Dennis James shares his opinion as to whether Phil Heath should return again or hang up the towel.
One of the most anticipated elements of the Olympia 2020 was the return of Phil Heath. After losing the Olympia in 2018, he took a year off and for a while no one knew if he would return. He ultimately did in 2020. Phil Heath placed third place behind Big Ramy and Brandon Curry. We don’t currently know what the future holds for Heath moving forward. Will he give it one more shot or retire? In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Dennis James shares his take on what is the smartest move for Phil Heath moving forward.
There’s no doubt about it. Phil Heath is one of the greatest bodybuilders in the history of the sport. You can’t argue with his seven Sandow trophies. That being said, all good reigns must come to an end. That seemed to happen in 2018 when he lost the Olympia to Shawn Rhoden.
Fast forward to this past year’s Olympia. We saw the return of Phil Heath. Would he reclaim his thrown? Ultimately that was not to be the case with a 3rd place finish. So what happens next? What is the best tactical move for Heath? We turned towards trainer and guru Dennis James for his thoughts.
The first thing Dennis James wants to make clear is that he doesn’t want to tell any bodybuilder what to do with their career. If Phil Heath at his core still has a passion to compete, he shouldn’t stop regardless of placing.
That being said, from a more analytical point of view, Dennis James thinks it might be time for Phil Heath to retire. He specifically points towards Heath’s stomach issues. What many had hoped would be fixed upon his 2020 return reared its ugly head again. Some fans think he looked better this year than his 2018 showing. Dennis James does not agree and believes that Heath looked a slight step down.
Dennis James doesn’t have any insight into what is going on behind the scenes for Phil Heath’s training and prep. So he can’t know the causes for sure. What he does believe is that age is starting to catch up with Heath. Mix that with a year off from competing in 2019 and it created a slippery slope for the 7x Olympia champion.
Ultimately, Dennis James thinks that from his perspective it would make most tactical sense for Phil Heath to stop competing at the Mr. Olympia. He doesn’t want to see a possible future where Phil continues to drop down in placings.
But that’s just Dennis James’ personal opinion. He respects Phil Heath and considers him one of the top five greatest bodybuilders of all time. If Heath still has the passion and believes that he can bring a threatening package – then he should continue moving forward.
You can watch Dennis James break down his full analysis of Phil Heath and his future in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above.
