Episódio 1: A cria

[Birds chirping] Right, welcome back to the true Jody Podcast today's guest is the seven-time Mr. Alimia Phil, he thanks for coming, man. No, thanks for having me. This set is freaking beautiful. This is outstanding. Thank you very much, mate. And it means a lot. In your wall of greatness. Yeah, you're gonna be on there next, hopefully I get some signed off here. Oh, yeah. I gotta send you something special after seeing all this. Oh, I gotta figure something out for you. Cool, man. Yeah. Because I'm a competitive dude, so I'm looking at. Yeah, he's got all these weight bells and, you know, championship bells and gloves. I'm like, "Why can I maybe a dumbbell?" I don't know. You don't belong on them, man. I watched your career. I literally. Well, my dad was an amateur bodybuilder. Ah. So he. I grew up being told about Haney and Dorian, yeah. Obviously Arnold. So then when I found Bodybuilding, I was like, "Okay, let me learn from these guys. I was watching you at Jay Tai." And that, to me, was the last great year out of Bodybuilding. Like, it's just not quite the same anymore. And I actually think you weren't appreciated, man. You know, like, and even by me, because I remember watching you being like, "This guy's on stock." Like. And you're like, "Fuck this guy." No, not quite as bad. No, but I mean. But it was like. I like Kai and I felt like, "Oh, they're Puell at London, dog. When's he gonna get one?" Yeah. And it was a hell of a storyline. And it was a bit like WWE, right? Like there was a storyline. Yes. And it made me care. And now I don't care as much because the. You were like the triple H. You know, we needed that guy. Mm-hmm. And without you, I now realize like, it's just not the same, man. Yeah. You think you've heard that a bit? I've heard that quite a bit now. Because it's been going on four years of you not competing. And. Yeah, it does feel different. You know, going to expose and then having fans come up and say, you know, I didn't really like you. But I respect the hell out of what you created. And then also, you know, you and Kai, man. And just like you said, we made people care. And it was because we cared. We cared so much about being number one that we didn't like each other. Why would you like someone that's like nipping at your heels? And why would he like me for being the guy that's in his way of achieving what he always dreamed about? What do you sacrifice everything for? I mean, we all know his story. You know, being an orphan and Brooklyn and going through all these trials and tribulations. And then you have this guy that comes out of nowhere from a back-to-ball background of crying out loud and just, and then, you know, but I will say, Kai and I had, you know, some early battles that people may not remember. He beat me at the Arnold Classic in 2010. Because he had won the previous year in 2009 and looked phenomenal. And I didn't compete at that particular show. So in 2009, he won the Arnold. I got sick at that year's Olympia. So he placed one slot ahead of me that year. And then that following year, we both did the Arnold Classic. And then he repeated his champion. And I was not happy with that because, you know, I wanted that Arnold Classic. And I made sure after that show, I said, look, I was up by three points after pre-judging. And I lost by seven at night. I was like, I've never understood, like, how could I lose this type of and how it changed just so much? Yeah, I just didn't understand. And, you know, instead of like bitching and moaning and going up to a judge and saying, what could I do? I was like, well, I know what I need to do. And that just becomes so great that he'll never stand a chance. And, you know, it was very difficult holding him off. But I enjoyed every minute of it, every rep of it. And, you know, standing in his way was something that you know, I take great pride with because I know his body of work. I know how hard he trains. I know how this guy didn't cheat on a diet. We all watched his, you know, story. I watched it. So to know that we both cared so much made the audience care, I mean, there would be a team Kai team, feel at the Olympia. And there's been some like almost scraps. I know. Like at the Expo, I heard some stories, man. So it's, but yeah, today's it's just different man is I think we're going through this transition where because of maybe some other divisions, some of the fans in open are like, oh, well, we like these categories. And then the open class guys are kind of just lacking maybe that fire. And I don't know if it's because of social media. I don't know how you feel about that. Like social media may be making it more just like all SBA will be friends. And let's just work the algorithm and make some money. You know, I feel like the standup set I wasn't there. That's the problem is we always had a passing of the torch from, I think it was Hay and E a Yates, the Yates, you know, Ronnie, Ronnie, the JJJ. And you and when when that torch was passed, we were like, that's the guy. Yeah. And the standard was set in the level of competition because you had a competitiveness in you. For example, to not let that standard slip, it felt like you were uncatchable, which made everyone go, oh, well, I have to come in unbelievable. Whereas because there is, because Trump is changed every year now, because there isn't someone who really holds the bodybuilding stand at such a level, what we searching for, what we chasing here. Yeah, it's quite disappointing in that aspect. But I think life is like a circle. When we look at Arnold's career, when he had retired the first time, how many champions were there in between? You know, there's a few. And then he came back and won again in 80. I think we're kind of going through that right now. And that I would ask a question because I don't know if it's just the way it feels. It feels like for decades. Yes, bodybuilding. Yeah, there was, you know, there was steroids and all of this, right? And then but the point was it's the work, the dedication was first and foremost. Correct. And it feels like a lot of people are a bit lazy or a bit more like, I don't think that they understand that. No, I feel like they're just leaning on the drugs or whatever. It's hard for me to even admit this for a lot of the guys because I don't want them to take this the wrong way. But I believe you're pretty spot on with this. We don't see it in the eyes. We don't see it in their soul. You know, people can sing. But when someone sang that song, you know, when that's when someone is, you know, I believe just because of YouTube because of social media, like we're saying things just to get a click. It's tough, man. I always pose this challenge to people. Would you be as intense if no cameras were on? If someone just happened to see you training, would they're not being a camera inside for six months? Would you still have that desire? Like the shadow of Dorian, the airs out of truth. I had no one, no one got to say him. Right. Tell me, you get to talk on something and say it. Didn't care. Not social media. And I get it. There's that, there's that part, which I did exhibit as well. Because I was still in that social media, you know, I was at the beginning, right? But I was willing to do that work up until 2020 with no cameras in it. Just me and the the the weights and even my wife being there at the same time. We weren't in their filming all night. And yeah, maybe that came out of detriment to say, yeah, you know, that would have been great content during the prime years of your career. I still have the pictures. I still have some videos that I haven't released. But I have the titles to prove that I did the work. And I do believe that yes, you're trying to build a following. The sponsor is as well, like they only pay attention to the numbers, not the titles anymore. And I think that's what changed it. So I can't blame a competitive bodybuilder. See, they're at a crossroad where am I an influencer or competitive bodybuilder? And they have a difficult time like I feel like the sport is the sport element is decreasing because the show off in the social media is increasing. Right. Because I could tell you right now if someone came to me and said, "I feel like I really believe I can be menstrual and I'd say, okay, film is much content as you want for one entire month and then come see me." Because for the next three months it's going to be hell. But I could promise you that you're going to be way better than what you were. I could promise you. I don't think people realize the standard. Like I mean, I went to Traym with Dorian in 2012. Oh yeah. And it was this idea I had like, I just want to find out what it's like, right? And I thought I was training hard. And I was like, one of the toughest trainers in my gym. Yeah. So I go in there and I'm like, right, let's see what I went back work out, Dorian, right? So Dorian. You started off with that? Yeah, in the Dungeon. In the Dungeon. So I'm like, I'm really, really wet behind the ears clearly because the first machine was over and I was like, holy shit. Yeah. I am fucked. Yeah, you're good. I got nothing left you. Right. And that was when like, and Dorian's like, now the real work begins, boy, yeah. And I was like, oh shit. So I go back to my gym and I'm like, we're not even training hard. We don't even know what hard training is. Correct. We are so delusional. And that's what I don't think anyone who, until they get in a session with someone like yourself, has any comprehension of. And that's why you're a fucking demon, me. I know that. Yeah. But other people don't understand. They say the muscles, the cartoonish, like, must feel like, they don't understand the work that goes into it. And do you know what? I watched your documentary last night. And it was so great. Right. Thank you. And I say that as just a fan of documentaries anyway, not even the bodybuilding thing. I think everyone can enjoy this. But why it was great for me was, you were unstoppable in my eyes. You weren't even, you didn't really have much of a human feel to you in terms of vulnerability. Right. But then go back and go, oh shit, he was really going through a lot. The whole time. time. And he was just so fucking strong that he could overcome that. And then outwardly, project, I'm indestructible because you're not showing any weakness to everyone in the competition, but you're holding it in. And now we got to say that. And I really appreciated you showing that. I'm so glad that you watched it and thank you for all those kind words. I mean, and you're absolutely right. You're so spot on with this. I mean, everybody goes through the paint. Everyone goes through it. But when you realize what you're calling is, there's no, there's no time for it. There's no time for the, the woe me and oh man, like I have a job to do. I have to suppress this for right now because I see what's going on. I have an opportunity to be the best in the world if not the best ever. And it's going to require me to put some things to the side until I can deal with them. The problem is is that they do end up growing the demons. The demons mean that's what I felt about you. Like demons were there from early. Yeah. And you kind of helped you. Yeah. But eventually they come back out. They come back out and we see it in other athletes as well. I'm sure I remember watching Mike Tyson talk about the demons and stuff. And I'm sitting there. It's like, yep, I know what that means. I'm just very glad that I was able to leverage it because I could hear those whispers from that damn freaking demon. Like you got to kill these mother. You got to get them. And you're like, I just want to chill. I just want to hang out. I just want to know what it feels like to have a summer to myself to hang out with my friends and family. I just want to know what it feels like to go to a birthday party, a kids party with my friends. Hold them up and play. I want to know what it feels like going on summer vacation, not worrying about, you know, the macros and did I train or not? And I just want to know what it feels like to be still and be able to cry about something that has been bothering me for years. And that was unavailable to me. And I made it such a big deal that I just held it inside and said, you know, it now's not the time. Because if you allow that out right now, you may downward spiral and that be able to pull yourself back up to do this job. So a lot of men out there, especially men, yourself included, we all go through these pain points where life isn't fair when things happen and you suppress it. And then, you know, we have the blank stare and then your wife is like, what's wrong, honey? And you're like, oh, nothing, nothing. When everything is wrong, everything is so true. And you don't know the words. You don't have the emotional intelligence yet to communicate these feelings properly. It comes out in rage normally. But you know, it becomes so overwhelming where all you see is red sometimes, all you see is darkness sometimes. And for me, you know, it took a long time, even most recent to kind of get through it. And God bless my wife, man, because she could have easily left and just was like, you know what? Like figure your shit out. Maybe I'll be around. Maybe I won't. But she was like, nope, you need to kill this ego. And I learned that I can't kill him. I don't need to kill this ego. I need to acknowledge him because you know what that ego did? It got me through those workouts. It got me through that pain. It got me through those moments where, you know, like, when my dad died and I still had to train and get ready for the show, it still happened when his wife, my stepmom, she died a couple years later. And I have a brother that is high functioning autistic living in Seattle. Now I got to provide more money to make sure he's okay and all these other things. And then you have the internet beating your ass every day. But then you're so fixated on that that you can't acknowledge the fact that you have millions of people that love you. And that you have one of the greatest physiques of all time and then you have sand dowsing your house. You're not thinking of any of this. You're not appreciate any of this. And then finally realizing that through loss, holy crap, I have all this stuff to uncover. And that's what breaking and limpia really, breaking and limpia gave me an opportunity to be the most vulnerable Phil Heath ever. And that's what you're going to see. And you saw that. And I just want to say thanks, man, it's a, it's almost like I feel like I'm going to have a lot of brotherhood. I'm creating a brother feels like it because everyone I've talked to, especially males, like strong guys like yourself, we have all these. First of all, we're highly intelligent. We go through life. We deal with the shit. We keep going. But then we wonder, are we by ourselves in this process? And it feels lonely as hell sometimes. And we have our moments whether we want to cry about it, you know, by ourselves or just be angry. It's one of the other. It's an emotion. Oh, fuck. You know, it's an emotion. But I'm so thankful that this got picked up when I was introduced to this idea by Adam Scorji and Brett Harvey. I was blown away because it wasn't about, oh, how many ounces of protein and, you know, what's your cycle? What's this? What's that? It was like, no, this is like, who is Phil Heath? Like, who is he? And when they challenged me with that, I was like, you really want to know? And they're like, and we're going to pull it out of you. And then here I am digging a deep breath. And I'm like, okay, it's going to get ugly. They're like, that's fine. We can talk about it all. We can pull all your pictures out from childhood. This, that, and the other. So it was very therapeutic. And my intention along with theirs was just to show that through my body will work through my story. It's kind of channeling that connectivity between me and other males that are going through the same thing. Winning the Mr. Olympia is not relatable. That's the vehicle for the story. But it's not the story. Yeah. Going through life is relatable. Exactly. Going through life. And then saying, yep, I still got to go to work. The trash man still has to go to work when something bad happens. You know, the CEO there's like, I got all these employees and stuff. And I still have to be strong in front of these people because I have a responsibility to take care of their families. They think it's because of me. It's because I got 30 people that rely on me. They, if I screw up, they have no insurance. They have no 401k. They have no investments. They have no Christmas. They have nothing. And yeah, it's just, it's just really cool that this was made and it would got picked up by Universal. I mean, they have a studio release. It was, you know, as a dream come true. And of course, having Danny Garcia and freaking Duane the rock Johnson a part of it. That was so cool. I mean, I can't even complied. There's nothing I can complain about. Like at all. Honestly, like when I was watching it, I wrote something down about like, because everything you've said about how men will identify with this, I was literally looking at so many elements of my own life through you and going, there's a man here who doesn't really like himself, but on the other hand has an ego and he doesn't want to be denied what you can fucking achieve. So he's telling me, I don't really like myself, but I'm not like you fucking stop me from getting what I want over life. That's right. And I'm coming for it. And I'm going to find a way to become great and one day I might learn to love myself through that. And the question I had at the end of it was, do you love yourself now though? Yes. Yeah. That's right. Only that is great, man. It was tough, dude. Mm-hmm. Very hard. And you know, it's something that just because you say, yes, I love myself. It's like, it's not over. You have to repetitively say this. You have to look around and be in gratitude for everything and learn to breathe every day. Like you get in such a fight or flight response and very robotic in your motions. Like, oh, get up. Drink a shake. Do this. Do this. Do this. Do this. It's like, how about you just like take a minute, maybe go outside no matter where you're at, whether the sun is out or not, and just kind of be still for a minute. It's hard to do for an active mind. But how do you slow it down? The minute you can slow that process down where you don't hear anything is because you learn how to be still and you have to be in your body. But imagine if you're in your body, you're more conscious, you're more self-aware. Now you know who you are. Now you know like, yeah, I'm not feeling really good today, but now you know how to put words to it because you're being still. But when you're being in like this fight or flight response, like you're very reactionary, you don't know how to respond to other things that may occur. And you should be able to respond versus react. You know, I know like in America, like, and I'm sure they say it around the world, you know, when crisis happens, they say we sent out our first responders. We don't send out our first reactors. Respond. People that know how to respond to life are ones that are equipped with a certain level of confidence through their body of work, but they also have to be calm. They have to be calm. Like if someone is ill, like a ER doctor has to be calm. They can't be like, you know, it doesn't work like that. They may give a direction to someone to get them what they need, but they have to be calm and being able to patch someone up or whatnot. So, you know, I have to, you know, increase the vibrational energy and the frequency. And then also be mindful of every day I have to thank my body for being here. Thank my body that I'm alive. Like thank God that I still have this opportunity because I know a lot of people. need to be wake, woken up and realize like, have you even thanked your body for what you put it through? All the workouts, all the pain, all the BS, like all the stuff, like you should thank yourself and that was one of the things that my wife, you know what say to me, she's like, feel like you went through all this pain throughout your entire life and not once have you just sat there and be like, "Man, this is dope." I got made it this far. I feel like your wife is such a huge part of the reason why you've overcome so much. Oh yeah, I give her a ton of credit, a ton of credit because before her, oh man, I mean, it was just difficult and I was married once before and it was just not the same clearly. I mean, people could see, I mean, people have told me, like, dude, like, it's completely changed your life and I'm like, absolutely. And I feel like this documentary would break in on that. You're a lot of women that support these strong males are going to be able to have their own community too because it is important that they are acknowledged, appreciate it, and respect it. But they need to know that they're not alone also and they get to see my wife, you know, go through her battles with breast and plant illness. Yeah, four autoimmune issues, disorders and, you know, gain 60 pounds from, you know, black molding or implants and all while I'm, you know, trying to be the best in the world and then I'm telling her like, I shouldn't go to the gym. I should just hang out with you and she's like, feel like you can't even fix this. Like, you need to go do your job. I'll still make you meals. I'm like, you're a man. I feel like such an ass. Like, she's like, no, this is my, this is what I signed up for too. Talk about unconditional love there. You know, that's why we, we're, you know, we're husband and wife, but like, when someone says, this is my partner. Oh, yeah, this is my right or die, man. Like, this is, this is my mate. When you know that other person wants the absolute best for you and you can absolutely give yourself to them and they will catch you. Yeah. That's where that positivity that you're talking about, I feel is just born from. Yeah. And going, going back into the story, the, the dark side that we seen in you from a young age and, you know, not necessarily a bad side, just a kid who grew up in difficult circumstances, you know, there were shootings and, and it was scary times, right? And you, you similarly to myself, which I connected on again is the dark side in you, you put down to your father. Yeah. That aggressive, you know, competitiveness. And I wonder, now, you know, you obviously, your dad passed away, bless him and you are now an old man yourself. Do you look at him differently now that you're grown and you can reflect on things and you can almost get a norm in a, in a whole new way now? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I remember, so my parents divorced for like, when I was three. And in every kid wants his father around and he was quite distant. And, you know, you, you kind of have moments, even when my mother got remarried. I mean, he was a great guy. You know, he treated me great, you know, he wasn't abusive or anything. If anything, he was very supportive of my mother, who was a working woman. She had her own career. And he provided, you know, very basic, like I provide you do this. You have your chores, this is a very systematic and he was in the army and stuff like that. But he wasn't like a total drill sergeant. All he wanted me to do is just be smart and read and do those things. But yeah, my dad didn't go to any games, no basketball games, no track events. I can't remember any of them. I think the one time he did go was that I can remember. He went to one track meet and then I think he went to my state championship game. I think he did. I don't actually, I don't, I don't remember that. So it's, you know, but you start to resent, you know, your father because you're like, man, like why bring you there? What the hell's going on? And then you kind of learn later on that, wow, like I share some similarities to this man. Maybe I should think about how his relationship with my mom was. Let me ask some questions from like an uncle or like a cousin and be like, Hey, what were they like? And they're like, your mom's kind of stubborn, dude. You know, and I remember talking to one of my own, like my mom's brother, I'm like, he's like, yeah, your mom's something else sometimes. So just, I just understand that she could press buttons too. So I'm like, ah, okay. You know, and it's not to point fingers or anything. It just realized like they had passion, but just it couldn't go further. It wasn't, it just didn't work, you know, and, hell, I'm divorced too. So like I get it. And yes, as you get older, you start to connect, but it'll be 10 years since my father passed later this month. How you did them about that? You know, I had the date like marked down, right? Like, oh, I should probably just, because I buried them in Arlington, Texas, that's around the area where he's from. And I thought, oh, I should fly out there, which is like another week, just to do like a 10 year thing. And I was like, I don't have to go do that. But if I just wake up, my wife knows, like I could just wake up on the, I think it was a 29. So like the 27th, I'll just pick up and leave, you know, and just go do it and come right back. But I keep a bodybuilding show in Texas because of him. You know, I don't live in Texas, but I keep it there because I feel like I'm connected, but I've always been connected to him since he's passed. You know, he was given pretty much one month to live. He pretty much made it about a year and just a tough dude, man. I still remember, man, like I'll tell you a quick story like, so his, his wife, my stepmom was like, Hey, this is what's going on with father. You know, he should be okay, this net. And so I don't know if she's lying. I don't know, but I'm just thinking, well, she would tell me. So I said, well, let me know if he gets bad. So like about six weeks out from the Olympian, it gets bad. And I'm like, oh shit. And there was no flights out. So I was like, I got to figure out a way. So I found a way to get out there. He's not eating, not doing anything. He's just kind of like accepting it, right? So the doctor, you know, anyone that has gone through this, like the doctor's trying to, oh, yeah, we're just trying to keep him comfortable, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm just like, I'm not trying to hear this shit right now. Like you're talking about my damn dad, dude, like I think he's just being stubborn. I think he's just like, not caring. I don't think it's because the disease that he has, I think that he's still, you know, a superhero in my eyes. You know, I didn't have to grow up with him to know that I share the same DNA. He like, I'm like, fuck this, you know, so I'm like yelling at this dog and I like get up in his face where I'm like, oh, man, security's probably gonna throw me. I'm probably gonna get it, get it rested, you know, and I looked at me and I said, he's a heath. It's my father you're talking about. That's my last name. He's gonna be all right. I'm gonna go into this room and he and I are gonna talk about this. So I go into the room and I was like, look, pop my, I love you. And we have just now started to really connect. And I get it. You're here, but you need to eat, man. He didn't really say much, you know, he's just like, oh, you know, they're just trying to talk about the flexion. I was like, no, you need to eat pop. Like what's going on? So I said, I'm gonna come back here. And it's, you know, I have to go compete. And that's when he said, and my half brother is saying, dad, different mom, Brandon, who's a different giant? He's like six, nine, three hundred pounds. Yeah. So I could tell you guys, mom's genetics on that. So they left the room and it's just my dad, nine. He looks at me and he goes, remember that belt I whipped your ass with? And I was like, dad, you like you used it once, you know, and it's like, yeah, I know. We're gonna take that same belt and whoop their ass too. He's like, you know what I'm talking about? I said, oh, yeah. So I left and I was like, oh, these guys are so screwed now. It's like, he gave me some energy and I felt like I gave him some energy back, but longer the short of it is, I remember my mother was contacted by his wife, my stepmom. And so my mom calls me up and I was like, what's going on? She's like, your father's eating. I was like, how would you know? You know, because you don't have direct contact with your ex-husband. She was like, no, they told me. And I said, he's been eating since when? She said, since you left. So I was like, hell, yeah. And it taught me that like, that's so public. You know, he, he just, it's like he needed to know that his son loved him. He needed to know that I cared that I didn't hold resentment. I didn't have that. So, of course, you know, I, you know, I won that show and then that following year,