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Bodybuilding icon Phil Heath has managed to register his name in the history textbooks by winning the Mr Olympia title seven times during his bodybuilding career.
Despite being away from the sport for quite a while now, it is worth noting that the mass monster has still not officially announced his retirement. Phil Heath continues to train daily and eat in a certain way to maintain his humongous size.
Despite training under 'The Pro Creator' Hany Rambod, Heath received some constructive criticism from renowned fitness coach and internet sensation Dr Mike Israetel.
In the recent video that he posted on Instagram, reacting to Heath's post-Olympia training, Mike Israetel pointed out that Phil Heath's range of motion while doing Smith machine squats was really low. While the ideal range of motion for doing Smith machine squats should be as low as possible, Israetel also acknowledged that Heath might have some back or knee problems that he is not aware of.
"Yeah..how do I be nice about this. A lot can be improved in this execution, I don't know if that's the case for Phil. He might have some back stuff going on, for him this technique might be the thing that feels the best etc," Israetel stated. (15:25)
Further, by providing Phil Heath's example, Israetel also showed the proper way to perform weighted squats.
What was wrong with Phil Heath's squat form?
Dr Mike Israetel himself has decades of experience under his belt and a PhD degree in exercise science. Being a bodybuilder himself, Mike shared his two cents on what he believes is the correct way to perform the mass builder leg movement. For beginners or intermediate lifters, Israetel suggests (via the video above):
"For you at home trying this move your feet back significantly so that they're just a little bit in front of the bar path of the Smith Machine, stay upright and Phil's doing a great job doing that."
"Keep your chest up, slowly sink down until your butt is as close to the ground as possible and you're sitting hamstrings to calves...Continuing to have that chest poke upright then come back up and go back down under control. The more depth the bigger your legs will be, give that a shot."
Taking nothing away from Phil 'The Gift' Heath's legacy, Israetel rightly stated that doing the exercise in a certain way might benefit one person more than others. While this might feel natural or beneficial to Heath, most lifters can notice a huge improvement in muscle mass if they attempt squats with a full range of motion, and a good mind-muscle connection.
