Seven-time Mr. Olympia winner Phil Heath is a modern bodybuilding icon. Heath is the most decorated Mr. Olympia after Ronnie ‘The King’ Coleman. However, the bodybuilding wasn’t the champion’s first choice. Instead, The Gift wanted to play basketball. During his college days, Heath played on the college basketball team. However, while strength training for the sport, he found his talent for bodybuilding.

The former Mr. Olympia recently appeared on Chris Williamson’s popular podcast Modern Wisdom. During their conversation, Chris Williamson asked the 43-year-old how it felt like to compete for the first time on the bodybuilding stage. While recounting his experience, The Gift made a bold confession involving basketball.

Phil Heath highlighted the strict discipline bodybuilding requires

The 43-year-old said he was staying with college basketball teammates when he participated in his first show. Having worked harder than he had ever done, Heath wanted to get a good night’s sleep before the competition. “The night before, I asked all my teammates, I was still living in the basketball house, to not bring the party back to the house,” said Heath.

However, his teammates didn’t listen. Heath woke up to loud music and knew he wouldn’t get any more sleep if he stayed indoors. So, the bodybuilder slept in his car. The following morning, Heath’s friend Josh Crandall picked him up. “I’m literally telling them if I don’t win this da*n thing… I don’t know if I could do this again,” the 43-year-old said.

The Gift told Williamson he had realized just how much work it took to get competition ready, and he couldn’t afford to lose because others “tarnished” his effort. “It’s not like basketball games where you can go out, you can drink, you can party and all this still play in the game,” said the seven-time Mr. Olympia. Fortunately, Heath didn’t lose his first show but recounted how nervous he felt.

People were laughing at Phil Heath

The bodybuilding icon said competing for the first time was a shocking experience. While he had seen VHS tapes of Ronnie Coleman winning the ’98 Olympia, he had no idea how it would feel to step on stage. After arriving at the competition, he felt some of the contestants were on PEDs. However, he didn’t expect his friend to confirm his suspicions. 

Heath told Williamson that he felt nervous and awkward while stepping on stage. While he thought he would walk on stage with an intimidating presence, people laughed at him. However, when a lady in the audience shouted “smile! you’re beautiful!” he snapped back to his senses. Heath overcame his nervousness in the following rounds of posing and won his first bodybuilding competition.

Since the former Mr. Olympia participated in both sports, he knows the nuances of each sport. Hence, from his experience, The Gift felt bodybuilding requires more discipline.

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