Phil Heath, the six-time Mr. Olympia, who eats a lot of tilapia and works out in a strip-mall gym.

It was a few minutes before midnight when Mr. Olympia, the top bodybuilder in the world, finished his workout at a nondescript gym in a tired strip mall. He lifted one of his 22-inch biceps and flipped the light switch, tapped the alarm panel and turned the key to lock the glass front door.

He hauled out a sturdy black trunk, the kind with shiny metal edges and a buckle for a latch, and opened the trunk to his white Mercedes.

“Mr. Olympia Phil Heath Parking Only,” the sign in front of the car read. “All others will be crushed.”

Heath bent his legs — each thigh about 32 inches around, bigger than his waist — and lifted the black case. Inside was his latest Mr. Olympia trophy. In bodybuilding, it is called the Sandow, and Heath has won the last six, most recently in Las Vegas in September. Arnold Schwarzenegger, still the world’s most famous bodybuilder, won six in a row, too, and then a seventh a few years later. Two men, Lee Haney and Ronnie Coleman, have won eight.

NY TIMES