Biography of Phil Heath: how the great bodybuilder changed and how he became one

Biography of the brilliant Phil Heath

The history of bodybuilding remembers many iconic names: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman, Kevin Levrone and others. Each of these names has its own story of ups and downs. The life path of the muscular, huge Phil Heath was not easy. The fact that the athlete won the honorary title “Mr. Olympia” 6 times proves his determination.

Phillip Jerrod Heath was born in Seattle on December 18, 1979. From an early age, the child was fond of sports, especially basketball. In 1998, the guy joined the university basketball team, where he played as a shooter. To play on a professional court, the guy trained hard even when everyone went home.

In 2002, after graduating from university, I realized that my short stature would be an obstacle in basketball, so I decided to train in a gym with exercise equipment. Everything was interesting and new for the newcomer, new friends enlightened him on issues of training and nutrition. To everyone’s surprise, the guy won the Northern Colorado Championship in 2003, although this was his debut competition. Here the athlete met his future good friend Jay Cutler, who later became his mentor. In 2004, another important title “Mr. Colorado”, in 2005 - victory in the Junior Nationals and the US Championship. Due to a series of victories in various competitions, viewers nicknamed Heath “The gift.”

Size matters

For six years in a row there has not been an athlete who could be better than our hero. And this is despite some genetic deficiencies in Phil's body structure. His shoulders are noticeably narrow, his back lacks width, which the athlete, of course, disguises with intense training. In short, Wikipedia states the following parameters of the 2016 champion:

• height 175 cm;
• weight during the competition 114.31 kg;
• in the off-season 127.01 kg;
• neck 47 cm;
• biceps 58.48 cm;
• chest 140 cm;
• waist 73.66 cm:
• hip 81.28 cm;
• calves 50.8 cm.

True, this data is for September 2014. If you monitor various sources over the years, the numbers vary slightly, especially those after the decimal point. Yes, this is understandable, Phil works on himself every day.

As a teenager at school, he was only 168 centimeters tall. And thanks to basketball, by 2002 he had grown to 175. Phil considers his height to be small and, in order to visually compensate for this fact, he creates his body, intensively building up each muscle to impressive and already standard sizes for today. Yes, he had no equal on the Mr. Olympia 2016 podium. What is there!

And here are Heath’s anthropological data, with which he came to another victory on September 17 in Las Vegas:

• height 175 cm;
• weight during the competition 114 kg;
• in the off-season 125 kg;
• biceps 56 cm;
• neck 47 cm;
• waist 73 cm;
• hip 82 cm;
• calves 51 cm.

Major achievements in life

Phil Heath won many worthy awards in his youth.

• 2005 - absolute champion among juniors and amateurs;
• 2006 - best in New York Pro and Colorado Pro;
• 2008 - second at Arnold Classic, 1st at ArnoldMen Pro;
• 2009 - 5th in Olympia;
• 2010 - second place in Olympia and 2nd in Arnold Classic;
• 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 - six victories in a row at the prestigious Mr. Olympia competition!

Path to glory

In 2003, Phil took part in his first bodybuilding competition, and immediately took a prize. The athlete won the title “Mr. Colorado”. The following year he again took part in the Colorado Championships and again took first place. In 2005, the athlete won the US Championship. It was after this event that people started talking about Heath in the sports world. Interestingly, the rising star was not even a professional at that time.

The first victories made the bodybuilder believe in himself even more. He began to train with even greater involvement in the process and dedication, because his next goal was to win Mr. Olympia.

During the first few years of participation in various competitions, Phil was never defeated, and consistently took one of the prizes, even though he was not a professional. However, throughout his entire career, Heath consistently ranked in the top five in absolutely any competition.

In 2007, the athlete took part in the Arnold Classic competition, where he took 5th place. This was his first major competition; before that, Phillip participated mainly in local amateur competitions. Interestingly, just a year later, in 2008, Phillip took second place at the Arnold Classic. He took part in this competition again in 2010, again taking 2nd place.

After success at the first serious competitions in 2007, the bodybuilder concentrated even more on the training process and began active preparation for Mr. Olympia. Participation in 2008 and 2009 brought him third and fifth places, in 2010 he became second at Mr. Olympia, and since 2011 he has held the palm for seven years.

In 2021, Phil still lost first place at Mr. Olympia, finishing second. According to the athlete himself, health problems and food poisoning on the day of the competition were to blame. In 2019, the athlete refused to participate for health reasons, but promises to become a champion again in 2021.

Phil Heath's Nutritional Features

Phil Heath's diet is scheduled for 7 meals a day, and the athlete never falls behind the schedule.

• First. In the morning, in order to prevent catabolism, the athlete takes some supplements: glutamine, multivitamins, unsaturated fats, vitamin C, omega-3. A standard breakfast can consist of 250g of oatmeal, 10 egg whites and plenty of fluids.
• Second. The weightlifter is not obsessed with counting fatty acids in the diet, but tries to eat a minimum amount of fatty foods. A man eats 300 g of lean chicken fillet, 300 g of boiled wild or brown rice, glutamine and drinks a lot of water.
• Third (before training). Meat steak (300 g), which contains creatine, which is useful for energy production, + 300 g of baked potatoes + 150 g of boiled broccoli + BCAA + glutamine + water. Immediately before the start of training, the athlete drinks an energy shake.

• Fourth. At the end of the training, Phil drinks a hearty carbohydrate-protein shake. It contains about 80 g of carbohydrates and 60 g of protein.
• Fifth. Turkey meat cutlets (300 g), the same amount of boiled rice, 150 g of broccoli, glutamine and a large amount of water. Drinking always accompanies Heath, a bottle of water is always in his bag, because it is water that speeds up metabolism and ensures the normal condition of the muscles and their fullness.
• Sixth. 250 g of baked fish, the same amount of any fresh vegetables, glutamine, water. As for desserts, the athlete practically does not consume them. Sweets can include berries or fruits, but not cakes and cookies.
• Seventh. Contrary to expectations, this is a quarter kilogram of steak, the same weight of vegetables, glutamine and drink. Only carbohydrates are missing here.

The total is 450 g of protein, 500 g of carbohydrates and about 60 g of fat.

Nutrition

The diet turned out to be the most difficult part of Phil's entire training program. Therefore, Phil followed his diet very carefully , preferring homemade food without chemicals (we learned more about the chemistry in foods here). His nutrition is divided into 6 meals , 5 of which are full meals, and another meal is a protein supplement or carbohydrate shake after training. The athlete’s first breakfast is at 8 o’clock. He eats six egg whites with oatmeal and a cup of water. Second breakfast includes steak with a side of white rice and broccoli. Lunch – chicken breasts, aspargus and brown rice. For dinner (at 19:00) he eats meat tenderloin, white rice and spinach, and before bed - fish and broccoli. But before a performance, Phil Heath's diet changes . Have you ever noticed him out of shape on stage? The secret is very simple - in the off-season he does not allow himself to get eaten up, and before the competition he reduces the amount of calories consumed and increases aerobics. Pre-competition training begins 7 days before the competition. Carbohydrate intake is “cut” by 100 grams per day. The remaining amount of carbohydrates is gained from brown rice. In the remaining time - broccoli. Phil uses fish or poultry as sources of protein, but less often beef and egg whites. 10 days before the start of the competition, he arranges a high-carbohydrate day, on which he adds another 150-200 grams to the total amount of carbohydrates consumed.

We also recommend reading the following articles:

• What you need and healthier to eat for breakfast;
• Diet when working on relief and drying muscles;
• Fitness drinks.

Phil Heath training

The proposed training program was used by the weightlifter until 2007.

Monday (abs and chest)

The most famous exercises are for working the chest muscles, while the abs were left for “finishing”.

1. Bench press on an incline bench - 3-4 sets of 12 reps.
2. Press dumbbells or barbells from a horizontal position (the same amount).
3. Working in the butterfly simulator. Bringing his arms together, at the peak point of amplitude, Phil loaded the muscles as much as possible, feeling the strongest tension. Negative phase - 5 seconds.
4. Working in a crossover.
5. Scheme for working on the abs from Phil Heath: a giant set consisting of crunches, leg raises from a lying position on a bench, scissors, hanging leg raises. Any exercise is repeated 20-30 times, and the number of such sets is 3-4.

Tuesday (hamstrings, quadriceps, calves)

The order of the training can be anything. You can start each week with a different activity. Do 4-5 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

1. Squats in a Smith machine or with a barbell on your shoulders with free weight.
2. Weight press with legs in the simulator.
3. Hack squats in a position facing the machine.
4. Seated leg extension - quadriceps.
5. Bend the legs in a lying position - hamstrings.
6. Bending one leg at a time in the simulator - biceps femur.
7. Deadlift (deadlift) with emphasis on straight legs.
8. Perform 3 sets of calf raises to failure in a calf machine.

Wednesday (back training)

Phil Heath's back workouts are especially intense.

1. Pull-ups (wide grip) 7 reps/12 reps.
2. Bent-over barbell row 3/10.
3. The same thing with 4/20 dumbbells (10 each with a straight and reverse grip).
4. Thrust to the waist of the lower block in a sitting position 3/10.
5. Different types of pullovers. In addition to the chest, the pullover also rocks the lats.

Thursday (delts and abs)

Strong shoulders are the adornment of any weightlifter.

1. Press dumbbells in a sitting position 5 reps x 10 reps.
2. Lateral raises of dumbbells are 3-4 reps, and are performed until complete failure as a finishing move with constantly increasing weight.
3. Peck-deck simulator: raise your arms in the opposite direction 4 times for 12 repetitions.
4. Raising the barbell in front of you four times for 10 repetitions.

Friday (hand day)

The hands of a weightlifter are a calling card at any competition. Phil Heath thoroughly works every muscle.

1. Standing dumbbell lifts to work the biceps, 5 sets of 11-12 reps.
2. In the Smith machine, lifting weights is 4 to 10.
3. From an inclined bench, lifting dumbbells (and then a barbell) for biceps 3 to 10.
4. From the top block we extend our arms (10r + 10r + 10r, reducing the weight by 5 kg each time).
5. Arm extension with a dumbbell behind the head 3 to 12.
6. We do push-ups on parallel bars 3 to 12.
7. Three sets of 10 repetitions of the hammer exercise.

Bodybuilding is a solitary sport, but Phil Heath's personal life is in full swing. Most recently, the man divorced his wife Jenny.

My wife had cancer, but was able to recover. The athlete did not grieve for long after the divorce, and found himself a new passion with curvy figures. With his new lover, Phil Heath openly parades at all sporting events.

In 2021, Phil Heath continues to intensively train with heavy weights and prepare for new achievements. The motivation that videos of the champion provide is enormous, and his hands are still considered the standard for athletes.

Shaking your legs with Phil Heath. How to pump up your legs? Let's read!

Jay Cutler, Kai Greene, Branch Warren - three completely different bodies with one thing in common: they don't have legs, they're just monsters.

In this list of leggy Olympic title contenders, another name looms large: Phil Heath, who in recent years has developed his lower body to a level worthy of the world's most prestigious titles.

ROCKING LEGS: BICEPS HIGH FROM PHIL HEATH

Now that the workout is going well, Heath does sevens after sevens—this time lying leg curls. Rambod places two plates (40 kg) on ​​a machine where the front and back of the bench are at an angle to each other.

This design lifts Dar's hips and he gets to work. His ankles are spread wide on the bolster, and he lifts his knees slightly off the bench during curls to maximize contraction of his glutes and biceps.

- Go ahead, boy! - Rambod tells him when 30 seconds elapse between sets.

Curling his legs , Heath grunts with every rep.

Come on Phil! It's time to get huge!

These muscles remain like strips of blinds during the second and final exercise for this group, the standing single leg curl.

After the sevens, he only needs two sets per leg to complete the hamstring, using 27kg on the first set and 32kg on the second.

“My thighs were already pumped up, so we immediately loaded the sevens,” Heath explains later. “We want to do everything clearly and with maximum intensity, performing full flexion and extension. All this time, Haney made sure that my thighs remained parallel to each other.”