Bodybuilding icon Phil Heath continues to follow the sport closely in retirement. In a recent interview with Chris Williamson, Heath discussed Chris Bumstead’s legacy. In addition, he explained why he stayed away from Trenbolone and Insulin throughout his career.
Heath, a seven-time Mr. Olympia titleholder, is tied with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Sandow trophies. While making his mark on the Men’s Open division, Heath brought a shocking level of muscularity and fullness. These attributes were key factors in his lasting success within the IFBB Pro League. During his reign of seven years, Heath proved himself against huge names such as Jay Cutler, Dexter Jackson, and the late Shawn Rhoden.
Heath was also trained by Hany Rambod, who is currently responsible for overseeing Chris Bumstead’s preps. The two linked up late last year roughly 12 weeks before Bumstead took to the stage to fight for a fourth Classic Physique Olympia title. In the end, he prevailed with an amazing physique and managed to win in spite of a bicep tear.
Aside from Schwarzenegger, Bumstead is easily the most popular bodybuilder on the planet, boasting a mind-blowing 18.4 million followers on Instagram. Given his longstanding championship status and young age, Heath believes Cbum has a responsibility to his fans to remain a role model.
Phil Heath Talks New Weight/Height Cap in Classic Physique + Chris Bumstead Ahead of 2023 Olympia
Heath is curious if all Classic Physique competitors were told about the IFBB rule change at the same time, otherwise some athletes may have received an unfair advantage.
“They do this [rule changes in Classic Physique] to make it more entertaining. Right, so, you’re telling me there wasn’t an opportunity to tell Chris maybe this in January? Did you tell all the athletes at the same time? Maybe, maybe not, right? Because there’s certain athletes that are going against him right now that are much bigger in their off-season.”
Given Cbum’s popularity and reach, Phil believes his legacy will be predicated on how he becomes a leader for his younger fans.
So it makes you question, did they already know? Or did someone in their camp kind of hear something because everybody in this industry can’t hold water so, what I think of Chris Bumstead? He has a great reach, great opportunity, great following, great responsibility, an incredible amount of responsibility right now.”
“Look at his demographic. It’s like 30 and under, it’s not 30 and over, it’s 30 and under, probably 25 and under. So your legacy is going to be predicated on how you become a leader for these younger people. See I can still inspire these people but they’re maybe going to reach for someone around their same age. That’s why there’s a responsibility. He’s still learning, he’s still young,” said Phil Heath.
Heath Says He Didn’t Need Trenbolone or Insulin During His Bodybuilding Career
Similar to Chris Bumstead’s take, Phil Heath labeled Trenbolone as toxic and talked about using it in the past until it gave him ‘Tren cough.’
“Well, I felt like Tren usage first of all, again, we’re not in the old school era where you’re getting like real Parabolan and stuff, so you don’t really know. Then, look at the color of it. It looks pretty gnarly when you’re injecting something – it looks like orange. You really want to put something that toxic in your body? I don’t know man… people talk about, ‘Okay, well it has to have a filtration rate with such and such with Benzo alcohol, and therefore you’re going to have the Tren cough.’
“Why am I even wanting to go through this shit, how many times did I sit there coughing my lungs out because of this damn drug. Is this really necessary, could I not do something else?”
When asked why he never used Insulin, Heath said he was focused on achieving fullness, separation, and striations instead.
“Why do I need it? I’m already winning. Why do people do it?” asks Heath.
“I think they suffer from the fact that they want roundness, they want fullness in the muscles because it’s the most anabolic property in the body right? They figure if I take this I look bigger, you know. I think I have some of the most well-rounded muscle we’ve ever seen, why do I need more? I just need more separation. I need more striations. That’s what I need.”
This wasn’t Heath’s first honest and open dialogue regarding his performance-enhancing drug use. He spoke with Chris Williamson in detail on the subject recently. During their conversation, Heath downplayed the harm caused by the substances and stressed that he used less than his peers.
With the 2023 Olympia competition approaching, Chris Bumstead will once again battle against the world’s best in hopes of claiming a fifth Classic Physique Olympia title. As for Heath, he believes Bumstead’s name will continue to soar in popularity considering how close he is to his fanbase.
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Check out the full video from Chris Williamson’s YouTube channel below:
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