Every bodybuilder’s story of how they got into the sport involves a certain role model they look up to. For 7x Mr. Olympia Phil Heath, it was the King of Bodybuilding, Ronnie Coleman. The two icons recently met up at Coleman’s gym for an intense workout session along with some informal chat.
What followed was not only a compilation of various machine-assisted exercises but also a series of anecdotes involving the two. As any question-and-answer session goes, Coleman asked Heath what drove him to pick bodybuilding as a career. Surprisingly, the latter admitted how it was a picture of the 8x Mr. Olympia that changed the course of his career.
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In the early 2000s, Heath recalled a change in coaches that prompted him to explore training and fitness. However, his career trajectory truly took a turn when peeking into a neighbor’s computer led him to find out about Ronnie Coleman.
“The guy I was sitting next to in a programming class happened to have your picture on his laptop screen. So ‘Who’s that swole as hell, man? What’s going on!’ You must have been from like 98-99.”
And this marked the genesis of the 7x Mr. Olympia. The 43-year-old never planned on entering the bodybuilding industry. However, after facing failure in college basketball, which was his initial passion, he switched to full-blown bodybuilding.
Coleman’s response to the anecdote was utter disbelief and honor. After all, Heath not only began a new and successful career from that point on, but it was also all due to a jacked picture of Coleman. In the caption of his Instagram post, he proudly penned:
“I never knew my picture was the reason @philheath got started in bodybuilding. Truly honored to have been able to motivate another Legend like myself!”
But this story of the two veterans looking up to each other is just a glimpse of many other anecdotes that followed in the video.
When Phil Heath got to hang out with his idol Ronnie Coleman for the first time
In the same video, Heath recalled the first time he closely interacted with Coleman. They were at a bodybuilding convention when the famous coach and Heath’s trainer, Hany Rambod, introduced the two icons. The 7x Mr. Olympia admitted to leaving behind people from the convention just so he could get to interact with his idol. And to his delight, Coleman had big plans for the day.
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Heath recounted how they grabbed something to eat at McDonald’s when his inner fan got the glimpse of a lifetime. Simply enjoying a burger, Coleman’s biceps involuntarily flexed, and the sight alone was enough for Heath’s jaw to drop to the floor. The trio later went on to hit a strip club nearby, and Heath gleefully recalls how that day was imbibed in his memory.
