to raise his eyebrow.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
was Mr. Olympia.
Larry Scott was Mr. Olympia.
Sergio Oliva was Mr. Olympia.
Frank Zane, Franco Columbu,
Dorian Yates, Jay Cutler,
Ronnie Coleman,
Dexter Jackson,
Chris Dickerson,
Samir Bannout and Lee Haney,
all Mr. Olympians.
You win the Arnold Classic,
that's great.
You win a New York Pro,
that's cool.
None of those matter.
It's the Mr. Olympia or nothing.
My name is
Phillip Jerrod Heath.
I'm a seven-time Mr. Olympia.
I was born December 18th,
1979, in Seattle, Washington.
I grew up in the Rainier
Valley area in the early '80s,
what we would call
the inner city.
A little ghetto.
A little rough.
But a lot of spirit
in that area.
It was just untapped.
My father, Don Heath,
and my mom, Rosella Braxton,
had a divorce.
I remember my mom and I
being in the guest bedroom,
my mom was really upset,
and I never saw
that apartment again.
My stepfather and my mother,
they raised me.
My mom, she worked her ass off
every day.
Even on her days off,
she was always working.
I mean, she had to endure
quite a bit.
I didn't feel any, like,
"Oh, where's my mom?"
like, "She's not at my game."
She exemplified
hard work, sacrifice.
It was in order for me
to live a better life.
The most bonding we had
was from zero to eleven.
Twelve, thirteen, I started
becoming more distant.
My father was in my life,
but here and there.
I would see him on holidays.
I get a lot of my traits
from him.
Our muscles.
He was a very muscular guy.
The most dapper man
I probably ever knew.
Stetson hat, snakeskin boots.
He looked like a movie star.
He was a binge drinker,
so I'm sure he was trying
to escape from something.
His mom passed
when he was very young,
and I'm sure
that was part of the reason.
My mom, she wasn't
one of those disgruntled wives
that was like, "You know,
your father's a piece of sh*t."
She would bring up
his negatives, his flaws,
especially if I exhibited those.
That's where I get
a lot of my fire, passion,
dark side from.
Rainier Beach High School.
If you went to that school
at that time,
especially '80s and '90s,
you weren't expected
to do a whole lot.
High dropout rate, kids
on suspension, dr*gs, fights.
We were having what they call
an all-city dance.
I see a guy just pull out his
g*n, just...
You hear a guy saying,
"Oh, I'll knock your head
off your shoulders,"
that's pretty much what you saw.
About that third sh*t,
that's when
I turned around and ran.
My parents,
obviously concerned.
But at that
given point in time,
they were willing
to get an extra job
to go put me in private school.
I remember
being approached with that,
and I just told 'em, I said,
"v*olence is everywhere."
"You can't run from it."
I was always into sports.
Anything that had to do
with track and field,
or basketball, football,
baseball, it didn't matter.
Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan,
I grew up in that era.
Bo Jackson was huge for me.
The guy broke bats
with his bare hands.
It's like, how do you do that?
Just to see someone
do two sports in the pros
and be good at it.
And to see his career
get cut short
was just, you know, crazy.
I loved Magic Johnson.
We'd never seen someone
like this,
six nine, running the point,
won an NBA championship
right out the gate.
Michael Jordan, for sure,
he could fly.
To me, defying logic.
Doing moves
that we'd never seen,
like being able
to switch hands,
spin moves,
him dunking on somebody.
Every kid would do a move
and say, "Jordan!"
They made Jordan rules.
I mean, I thought,
"How dominant is a player
to transcend a sport
to where they have to make
rules just against one guy?"
And they'd m*rder this guy
every year,
but he just kept
coming back and back.
Outside of those sports
was this guy
named Arnold Schwarzenegger.
You all know, Arnold has won
more bodybuilding awards
than anyone in the world.
And critics are saying
some very nice things
about his performance in
his latest film called Raw Deal.
Here is Arnold Schwarzenegger.
This is the guy
that I see in these movies
that my parents watch.
Predator.
Terminator.
Red Heat.
Running Man.
Total Recall.
Of course, Conan.
His chest and his biceps,
and all this other sh*t,
I don't know what that is,
but I like that, that's dope.
He had charisma.
Growing up, I didn't know what
it took to be an action star.
That wasn't accessible
at the time.
So I just immersed myself
in what was, playing hoop.
Basketball for me
was an obsession.
I couldn't get enough of it.
Once he found
that basketball hoop,
it was like
he was attached to it.
He would be out there
all night long.
That was his outlet.
After years of training,
I make varsity.
Going into my senior year,
we get a transfer
by the name of Jamal Crawford,
three-time
Sixth Man Award winner,
who ended up playing in the NBA
for quite some time.
Our team was stacked.
We were such a family unit.
Come pre-season, we're stomping
the sh*t out of everybody.
Then when regular season hit,
we didn't look back.
It was win after win after win.
Our coach did not let up.
He didn't care
if we're up by 20,
we were D'ing you up
from end line to end line.
It just seems like it's destiny
for us, in honesty.
King anniversary.
Hey, we're ready to go.
He developed that
k*ller instinct in all of us:
destroy the competition.
We went to state.
We played
on Fox Sports Northwest.
We win the whole thing.
He was making the paper.
People knew who Phil Heath was,
and they always said,
"We're gonna watch out for you.
You're gonna be somebody."
When someone tells you that,
that becomes your identity.
He really thought,
"I'm gonna be in the NBA."
I end up going
to the University of Denver
on a full-ride scholarship,
the Division 1 program.
When he went
into D1 basketball
with University of Denver,
everything changed.
August of 1998.
I, along with my parents, drove
from Seattle, Washington,
all the way here.
These stairs right here,
those are the easy ones to run.
The minute I got on campus
during student orientation,
I realized
I wasn't just a student,
I was a student athlete.
I got to really embrace
what that meant.
All new friends. They didn't
know me. I didn't know them.
My name on the locker.
And I still remember
my first game.
I'm trying not to look
in the stands too much,
but you're hearing
the band play,
you're hearing the crowd roar.
Oh, man. Sometimes I wish
I could go back to that moment.
My life changed. I've arrived.
Being a new Division 1 program,
we had a lot of expectations.
Being a freshman,
your whole goal is to not
get punked by these seniors.
I was trying to be first
in all those drills.
I played my freshman year.
But as time went, I noticed
that I didn't progress
as well as I thought
I should have.
I was behind
and I knew I was in trouble.
I was like, "sh*t."
My sophomore season, I was
playing really well pre-season,
was hedging a screen, ended up
hyper-extending my knee.
Now I'm out.
If you're right on the cusp
of actually being a starter,
you go to forgotten.
They gotta move on.
That was, uh...
That was a very difficult year.
To rehab a knee, it was like
it got pulled away from me.
My junior year, I remember
we were losing quite a bit.
Coach is about to get fired.
My best friend and I,
Tyrone Turner,
we're getting pulled
into the office
to get kicked off the team.
I went from high school
being a state champion
to college
not anything special.
I did better on the road
than home because I played.
At home, I didn't play.
So what I would do is,
after the game, I'd go run.
I'd just keep running
sometimes, crying, hoodie's on.
When I turned 21 years old,
it led into a lot of drinking.
And that's when the demons
started coming out.
I wanted to k*ll myself.
And I don't even think
my parents know this,
but I laid in the street
on Evans...
hoping that someone
would run my ass over.
Two in the morning,
laid near the median,
and just hope that someone
would take away this pain.
I was a big star
in high school.
You get to college and it's like
a whole different story.
You're not the big guy
on campus anymore.
And I remember
getting real depressed, like,
"Man, now what I'm gonna do?"
I can't play football anymore.
I'm just real upset.
I didn't really know
what that was
until I was a certain age.
I understand Phil's depression.
Football was my ticket out.
Football was gonna be the thing
that allowed my family
not to get evicted anymore,
it allowed me to buy
my parents their first house.
And that didn't work out
for me. I've been there.
You start
to second-guess yourself
when you're not
in the top position anymore.
You wonder, "Hey,
am I good enough for this?"
"Is this my destiny?"
Past like 1:30,
two o'clock in the morning,
I'd be laying out
in this f*cking street.
I mean, I look at this now
and just realize
like how f*cked up I really was.
I'd had it with the lies
and the... and the politics
of playing for these coaches
that don't give a f*ck
about you.
They don't care.
And, really,
I just hated myself.
I thought,
"How stupid was I to...
to leave home,
like, to go here?"
"I have no family here."
And, um, I thought
this was my only option out.
To realize
that you are the master
of the telling
of your own story.
You can write
your own heroic journey
or the memoir
of your own demise.
I'm good, yeah.
It's very overwhelming.
It's like I'm chewing myself out
right now, like,
"Why, why, why did you do that?"
"It's gonna be okay, man.
Like, just..."
How shitty
would it be if, like,
my parents would have to read
in a newspaper that he took...
their son, my mom's only child,
took his own life
because of a game.
I didn't have the courage
to just acknowledge
that life isn't fair.
Life ain't f*cking fair, man.
You have one life.
Don't take it.
When our coach got fired
that spring in '01,
I was happy.
We got a new coaching staff.
That coach told me like it was,
then asked me
what my goals were in life,
not just with basketball
but in life.
He said, "If you wanna go
to grad school, I'll help you
go to grad school."
"If you wanna be a coach,
I'll help you be that coach."
"But these are my rules."
"I need you to help coach
these freshmen."
"I need you to be a great
teammate. That's your role."
"And if you don't want
that role,
we'll figure out
another option,
but you will not be
f*cking here."
And I looked at him and said,
"Thank you for being honest."
I accepted.
The last game
of my college career,
I remember, clock went down
to triple zero.
I realized that
those hoop dreams were over,
that I'm no longer
a student athlete,
I'm just a student.
One of the most difficult
challenges athletes have
is letting go.
The hardest part
was trying to figure out,
"Who am I now?"
In that transition
can come clarity.
That clarity can give you
a new drive
and a new perspective.
I look over to
one of my classmates' laptops,
and I see on his wallpaper
Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler,
Kevin Levrone and Flex Wheeler,
and I'm like,
"Who are these people?"
These guys look like
action-book heroes,
like comic-book characters,
but they were real human beings.
Out of the depths of the
basketball chapter in his life,
he focuses himself to one of
the hardest sports in the world,
the sport of pro bodybuilding.
Once he learned
that he could actually
be somebody in bodybuilding,
it became his new thing.
In basketball,
a coach can decide
if you're rewarded enough
to go into the game.
But with bodybuilding,
I just had to worry about
grabbing a pair of dumbbells
and just putting
my best foot forward.
Here is my path.
That's when
he kind of dove into it.
We didn't have
the internet like we do today.
There was Netscape,
sh*t like that.
I immersed myself
in the VHS tapes.
So this was Pumping Iron.
I watched it
so many freaking times,
I'm surprised
it, you know, still is intact.
We all knew this film verbatim.
We knew it.
We knew the dialogue.
I'm like getting the feeling
of coming in the gym.
I'm getting the feeling
of coming at home.
I'm getting the feeling of
coming backstage when I pump up.
When I pose
out in front of 5,000 people,
I get the same feeling.
So I'm coming day and night.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
was one of the main characters,
along with Lou Ferrigno.
Arnold mind-f*cking people
really won a lot of people over.
You didn't get the
timing right, I'm telling you.
A month from now
would have been perfect for you.
But then I get bigger too again,
so, you know...
It doesn't matter.
What the hell?
That gave the insight
to what bodybuilding
was all about.
One of the books
that I would use
was this bad boy right here.
It's called
The Precontest Bible.
This is my second copy.
The first copy got stolen
'cause it's so freaking good.
I would look at
all these different physiques.
They would be able
to show you their diets,
and that was really important
because how in the hell
do you learn?
Basically giving up
all the secrets.
So they would tell you, like,
on what day they trained,
what did they train.
Like one of the questions is:
"The thing I like least
about contest prep is..."
He said, "Nothing.
I really don't mind
the diet or training." Hmm.
Goes from posing,
to tanning, to backstage,
applying for a contest.
This was like
my way of learning.
Books were my resources.
Nautilus training programs.
Arnold's encyclopedia
to bodybuilding.
I should really be studying
differential equations,
linear algebra, all that sh*t.
I'm studying
about protein and biochem.
I bought a camera on eBay,
2.1 megapixel camera.
And on October 8th, 2002,
I took my very first selfie.
Less than 10 people in
the world have seen that photo.
To me,
that picture is priceless.
That's the first time
that I ever said,
"This is Phil Heath
transitioning away
from basketball."
I took pictures
every four weeks,
and then it'd become
every week.
Then I would actually print
those photographs.
Right here...
That's me when I first
started bodybuilding.
I would then go from here,
take a pen,
and start shading in
where I wanted more growth.
These are rear delts.
These gotta get better.
Need some upper traps,
need to work on that,
have that more pronounced.
Then... I would take this photo,
which was about two weeks out
before my first contest.
Look at Dorian's calves.
Like, wow, massive, right?
And so I gotta make sure
that I get
more calf development.
If I need a back,
Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman.
The traps, shoulders,
triceps, Kevin Levrone.
Chest, Ronnie Coleman,
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Abdominal work, Shawn Ray.
Take a little piece from here,
a little piece from here,
and then I'm starting to write
my own workouts.
It just made sense to me.
I would do this
pretty much every week.
I knew that in order to be
a good pro,
to a great pro,
to a Mr. Olympia,
I had to be a student.
We're looking at everything.
Your shoulders, arms,
your chest, your legs.
It's nothing but condition,
shape and size.
That is a bodybuilder.
Six months later,
I end up doing
my first bodybuilding show,
April 4th, 2003,
the NPC Northern Colorado
in Boulder.
Jay Cutler was actually
the guest poser at that time.
There's like an old picture
of he and I shaking hands.
He had his friends
that would kind of critique him
and help him with posing.
His posing was horrible.
You're naked.
Well, that's how I felt
going out onstage
with these little-ass
posing trunks on.
This is the first time I
ever really publicly did that.
That was the thing
that kept me from doing it,
'cause you do
all this posing stuff
which I never knew
anything about.
I'm like,
"I don't wanna see no dudes
in no skimpy short draws, man.
Are you crazy?"
It's a bizarre sport.
And it's your body.
I mean, there's nothing
more personal than your body.
Now I gotta get like a sense
of false bravado on my face.
And I hear this old lady.
She goes, "Smile.
You're beautiful."
And everybody starts laughing.
I'm like, "Oh, all right."
I won every medal,
trophy that night.
Putting my hands up like this,
laughing, 'cause I'm thinking,
"I don't even know
what the f*ck I'm doing."
I immediately
picked up the phone
and I called the editor
of Flex and Muscle & Fitness,
and I said, "I just found
the next Mr. Olympia."
It just took off from there.
Two months later,
the Colorado State Show.
I won my weight class.
Now I'm being more immersed
in bodybuilding.
I'm going to more shows.
I'm bumming rides
from my roommate,
riding a bicycle,
catching the bus.
I was like, "I'm just gonna be
in the gym all day."
Reading, lifting, eating,
training, bodybuilding,
that's it.
The first time I saw him,
I judged him
at the Junior Nationals.
Unbelievable. I mean, you could
see there was Phil Heath
and everybody else
at that time.
I win that show.
Now I'm signed with AMI,
Joe Weider.
Magazine covers,
sponsorships everywhere.
I get the cover of Flex.
I'm in a track stance.
Poster of me dunking
a basketball as a bodybuilder.
All eyes were on him.
He was the up-and-coming star.
He was looked upon
as the future of bodybuilding.
When I first noticed Phil,
he'd just won
the Junior Nationals.
And I was like, "Eh,
he looks okay. He shredded."
"He got a good future, though."
First time out,
he did the USAs
and he burst on the scene
and won his pro card.
Phil Heath had arrived.
When he won the USA,
that put him on the map.
He needed a coach.
I saw him onstage.
He had won the overall.
We ran into each other
at a restaurant and he said,
"Hey, I know you. You're the pro
creator." He shadowed me.
He's like, "Hey, I'd really
like to work with you
for my pro debut."
It was really
for another second set of eyes,
so that I didn't waste years
trying to figure out
how to get to that next level,
'cause that can mean
second or third or first place.
That's all you get. That's
all you get. That's all you get.
That's all you get. That's all
you get. That's all you get.
I'm a person who gets paid
to find flaws.
Because he played in the NCAA,
because he was coached
as a kid coming up,
it really helped
make my job easier,
because he's so coachable.
With Hany on his side,
alongside Phil's
no-lose mentality,
they would basically tear up
the bodybuilding scene.
He just doesn't stop.
He just tears it apart.
I'm just chasing this guy
and I'm seeing like I'm getting
farther and farther away.
New potential talent
on the rise.
You just start to take notice
of this bald guy
with the green eyes
and the muscles.
I'm going against pros now.
The guys
that I was reading about
transitioning out of basketball
to bodybuilding,
I'm competing against.
They think I'm, like,
mad-doggin' 'em and sh*t,
like checking 'em out,
like playing games.
I'm like, "Nah, man,"
like, "Hey, what's up man?"
like, "What's going on, man?
You look great."
My trainer Hany Rambod
came backstage
and he's like yelling at me
to not be so enamored
by the other pros.
By the way, Phil Heath
also won that show.
He actually received
all first-place votes
by every judge
in every round of every contest
he's ever competed in.
What do you say, everybody?
We got the guy
in the purple trunks tonight.
Thank you...
In the back of my mind
and my heart,
I'm not supposed to be excited
like a fan in this point,
to, um, "Can I take a picture
with you? Can I... Can I..."
Something's wrong.
I did it. Again? What?
Phil Heath!
But it's very short-lived,
because I gotta do it again
the next week.
The New York Pro, I collected
some more scalps that night,
won that whole damn show again.
He was number one.
In order to try to catch up,
there was a lot of work
that had to be done.
Yeah.
He won every pro show
he did in the beginning,
right out of the gate, until
he got to the upper levels.
No one really does that.
People knew he needed to put
on more size to be competitive
with the likes of myself
and Ronnie Coleman,
but that was just a time thing.
Phil was prepared.
He paced himself.
He chose the shows
that he felt he could dominate.
He came out
and did the Iron Man
his third year being a pro.
He had brought up his back
substantially,
showcased those crazy hamstrings
and glutes and that back detail.
I remember
when he came out onstage,
I was sitting
in the office in the gym
'cause I was
watching it online.
I almost fell out of my chair,
I was laughing so loud,
'cause I was just like, "Man,
he just destroyed everybody."
Most people,
once they win a show
and they qualify
for the Olympia,
they jump into it right away.
I literally told him,
"I don't think it's a good idea
for you to do the Olympia."
He was solidifying his spot
as somebody that could have
done some damage.
But I knew in my heart
at his size
that he was gonna need
some time and some seasoning.
We did that for two years
back to back.
Everyone in the industry
was pissed at me.
I'd be sitting
in a press conference
and I'd have guys like
Dexter Jackson, Melvin Anthony,
all these other guys
talking sh*t.
They'd be like,
"There's someone in the audience
that's just too scared to get
up there with the big boys."
They looked at him and they knew
he was gonna be dangerous.
He was a champion on the rise.
They could see what was coming.
When I actually met him,
he was like,
"Yo, man. What's up, Dex?"
He was on my jock that day,
you know?
Y'all been doing this sh*t
ten years pro.
I would be a fool to just think
that I know everything
and go in there
with these big-ass gorillas.
I'm just a puppy.
Everybody was saying,
"Why isn't he doing it?"
And I just kept saying,
"Don't be in such a rush
to get your ass b*at."
He chose
to jump in the ring in 2008.
I studied each athlete that
I was gonna compete against.
Phil was standing
the same height as me,
and I knew
that if he came on the money,
he was the most dangerous guy
in the lineup.
By the time
he stepped onstage,
he ended up placing
in the top three.
Jay was dethroned
by Dexter Jackson,
and Jay got second.
But I felt...
I was like right there.
I felt like I pushed him.
The plot thickens.
Jay had asked if I would
coach him after his loss.
I asked Phil, "Are you okay
with me working with Jay?"
And he actually said,
"Yeah, no problem."
Jay Cutler, he'd become
the most awesome representation
of what extreme
muscular development
and conditioning could grow to.
He was a god k*ller
that became a god himself.
I became a pro at 23,
my first Olympia at 26.
Coming from Sterling,
Massachusetts,
a town of 6,000 people,
the youngest of seven kids,
no one understood what I did.
When I won,
I knew I was ready for it.
I was ready to be
the best in the world.
We worked together
in the off-season.
Phil would come out
periodically and train.
We were kind of a team.
We were coming into direct sh*t
pretty much at the 2009.
But that next year,
ended up getting food poisoning
on that Thursday night
and was throwing up all night
and barely made the top five.
It was supposed to be
Phil Heath and myself
battling for that title.
The motivation, the confidence
that those guys gave me,
I came in
at my best of all time.
Jay Cutler!
"Could I hold off
Phil Heath?" was the question.
The apprentice
and the teacher.
As a fan of the sport, you would
think it's just impossible
and it just can't be done.
I actually told my coach
to go work with Jay.
He gets his title back,
and I gotta go against him.
Did I just set myself up,
you know?
2010, Phil was knocking
at the door.
He was coming on strong.
"The next name I read,
2010 Mr. Olympia..."
Jay Cutler!
Watching Jay
get his fourth title.
I watched the tape. I exhaled.
I rewind it, I watch it again,
and I'm getting furious.
I was okay with being second,
because second was safe.
Second doesn't have
the responsibilities
that first place has.
I'm watching the video in 2010,
I'm saying,
"Stop saying that sh*t."
There were still some questions
whether Phil arguably
could have won.
Jay knew what was happening.
Jay's an intelligent guy,
and he could see
the writing on the wall.
Phil was kicking that door in,
and you knew if he continued,
he was gonna
kick that door in completely.
2010 spelled it all out.
He was next in line
to win the Mr. Olympia title.
I wasn't comfortable
being second.
Although Jay and I
were friends,
it wasn't about b*ating him,
it was about b*ating myself.
It's the Olympia or nothin'.
I don't remember anything
that year
but just training
for that show.
I made sure every day
in that gym it was w*r,
saying, "No more complacency."
"You are gonna bring this w*r
to his doorstep,
and if you do not,
he's going to embarrass you."
I was working close
with Hany at that point.
We were training
in the off-season.
My goal was to win five
and walk away.
Unfortunately, three weeks
prior to the competition,
I tore my bicep on my left arm,
so I stood onstage
with the torn bicep.
But Phil Heath was
at his absolute best in 2011.
Put all your chips
out there. Say you're all in.
I just knew it.
I was like, "This is my night."
Man, I was really having
the most fun I ever had.
I remember hitting
that back double bicep.
It was like Arnold's voice
was in my ear saying,
"If people are cheering
and they love it,
you hit it and you hold it,
but if they don't,
you get the hell out of there."
I held that thing.
If you asked me to this day,
that was Phil Heath's
best of all time.
I don't think
anybody at that point
was gonna be catching Phil.
I wasn't even in the mix enough
to even get close.
You had
some of the greatest shapes
bodybuilding has ever seen.
It's hard to b*at anybody
with that.
I said right then and there,
"He's gonna be there
for a minute."
"He's probably
gonna break the record."
For the first time,
I felt vulnerable
in a long time.
I ended up second
in that contest.
Phil Heath won.
Phil Heath!
It's kind of unusual,
because Jay Cutler found the guy
that put him in retirement.
I watched Phil
since backstage
at a local contest.
I told him,
"You can be the best someday."
Little did I know that best
was gonna come against me.
And now you are the king.
Losing to him was...
it was probably the best loss
any Mr. Olympia
has gone through.
I was able to hand it to,
at the time,
my best friend
and someone I respected.
When Bob Cicherillo
called my name,
I went all the way back
to when I was a kid.
All of the good, bad,
ugly sh*t,
every instance of...
how I got here...
it all mattered.
I'm the 13th Mr. Olympia,
and no one
can ever change that.
You could be down on your
luck, think your life's over,
and all of a sudden
become a king again.
I'm sure that replaced
the hurt in his heart
by not being in the NBA,
because he became
a superstar overnight.
Now I gotta figure out how
I'm gonna hold this damn thing.
Let the games begin.
The seven-year w*r was basically
Phil in the beginning
versus Jay.
Then it became
the Phil versus Kai.
Jay Cutler,
he respected and appreciated
the new king in Phil Heath.
I didn't.
Ooh. Who is Kai L Greene?
My greatest nemesis.
I know I'm one of one,
but he is too.
Kai Greene's
from New York, Brooklyn.
He is an orphan,
had a rough life growing up.
He's been a champion
for a long time.
Masterful poser, poetic,
not just onstage but offstage.
He was now gonna be in my way.
I came there with big dreams,
and this means something to me,
and I wanna win.
Behind the scenes,
everybody makes
their sacrifices as they do,
everybody deals
with their demons as they do,
and now I'm a fighter.
He was so impressive.
I had attended shows
where I would be cheering
for the guy,
standing on my chair,
like, fist-pumping,
and then people
looking at me, like,
"What the f*ck are you doing?"
Man, did we go at it!
2012, he came in sharp.
I came in more dense.
Mandatories,
or compulsory poses,
is what I did better,
in my opinion.
If it was just signature sh*ts,
he probably b*at me,
but that's not
how it was judged.
I was able to win.
Phil Heath!
2013, that was a blowout.
He'll admit that.
Back lat spread!
Phil Heath had one callout
in the show,
and they said, "We don't even
need to see anything else."
I don't know if in my era
I've ever seen that happen.
Three-time
Mr. Olympia, Phil Heath!
It was that 2013
Arnold Classic Europe show
that it started
to bother him a lot.
I downsized for that show,
he upsized, and I b*at him.
I remember
hearing him backstage
screaming and hollering,
just pissed off.
And of course I'm like...
Your goal or expectation
personally had to be
to aspire
to come up with something
that could answer that.
So...
now I picked a fight.
Although I can talk about it
much more positively now,
during that time,
I f*cking hated him.
It's one thing to say, like,
Jay and Ronnie had a rivalry.
We just f*cking despised
one another.
Without me,
he would have been Mr. Olympia
probably eight times.
Those other guys
were not as good as him.
That following year
at the press conference,
I knew he was going to go
into att*ck mode.
After all these years of
training, after all this work,
all this... this... this...
all this angst
that's like built up inside of
you, "Listen, man, this is it."
He's gonna do
something f*cking nuts
at this press conference,
'cause he hasn't tried
to get into this yet.
Everyone came here
with the expectation
that you're the best,
and if we don't hold hands
with you
and aren't ready
to turn around
and respect you
because you won 2014,
suddenly
we're being disrespectful?
That's not true. 2014 is 2014.
2013 is the past.
You got Team Kai and Team Phil.
"f*ck you, Phil."
"f*ck you, Kai."
I mean, it was bad.
So let's do it, Phil.
Kick my assets, then.
I'm here.
People would see us
in the same room and be like...
Like, other athletes
would get uncomfortable.
Give me three facts
as to why you will b*at...
He can't do it.
...Phil Heath on Saturday night.
You just gave him a chance
and he started rambling on.
"Can't"?
Are you interrupting again?
This is who I am.
I don't care what you say.
I don't care what to do.
I'm gonna be the best me
on this stage
that is worthy of what I believe
will be Mr. Olympia this year.
His objective
was to rattle the cage.
Fact one, we'll outweigh him
by 40 pounds.
Fact two, we'll be wider.
Fact three,
it's all over from the rear.
How does that feel,
though, Phil?
Did you hear it?
Are you thinking about it?
And I was doing
everything in my power
to keep it from him.
Phil, give me three facts
as to why Kai
can't b*at you onstage.
2011, 2012 and 2013!
That's the past, brother.
Nobody ever tells you
what will happen
if you spent all these months,
all these years, you know,
building yourself up to
this one moment of opportunity.
He's trying to breathe
down my neck onstage,
his hair extensions
into my face.
And I was like,
"This m*therf*cker
just do this sh*t on purpose?"
It got to the point where
it was almost physical onstage.
Before you know it,
he and I are, like, toe to toe.
Okay, what the f*ck
are we doing right now?
Are we about to scrap?
Just for a moment, you know,
yeah, maybe the way
it starts to look,
it doesn't look like
you're making great decisions.
You know
the appropriate thing to do.
The appropriate thing is to
keep your hands to yourself.
The appropriate thing to do
is to, you know,
just present to the judges
and to the...
like you're supposed to,
however...
Damn!
Steve Weinberger's,
"Kai, Phil, stop!"
You snap out of it,
you realize how weird is this.
You got two big-ass black dudes,
oiled up,
in these little-ass trunks,
about to fight.
"What did he do?" "He looked
at... Well, he looked at..."
"Well, he just looked at you."
"What are you, 12?
What are you, two?"
Nah, I'm cool, fam,
like, I don't do that.
This is not a place
for gangsters,
so we're not gangsters today.
And this is not MMA.
This is a bodybuilding stage.
At the end of the day,
as much as you may feel
passionate about some things,
you really still
have to be responsible
and control yourself.
I was head judging at the time.
I saw the whole thing evolve.
You train a whole year
for a show
and the guy's
this much better than you?
It's frustrating.
It's like, "f*ck. Not again."
We never did a callout
next to each other again
in that prejudging,
so it really f*cked
the whole thing up.
He and I f*cked it up.
Was it worth it to do?
No, I guess.
There's some things you're just
not supposed to do, so I...
Mmm.
Yeah, yeah.
Mmm.
He never overcame
b*ating the champ onstage.
Although there was always
the fans
that thought Kai Greene
should have been a winner,
Phil, he just dominated
the stage.
Really, what b*rned Kai out,
Phil mentally b*at him,
and Kai took off,
and he hasn't been back since.
A lot of times
people will think
that a rivalry
is the thing that defines you.
I am always gonna be the guy
that did not like Phil Heath,
you know?
But... that is...
That... That's not true.
I have to be thankful
for being focused
and disciplined enough
as he had to be
in order to be the success
that he... he became.
We've now come full circle
and actually sit
in the same room.
We've talked on the phone.
We'll both cuss each other out.
"f*ck you, Kai."
"f*ck you, Phil Heath."
"I like you, man,
but f*ck you."
And I'm good with that.
He had answers.
And you have to give respect
where it's due.
I lacked an extra gear
with him away.
It was a different why.
All right, I've had enough
of this clown.
Shurie, Chad is
up to his bullshit again.
- Chad?
- Ocho.
Oh.
These are 150s, Phil.
150s.
Listen.
-I got your potatoes cooking.
-Mmm.
Um, steak and potatoes,
not a bad dinner.
The first time
I actually saw Phil
was when
I was watching Kai Greene.
I was a fan of Kai Greene
before I was a fan of Phil.
Phil, at the time,
he was Mr. Olympia,
four-time going on five-time.
I saw her and I was just like,
"Who is that?"
It was because of
just how we vibed together
and things
that we talked about.
People say
we're actually married,
but we're still engaged.
Online it says you're married.
-How does that work?
-I don't know.
The fans actually decide if
we're married or not, I guess.
For the longest time
I was called "the girlfriend,"
which I actually named
my Instagram "the girlfriend."
I brought her on tour.
I told her, I was like,
"You're gonna fly
a million miles
within a two, three-year span."
She's like, "Okay," and next
thing you know, she's like,
"Holy sh*t,
this is a lot to deal with."
I'm talking about a woman that
has four autoimmune issues,
fibromyalgia, Hashimoto's,
you name it.
And she still wanted
to accompany me
to the gym every night.
I never thought
I would be able
to spend time with someone
day after day, every day,
all day, help manage them,
help support them
on every aspect of their life.
My dad was a huge baseball fan.
He would even go
to the Minor League games.
- Really?
- Yeah.
Phil found out
that his dad had a rare disease
that was going
to take his life.
The day
he went into hospital,
he never came home again.
He was always in the hospital.
He would go to Seattle
and sit with his dad,
even if it was just
for a few days.
He would make sure
his dad would eat.
When I was winning
the first one, he was there,
the second one as well.
Wait a minute, like,
we're just now starting
to reconnect through this sport
and he's able to share with me
some intimate moments,
and my win is his win.
I was scrolling through
my phone the other day
and I just randomly saw
some pics from Olympias.
That's me, that's my uncle,
that's my uncle's wife,
and there's my dad
in the background.
I like this pic
because it lets me know
that he was always there,
watching.
- Okay, look up there.
- Hey, Phil, Congratulations.
I'm really proud of you.
We're all proud of you, Phil.
Hey, we knew you could do it.
So now get ready
for number four. Okay?
Thank you for making my life
and everybody's life
a lot better.
And we all love you.
Congratulations, Phil.
You did it!
You would think
you'd wanna watch it
over and over and over again.
But... I just couldn't,
because it's like accepting
that he's gone,
instead of celebrating
a good moment.
It's crazy how your mind works.
To know that that spirit of
my father is living through me.
What boy doesn't wanna
impress his dad?
That's how cool my dad is.
Mr. Cool Breeze, man.
He was over here dying,
and he was trying
to make me feel special.
I'm appreciative of the fact
that he didn't quit.
The next spring, he passed.
He was only truly given
one month,
and he hung out
until that following spring.
I take that with me every day.
I was by myself
in the gym a lot.
I'd talk to my dad many times,
on the cardio,
on the leg press, on squats,
especially on leg day.
It was always like,
"You can do more."
Come on, man. Yeah.
Come on. Come on.
He was walking it with me.
Around 2014, that's
when things really changed.
Phil was the first Mr. Olympia
to deal with Instagram,
social media.
That shifted the whole way
bodybuilding was viewed
by fans, by... by everyone.
Minute-to-minute,
second-to-second updates
where people could see
what was happening
inside people's lives
for the first time.
People were very tempted to try
to tear that person down.
When Instagram came out,
oh, man.
Initially it was cool.
You're just sharing.
Everything was so positive.
Winning the third time,
fourth time,
that's when the hate started
getting, you know, pretty big.
Scary enough
to make you realize,
like, you shouldn't give
that much access to people,
because if you do, like, it
could get really ugly and dark.
Nobody could instruct him
on what was coming,
'cause nobody
dealt with it before.
Jay didn't deal with it.
Ronnie didn't deal with it.
He's the first one,
so he's the learning curve.
I think he was frustrated.
And instead of just ignoring
it, he was f*ring back.
I would just
intentionally feed into it.
In the gym, that's when
I went to a different place,
and I just said,
"I'm gonna become
the f*cking dream k*ller."
He's on his way
to just continuing to destroy,
take title after title.
I was like, "Oh, no,
I'll show you m*therf*ckers."
"I'm gonna go in there.
I'm gonna train twice a day."
"I'm gonna do cardio
twice a day."
I wanted to ruin
their f*cking dreams.
I wanted to basically b*at 'em
until they stopped screaming.
That was me.
2015, Phil Heath keeps winning.
Dexter Jackson arguing
he should have won.
Hear it every year.
The guy who's second always
thinks they should have won.
I said the same thing
when I was second.
And in 2016,
oh, man, that was nasty.
I was so excited
to go give them hell.
Keeping Shawn at arm's reach.
The six-time Mr. Olympia...
- There it is.
- ...Phil "The Gift" Heath!
Phil Heath makes it six
in a row, tying Dorian Yates.
Going into number seven,
different territory.
It's Arnold time.
Just to put your name
next to him,
I mean, who can say that?
Even now, whew!
Going back
to the drawing board,
Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding,
watch Pumping Iron again.
The battle between
Ramy and I is on,
a guy that weighs
300 pounds onstage.
And I think that year
I was like 246.
For the first time,
Phil Heath had some competition
that was wider, bigger,
but not as sharp.
People online are like,
"Oh, he's gonna get dwarfed."
'Cause Ramy,
he's a walking shadow
on these other competitors.
Was he bigger than Phil?
Absolutely.
Did he have better shape
than Phil? No.
He was able to highlight
Big Ramy's weak points.
He won from the back.
He smoked these guys.
And all I remember
saying is, "This is yours."
"I'm gonna step
into this new era."
And I heard:
"And the seven-time..."
And then the whole crowd just...
No matter what happened
from that day,
I was tied
with Arnold Schwarzenegger,
the Oak, the Terminator,
the man!
I'm seven-time Mr. Olympia.
Walking off, I felt like
my life was limitless.
I was born with a hernia.
My parents got me surgery
a little too early.
At like three years old.
You're supposed to wait.
It just started slowly
becoming a problem.
2014, 2015, then 2016.
It looked like
I had a thumb coming out
of my f*cking stomach.
Phil ended up having
intestinal strangulation.
Three inches of his intestines
were in his belly button,
pushing it forward.
I got patched up,
a quarter size piece of mesh.
I thought,
"Okay, this is nothing."
"I'll be back in no time
in the gym."
But the doctor had told me
I don't have much fascia
around my abdominal region.
As I'm cinching my belt,
getting ready for another lift,
I feel like a pop,
and I'm like,
"Oh, my God.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God."
I can't feel
my belly button at all.
He tore that piece off.
At that point,
his abs were separating now.
The hernia
turned into two hernias.
It's three weeks out
before the f*cking show.
I'm going for number eight.
I'm supposed to win this thing.
I did what any athlete
would do,
work on being
90% or 85% better.
You don't always have be 100%
to win.
We all have a limitation
where our physiques
look the best.
Phil shows up.
Shawn Rhoden's there.
Where Phil was lacking
was Shawn Rhoden's strong point.
That was the midsection.
I still thought,
even on Friday night,
that I'm easily gonna win
this show.
Woke up the next day, Hany
Rambod, my trainer, comes in.
"Bad news.
You're not gonna win."
"There's no way mathematically
that I can win,
or that I still can fight?"
"Just go do you."
"Fight hard,
fight hard, fight hard."
Back double, back lat spread,
most muscular.
Side chest, side tri.
You're telling me
I'm losing these sh*ts?
I remember looking at Dexter,
'cause he's on the side,
and he's just like,
"Keep fighting, man."
Oh, it's in every pose,
the stomach, almost.
Front double bicep,
abdominals and thighs.
You could even see it
on a side chest
and a side tricep sticking out.
It's hard to hide a stomach.
It finally came to the point
where it hurt his physique.
When I would hit the sh*ts,
everything would be fine.
Transitioning
in and out of poses,
it was definitely difficult,
because if you can't feel it,
you can't feel it.
In my opinion, I mean,
you're supposed to be judged
on the... the time
that you hit the pose,
not when you're in transition,
that's just in the rules.
When I heard
that Shawn won, I'm like,
"Well, I know
they'll make mistakes."
I had him winning it,
but I wasn't judging,
so my opinion didn't count.
It would have sent
the wrong message
to all the other competitors
that you could show up
with a bloated stomach and win,
even though
everything else is good.
You can't.
That was enough,
that Shawn was at
his absolute best on that day,
he nailed it,
and he was able to b*at Phil.
I was like, "Get it
over with. Just do it."
I can disagree with the call,
but I'm not sitting
where they're sitting.
Honestly,
I judged that show and...
That's...
I feel fulfilled, 'cause Phil
really didn't lose that show.
How can I say that? Well,
'cause they were so close.
Some say it was controversial.
It is what it is.
On the day, the judges picked
who they wanted to pick.
It was...
It was a bad day for Phil.
It was hard
to look at the audience.
You're hearing...
"Breathe. Be calm."
I still told Shawn
that he looked great,
which he did,
that he deserved it,
that he should enjoy
this moment.
Not only did he lose the title.
He also didn't get
number eight.
I can't imagine
the mindset that he had
wondering what's next.
When he was up there,
I saw the pain.
He felt like he devastated us.
He was broken.
I felt like I deserved
to have to walk home,
because I felt like
I let everybody down,
and I just didn't wanna
see anybody.
"What the f*ck, man?
What happened?"
"What am I gonna do?"
'Cause I'm gonna do a lot more
than just a surgery now.
I can't run from this.
Definitely not the outcome
that we had wanted.
Um, but, look, uh,
these things happen.
I've watched them happen
to Ronnie Coleman back in 2005.
I watched it happen to Jay,
losing to Dexter.
Definitely a lot
of heavy emotions with it, uh,
but it is what it is.
I just wanna say
thank you, guys,
for all the ongoing support.
And congrats to Shawn Rhoden.
You did a good job.
I was already on the phone
trying to get him surgery again.
You have to realize that a body
can only be pushed so far.
After so many years,
there's nothing you can do.
When the injury's gonna
come out, it's gonna come out.
- Gonna take care of you.
- All right.
Our anesthetist will speak
to you in a couple of minutes,
and he'll make sure he keeps you
extra comfortable.
- You ready to do this?
- Yeah.
Doctor, a question for you...
That meant
don't even think about
stepping in the gym.
You're gonna need help
just getting up,
going to the bathroom.
They have to take it,
bring those abs back together,
put titanium staples in
and then six inches of mesh.
He knew
that this could pretty much be
the end of his career.
Your belly button
didn't waste back.
-So the timing was perfect.
-So you got it right in time.
Got it in,
tightened everything up.
I actually went up
on the rectus muscles itself,
because even the edges
of the fascia on the muscle
were thinned out because this
stuff had been pulling on it.
You've worked out heavy
of late, I bet.
This is a foam tape,
so it should come off
fairly easily,
but it will pull on your skin
a little bit.
The rehab on my body
had nothing on the rehab
I had to do on here
and in here.
Yeah, you can shower
and bathe, get them wet.
You get home,
and very quiet.
There was days
that I would see him
just staring at the wall.
I knew at that point,
this must be depression.
This must be what he felt
when he got out of college.
This is happening again.
Didn't talk to Shurie much.
I think it affected
our relationship a little bit.
She would have to beg
for me to communicate.
I didn't know
how to address it.
I didn't wanna bring up
the failure.
I didn't wanna bring up,
"You can still do it."
I didn't wanna do any of that
to him. I'm not him.
I'm not a seven-time
Mr. Olympia champion.
I don't know
what this feels like.
I took upon a challenge
to journal.
Shurie would bring over, um,
a cup of coffee,
and I would sit there with
my thoughts and pad and pen
and just write down words
that just came to my mind.
It was just a way for me
to stay away from the internet.
After a couple of weeks,
man, it was getting very dark
on that pad of paper.
"I'm so upset. I'm so angry."
"I am not happy with who I am."
"Quit or continue?"
"Quit or keep going?"
"You have to
love yourself more."
Yeah. So, yeah.
Now the reporters
are coming in.
"He's never gonna be the same."
f*ck. The fans,
they started getting upset.
I've heard it all.
"I hope you die."
"I hope Shurie gets ill."
"I don't give a f*ck
about her illness."
Right after my dad d*ed, say,
"Yeah, I'm glad
that your dad d*ed."
"I hope your mom does too."
It's something
that I haven't mastered yet.
Even the enthusiast,
the most devout enthusiast
behind the scenes
will probably
never even care to know
how hot that spotlight is
at times.
So there's a lot of room
for misinterpretation.
The merit of your work,
it speaks for itself.
All you gotta do
is remember who you are,
stay healthy,
and you're ahead of the game.
And, you know,
out of all the athletes,
he was the one
that f*cking called.
Can you believe that?
The guy that I said I hated
at one point in time
picked up the f*cking phone.
When I've said in other
interviews I love that guy,
I can say I love him for that.
It was actually what he needed.
It re-centered him.
It refocused him on,
"What do I want? Because
bodybuilding is not forever."
I didn't know
who the f*ck I was.
Now I know who I am.
At that point, nobody
saw him basically coming back.
I thought that Phil was done.
Don't do the Olympia.
No matter what,
make a commitment this summer
and live like you're retired.
See what that feels like.
Shurie was like, "What?"
When he started
to feel a little bit better,
I had gotten really sick
with breast implant illness.
I had actually been sick
for three years,
not knowing
what was wrong with me.
I had some people ask me,
"Hey, are you gonna
have someone take care of you
while Phil does the Olympia?"
I told Phil, I said,
"Do you wanna go?"
"I'm okay.
I can have my mom stay."
He's like,
"No, I'm staying home."
I was starting to heal this,
and I was starting to heal,
obviously, this.
Not going to the Olympia
was key.
The 2019 Mr. Olympia
champion was Brandon Curry.
I started
my first Olympia in 2011.
I placed last place
two or three times.
Last basically means
you don't place.
Each year after, kept improving,
until last year I just end up
taking the Sandow home.
Someone has to win.
Brandon was the best
on that night and he won.
There was no one there
to challenge him.
Even with Phil's stomach, maybe
it would have been good enough
for him to b*at Brandon, maybe.
Brandon's been around
for a long time.
Brandon's not new.
He brought up
all the body parts
that he had missing or lagging.
Mr. Olympia now.
Brandon gonna see that trophy
every day.
Everybody criticized me
last year.
"Ah, he didn't b*at nobody."
It doesn't feel great,
but, you know,
I still got the title,
so it's cool.
All of 2019,
I was hoping he'd come back.
I was questioning whether I was
ever gonna get the opportunity
to stand toe to toe with Phil.
After watching Brandon
win, the fans were excited.
I thought,
"Hmm, if I made a comeback,
what would that look like?"
I remember looking at Shurie
and it was almost like
trying to get permission,
like, "Hey, one more time?
One more time?"
If you tell that to anybody,
they think you're crazy.
Why would you wanna
put yourself in that position
to even risk it?
He was risking it
for seven years.
Ten years from now
you're having regrets.
You're like,
"Man, I could have won
eight, nine, ten
of these things
if I would have just gave it
my best sh*t."
To provide added motivation,
Shurie made sure
that this trophy case,
along with the Sandows,
were placed in an area
where I'd have to stare at
every day.
And normally
I would never do that.
They would be in the basement.
Just the opportunity
to go after number eight again.
I owe it to myself
to give another cr*ck at this.
Here we were,
both of us healed,
ready to get through this prep,
kind of like starting over
a little bit,
and COVID happens.
A SARS-like virus which has
infected hundreds in China
has now reached
the United States.
It is a pandemic
at this point.
Let's talk about
what that means.
When spring hit, that's
when the lockdowns happened.
Now we're at the mercy
of a pandemic.
They closed the gym,
and that was like that
for months.
And I said, why
don't you turn the lights on?
He goes, "I think the city's
gonna find out if I'm in here,
and I don't wanna put Dylan
in that position."
I'd just be in there
with the light on the iPhone.
We would see
canceled shows left and right.
Gone to Australia. They
canceled everything after that.
And we're like, "Man, are we
gonna really have a season?"
We're getting ready for a show.
"What if I'm training and doing
all this for nothing?"
The Olympia might not happen.
States started opening.
There were shows starting
to be thrown in states.
And I'm like,
"Okay, we got hope."
"This is gonna go down."
Knowing that
we were gonna do the Olympia
months before the announcement
was very, very hard
to keep quiet.
We were on lockdowns
and people are just now
getting back in the gym
during the pandemic.
So now the countdown begins.
Will the fans go crazy?
Let's see what the hell
happens now.
Hmm.
How does that feel?
Um... relieved.
'Cause everybody
in the freaking world is like,
-"Are you coming back?"
-Yeah.
"Are you coming back?"
Are you... Are you happy?
Just, uh, waking up
to you breaking the internet,
putting the announcement
out there.
As far as today is concerned,
I mean,
a lot of people are happy,
but, I mean, obviously
we got a lot of work to do.
And then I get to ask you, Hany,
um, shall we have the crab
or lobster?
And I say why not have both?
Right? Oh, man.
I'm glad you're happy.
I know you're motivated.
But you know me.
Now it's time to get to work.
Now every day, every hour,
every meal, every set,
every rep.
All right, man.
All right, bro. Love you.
And I'll talk to you later, man.
All right.
-All right, later. Bye.
-Okay. Bye.
4,000 comments
in three hours.
I love this one:
"The return of the king."
I'm like,
"Dude, that was my tagline."
When he announced
that he was coming back,
I was shocked,
I was ecstatic for him.
That made me train even harder,
because Phil is the one guy
that drives me.
Who would have thunk it?
Who would have thunk it?
When I got the news... Man...
You know,
I'm not a real emotional guy,
but I let out "Yeah!", you know?
Can't believe it, in a sense.
Everybody don't get this, man.
Everybody don't get this.
Couldn't thank anybody more.
I really couldn't.
When we committed
to doing the Olympia
months in advance
before we announced it,
we already were preparing.
We needed to get the business
taken care of,
get things running smoothly,
so then he can focus
on the prep.
Getting ready
for a prep,
it generally takes me
about four months.
You blink twice and it'll be
like two weeks out.
When I go train,
it's do or die, it's w*r,
and I must learn something.
You gotta know how
to make the proper adjustments
to be able to land
and peak onstage for the show
and not before or after.
Starting 12 to 16 weeks
before the contest
is when we started going
into the fat-burning stages.
What we're trying to do
is get leaner
up until about
a week out from the show.
Then it's about
the water manipulation.
The biggest obstacle
I can tell
from every bodybuilder that's
ever trained for Olympia title
is the nutritional aspect.
It's extreme eating,
extreme dieting,
extreme physique.
My role in this
whole prep life that we have
is to support him
in every way possible.
Every two hours,
fresh meals, um, every day.
He'll never
have something reheated.
It's been about five years now
that I've been doing this
with Phil.
It's just
a whole different body
that we're dealing with
this time,
so it'll get a little bit
more intense as we go.
It becomes a full-time job.
I spend seven hours
a day eating food, no lie.
But I didn't know that
it was such an extreme level.
He'll sit there for hours
and just chew.
The jaw gets tired.
The stomach gets tired.
You get tired
of running to the bathroom.
People say,
"Oh, that's bullshit."
"They're eating seven times
a day. I could do that."
No, you can't.
We're meal prepping,
going to chiropractic,
doing the cryo...
coming home, doing orders,
eating, more calls.
Then we're getting
another meal then,
and I'm doing one of these.
I'm tapping him
on the shoulder saying,
"Hey, it's 10 o'clock.
The gym is finally closed."
"Let's go train."
He'll push himself to the limit
until he's hobbling
out of the gym in exhaustion.
You drive 35 minutes
to get home.
He has to have another meal
and then digest.
So our day doesn't end
till about 3 a.m.
Then it's the routine
of doing it day in, day out,
without any distractions.
Those long, late nights
turn into early mornings
day after day for months.
It's like Groundhog Day.
Living the same day
over and over and over.
It is mentally
and physically,
emotionally draining.
They have no social life at
all. You're kind of withdrawn.
You have to keep like this.
And you have to stay focused
and locked in
and stay in the pocket.
Now, does the body
follow the psyche?
How far can that go?
He's gonna turn 41.
Him and I haven't trained at all
this year because of COVID.
How heavy could I get,
while lean,
before I potentially
tear something again?
Whatever trick
I got up my sleeve
that I've always wanted to try,
you're doing it.
Ah, f*ck.
Michael always wanted
to stand out.
Tiger always wanted
to stand out.
There's nothing normal
about the way Tiger thinks,
there's nothing normal
about the way Michael thinks,
there's nothing normal
about the way Phil thinks
and the way they do things.
They're all crazy.
Crazy means
you have the ability
to see and do things
that other people can't,
and that's the best part
of all.
He would ask me,
"Am I training hard enough?"
"What can I do more?"
And I said, "Well,
you're doing everything great."
"You're doing everything
you've always done."
And he said, "No, something's
missing. I wanna f*ck sh*t up!"
He's like, "I just wanna...
I wanna tear these walls down."
And I said, "Do it!"
He's like, "Yeah!"
It was that moment
where it was like, "He's back."
You quads are...
They're there.
Yeah.
Still got a ways to go.
Not bad for them being depleted.
Yeah, and you're
already separated
all the way to the hip.
- Yeah.
- Which is sick.
Look at that.
Wow. You're already corded
through the back.
Where are your calves?
You're holding
onto your weight, finally.
It's almost 1:15, or it's
actually already past it. Jeez.
I'm so proud. Keep it up.
The night before we left
for the Olympia,
we had a blizzard snowstorm.
We were standing there
looking out the window,
and it's one in the morning.
He says, "You know, Shurie, we
have to train no matter what."
It's a whiteout.
We're there
till 3:30 in the morning.
Dominoes were lined up, just...
and watch 'em all unfold.
I started getting like chills,
like just chills up and down.
He lands in Orlando.
He's a little out of place
because it's not Las Vegas
for the first time.
We get off the plane.
Phil goes,
"Oh, this is gonna be rough."
In Vegas, it's a little
easier to lose that water
'cause there's no humidity,
it's dry.
When you're in a place
such as Florida,
it's a little harder
to make that water adjustment.
You have to keep going,
get his meal in,
try to get his body moving.
- Let's get to work!
- Get him to the gym.
Hany does an incredible job
with making sure
that Phil is doing well,
everything's working.
His body is changing
literally every hour.
But we have our friends
stay with us.
A chiropractor who's working
on Phil the entire time.
Every hour adjusting his body.
Even in the middle
of the day and night, 3 a.m.,
he's getting worked on.
I don't think
you're gonna have any problems.
On Wednesday,
it's the athletes' check-in.
I have no idea
what I'm walking into.
The fight week.
Mr. Olympia competitors,
can you please find your seats?
We recognize that this has been
one of the more challenging
contest preps
maybe in the history
of this sport
when you consider
the litany of things
that you guys
have had to endure.
For those here
for the first time, welcome.
This is the lineup
for your 2020 Olympia.
The greatest threats
that Phil has right now.
Let's start
with William Bonac:
big legs, great conditioning.
Densely muscled, huge
arms, huge chest, huge back.
A little monster.
Hadi Choopan,
great newcomer from Iran.
He was very dangerous.
Hadi runs the stage.
I seen it. I experienced it.
Tremendous physique,
so I knew that
he was gonna be ready.
Dexter coming back
at 50 years old.
He's won more contests
than any bodybuilder ever.
I have won a total
of 29 IFBB professional shows.
I've won nine Arnold Classics.
I've won Mr. Olympia.
I won Masters Olympia.
I've won Olympia Europe.
If I win the Olympia this year,
I will be the oldest man to win
the title at 51 years old.
Next guy in line
would be Big Ramy.
A lot of people started
hearing from big Ramy's camp
that Big Ramy
was in really good condition.
But mind you,
everybody says that.
It's just always
that elusive combination
of conditioning
he has yet to master,
and everyone's waiting,
you know, "Is this the year?"
If Ramy can come in
shredded, he could b*at anybody
because of
his sheer size alone.
Those are the main names,
but right now the person that
everyone's looking to knock out
is Brandon Curry,
the current Mr. Olympia.
He's looking
for vindication.
He's never had to consider me
onstage competitively
'cause I've never really been
in his box.
I think he is less aware
of what he's gonna face than I.
To him, it's gonna be new.
To me, it's not.
Everybody's got
their game face on
even through a f*cking mask.
I even have the opportunity
to maybe possibly even retire
with two Mr. Olympias.
I don't know
if that's been done.
Once you realize
everybody's human,
that's all the motivation
you need.
It's like,
"They're just like me."
Competitor number six,
Phil Heath.
When I put my name
on the dotted line,
I knew for f*cking sure
that I was gonna get
their best effort.
If his stomach's on point
and he come back
"Vengeance Phil,"
then everybody's in trouble.
The hype now,
all eyes on you.
Emotions drain you.
It's like a sugar high.
You go up and down.
And if you can find
that one emotion,
happiness, anger,
it could be sadness,
it puts you in the zone
and it creates the clarity.
What's the most expensive
and the precious real estate
in the world?
It's what you have in here.
And the people that can keep
those individuals out of there
are the ones
that become unstoppable,
the ones that become champions
over and over and over again.
Seven-time champion,
Phil "The Gift" Heath!
You have a lot of anxiety.
You have a lot
of unanswered questions.
If you asked
nine out of ten people
who was gonna win this contest,
Phil Heath was still chosen.
I think he took in the fact
that a lot of people
are rooting for me
for the first time
in a long time.
We are here
and it's Olympia time, brother.
First word always goes
to the champ.
And give it up
for your reigning,
defending Olympia champion,
Brandon Curry!
Well, I wanna say,
I really do appreciate Phil
for coming back to the table.
Uh, this is a dream come true.
It's an honor.
Is that the same Brandon Curry
you competed against
a couple of years ago,
or is this a different guy?
I have no idea,
and that's no disrespect to him.
It was...
It's just not about that.
I wanna go get my title back,
that's it.
Did you lose the Mr. Olympia,
or did Shawn Rhoden
win the Olympia?
And how did you economize that
in the past two years?
It doesn't matter what I think
about what happened
at that time.
Just get f*cking better,
and don't get bitter.
And that's what I did.
-Big Ramy.
-Yes, sir.
We have heard this
for years now:
"Big Ramy's coming.
Big Ramy's coming."
"He's 300 pounds. You can't
b*at him. He's too big."
"He's bigger than Phil.
He's bigger than Brandon."
"He doesn't have
the quality, though."
Do you have the quality now?
He wasn't defending
for the first time
in a press conference.
I took notice, it was almost
like he was happy to be there.
I've been perceived
as the villain.
I've been perceived
as the assh*le.
People that once hated you
are now loving you again.
I didn't get that
when I was winning
year after year after year.
They were like, "Yeah, it's you
again. Yeah, okay, yeah."
The passion I have
for this sport,
that press conference
was, for me, all about that.
At the same time,
there was business to be done.
I know how I can make mistakes,
I know how I could take things
for granted,
and I know that I can grow from
it, and I'm here to show that.
I knew when I get back there,
I'm gonna be
a different person,
and that different person
is dangerous.
I think
everybody's waiting to see
what's gonna happen
tomorrow night.
Seven, six, five,
squeeze, squeeze,
four, three, two, one.
There you go.
Good. Hold it.
Yeah.
Twist.
Roll.
Last workout.
Thank goodness. We made it.
Last workout ever, maybe.
-Ever.
-Ever?
We'll see after Saturday.
I ain't gonna get
too sentimental,
but I appreciate it.
I appreciate you guys, you know.
It's been a long time,
a long-ass journey.
- It's a wrap, homie.
- I know.
We've been working
together now for 15 years,
15 years,
through most of my adult life.
He was there
the first night I met my wife.
He was in my wedding.
And he was there
when my dad d*ed of COVID.
Sorry, guys.
When my parents got sick,
I talked to him,
talked to, you know,
a handful of people.
He would always text and say,
"Tell your dad
we're gonna go to Red Lobster."
'Cause that's where
we would always go eat.
And him and my dad would always
eat those damn biscuits.
But, um, yeah,
it's been a tough year, man.
It's been a tough year.
It was nice.
My team put balloons in my room,
so that was... that was cool.
Yeah. I'm still a kid.
This is when it gets real.
-This looks clean.
-Mm-hm.
You ready
to get your clothes on?
-Yeah.
-Okay.
Last night I was asleep
and I kept...
You know, I was waking up
'cause I kept having to go pee.
Then you wanna like peel down
and see what you look like.
And I'm like,
"I need to get back to bed."
And then I woke up and I was
like nauseous all morning.
You're anxious, wanna get it on.
Overthinking is the art
of creating problems
that don't exist.
Yeah.
Every time you went to work out,
you were down there alone.
I know she was in the gym
with you.
- Right.
- All right?
At times your trainer
was in the gym with you.
But even the times
when you were in there alone,
you weren't alone.
You was with the people up here
that you needed to be with.
I haven't stepped
on a stage in two years.
What's that gonna feel like?
You can cut the air
with a Kn*fe. It's nervous.
You don't know
what anyone's looking like.
They're all covered up.
It's only when they start
to put the oil on
and you can start looking
at what people look like.
"Oh, sh*t, he's in shape,"
or, "He missed his peak."
I was trying
to make sure that I wasn't,
"Oh, I'm just happy to be here,
guys. Hey, what's up?"
Nah, man, I'm happy to be here,
but I'm here
to take what's mine.
The minute
I pulled off my sweats
and was able
to take a look at myself
and it became more familiar,
then it became pretty fun.
When Ramy or Brandon would
come by, I'd have to switch it,
because I'm trying
to make them realize
that, like,
I'm still that dude.
"Watch yourself, m*therf*cker.
I'm still that dude."
Everybody's gonna be
waiting on Phil
to come out of those clothes,
get oiled up, start pumping up.
Everybody's gonna be waiting.
Some people are just gonna be
looking, "That's Phil Heath."
They're not gonna be able
to get that out of their mind.
Other guys,
they're gonna study him,
they're gonna analyze
and break him down.
If he keeps his shirt on
too long, gonna be like,
"This guy,
he ain't took that shirt off."
"Something's not right."
Don't give me anything.
I'm gonna take it.
It'll build my confidence.
I knew what everybody
wanted to see.
They wanted to see
the f*cking stomach.
I take off everything and now
everybody's taking pictures.
I was talking some sh*t, like,
"Y'all wanted to see this."
"Look at this in the mirror."
I'm not embarrassed
of any of this.
Took a lot of ass-whippings
in life
for me to get to this point.
I'm not ashamed of any of it.
Thank your body
for all the grueling workouts,
your mind,
just to get yourself here.
As I'm hearing
my number get called
and I have to go out there
for the first time
in 27 months,
I was tight in the chest
and just trying to get my air.
Last thing I wanna do
is pass out.
When I walked up
to the on-deck area, I'm ready.
What are they gonna think?
Why am I here?
The pivots
that I've had to make,
the failures and victories.
The feeling of my job is not
finished until I say it is.
When you get under those lights,
anything goes.
Hearing my name being called,
"Seven-time Mr. Olympia,
Phil Heath," walking out.
"I'm back."
That's what I kept thinking
to myself, "I'm back."
When you first step
on that stage,
you're not even capable
of processing:
"How do I take this all in?"
You just feel the energy.
It's moving around the room.
You can only go
by what you feel.
Did I hit this right?
Did I rotate my shoulder back?
Did I pull up my chest?
Did I arch my back just enough?
When you open
that whole thing up
and they start seeing
that back expand,
and those muscles contract and
those fibers start to move...
It's like being in your body,
but it's not like being
in your body at the same time.
"Everybody's analyzing me
right now."
"Please tell me I'm on."
Everybody has
a different style,
what they do onstage,
how they handle the stage.
Some guys pace themselves
in a certain way.
Some guys are always rushing,
nervous energy.
If you don't own it months out,
it will show up on that stage.
It's one thing
having practice reps,
another thing doing game reps.
These were championship
Olympia reps.
It was a beautiful moment
because of everything
we knew that we went through.
He said he was gonna
get back onstage. He did it.
But your job's not
finished. You gotta keep going.
The comparisons, really,
is where it all happens.
We'll call out
the bodybuilders side by side,
then put one back
and another one next to him,
then switch one to the left,
one to the right,
and that's when it really
starts to break down.
When you take them through the
poses and you pose 'em a lot,
some guys do better
and some guys fade.
Phil by himself
was absolutely amazing.
His stomach was in.
He looked really good.
I thought, "Holy sh*t.
It looks like he's gonna win."
But then one by one,
they started coming out,
they started doing comparisons.
Ronnie had a great
back double bicep,
and his glutes
looked amazing too.
Ramy and I
were toe to toe, so I was like,
"He's probably winning
right now,
but I'm probably
not that far behind."
When they put 'em
through the rounds,
like, they almost
couldn't make a decision.
We just kept going
over and over and over again.
"All right, Big Steve, you just
wanna keep going?"
"We'll just go all night."
And we did.
That was the longest prejudging
of callouts I've been in
in my Olympia career.
Coming out of night one,
Phil Heath was
in a solid second place.
Ramy was pretty dominant.
He had the size,
he had the shape,
he had the conditioning
for the first time ever.
Ramy, Phil.
It was close
between Bonac and Brandon.
But the next night
it completely changed.
Every decision that I made
led me to this point.
The future is gonna be
a lot different
after I get off
that bodybuilding stage
for the last time.
There's gonna be some unknowns.
I wanted to leave it
all out there.
You gotta do this
for your future self.
Hitting that front double
bicep, hitting that lat spread,
I was just having
the time of my life.
Have fun. Embrace this.
This is gonna be
your last time up here.
They don't know it.
They will later.
If you're not enjoying it,
neither will they.
Enjoy this moment in time.
You do not know
when your expiration date is,
so you might as well just
give it everything you got.
'Cause I'm still
f*cking standing,
and I still have
more in the t*nk,
and I still have the fire.
I ain't dead. I ain't dying.
I'm... I'm good.
Round after round,
as your body's getting tired,
as you're fighting to maintain,
you're looking at those judges,
"Ah, they can't see me fade.
They can't see me slip."
You're fighting
against yourself.
You have to be able
to use your peripheral vision.
You have to see
if this guy beside you
is gonna cheat up on you.
You're trying to get the energy
from the crowd.
They know you're fighting.
I prepared for months
and months and months.
Before you know it, you're on,
you're off, and it's done.
But as you go on that stage
year after year,
you have the ability
to take those moments in
and kind of
slow those moments down.
I did all this
and it's already gone.
To get back to the stage
after going through
the adversity
and the surgeries,
and a lot more personal things,
demons that you have to face,
him getting up there
and displaying a physique
that was at that level
was pretty damn amazing.
He came back
to f*cking compete,
and that's what he did.
That's how you go out
on your sword.
You go out f*cking swinging.
Now is the moment of truth.
It's time for us to line up
and have the verdict.
Who's gonna win
the 2020 Mr. Olympia?
Where am I gonna land in that?
And how's that gonna feel?
It's a Hail Mary
that you're gonna win this one.
They call out Hadi.
Next thing you know
it's myself, Ramy and Brandon.
This could go either way
right now.
Then they said,
"In third place Phil Heath."
Almost in disbelief.
And as I'm walking, I'm like,
"This is f*cking bullshit."
"Third, bro? Okay."
When I got closer
to the center of the stage,
I realized
that you would be a liar
if you didn't follow through
with what you were set to do.
You walk in
and you leave as a champion,
and no matter what happens,
that's how you're gonna be.
You have a choice,
and you're gonna do it honestly.
I got third
at my first Olympia,
and I got third at my last one,
and I kicked a lot
of f*cking ass in between.
No one can take that sh*t
away from me.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Put that sh*t around me.
Yeah, I know it's third place
and I don't f*cking like it.
But just put it around me.
Come on, let's go. But yes.
He finished third,
but that was kind of a shock
to everyone,
but, at the same time,
probably more of a shock
to Phil Heath.
It just was too much ground
to make up.
He wasn't able to do it.
He wasn't able
to secure number eight.
Was this the year Big Ramy
was coming to take the title?
And... new Olympia champion,
Big Ramy!
He showed up
at his all-time best.
He shocked everyone
and won the title.
When they called out Ramy
for winning that,
I was so excited,
was excited for both of 'em.
Because you climbed
a mountaintop.
It requires
a huge amount of discipline,
hard work and sacrifice,
all of which I've seen in both.
Brandon has sacrificed a ton.
I remember going up to him and
I just say, "You look great."
And I said,
"Anything that was ever said,
don't ever take it personal."
And I just needed him
to understand that.
If I would have told people
I was gonna be a Mr. Olympia,
especially when
I started competing
and my career
wasn't looking the best,
people would have probably
looked at me like I was crazy.
I've lost too much
in bodybuilding
to care about losing.
And I like the person
that I've become
because of that process.
To be compared to greatness
is a dream come true.
I wouldn't be the person
without the process.
Having to leave
my family every year
is probably
the hardest thing of all.
It's my job. It's how
I put food on the table.
I'm so looking forward
to being able to say,
"I'm done."
I was onstage
when they made the announcement
of Mr. Olympia.
I was handing out the award.
And I saw Phil's emotion.
He looked at me.
I saw greatness arrive,
and I saw greatness exit.
There's never gonna be
another Phil Heath again.
He stayed injury free
most of his career
until the very end.
Phil led an era of bodybuilding
that we may never see again.
His comeback was more about
the psychological win
than it was
holding another Sandow.
I don't think Phil has to prove
himself to anyone any longer.
I was able to look at myself
in the mirror
and love myself
for the first time.
I haven't been able to say that
in a long time.
It's not always
the athlete retires on top.
-Good run.
-It was a good run, bro.
A good run.
You look
at some of the greats,
Muhammad Ali,
you look at Mike Tyson,
you look at all these guys.
Same thing happened to me too.
It just wasn't meant to be
sometimes.
I'm gonna say this one time.
No f*cking sad faces, please.
All right? It is what it is.
So if I can smile...
'Cause none of y'all d*ed
and sh*t, so...
All right?
Every day you wake up,
there is work for you to do.
Maybe I'm an actor,
maybe I'm a writer.
Anything you decide to do,
once you recognize
that it's important enough for
you to do, it becomes valuable.
Heck, I grew up
playing the piano.
I could say that I ran track.
I could say
that I went to college.
I could say I worked bars
downtown Denver.
You will always
define yourself.
I just want you guys to know
that I love you
and I appreciate everything,
family and just good times,
'cause we've all definitely
gone through enough
during this freakin'
F'ed-up year.
So I'm just telling you guys
thank you, you know.
I am no longer competing.
That's it.
I said it.
I actually said it.
Holy sh*t. That's it.
That's the last time you'll
ever see me in posing trunks.
Unless I'm in a action film.
It's their turn.
I'll be sitting there
on Mount Rushmore
of Olympia champions.
I'll be watching.
Who knows? Maybe you see me with
a basketball in my hand again.
To be continued.