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My initial article had a title that included the word still<\/em> but I don\u2019t like to use that word when it comes to a seven-time Mr. Olympia that never really left. I think the word still seems almost like a knock. And there is no knock here. Sure, in the past, I would have told you that Phil had very thin skin and I probably would have said that that was a little disappointing. When I say thin skin I\u2019m not talking about onion skin, I\u2019m not talking about the skin tight muscle that we all look for in a great bodybuilding champion. I\u2019m talking about sensitivity. irritability maybe is a better term, but I digress. Years ago, Phil blocked me and he even told me why. He said that I was too vocally supportive of the late great Sean \u201cFlexatron\u201d Rhoden. And even though that was many moons ago, it\u2019s still kind of stings. because I remember when Phil beat one of my heroes, Gustavo Badell at the Iron Man. I remember meeting Phil in 2008 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I remember being a big fan of his and then when he blocked me it kind of hit me hard. I stopped being a Phil Heath fan with that. Nonetheless, I have always tried to be somebody who recognizes tremendous achievements \u2013 both on and off the stage. \u201cThe Gift\u201d was a competitor that was about the business. He was like Ronnie and Jay in that regard. He was unlike a lot of the current champions that don\u2019t really see the bigger picture. Phil was a guy that could have gotten eight, nine, maybe even 10 Sandows. His physique was just that good. There was a time when his midsection was a bit questionable, but he fixed that when he came back in 2020. He was firing on all cylinders; he stayed in the mix and had he not given up, he probably would have won back the Olympia. Phil had so much going on for him. His work with The Rock, his had multiple businesses and income streams, he was happily married. The guy had it all. That said, there comes a point in time when bodybuilding just doesn\u2019t do it for some of these guys anymore. It\u2019s no longer interesting to the top guys if they\u2019re not winning anymore. They lift for fun, but competing? They\u2019ll only compete if they\u2019re winning.<\/p>\n Make sense?<\/p>\n But Phil didn\u2019t leave the sport he just stopped competing. His status was very much like that of Chris Bumstead. I mean after you win so many times there isn\u2019t much left with the stage. but unlike Chris, Phil didn\u2019t win at the end. Phil\u2019s end was more like Ronnie\u2019s. He saw his run come to an end because of another competitor. And like Ronnie, Phil wasn\u2019t able to get the title back. What\u2019s really sad is that when he came back, the guy that took the title from him\u00a0was not on that stage. Phil never had that rematch that he wanted. Nonetheless he came back and he looked phenomenal. He looked like those first few years where he was dominating the stage. I think it was different for him then. Even then when he came back and looked so good, Kai wasn\u2019t there. Throughout his run he had this competitor who pushed him, that was relentless, and had the tools to beat him. When that guy wasn\u2019t there, I don\u2019t think his heart was quite in it. Who\u2019s to say that Ronnie would have been as great if he didn\u2019t have Jay chasing after him all those years. I guess that\u2019s a question for the ages.<\/p>\n Phil has always kept the muscle on, though. Unlike Kevin Levrone, for example, who downsized tremendously for movie roles, Phil has stayed somewhat within reach of the stage. And that says a lot. Very much like Kai, Phil could jump into a contest in six weeks if hewanted to. So could Jay. These guys may not be as big as they were when they were competing but they aren\u2019t much smaller, either. Then there are guys like Dexter retire fully and they will probably live much happier lives. Honestly, it is taxing on the physique to carry large amounts of muscle, but that being said, Phil never got huge. He was never one of these mass monsters walking around at near 300 pounds. That was part of the reason he was so successful on stage. Because he wasn\u2019t about trying to outsize everybody else. His whole thing was class. He had a very artistic physique that a lot of people thought looked like a throwback to yesterday. Even though he had narrow clavicles, he was able to build something truly special. And when he posed on stage everybody wanted to stop what they were doing to look at him. There\u2019s a reason why Jay Cutler picked him out of the crowd. Jay didn\u2019t have to do it, but he did it because he saw true potential. And granted, when the two first met, Phil was a baby bodybuilder. I don\u2019t even know if he was taking anything at the time. His physique looked quite natural, but it also looked incredibly gifted (pun intended). The Gift was truly one of the greatest bodybuilders that ever walked the planet.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n