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7x Mr. Olympia Legend Phil Heath Confesses the Dark Truth About Being a Champion Athlete: “Just Want to Know What It Feels… to Cry”

Published 03/21/2024, 7:30 AM EDT

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Phil Heath was someone who has been quite transparent about the difficulties he faced in his personal life amidst the relentless pursuit of trophies and titles. Years after his retirement, the bodybuilder has now explained how he often had to bottle up his emotions on the path to professional fulfillment.

The 44-year-old former bodybuilder reflected upon how a lot of the people who are serious with their career almost always have the desire to relax in life, but they end up being unable to express their emotions and suppress feelings which turns out to be really hard. Phil Heath expanded on the issue with his own example.

Phil Heath longs to go on a summer vacation

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In the True Geordie podcast, Heath revealed that he wanted to have some leisure time, going out with his friends and forgetting about the pursuit of success. He expressed how hard it is to deal with such a demanding career and a personal life. “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 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 a summer vacation,” Heath exclaimed.


The bodybuilder further talked about how sometimes he just wants to be able to cry for something that has been bothering him for a while. He confessed, “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.” He then explained how men always have this tendency to suppress emotions because they feel responsible for the work at hand and that they think they can’t afford to live a normal life expressing themselves.

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In the process of explaining how men’s emotions might often burst out of the blue, Phil Heath also expressed his gratitude to his wife for staying by his side.

Phil Heath thought his wife would leave him

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Heath revealed that recently when he was hit by such overwhelming and unmanageable emotions, he was scared that his wife could have left him. He recalled, “I took a long time, even most recent to kind of get through it and God bless my wife man, cause she could have easily left and just was like you know what like figure your sh*t out.”

Heath firmly believed that his wife had the choice of either being with him or not, but she stayed without any hesitation. He also emphasized that she had not asked him to kill his ego, but to acknowledge it as both of them knew that this ego of his was what enabled him to win titles and deal with his family affairs, including grieving over two parents and looking after an autistic brother.

READ MORE: “Very Scared and Intimidated”: 7X Mr. Olympia Phil Heath Makes Startling Revelation About Initial Bodybuilding Days

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What is your opinion about men’s emotions and how they express them when they have so many responsibilities upon them? Let us know in the comments below.

READ MORE: “Abs Have Never Been Better”: 7X Mr. Olympia Phil Heath Credits This Mind-Body Exercise for His Rock-Hard Abdominal Development

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Written by:

Pritha Halder

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Pritha Halder is a bodybuilding writer at EssentiallySports. Specializing in covering the off-court life of bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts, she can often be seen scrounging Kali Muscle’s Instagram feed to find the new fruitarian diet the fitness influencer is on. Having completed her Bachelor's in English Language and Literature from a multidisciplinary university, Pritha started her career as a writer for a literary magazine, before delving into the world of fitness.
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Edited by:

Abhishek Manikandan