$8,000,000
Phil Heath
Net Worth
Born in (City)
Seatle, Washington
Born in (Country)
United States
Date of Birth
19th December, 1979
Date of Death
-
Mother
Father
About
Phillip Jerrod Heath is an American IFBB professional bodybuilder. He is a seven-time Mr. Olympia winner, having won the competition every year from 2011 to 2017. His latest victory tied him with Arnold Schwarzenegger for the joint-second number of all-time Mr. Olympia wins, behind Lee Haney and Ronnie Coleman, who are joint-first with eight wins each.
He is talkative and quick-witted, quick to dispel the meathead stereotypes attached to bodybuilders. He likes to give motivational speeches. He has done two Middle East tours with the U.S.O. Still, Heath is only occasionally recognized in his adopted hometown. The older and more successful he gets, the more ambition he has for something more — more titles, of course, but also a broader mainstream following. He wants a legacy beyond the record books of a niche sport.
Furthermore, he even may want to be considered a hero this time around. Heath has 1.8 million Instagram followers, 300,000 Twitter followers, a global fan base, and a growing portfolio of muscle magazine covers. He competes in just one competition a year, Mr. Olympia, for which he won the $400,000 first prize this year. He spends the rest of the year staying in shape and flying hundreds of thousands of miles for appearances, conferences, and meetings. He has five sponsors, led by Ultimate Nutrition, a supplement company. All told, he earns more than $1 million a year, his agent said.
Early Life
Born in Seattle Washington in December of 1979, Phil was an active and athletic child growing up. Things weren’t easy for Phil’s life in the beginning, Heath’s parents were successful in their careers but often busy at times, leaving Phil to learn many basic life skills by himself. He learned to cook, train for basketball, and understand the value of hard work, driving home his philosophy toward life and training in his early years.
He attended Rainier Beach High School, showing a love for basketball from a young age, and eventually, he joined the school team. Phil quickly earned a full athletic scholarship to the University of Denver in Colorado, he continued playing basketball while majoring in business administration and IT.
While training for his basketball games, Heath became familiar with the weights room, and was inspired by the camaraderie and hard work that his friends showed in the gym. Heath became tired of basketball, believing it didn’t hold the niche potential for greatness that he desired. He then decided to return to the weight room, which had become his refuge. Balancing three jobs, which were, web-development, bouncing at night clubs, and basketball academy training, Phil immersed himself in the culture of bodybuilding in his limited “free time”. This later made him play with the idea of creating a spectacular physique as his lifetime goal.
Road to Success
Heath began taking bodybuilding more seriously in 2002, where he took a job at his local gym, whilst learning as much as possible about nutrition, supplementation, and effective training strategies. During 2003, and weighing a lean 192lbs, he took part in his first competition – The Rocky Mountain Northern Physique Committee where he was crowned champion, and earned the nickname “The Gift.”
Following his first success, Heath attended the event a second time, securing 2nd place in the light-heavyweight category, only one point away from repeating his initial victory. This motivated him to come back and train harder than before. His new training motivation payed off, as in late 2003, and 7lbs heavier at 200lbs, he achieved the title of Mr. Colorado at the NPC Colorado State Show. This earned him sponsorship deals with well-known brands, as well as cementing his early attempts as a formidable competitor.
In 2005, he won the overall title at the NPC (National Physique Committee) USA Championships, earning the right to compete as an IFBB Pro. He won his first two IFBB professional events the following year: The Colorado Pro Championships and The New York Pro Championship. In 2007, Heath placed fifth at the Arnold Classic. Although he still qualified to compete in the 2007 Mr. Olympia contest, Heath, nevertheless, decided not to enter the contest, stating that he needed additional time to improve his form.
Heath won the 2008 Iron Man show and placed second to Dexter Jackson at the 2008 Arnold Classic. In his 2008 Mr. Olympia debut, Heath finished third to become the first novice to place in the top three since Flex Wheeler in 1993. He claimed the fifth position at the 2009 Mr. Olympia title and second place at the 2010 event. He gained the crown in 2011. During the countdown to TNA’s Bound for Glory pre-show on October 20, 2013, Heath accompanied The BroMans (Jessie Godderz and Robbie E) to the ring for their tag team gauntlet match, which they won; later in the night, he accompanied them to their TNA World Tag Team Championship match against Gunner and James Storm. After the match, he celebrated their title victory with them in the ring and backstage during an interview.
From then on, he was an unstoppable force for the next 6 years, earning the Mr. Olympia title 6 times in a row. He used his success as a means of inspiration for others, along with becoming involved with charity work to help those in need. He’s also released five DVD’s on the topic of bodybuilding, alongside his personal story, and also appears in the internationally famous ‘Pumping Iron’s’ sequel ‘Generation Iron.’
Challenges
Speaking on RXMuscle, he doubled down on this sentiment and explained what it was like, taking time off. As Phil Heath explained it, his body still looked to be in a condition to compete at the Olympia. This was evident by his social media posts, as well. However, he explained that his body was just on autopilot, from competing for so many years. Even though he thought about coming to the competition, he chose to stay home.
Heath went on to explain that he had to take a step back and realize that things were okay. He realized that he likely could have won this year, and gotten a big payday. However, he says that he was able to look at how much other work he was doing, to keep himself financially stable, even without competing. Looking at the landscape after the 2018 Olympia, Heath was done competing. However, following his defeat, he got some serious support from fans. Therefore, even though he has nothing left to prove, he is considering making a return.
Nevertheless, he made a comeback through 2020 Mr. Olympia.
Failures
Heath is a seven-time winner of the Mr. Olympia competition. Therefore, it came as a shock when he was beaten by Shawn Rhoden in 2018. Following that, he decided to take a year off from competing, to refresh himself and recover. Even though there was an opportunity for him to make a comeback, he stayed on the sidelines. Phil in an interview remarked he haven’t had a summer since 2007 and it actually felt good in some ways train without the Olympia being his absolute focus, allowing him to train with a different purpose in mind. While we all wanted the seven-time Mr. Olympia to return and reclaim the title he’d lost the year before, it simply was not meant to be. Phil has been keeping extremely busy with other projects and opportunities, and although he still isn’t certain as to exactly when and where we may see him compete next, that door is still wide open. He spoke just two weeks before the 2019 Olympia Weekend, about his hernia surgery, his new supplement line, and other ventures he was able to pursue in 2019 since he wasn’t training and preparing for the Mr. Olympia.
Achievements
2003 Northern Colorado State, Novice, Light-Heavyweight 1st and overall|2003 NPC Colorado State, Light-Heavyweight, 1st|2004 NPC Colorado State, Heavyweight, 1st and Overall|Won Mr. Olympia in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020|Won Sheru Classic in 2011, 2012
Quotes
- The mind-set of a champion is that I put myself in a certain situation to win, I don’t play to lose, I don’t prepare to lose, I hate second place and I definitely don’t like silver.
- Actually to be a champion your goal is to be a little bit better each day, making sure that every day is an opportunity to be at your best.