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Phil Heath Throws Shade At Sam Sulek?

Phil-Heath-Throws-Shade-At-Sam-Sulek

by Christian Duque

It’s very interesting that Phil Heath would have an issue with Sam considering that Phil has been competing for many years, won the Olympia seven times, is a movie star, a contest promoter, a motivational speaker – we could be here all day talking about his illustrious résumé. Why does somebody who has risen to the top in various different disciplines care what a young 20 something is doing in the gym and on social media? Because in reality that is all Sam is doing. He’s not competing, he’s not vying for a pro card, he’s not talking about the complexities of contest judging or contest promotion.

All he is doing is eating and training. Now the kicker is the fact that he has one of the most successful social media footprints in the world. That’s the only reason that Sam is talked about by people like Phil. Otherwise, Sam would be just like any other meathead going to the gym and buying supplements. I wouldn’t really see him stand out from the crowd. He would be just one more amongst the screaming fans seen from many rows back on a stage or under the bright lights of big competitions in Columbus, Ohio or Las Vegas, Nevada.

No, the issue with Sam is that he has single-handedly become one of the most talked about people in the fitness industry. And I say single-handedly because even though he has been able to land a lucrative sponsorship with one of the biggest companies in sports supplements science, that did not catapult him to the big leagues. It’s because he was able to get himself to the big leagues through his very basic yet very transparent content that this supplement giant ever gave him the time of day.

Sam didn’t buy views and he certainly didn’t buy followers. He doesn’t inject himself on camera like some guys did years ago nor does he talk about the need to use anabolics in order to make it with a great physique on stage. That’s for other guys. He doesn’t knock those guys that use chemicals, but he also doesn’t promote those that keep it natural, either. His only interest is his own journey and that’s it.

A guy like this doesn’t (usually) go viral. And it hasn’t just been one or two videos. Everything this guy touches turns into gold, but yet he is extremely positive and stays in his own lane. We have often heard that expression, but seldom does anybody ever subscribe to it because everybody wants to be famous overnight. People don’t want to put the work in; if they can just attack dozens of people, violate confidences, and speculate to the point that whatever they conjure up sounds like factual assertions, they’d rather do that. After all, it’s this type of reckless behavior that has made so many people in the industry famous. They don’t care that they burn bridges and they don’t care that they lose friendships. It’s all worth it to them in order to be Insta famous. But Sam never subscribed to that. Nobody hates him yet. Everybody wants to talk about him.

What I can’t understand is why one of the most celebrated bodybuilders on the planet who by the way met Sam in person, may have even trained with him, has to throw shade now all of a sudden? I mean, it couldn’t be because he’s got a movie out, could it? It couldn’t be because he’s got a bodybuilding show that he wants to generate interest for, could it? I mean, what would be the motivation to throw shade at somebody who he has met in the past and thought was cool?

I mean when they met there was no issue. From the photos and video that we saw it seemed like they got along great. Because when they met, Phil met Sam as a fan. And that’s just it, when Sam is in the context of a fan he doesn’t seem to create any blowback from the big stars. But when Sam is getting more attention than the big names then it seems like there is going to be some kind of extra to be had. It’s to say that he’s not a positive role model or to suggest that maybe Sam’s approach is not quite so responsible.

Apologists for the big stars will say that they are merely looking out for the youth. They are trying to keep young people from following in Sam’s footsteps. And they are doing this because in their estimation Sam is promoting a reckless lifestyle. But they don’t know what Sam is actually doing. People want to say it’s reckless but do they know about Sam’s bloodwork? Has Sam ever come down with any kind of a condition related to the use of any performance enhancement drugs? Do people really know what the kid is running or are they just assuming? Because unless Phil is Sam’s doctor then I don’t think Phil has any idea what Sam is doing. So if Phil doesn’t know, what exactly is he protecting young people from, exactly?

That’s the thing right there for me. You can’t defend Phil throwing shade at Sam when Phil doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. So the reality of the matter to me is that I think that what we are seeing is a new phenomenon. We are seeing established champions, arguably, legends, feeling the need to undermine a youngster that happens to be a social media influencer simply to generate interest in whatever they’re doing. That’s taking the Internet to brand new low if you ask me.

It’s not just shameful, it’s quite frankly depressing. Promote your movie on the quality of the film. The same with your show. The same with whatever else you’re doing. And if you’re asked a question about somebody and you can’t say anything nice, maybe don’t say anything at all. Again, I don’t know what the motivation was for the shitty comments that were made, but they could have been better left unsaid. That’s just my opinion. That’s all this is.

I’m not taking this position because Phil has had me blocked for many years and I’m also not coming down hard on Phil because I’m necessarily a Sam fan. I just happen to think that a lot of people are setting their sights on this kid because of the fact that he is so popular. I think that if he was just doing what he was doing and not being so successful at it, nobody would care. That’s very sad to say, but I think it may very well be the truth. What say you? Is Phil looking out for the youth or is he trying to inject himself into the conversation? Sam is one of the most popular fitness influencers since The Hodge Twins and Rich Piana?

And if you think that Phil is really looking out for the youth, isn’t that kind of hypocritical? I mean when you stop to think about it, is Phil a natural athlete? Did he win seven Olympias naturally? I mean I understand the argument that Sam is being watched by far younger people than maybe would be watching bodybuilding at the highest levels, but that’s really kind of grasping at straws if you ask me.

I think anybody that’s looking at bodybuilding is going to quickly come to the realization that while diet and training are important, you can’t have 23 inch arms cold with single digit percentages of body fat naturally. You also can’t be bone dry without the likely use of diuretics. I just don’t understand how somebody who excelled in a drug-dominated sport has any moral higher ground to throw shade at someone in their early 20s dabbling with performance enhancement drugs while dieting and training. Again, I think the shade being thrown comes down to popularity.

I’m sorry, but that’s not looking out for the youth, that’s basically trying to steal the kid’s thunder. That’s just the way that I look at it. And again Phil didn’t attack the guy out of nowhere. He was asked the question about Sam and he answered in such a way that once again I want to reiterate I think would’ve been left unsaid. He could’ve simply stated he met him once, that he was a nice guy, and stopped there. I think Phil may have seen the potential to get some traffic and some buzz and went that route instead.

I’m just thinking out loud here. That’s how I often do with my articles for Iron Magazine. This is why you you guys like reading them. While I do proofread them, I don’t filter them. I write what I think and that’s what my publisher puts out. There are very few publications that are this raw and there’s a reason why we get the hits that we get do.

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