I battled 'strangled intestines' and body dysmorphia to equal Arnie, says world's greatest bodybuilder Phil Heath
WITH his bulging biceps and rock-hard abs, bodybuilding champion Phil Heath has a frame that only the Terminator can match.
Weighing over 20st of pure muscle at his peak, the 44-year-old has won Mr Olympia, the biggest bodybuilding competition in the world, seven times – equalling Arnold Schwarzenegger's incredible record.
But such success has come at a price and even once nearly cost Phil his life, when he discovered he was suffering intestinal strangulation on the operating table during surgery for what he initially thought was a hernia.
Now, the American has opened up on his mentally, emotionally and physically draining life for a new documentary, which explores the dangerous reality of extreme eating and dieting for months on end.
In the documentary Breaking Olympia, available to stream from today, the champ reveals how he and his competitors would spend around SEVEN hours a day eating in the four months prior to Mr Olympia.
Phil explains: When I train, it's do or die. You have to have tunnel vision, stay focused, stay in the pocket.
He adds: I have struggled psychologically, having the emotional attachment to food, and understanding that it's different now.
I'm eating to live, not living to eat and go compete – and that is definitely something of a much different stress."
With celeb pals like Dwayne Johnson, Arnie and – more recently – Piers Morgan, Phil has grown used to living the high life of a champ. However, it wasn't always the plan.
Growing up in Seattle, he dreamed of becoming a basketball star, but after struggling to make the grade, switched to bodybuilding in 2002 and never looked back.
Winning every Mr Olympia competition from 2011 to 2017, his secret weapon was not a torturous workout regime, which usually involved training five or six days a week – but rather a very patient wife.
Phil's partner, Shurie, tells the documentary how she would cook him fresh meals every two hours, every day during competition time, as he'll never have something reheated.
He'll sit there for hours and just chew," she explains. I'm tapping on his shoulder; 'It's 10pm, 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.
It's 35 minutes to get home, then he'll have another meal and digest, so our day doesn't end until about 3am.
Then it's the routine of doing it day in, day out without any distractions.
Those late nights turn into early mornings, and that goes on for months.
Intestinal strangulation
Behind the macho faade of bodybuilding, Phil was deeply struggling with his mental health.
Grieving the death of his father, who passed away weeks before he lifted his fourth Mr Olympia title in 2014, he was also battling body image issues and the shock of training injuries that went dangerously wrong.
In 2017, when he won his final title, Phil was suffering with a hernia which he trained through.
When he went to get the surgery a few days after his win, he found out it was actually intestinal strangulation, which can cut off blood supply and kill you if not operated on quickly enough.
What was your typical diet during competition?
- 12oz of steak or 3 chicken breasts
- 1.5 cups of rice or 12oz ounces of potato or a full bowl of pasta
- Cup of veggies
- 2.5cups of egg whites with two whole eggs
- 2 cups of farina
Typical food includes:
- Steak
- Chicken
- Salmon
- White rice
- Baked Potato
- Sweet Potato
- Zucchini, Spinach, Broccoli
To get through the painful surgery and recovery, he explains he turned to an unlikely past-time: journaling.
What was driving me was more about what the end would look like, he tells The Sun.
There would have to come a point in time where things would get better, so when something would go wrong, I'd tell myself to stop dwelling on the problem and work harder on creating a solution.
I would literally be talking to myself, asking myself, 'What would it feel like to get through this? Oh, I feel joyful.' And then I started writing down how I would feel, and the steps I was going to make to get me to that feeling.
You just have to stay positive and work through it.
Body battles
With his weight constantly fluctuating between competition seasons, Phil also struggled with body dysmorphia – a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance.
After retiring in 2020, his demons intensified as he lost around 2.5st compared to his usual 'off-season' weight.
Normally in my off-season, I would be close to 280 lbs (20st), he says. And right now I'm actually 245 lbs (17.5st), and, psychologically, dealing with body dysmorphia has been a challenge.
Of course you're always known to be the biggest guy, the most muscular man everywhere – and now, in some instances, when I'm at a bodybuilding exhibition, that isn't the case.
But I have to remind myself I'm not in competition mode, so this is what that part of life will look like.
I sit back sometimes and I realise 'Man, you did some incredible things'. I'm tied with Arnold Schwarzenegger!
Phil Heath
Unsurprisingly, given how strict his eating habits have been for so many years, Phil has wrestled with maintaining his physique, while not working out to the same extent he once was.
He says: If I decided to eat five times in a day, my body will say, 'Oh, he's getting ready for another competition,' and my body will start getting lean, and the muscles start getting larger, so I've been battling that because I'm trying to stay within a certain weight range.
So there are days where I just won't eat as much and that can be frustrating as well.
Living the dream
Despite his ongoing battle with body dysmorphia,Philsays he feels a lot happier now, looking back on his career, especially considering his original dreams of being an NBA basketball player were dashed in university.
He says: When you come full circle and you realise that you got into this sport, because you didn't have the career you wanted in basketball, and ended up becoming one of the arguably the greatest of all timeI'm tied with Arnold Schwarzenegger!"
I sit back sometimes and I realise 'Man, you did some incredible things, not just on the Olympia stage, but through the events that you've appeared in, the shows, and even having Breaking Olympia.
I have so much gratitude. Why would I not be smiling?
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a serious condition, and the NHS warns: BDD can seriously affect your daily life, including your work, social life and relationships.
BDD can also lead to depression, self-harm and even thoughts of suicide.
They detail some of the tell-tale signs as:
- Worrying a lot about a specific area of your body (particularly your face)
- Spending a lot of time comparing your looks with other people's
- Looking at yourself in mirrors a lot or avoid mirrors altogether
- Going to a lot of effort to conceal flaws for example, by spending a long time combing your hair, applying make-up or choosing clothes
- Picking at your skin to make it "smooth"
If you think you have BDD, you should visit your GP.
There are a range of treatments available for BDD, some of which you can try at home.
Shurie is also smiling, with the couple finally tying the knot in November 2022, after seven and a half years of being engaged – opting for a shotgun wedding at her uncle's church in Texas.
Phil says: We were engaged for quite some time, and, as a man, I felt like I have to make the money to go make sure she can have everything that she wants.
But we didn't want to wait any more, and it was Covid that taught us to live life in the moment, and not try to plan too far ahead like oh, it has to be perfect.
We woke up one day and were just like, 'Why don't we just get in the car, drive to our family in Texas, her uncle's a pastor who runs a church, we'll just get married there?'
And Phil believes it is Shurie who keeps him happy these days.
He says: I just wouldn't be the person I am today. I would not be the man who is smiling this hard if it wasn't for my wife.
I would be a champion, but I would still probably have demons and bitterness and still be wearing a mask that can never come off.
I'm through that. This is the better side. This is the side that I know, the world needed all along. And I'm so thankful that my wife has stood by me and has supported me and continues to do so and I will do the same unconditionally.
Breaking Olympia: The Phil Heath Story is available now on digital platforms including Amazon and Sky Store
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