“Sometimes You Got to Train Angry”: Despite Winning 2 Mr. Olympias, a Constant Fear Led Phil Heath to Remain Champion for 5 More Years

Seven-times Mr. Olympia Phil Heath’s journey in bodybuilding is fascinating. Before entering the world of competitive bodybuilding, he majored in Information Technology and played basketball for years. Afterward, his journey in competitive bodybuilding started in the year of 2003. He won his first Mr. Olympia in the year 2011. Later on, he held his dominance in the sport with 7 consecutive wins. However, the IFFB pro bodybuilder confessed in a recent interview that he trained rigorously for many years to remain a champion.

In the recent video shared by Chris Williamson, Heath opens up about his competition with his rival, Kai Greene, and how he trained to win the contest.

Phil Heath’s fear of losing to Kai made him champion for the third time

In the podcast video, Williamson asked about his nicknames, to which he replied that he liked the nickname ‘dream killer’ more than ‘the gift’. Because the fans of bodybuilding gave the name ‘dream killer’ and he somewhat agrees to it. Further, the duo also talked about his competition and the documentary movie that came out in the year of 2013.

While discussing, ‘The Gift’ cleverly said that he felt that this was his chance to defeat his rival, Kai Greene. He said, “I was getting ready for the 2013 Mr. Olympia and I had a feeling that that was my opportunity to close the door on Kai Greene”.

He was also focused on the movie ‘Generation Iron’ which was released in the same year and thought that if he lost the contest, people might get confused because the documentary was based on the 2012 competition and not 2013.

READ MORE: Fiercest Rival of Phil Heath, Bodybuilder Recalls His Days of Glory Without Any Use of Steroids

Therefore, he wanted to be clear about what he was doing. Heath made sure that his victory in the 2013 Mr. Olympia would be the larger-than-life, regardless of what fans might see in the movie. He added,

“It’s like all right. Well, sometimes you got to train angry. Take 2011 take, 2012 merge them 2013 and I had one called out that year”. He didn’t want the movie to overshadow him. He turned his fear of losing into a driving force, propelling him to train harder and claim victory as the champion.

One of the greatest rivalries in the sport

In the history of claiming the SANDOW trophy, every sports fanatic is familiar with the rivalry between Kai Greene and Phil Heath. In, 2011 Greene was placed third in the Olympia. After that, he consistently came second for the next three years.

On the other hand, Heath achieved an impressive feat in his career winning the Mr. ‘O’ 7x, which made everyone speechless. However, In the year 2018, He couldn’t defend his title for the 8th time and lost to Shawn Rhoden.

Nevertheless, do you also think that the feud between them remains one of the most exciting ones in the history of bodybuilding?

WATCH THIS STORY: 7-Time Olympia Winner Phil Heath Is Overcome With Emotion Upon Revisiting A Place That Played An Important Role During His Formative Years