Quotes from Phil Heath

There are days when I don't count sets at all, but then there are some days when I have to realize that I don't want to overwork because I still have an hour of cardio ahead of me or another training session later that day.

Dropsets overload the muscle with shorter rest periods and increasing volume, which you need to grow.

The body is dynamic. You can eat something and get bloated in minutes.

We have a great tradition of bodybuilding in the United States.

This sport has given me so much. It has taught me to be strong emotionally and physically.

Gifted Nutrition was able to show me that they had FDA-compliant ingredients in their supplements. I thought that was really huge, especially when you are trying to show people that you are a natural athlete.

The money will go but the trophies will always be there.

When you pick up your first magazine you definitely hope you can be like the guy on the magazine. That's usually why you start lifting.

People in Colorado are resilient.

I began bodybuilding shortly after I watched a couple friends compete at a state show and thought it would be cool to try.

If you can get to the gym 4-5 days a week, that would be perfect. You can still do chest/tri's, back/bi's, legs, shoulders, and make the fifth day a cleanup day, meaning focus on body parts you may be weaker in.

My first bodybuilding competition was the 2003 NPC Northern Colorado, where I was a light-heavyweight weighing in at 192 lbs. I was very nervous, as it was my first real-life experience being a bodybuilder.

I believe you need to take enough rest to lift heavy weights, but if it takes you 5-10 minutes to rest and get psyched up for a big lift, I don't know if that's going to be good.

Front squats have really helped my quad development, especially when I was preparing for the Ironman.

When I decided to become a bodybuilder, I actually marked down a date. It was Oct. 8, 2002. The rest is pretty much history. It was an amazing feeling to know that I had the potential to become a champion.

I despised basketball for a long time.

You win the Mr. Olympia, you are the best in the world. There is no better than that. Some people will think back prior to the 1950s, where Mr. Universe was the top guy. They say, 'Are you Mr. Universe?' 'No, I'm Mr. Olympia, which is the best of all.'

It's not that I don't want big triceps, but the truth is, I've never had much difficulty adding mass to them.

I think I was one of those kids that, at the age of 13, start filling out a little bit: I was the kid that had the chest, the arms, the calves, especially, with these big legs like an adult.

Constant tension should be applied to the last five reps of every working set, meaning, do the first 5-6 reps normal tempo, and the last few reps should be held for at least two seconds at the peak of the contraction. This allows your muscles to have more time under tension, and you work different muscle fibers.

Being Negative and Lazy is a disease that leads to pain, hardship, depression, poor health and failure. Be pro active, and give a damn to achieve success!

If you want something you've never had before, you gotta be willing to do something you've never done before.

When it comes to personal appearance, people are quick to cast judgment on people who look better than them. It's part of the human inferiority complex.

There's no way in hell I could have achieved what I have without being a good student and listening to the wisdom of others who have been doing this a lot longer than I have.