Latest / In Search Of Excellence / Flex Lewis Unfiltered Interview: Training Motivation, Workouts & Bodybuilding for Mr. Olympia | E107

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Flex Lewis Unfiltered Interview: Training Motivation, Workouts & Bodybuilding for Mr. Olympia | E107 · In Search Of Excellence

• 0:00
  Flex Lewis: free gym membership was really what got me onto a bodybuilding stage. There was posters that go up every single year about the mister wheels at the interest. Don't get me wrong, I just said I loved the muscle. And I never see myself on a bodybuilding stage, especially in a Speedo, let's be honest. And I was like, that's not going to happen. They're not going to endorse, and this gentleman standing there, it's like, you're gonna do the British nationals, he gave the whole Braveheart speech of why you need to represent Wales against England and Scotland and Ireland because we're the smallest nation in the British Isles. So he gave that speech and I was like, Okay, I look at my parents. They're like, Okay, how long? Four weeks.
• 0:39
  Randall Kaplan: Welcome to In Search of Excellence where we meet entrepreneurs, CEOs, entertainers, athletes, motivational speakers, and trailblazers of excellence with incredible stories from all walks of life. My name is Randall Kaplan. I'm a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist and the host of In Search of Excellence, which I started to motivate and inspire us to achieve excellence in all areas of our lives. My guest today is the incredible flex Lewis Flex is a serial entrepreneur, coach, motivational speaker. And as one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, who has won seven consecutive Mr. Olympia titles, is also the co owner of Arsenal strength gym equipment, the fastest growing fitness equipment company in the world and the owner of the famous Dragon's Lair workout Gym, in Las Vegas, flex true pleasure to have you on my show. Welcome to a Search of Excellence. My pleasure.
• 1:28
  Flex Lewis: Good to find the COVID super, super psyched to be here. Yes. So you grew up in a working class town of banally, Wales, one to five children and your mom was a nurse who had some health problems your dad, your dad worked in the steel industry for 45 years. He tell us about your mom's not being able to work, there's some health issues and your dad's double shifts, as well. While you've you've done the prep for this, I see him first he came from very humble upbringings blue collar town. As you mentioned, my father was in steel, my grandfather was in call. My mom was a nurse, unfortunately disabled later on in life. So I grew up
• 2:08
  Randall Kaplan: in a very loving household. But yet from a very young age, I knew that if I wanted something, I really had to go out and earn it myself.
• 2:15
  Randall Kaplan: And yeah, that's the mentality is really kind of stuck with me throughout my life. You're motivated as a kid and at some point you told your parents want to be a millionaire. How'd that go down? Again coming from the small town I came from there was no many people that it was nobody that we knew there was millionaires no millionaire No, I mean people read about it. Did you read Forbes back in blue collar die? Good question. Let me think I just medical culture was very big in UK. And always you get to see everything on TV and that was the only way and obviously there's things on on there that I aspired I wanted as a kid. Now I never looked at people who had nice things hoses cars with any type of envy. I wanted to know how they done it and how I could achieve getting that whatever it was
• 3:11
  Flex Lewis: and then again success is chests from from whatever avenue so my mentality to going out and putting my heart back to front and going off to things like I said came from a very young age but the mentality of wanting to be better myself. I couldn't tell you where that came from. But I knew from a very young age that I knew that I was going to be much bigger than the town that I came from. Was it your dad working double shifts and your mom after she was able to work she's home taking care of you and just seeing your dad working by the hour tired sleeping during the day when he come home and what six in the morning eat and just exhausted right? He can't do well my father worked was called continental shift sweet work one week nights one week mornings when we got in which his body clock was all over the place. Yeah, but yeah, T never missed a rugby game.
• 3:55
  Flex Lewis: Never missed any type of coaching. For us, my coaches well for rugby. And my mom was always there was always present but the mentality of trying to demand like a chase on life, whether it was monetary, whatever else was really to change my family. And I'm sure we'll speak about this more later on in the episode but my my goal was when I got into anything I've ever done was to not only better myself, but then create the opportunity to better my family. So that was one of my biggest race, even to this day.
• 4:30
  Flex Lewis: Well now one was famous rugby towns in the world. You grew up in rugby, your grandfather, your dad was a semi professional coach. Your mom was the team manager. So how old are you? How old were you and just get into it. Your brother plays as well.
• 4:46
  Flex Lewis: Yeah. When a younger brother.
• 4:48
  Flex Lewis: Yeah.
• 4:50
  Flex Lewis: When you born in Wales, you get born with a rugby ball in your mouth, in your mouth. Yeah, in your hand. So it was a natural progression for me to find myself chasing well what I thought was going to be my end cap my professional sport which is rugby so out of a young age six I started playing I got my nickname flex from that at a very young age. Your old name is James I don't think wow yeah and if you speak to TSA it's Steven.
• 5:15
  Flex Lewis: That's my middle name is James so I go by okay I got many different hands who calls you that your your mom call you that before she passed away you know she's still around she's still Yeah, yeah. But she she the only people that call me Jameson my family but if they're not the Olympia they will call me flex. Okay, but I that's kind of something that's personal like James to me is I only hear that when I'm with family. My wife calls me James but then when she refers to me it's full. Right? So there's a dynamic replay but Stephen is the name that I'll hear when I do any type of government official stuff because it's my Steven James Lewis is my my full name. But yeah, flex has been my name on has been throughout school. All the teachers call me flex on when I got into bodybuilding, of course, is another great bodybuilder called Flex. I had to fight that too when I got into bodybuilding. So I feel like I've managed to carve my own path. I'd say I've the legacy that the other flex created. But again, I didn't come into this sport and call myself flex. I was already called Flex way before you put a pause and power trunks on
• 6:24
  Randall Kaplan: the Hall of Fame name. You know, I always say to people, I have a friend named Tony Ferrari. I mean, that's like that's one of the greatest names Mr. Green and he's one of our portfolio companies co founder David Shani Darden, so shout out to one of our portfolio companies. It's a women makeup company. So one of our one retinol products in the United States. So kind of got a plug one of my you got a plug.
• 6:47
  Flex Lewis: I love plugging all my my friends and anybody I run with I love putting people on a plug. pedestal, shall I say, more than myself? In many cases?
• 6:53
  Flex Lewis: So plugging away? So
• 6:55
  Randall Kaplan: you got five kids in your family, two younger brothers. And you're the yes, I'm older one. Yeah, a lot of pressure on you growing up talk about talking about that. Yeah,
• 7:05
  Flex Lewis: I felt that pressure from a young age. And I think don't pressure you can do one or two things it can make you or break you. And every show why any type of sport spoke in sport I've ever achieved. I've always put a lot of pressure on myself and very competitive. But it also allows me to demand the best version of myself, every time I stepped on a track, every time I stepped on the rugby field every time. The first time I stepped on a bodybuilding show stage, the pressure has always been there. But being the oldest sibling I felt there was kind of like a I adopted the role of taking care of my parents from a very young age. So that pressure of trying to chase what I ended up becoming, I'm leaving my family was all driven, again, to better everybody's life back home. And during this, you know, this chase and stuff, I could have come back home many times, you know, I could have gone back to Wales and and lived maybe a different life. But I knew what I was doing in the United States. I was chasing greatness.
• 8:07
  Flex Lewis: And I was also opening the doors for for me to you know, change my parents parents lives to obviously the double edged side to that is I lost all that time with my my mum and dad to all the parties all the small little things that we kind of take for granted when you live in among everybody. I had to do it from afar through zoom through Skype.
• 8:29
  Flex Lewis: But he only was losing out on these milestones losing out on birthdays losing out on in many cases, you know, funerals, whatever I couldn't be back home for was a driving force for me to change my life and change I'd be wrong. We need to as I mentioned.
• 8:45
  Randall Kaplan: So we'll talk about where you got to to bodybuilding at 15 years old in a minute, but you got to drive you have the entrepreneurial and stay you know you were born with it. How about the paper out 11 And the fish isn't there to
• 8:58
  Flex Lewis: mine. So the paper on was probably one of my first entrepreneurial experiences, what I done. So living in Wales, everything's all hills. And there was two paper outs that would
• 9:10
  Randall Kaplan: make like, lay on Cisco hills were their way up or there is 100 foot hill. In
• 9:15
  Flex Lewis: some cases. Yeah, there's some San Francisco is very impressive. But these are kind of like waiting the hills with houses on the site. So I lived on top of the hill, and it's where to paper was met. So I got to talking to these kids that are older than me. And they said when you're done with these paper owns, I will take them ended up popping in one of the guys. You know, when you get to a certain age, you forfeit your own right. And the other person forfeited their own pretty much the same time period and I take them both. And what I done was they started collecting different loans and then
• 9:44
  Randall Kaplan: sounding for them or they just said hey,
• 9:47
  Flex Lewis: you inherited around. Okay, so you do a certain route but why? There was a lot of kids that wanted these things. They're very popular, especially when you're young, right and ended up selling them to these other kids and taking a cut of the top every single week. So There's like an entrepreneurial moment, but the finches kind of can be
• 10:04
  Randall Kaplan: diverted the fishes. So what kind of dough are we talking about? Oh, and you're on a bicycle going up these hills walk you chondrite that he's
• 10:13
  Flex Lewis: cool with that.
• 10:13
  Flex Lewis: You're riding down the hill.
• 10:15
  Flex Lewis: It's cool. But yeah, it means walk. So one of the speakers
• 10:19
  Randall Kaplan: said what would you pay for him then? What do you sell them for? So
• 10:22
  Flex Lewis: these guys worked at the news agency, the owner that he was he would drop off the complete round. All I had to do is put the right papers in the right houses.
• 10:32
  Flex Lewis: So you're carrying walking up hills with with 30 papers available back when? There was like a Sokcho. Okay, what away?
• 10:41
  Flex Lewis: Oh, my God. Good question.
• 10:41
  Flex Lewis: Probably like 5060 pounds for the pet bonds. A lot of kids are back lesbian fucking killing.
• 10:47
  Flex Lewis: Oh, my legs are huge. Walking up hills. Yeah, yeah. But honestly, there was a job to be done on haven't seen my dad walk to work for the most part of his for his work in Korea, because he was only one calm in my mind to take us to school. You know, it's like it's part and parcel of it and rains, for the most part in Wales anyway. So every day you're in that rain, you won't get you you're really learning a lesson without even knowing learning the lesson, you're starting to learn, like, Okay, I have a duty or obligation, I have to get up when the alarm goes off, I have to get these papers out, because then I have to get ready to go to school. So I do this all before school. And then additionally, once a week, after school, you would have to go and pick up the money from these people were paying for the papers. So it taught me communicative skills. And me being you know, loving chairs.
• 11:37
  Flex Lewis: Yeah, Chuck Dillard, amongst close rugby circles. I was you know, chatty, Cathy, whatever else. But then it taught me to talk to a different audience, an older audience, so I had to kind of find out what at the right level. So you start building rapport with people who stopped being, you know, the face that they don't love. And, obviously, tips resemble that every week, then, you know, a lot of older people kind of, you know, they got a little bit of a cheeky charm, I guess so people can fall in love with. But that that really was again, dealing with money to all these little things became lessons that serve me later on in life. So at that same time period, I started looking into other things and finishes. What was the dough that you're making? Over out? Do you remember living yours only made $5? Probably hears right.
• 12:25
  Flex Lewis: Yeah, I think it was probably like, what I got paid on then tips. I got more from tips. But it wasn't kind of like a waitress job where you earn your tips. This was mainly people get tips, I just was in an onion, I built my, my data database up to the lease and relationships with these people. So one pound, or 50 pounds from every house and you're doing X amount of houses, it all adds up for me per week.
• 12:48
  Flex Lewis: And then I would have a like a BSP to maybe, you know, point 10 pounds or something like that. There was only more fun, because nothing, there was nothing and again, it was lessons learned. And again dealing with people, customers, different customers were more approachable and others. And the ones that weren't there was like, Okay, let me figure out a way of how I can get these guys and girls and women to to fall in love with the Paperboy, you know. So there was definitely as I said, lessons learned during that period of time, but more than anything else shape was getting up and, and having a purpose in the morning. And also having truly, like I said, an obligation that I had to fulfill and and through that through reps and sets and over a period of months and years. You know, you start compounding all these lessons learned. And you find it transitioning into your day to day life. And yeah, so it's 12 right? 1213. But I started looking because I was making money. I started looking at how I can invest my money into different things. Like I said, the finches, what were the next evolution of that? Okay,
• 13:59
  Randall Kaplan: so tell us about the finches. First of all, what is the fish? And then what are we talking about? Because you started with two 458 and 100.
• 14:08
  Flex Lewis: Yeah, it was a domino effect. I never went into the get as many as I did. But the finches with their zebra finches, right zebra finch in the climbing gear. And I went to a local pet shop bought a male and a female put them in a cage.
• 14:22
  Flex Lewis: Of course, they done their thing. Then that turned into
• 14:25
  Randall Kaplan: talking about birds, birds. Yes, yes, yes, finches,
• 14:28
  Flex Lewis: zebra finches are birds. Now these things are probably sold for about five pound a pair, right. And then once I started breeding these, I started investing more into the cages and everything else. So there was a lot of upfront cost that I put into it. Yeah. And then it turned into a very lucrative business when I was selling the finches back to the pet shop for one pound each. And of course, when you've got many that are going to town I indicate yes. Now that turns up turns into quick quit residual income but the finches will The first part, and then it transitioned then into canaries.
• 15:05
  Flex Lewis: Then it transitioned into Paula Cates. And then it turned into pirates. And then full circle turning the race and pigeons.
• 15:13
  Randall Kaplan: So you said something that the fishes would do your do their thing. So I've never thought about finches or birds fucking before. Is that?
• 15:21
  Randall Kaplan: Is that something that you see?
• 15:25
  Randall Kaplan: Are they just Oh, that's not
• 15:27
  Flex Lewis: it? Then I on it.
• 15:27
  Flex Lewis: Yeah, these things will haunt you little buggers.
• 15:30
  Randall Kaplan: So is one fish mounting? The other fish? I'm just curious how I've never thought about that before.
• 15:36
  Flex Lewis: Have you seen how birds breed? They jump on the back of the bird. And then now that little tail is literally trying to scoop itself underneath. So it's yeah, it's it's, I'm sure. There's some sort of smart page out there with bird read. And I'm sure you can find it. But not as there's different obviously birds, different breeding styles. And then some birds take us years to court. And then they will end up breeding. So see it as like, you go through a honeymoon stage to get engaged to get married, they have kids. That's how pirates are. That's why they're so expensive. Because sometimes it takes years to get the first clutch with finches. I mean, you could put a female and a male in together with a sin cage. And they're like audit within an hour. Yeah, they realize that, okay, this is a nest, I can not think they go straight into the you know, what their DNA is, and that stuff to breed on nurture, and then flash, and then they're on to the next and then to the next clutch.
• 17:26
  Randall Kaplan: So I think in some businesses that we think about, we start businesses, we sell businesses, but we think about being different. Yep.
• 17:32
  Randall Kaplan: Right. And you just do the same thing, you're gonna have mediocre results. That's the exact definition of mediocre up.
• 17:37
  Randall Kaplan: So you started a moving company?
• 17:41
  Randall Kaplan: Yes. And you did things totally different than everybody else.
• 17:44
  Randall Kaplan: You had these bulky, massive dudes like you. I mean, you're you're not a thin, thin guy. I mean, when I was younger, I was tall, I was short and Israel and you know, didn't didn't have the same physique as I have what I got in my 20s, or 30s. But tell us, tell us what you did. And how important is being different and starting new when you start a new business to your success?
• 18:07
  Randall Kaplan: Absolutely.
• 18:07
  Flex Lewis: So during that time period that it was getting into the birds, there was also no powerlifting. I started training in my first gym. So I built F team, but Well, yes, yes. Yes.
• 18:18
  Flex Lewis: And again, I'll I'll answer the question, but kind of give little tidbits. So I already developed the physique. And obviously, I was training for the powerlifting to a new bit of bodybuilding stuff. When I started up my first company, which was a moving company, it was in college. And again, same, same kind of small town mentality, it's not gonna work.
• 18:40
  Flex Lewis: You don't know what you're doing. People told you that.
• 18:43
  Flex Lewis: Absolutely. The
• 18:44
  Randall Kaplan: haters and the naysayers don't have the same drive or motivation is you have
• 18:50
  Flex Lewis: it's amazing to me that I've heard that so much throughout my life where people have said, or do you know what you're doing? If I didn't know I wouldn't be committed to myself, he wouldn't know. If I wasn't confident in me doing what I was doing. That's the only reason why you know about what I'm doing. Right. Does that make sense? Yeah. So they were like, Oh, I don't know. It's too late.
• 19:09
  Flex Lewis: I don't know, you know, and again, that transitioned into me coming to the America but the same people said, oh, it's big and risky. And oh, you don't know what you're doing. And maybe I didn't, but it was willing to take the risk. And what I went through and and the due diligence that I've done in my small little town, moving companies, the traditional moving companies a big, big volume, sorry. So you'd have this big van that turns up and as a small blue collar town, these houses affected maybe a quarter of that van. So I seen this I was like this is a business model year on us in United States, you know, FedEx trucks as an example for me.
• 19:46
  Flex Lewis: Obviously, I hadn't been to United States at that point in time, but again, America saw prevalent on over TVs, I seen the FedEx trucks and the small trucks they were these guys were in plus the uniforms. And I was like, wow, that's where I'm going. So I went a completely against the grain. I purchased my first one. I had a grant from Prince trust. Prince Charles, this is Prince chocolaty. And then I see if my ass off, I sold all my birds and I've done all my stuff. But I put everything into this. And I truly believe when you're all into something, you know, you burn the ships.
• 20:22
  Flex Lewis: And that's what my mentality was going into me started my first business and it took off tenfold. Well, first of all, it was just me and Yvonne y mon and Yvonne. And then I realized soon enough then that I needed somebody else. And then by the end of it, I had the lab and employees and funds and my mother was my receptionist and I truly built the business that mentioned earlier, one three young businessman would you rather work young businessman, the awards and award of Prince Charles on scholarships. So for being in business at a young age but that mentality I used what I was doing in the gym physicality to sell the product off to so when we would do something with a local community and you get a picture in the paper it's like all my guys are all you know, praying proper uniform every was big. But when we got to business from was word of mouth, small tone, can you go the extra mile which again has transitioned throughout my life do the small things on that word of mouth got us pretty much 90 70% of my business now I had ads in Yellow Pages talking about my wins and they won this business young members of your board and XYZ and but it was word of mouth that really got me and all you moved my until you move my cousin or you move wherever right and Hobbins staff then who embodied my morals, my integrity and the language that I wanted to have spoken. So much so as to the the peace and care resolve.
• 21:52
  Flex Lewis: Yes, ma'am. Nor Sir, where would you like this? Absolutely no problem going the extra mile right? Transition, this skyrocket us in the business in the small town, so much so that I was turning down so much work because it was just me and my crew. So when I got into the body balloon, that's the next transition. I don't really want to talk. But yeah, it was really during my second year of holding the company. And I started competing whilst moving people horrendous when you're on low carbs, and you're basically different Tupperware blocks in the van and you're digging deep.
• 22:27
  Flex Lewis: I want everyone on my amateur show was whilst I had my company, and it was more than two to three people a day. And it was exhausted, absolutely exhausted. But when I walked into a house, that alter ego, whatever you want to call it, that switch, I was in mod. If somebody wanted something move that we originally wanted it downstairs and wanted it back up on the third floor, for example, no problem. And if they decided to put it back down, no problem we, the rule of thumb was, you only could swear and more than we were in the van. And we're driving away. And suffice to say, you know, during that period of time, I was able to scale not only what I was doing on the Omniture stage, I was also was able to scale my businesses, but also combine both. So anytime I had press regarding my Mr. Universe win or European win whatever it would be, I made sure that the business also had its own love and mentioned too, because truly it was it was part of the element, right, I was able to win the shows whilst basically being ultra full time entrepreneur, businessman.
• 23:32
  Randall Kaplan: Let's back up a little bit. 12 years old, you have an Aunt? Yes, there's a nurse. And she goes to the UK somewhere. Tell us about your aunt, your grandparents visit and the quad father, not the Godfather and the quad father.
• 23:50
  Flex Lewis: So I was a very active young kid. And that's an understatement. I was into evidence. And I would have weekends away at my grandparents I think is more of a relief my patterns with you know, my brothers as well, for me to go out the house as a wild child.
• 24:05
  Flex Lewis: And I'd go to my parents house and again at my grandparents house on a different environment, different atmosphere. My grandparents were like extended parents my but of course I had, you know the novelty of having them make me cups of tea. And you know what I mean? It was a small little things. So live in every weekend at my grandparents house, I would rummage through the, you know, the bookshelves and see what I could find my auntie used to live in our house. She was living in London now at the time. But she would come back, bring some stuff back. And one of the things that she brought back was a book. Maybe in the noisy little 12 year old kid, they discovered this book. It was on Tom Platts, who was as you mentioned, you know, known for his quad development incredible called dualband. One of the night these guys ate these night these guys on the era 30
• 24:58
  Randall Kaplan: and on stupid 30. And so we're talking about, oh, I could recognize this why 1224 30
• 25:07
  Flex Lewis: is somebody's waist?
• 25:07
  Flex Lewis: Yeah, think about that. Right?
• 25:10
  Flex Lewis: And this guy never seen him before. They even knew who he was. But this book blew my mind pulling this out. It was my first true interaction of of any type of bodybuilding or bodybuilder. And they go through this book back and forth. I put it in and I pull it back out and read it again. And I seen Tom squat in and I was like okay, that's how my habits are you get big legs. So I decided I thought he age to try to seek out some weights. Not what 12 You can only have so many people right but I found out coincidentally my dad had some old set of weights remember the old plus their weights he had set in in the shed up the garden so I ended up waiting for my parents to leave now in Wales your house is where I lived anyway, my house is lower than my garden so much in the house is there you have to go up the garden up the stairs, the concrete steps, and then the garden levels off. So wait for my parents to leave.
• 26:10
  Flex Lewis: And they pull these old weights out my agenda ahead of you had to roll them down the steps through the house up my set of stairs into my bedroom hidden under my bed. And every night I would pull out this Tom Platts book, and I was like, Okay, this is how you squat so I put it on the bed horrible form. Of course, thank God I was like young and an injured back then I would find the bottom my back and I would start doing reps, one rep, turn to two, turn two to three to four, etc. And yeah, I'm a little work a regime called cop. I mean, my dad later on in life, but it was that book though the truly changed my life. And Tom plaats was one of them people who would planted that seed in my head to get into I say, physique development. And I can't remember the what would it be? When you see you're looking for a car? And you start seeing that car everywhere? What is the what would that what's that term? You know, we again, you might not see a, you go and buy a Lamborghini because you haven't seen it before. Then you're driving down the street and you see three Lamborghinis.
• 27:07
  Flex Lewis: That's how I found when I got my first book on bodybuilding, I started seeing it everywhere.
• 27:14
  Flex Lewis: And WWF at the time was massive.
• 27:14
  Flex Lewis: So I'd sneak downstairs young age, and watch WWF two or three in the morning and see all the greats like Hulk Hogan Ultimate Warrior award. Back in that day, I had incredible physique. So these things subconsciously planted something in my head where they throw on your life, obviously, we're no, you're talking about what happened next, right. But at that time, he was all down to rugby and being the biggest rugby player on the field. Biggest legs.
• 27:40
  Flex Lewis: That's how it started.
• 27:41
  Randall Kaplan: So so many people, so many successful people I know. The parents tell them not to do something, and they do it anyway. So every kid's DNA. Yeah, right. I mean, you're probably not going to be I don't know what percent of the kids just say, Hey, okay, my parents tell me I'm never going to do that before. But what what's the what's the message there? Should we be listening to our parents? I mean, I don't
• 28:03
  Flex Lewis: know. I don't want to get in trouble. Yeah, but you know, what are you gonna do?
• 28:08
  Flex Lewis: Yeah, that's true. But she was on the other foot. No, but obviously, I didn't listen to my parents, right? Because at that young age of 15, my parents thought that I was gonna stunt my growth. I mean, listen, my parents are both Fight, fight fight. If I had six I had no chance in hell to be six. All right, so I know what they were thinking. But needless to say, I listened to the obviously the the threat that guess who was being shot for the rest of my life. Nothing has changed. But I stayed away from training weights for a number of years.
• 28:37
  Flex Lewis: In fact, funny story. I was in my bedroom, squat in a way and being you know, 15 years old.
• 28:46
  Flex Lewis: Testosterone is through the roof at that age. And my father along my mother, I'm sure downstairs, you and all this huffing and puffing, and my dad checks to the door. I think he was expected something else happening in there being a rambunctious, 1250 year old. I think he was also glad that I wasn't doing what he thought I was thinking the girl yeah.
• 29:04
  Flex Lewis: Yeah, maybe solo too. I don't know. But either way, but huffing and puffing was enough.
• 29:06
  Flex Lewis: He came in and he's like, okay, no, yes. No. Okay. And but yeah, my mother were involved in a nurse she's seen the worst of abdomen right. So she was more so concerned about something else happening. I don't blame I know looking back because again, she's seen so much issues. I came into casualty when she was a nurse. But I knew that the bug was in my body. So I rejoined the gym later on, and at that time, it was really focused on powerlifting which was really home towards the the rugby sort of things but
• 29:40
  Randall Kaplan: the first gym you went in, you're 15 years old for the first time so talking about Steve Naylor and then you can talk about oh yeah sure.
• 29:46
  Randall Kaplan: What happened on you
• 29:48
  Flex Lewis: get your brings back some memories. So Steven Taylor was an incredible athlete very amateur art and say they are not ask on one of your idols. Yes, one of them. Big arms, small waist, just classic physique. If you looked him up tall, also like Arnold, very quiet guy. And me being you know, load and being a rugby body. It was truly something that I had a lot of admiration for Steve because he there this guy locally, a Greek god, and yet, he didn't front it. He didn't show off. He was always hidden away. But when he peeled our top off and you seen him in the gym and a tank top you were like, Oh my gosh. And that draw of having that humility, and having such a world class physique. drew me towards Steve, and how we ended up connecting in the gym. I was powerlifting at the time, started powerlifting like I said, the help of the rugby because we don't have pads. We don't have any type of helmets or anything like that. So you really have to build your structure up to take the impact.
• 30:49
  Flex Lewis: But it was all always, I always caught myself wanting to do the bodybuilder movements. And I did just away from the quarter powerlifting. But it was Steve that couldn't keep any training partners a leg day. And leg days, half your body. That's the hardest work that you can do.
• 31:09
  Flex Lewis: But every was after chest, everyone's there for arms. But when it came to legs, they were running late, or they had to do something. So I said, Hey, you know if there's ever an opportunity that's going on. So, I've used this rule of thumb throughout my career, if you want to train me turn up a leg day, and then we discuss part two. And that's the task that was put through. And Steve invited me to train with him and then we trade with each other for a number of years. I also started thinking outside the box, and I thought, ah, Steve was old school bodybuilder, he bought his way now he bought, he bought his food, never weighed anything out, got in great shape to win the Mr. wheels and the overalls. But then there's another level to go to Mr.
• 31:54
  Flex Lewis: Brittain. At a young age, as soon as I started committing myself the body and I was like I need to really start looking into the nutrition element of things. So what I ended up doing later on and I within the gaps is connect Steve with my then nutritionist, and that guy, he just found a whole new straight.
• 32:12
  Flex Lewis: So what I done was and I also found myself being this guy to surrounding myself with young athletes, Steve at the time, I think was close to 40 If not 40 And yeah, there was this 19 year old whippersnapper, young bull needed to be put in the right direction of things that came in with an energy on on the vibe that put fire into his tail into that you know, hot from any other training Proctor and in turn, you put it on me but also I got the experience of learning reps and sets and truly learning the biomechanics of the body.
• 32:51
  Flex Lewis: Body Polish didn't is all it to be strong, man. Same thing, right? Bodybuilding is all about mind muscle connection, segregating the muscle that you're training on. And that's what I learned with Steve was truly learning how to train for bodybuilding. And again, turning up everyday being committed to our you know, our trading partnership. And also again, the loyalty of of bringing my A game every single day as he did brought brought to mind. So we truly grew together where we went on the road and started scooping up all these trophies, and she was speaking about that later on. Steve was an incredible trip incredible training packed out and I'm very blessed allowed him as, as the first thing about the bike wheels.
• 33:36
  Randall Kaplan: Tell us about the tattoo you got when you were 15 years old? What did it mean and what was the meaning what made you get it?
• 33:42
  Flex Lewis: This is kind of photo of it. Yeah. Because you see this bear? Oh, yeah. This is like well lopsided, but that's my my country's flag. Whereas Okay, on this was their way bunking on my bicep went on. So I broke my elbow. And this was probably at the meeting Steve and all this right, so I broke my elbow. Me being your kid, right? Don't Don't tell me that mom. I shouldn't do this because they will. This time, we didn't serve me well. I had whilst trails coming up in two or three weeks time, during this day. All summer, I'd built this motocross bike and my mother hated bikes.
• 34:27
  Flex Lewis: Again, it goes back to what I said about privacy in the worst cases and casualty of these people coming in via on built this bike, put all the you know, the bells and whistles on it to my financial stability. And then the boys brought this bike up first day of summer holiday on my mother was like, Don't go on this bike, don't go on his bike.
• 34:48
  Flex Lewis: And it was way too powerful for me. I mean, I was when he bought 170 pounds of that back then.
• 34:50
  Flex Lewis: And we took it down to this area where most of the kids were would take their bikes and always the last jump. And the last jump. He came around this corner was creating new trucks.
• 35:01
  Flex Lewis: The grass was about this high.
• 35:05
  Flex Lewis: Next to the direct field. It was a building being built if it was extension of a school and any type of off shape brick, they were throwing them over over the fence. So when I clear this grass, I see this mound of bricks looking at me about four feet. And I just was coming around like Speedway racing. My back end was coming around and I just hit this on site went up in the air. My motocross top got stuck in the handlebars, like fell on top me full throttle ripping the inside of my leg apart. And of course I fell looking at all my friends were standing on top of this moment that I was doing jumps over and they will just run stopped. So me being the young kid younger than them to another embarrassed I was like I'm good. Throw the bike off me as soon As I give them the all clear as if I was okay, I didn't realize that I'd already dislocated my elbow. But in straightening it, they did, they broke it too. So we went to the hospital of course, I had to make that call to my mom was like, Tony told your soul kind of thing, right? But she was snapped straight into nurse Mahmad. And she kind of gave me a quick little tour, you know what to do with this kind of thing. I can't believe you've done this and then straight into Karen. Okay, we're going to take care of this. And do it in that time period. I was in a band aid, you know, like a plaster cast in this position. for about eight weeks, summer holidays, all my friends are doing stuff they go into, you know, hanging out doing things down the lake, doing all kinds of things, all these things I excitedly planned in my head. They were taken off the table. I had my moments where I was like, I can't believe I've done this yada, yada. But then I started putting more confidence into what I was going to do when I got on and this and that mentality. As I said, it's been served me in many different chapters. But during this time, again, it was young. For me of chasing girls, all this stuff was taken off the table. I said, Okay, when I get out to this plus to kind of this is what I want to do. And I started listing these way above the bar kind of stuff that I have been achieved prior to being in a plaster cast. And they were doing a backflip, walking on my hands, and many other different things. So fast forward, they get the plaster cast cut off, of course, when you're in this movement, and you've got tiny little movement dots, when I get out to this, I'm healed. thinking I'm Wolverine, like, they cut the plaster cast off, my arm just flopped. And that was the reality I faced back then it was like, wow, my arm is completely dead. Like it was there was very little movement. So I had to strengthen it back up fast. And there was no rehab therapy or, or any type of therapist telling me this is where you need to start. First day I went to the kitchen, I pull the can of beans out. I was like this is what's going to strengthen my arm. I started off with the kind of beans. Then I progressed a little bit of heavier probably a bag of sugar. And yeah, it just progressed fast. I started getting my strength back slowly but surely. And during that time period tell you where the tattoo comes in with someone that would give more context. There was a tattoo artist that lived up the street to me. And I was so conscious about my arm being much smaller than this. Um, I have many claim flex at that point in time as well. So this one was pre developed. This one was thin been in a plaster cast.
• 38:25
  Flex Lewis: So I went to the tattoo artist and I was like, Hey, knock this door. Scallions has a door food all over his shirt and shut me off for a tattoo. Of course I lowered my voice, right? Because you'd be 18 And he's like, Hold you 18 You're not 18 I was like, Yes, I am. Gay mother's consent.
• 38:47
  Flex Lewis: I was like, okay, so I already prepared. I went up up the street Sagna wall for secondary what the note the swan song.
• 38:54
  Flex Lewis: Yeah, my son is he has the consent signed. You know, I was used to doing it in school.
• 38:59
  Randall Kaplan: Don't had a cell phone back then. So no.
• 39:05
  Flex Lewis: guy would be calling but went back to the house. Of course I made it seem as I went home on the bike. You knew what I was doing, I'm sure. But legality wise and sure he was out of jail, you know? So I went back and he done this tattoo.
• 39:16
  Flex Lewis: And I looked at it was like, Oh, that's cool. Went back to school. And what I wanted to do was take the attention off the fact that I hurt my arm. I didn't want to repeat myself.
• 39:26
  Flex Lewis: And you know, boohoo me and I I have missed out in the summer holidays people talking to me doing this to not I had a tattoo on my arm. How cool is that?
• 39:32
  Flex Lewis: What I didn't realize is when my arms that are getting bigger.
• 39:35
  Flex Lewis: This tattoo was bent slight backwards. But going back to what the things that I manifested in my head, and I started telling myself at a very young age. First week back in school, every set of changes exchanging stories and stuff. I had already started during that time period of time to do handstands. And when you left school, there's only a few people that could truly do a handstand, nobody could walk in their hands. Now the goal was for a PE teacher, which I love.
• 40:06
  Flex Lewis: Massive mentor to me when he was a young kid. Both
• 40:11
  Randall Kaplan: of them what are the names just to give a shout out Yeah. Mr.
• 40:15
  Flex Lewis: Owens and Mr. Jones respectfully and I could tell him their first name, but I still call him sir and they still call him misters even though they tell me all the time. They're
• 40:21
  Randall Kaplan: still salutely All right,
• 40:23
  Flex Lewis: my Saturday I'm
• 40:24
  Randall Kaplan: gonna watch a show. I think it's so important to call your your mentors. Yeah, encore when I was in high school, to man, that guy's an amazing teacher. So yes,
• 40:32
  Flex Lewis: well, not not. I want to thank my PE teachers because they played a massive pivotal part. They knew that I hated school, but they always accepted me during the pizza is that I bumped off. They open up.
• 40:41
  Flex Lewis: They could have got in trouble too. But they open up the gymnasium for me. They opened up the weight Hall for me they knew again. I was a very coachable Little kid, but I also there was I came from a school that was tough and rough. So I fell into the into the distracted kids group not knowing later on that I had dyslexia or ADHD. And that was what I was told first week in college, but I was labeled stupid. I mean, he was them tubes in the UK. You're stupid, bro. You're stupid kid. Get to the box. Don't be stupid. You're not stupid. You know, you're gonna be in jail. All the army.
• 41:21
  Flex Lewis: That's that's what the brain train you for. In in public public schools when I was in school?
• 41:27
  Randall Kaplan: I don't think that's so fucked up. It's It's nothing. Nothing can be worse as a young kid. I mean, the form the four most important words, I think in our language are I believe in you. And here they're saying I don't believe in you.
• 41:41
  Randall Kaplan: Yeah, I mean, and you're young.
• 41:41
  Randall Kaplan: Yeah. And it's hard not
• 41:46
  Flex Lewis: to believe it. And it's an it'd be conditioned not to believe it. Because once you have many setbacks, and it keeps repeating itself, you then say, well, this is my path. My brother happened to my brother, you know, just just speaking, hypothetically. You know, we have my brother, my brother ended up you know, working in the local steel factory or went to the army or whatever, often, there's nothing wrong with that.
• 42:09
  Flex Lewis: But when you don't speak big as a teacher, you're not teaching.
• 42:13
  Flex Lewis: Yeah, you're already creating the parameters for them kids, by saying like, the only opportunity is this and this.
• 42:20
  Flex Lewis: And for me, I added in the element of why I'm going to be a professional. I thought rugby player, right. But again, you think you start talking pie in the sky back then. And they bring it back to reality. It's, it's a crazy, crazy, crazier belief system these teachers have back then I can't attest to the school that I went to really know. And who's in there, right?
• 42:41
  Flex Lewis: No, but also the teachers that were there when I was there.
• 42:45
  Flex Lewis: Were also at the tail end of the cane. Right? So they were whipping people back then. And then they had to get rid of the cane. So they had nothing but woods. To humble you on back then he was an opera at this talk. They're like, what, give me a hands. Whatever else seems to hit you with? It's
• 43:02
  Randall Kaplan: crazy to think about, by the way, right? I mean, wild
• 43:06
  Flex Lewis: I know some of these guys have obviously the plague God right. So the love just and and yet the the ability to do it. But anyway, but then teachers are that on their mentalities are so skilled, whether it's because they never made it, but they, they spoke it into existence with these kids.
• 43:23
  Flex Lewis: And I was one of the kids. But the PE teachers along with my English teacher, Miss Hewes. She truly seen something in me, which I probably didn't see myself at that time. And then when you just start getting muddied with all this stuff that's going on the half somebody who was like, Hey, come to the pee hole. Instead of bunking off, come to the PIO, I know, I know, you're not doing what you should be doing.
• 43:44
  Flex Lewis: Getting here before you get in trouble by the headmistress or whoever sees you, ICU you under my control and your work and you're not doing anything bad, that actually be progressive with your time. So I would do gymnastic stuff. I did gymnastics, rugby, whatever, and a little bit of weights later on. But these teachers truly showed me skills that I never had and put time into me they were given up the lunchtimes to help a lot of these kids out.
• 44:09
  Flex Lewis: And I thought that was so commendable, because these guys don't get paid much money as teachers back then. And I'm sure they don't really know. But talking about one of my first week back in school, the class then kind of in the PA Department said, Okay, what do you guys been working on?
• 44:27
  Flex Lewis: Throughout the summer, when nobody works in anything?
• 44:29
  Flex Lewis: Nobody's been working on speed drills that has been done anything they just been messing around. So I was coming, obviously, off the injury. But during that time period, I said, I'm going to do a handstand. And to tell you that story. I was so adamant. I was going to do this handstand. But this is where my mentality comes in. Right? And the analogies of life, the first time I've done it failed, hurt now. My mother was like, what do you do when you're going to be back in hospital? Mom, I'm gonna be fine. Hon stunning is the wall fail. I stand against the wall fail, fail, fail content half a second. That amount of hope. I can again, handstand against the wall, caught it one second. And then I kept doing that over and over again until I caught it against the wall for a time period of time. It was a small period of time. And then the next thing is you take the training wheels off, kick the wall away. And I started Hunstanton on by my own. Again, this was a little sore. But I knew that through reps and sets were strengthening up. But again, to the dismay of my mother and father, they were like You are crazy. You are going to be back in this. No, you gotta be training for the second three run out of the woods trails that are coming back up. I said don't worry, I'll be good. Of course, I was doing this out of out of mind, you know, out of sight out of mind as soon as but when I go back to that school that first week they said okay, we can do handstands, you see all these guys kind of like trying to pick up where they left off and obviously progressed worse because they just don't have the the agility that they had one.
• 45:59
  Flex Lewis: So the dexterity on I walked the entire gymnasium floor up, I'm back. And everybody's like, bro, you, you're in a plaster cast, you're like what I was like Jabra was working in silence.
• 46:11
  Flex Lewis: And again, these things, all that I started doing as a very young age, I didn't realize that these were lessons that I were teaching myself. Working in silence is what I've done a lot of the time until it gets seen, not the was seen by my class.
• 46:26
  Flex Lewis: And under also assured me that when you prepared to work, when you have every excuse not to, you can achieve such incredible things. And my goal was to do what I done, and achieve it so then I can tick that off and move on to the next.
• 46:45
  Randall Kaplan: How great to that feel when everyone's sitting there watching?
• 46:50
  Flex Lewis: Well, I think it made up for all the loss stories of all what I missed out on on the summer holidays. Definitely.
• 46:59
  Flex Lewis: Yeah, it was. I think everybody was like what, like, what have you been? What have you been doing? been rehabbing. Again, my goal was to get back on the rugby field, the gym, the handstand and the walking on my hands. What along with a backflip, by the way I mentioned didn't forget that part was something that I had to prove to myself that I could do. I already told the people that I wanted to know what I was doing it same thing in life. And he said, my intuitions gonna tell him my smallest smallest circles. So I have accountability. But the accountability wasn't there, you're gonna be telling my parents like, don't, but then goes back to that mentality of like, okay, I'm doing it anyway.
• 47:40
  Flex Lewis: So I did to answer your question, it was a great feeling to know that when I started off with the kind of beans committed myself to this, this path of doing a handstand to them being able to walk up and back.
• 47:55
  Flex Lewis: Wondering it kind of be like a little bit of an inspiration to the class not showing off because that's not me. I have always stayed humble and driven.
• 48:04
  Flex Lewis: But I was just like, Guys, come on, like you you can work. You can work on things when when you're not being asked to do it.
• 48:09
  Flex Lewis: Because back then you have coaches rather than the coaches say, Okay, I want you to run a lap. But when the rugby sessions are done, you're not going to run, record, you know, run the run the hills, you're not going to do all the extra stuff. But when I surrounded myself surrounded myself with people who started thinking more like me, who would do more of what I was asked to them. And then it was seen on the rugby field on the track. That's when I started putting that into my day to day step and demanding more from much more was asked to me. I
• 48:41
  Randall Kaplan: got a card. I have five kids as you know, four girls one boy, she's seven she's in the first grade loves being a gymnast. So dancing does ballet and we have a bar inside of the house alive inside the house.
• 48:52
  Randall Kaplan: And working on the handstand now for six, six months, you know, she leans he does the wall. Yep, she does the couch and the couch is a little tougher than the wall because it's 36 inches in the hall and you know, probably up to 500 tries now and you can see you're inching away a little bit now. So like you said, it's a half a second, it's one second, or max is two seconds, it's gonna be so amazing for her is a proud seven year old to be able to do that. And it's fun as a dad watching your kid progress. You know, maybe I'll take her 800 times, but she's gonna get it. And as parents even on the ones that she fails immediately, you want to give them positive reinforcement, and usually the harder that's amazing. And she'll keep going.
• 49:37
  Randall Kaplan: I mean, she'll she'll go, you know, 20 times in a row. Data.
• 49:41
  Randall Kaplan: Oh, my feet. We have all my feet. It's great. You talk a lot about your parents. A lot of our parents want us to go into certain professions. Yeah, right. I mean, I'm Jewish and there's a there's a saying oh, you know Jewish parents want to be a doctor or a lawyer. Tell us about your parents. Super excitement about you being a bodybuilder and taller about the bacon and sausage in your petition. That
• 50:09
  Flex Lewis: was powerlifting so when I did my first powerlifting competition Yeah, my mother and father like why are you putting so much focus into the powerlifting more than the rugby. Now granted at that one, at one point in time, it had this transitional period where I was doing both but then how to season he was just focusing on the powerlifting to get strong and to get stronger and you know, it's a lot of different things but the first powerlifting meet I ever done. I told my pass about it. Again. I didn't even think it was going to look like it did but they were cooking bacon and eggs and sausage right behind the lifters in a in a cafeteria. that on most occasions during that day, the smoke was coming in to the lifting platform. So my parents went from watching me play in high level rugby to then come in to see this powerlifting show with kind of like mix match chairs and Ebby hardwood in there and bacon and eggs have been caught behind the lift as I'm not gonna lie wasn't the protest of moments to tell my parents again, I might do this, but I don't know. But when I done the bloody Glen, which was shortly after, and I committed myself to that they came to the first show with the same mentality, potentially, I don't think I noticed they didn't expect it to be what it was. Now bodybuilding in South Wales is pretty big. In Wales in general, I don't know what it is about bodybuilding, they will always have the local guy every new the local guy, you know, he's normally promoting the door I told him about he was always strong built. And these guys always would turn up optimise the wheels every single year when they won the show was another thing. But every new Mr.
• 51:56
  Flex Lewis: Wales was on top three. So me committed myself to this show and obviously going through the details just sticking to the show element of my parents came and they went, Oh my gosh, wow, this is this is crazy. This isn't an auditorium and horns, you know, it was done. It was actually in the Royal Princess Theatre in a place called Port Talbot. So it was a Royal Theatre which had balconies you know, so it was packed out couldn't get tickets people are outside trying to get tickets and ask for tickets to come in.
• 52:28
  Flex Lewis: You know when the people will leave and they will resell in the tickets to get the you know people in to see the event. And I just remember competing in that show my parents like wow, it's crazy. But this is this is it the one and done you promised us because they done my own diet. He was living hell he was horrible. So they were just like, let's just wait for this to end he goes back into his rugby and he studied in shock because again he's going to be nice, but it wasn't and I don't know if you want to continue with that from from there on in but it was yeah, like the story
• 53:00
  Randall Kaplan: sometimes we do stop we say free Oh, I got it's free. Everything's free. Yeah.
• 53:02
  Randall Kaplan: So we do crazy stuff because free is not free. So tell us about this gym membership.
• 53:10
  Flex Lewis: Yes, Neil Hill. So the free gym membership was really what got me onto a bodybuilding stage. The training the powerlifter gym, there was posters that go up every single year about the Mr. Wills den.
• 53:21
  Flex Lewis: There's people that we knew I'd been up to see a couple of these shows had the interest don't get me wrong, I just said I loved the muscle. And I never see myself on a bodybuilding stage especially in a Speedo let's be honest, you know, I was like that's not gonna happen. Again it's
• 53:38
  Randall Kaplan: like a speedo you know you're up there on stage is waist beat up.
• 53:43
  Flex Lewis: No, no no contact the white does like my time would be all over it. It would look like yes, yeah, Cookie punch.
• 53:49
  Randall Kaplan: Okay
• 53:54
  Flex Lewis: you're going to battle for the biggest tournament Yeah, turn around when you got this what we had look at Titan stay and run and coincidentally wrong about crack. No, none of that weight is always out. But yeah, the I'm trying to pull myself back into the timeline. But the question was, and sorry,
• 54:13
  Randall Kaplan: the free do a huge role in your life.
• 54:17
  Randall Kaplan: Absolutely. So
• 54:17
  Flex Lewis: the the free gym membership was really me saying myself, you know what, I don't have no money. It should be a massive aid to me to have this free gym membership. I train you every day. And how hard can this bodybuilding thing be? Again, I didn't conceptualize the fact that's going to be on stage and the speed or I allowed that not to manifest until the tail end.
• 54:40
  Flex Lewis: Otherwise if that was there in the forefront it probably would have ruined my my prep. Right?
• 54:42
  Flex Lewis: Because that to me was that was that was another hurdle in itself so I try to break things up the diet I got from from a flex magazine. I found this guy's diet and I was like okay if he's eating all this food out dissect this, and I'll just diet on bare minimum not knowing know, that what I dieted on for 12 weeks was pretty much known as depletion, which is next to nothing, I will live in hell, I was tired I was hungry. But I refused to not follow or go off the plan that I had in front of me. I mentality has always been there. But when somebody would suggest like hey, when's the last time you had carbs two days ago I'm a big potato tomorrow I'm so okay. And I love that potato just random guys in the gym given their own advice I got there. I got to them Mr. Wales.
• 55:38
  Flex Lewis: Again I started watching a lot of VHS video is to prepare me for the pause in and I really put my time into that. But really, that first showing I'll kind of tell a story within a story. I still under have us, young kid, I still have to walk on stage no matter what I done how I prepared. When I got to that show and seen on and people in the audience, man, I came, I succumb were nervous. So I'm backstage nervous and this older gentleman comes up to me. He's like, you're a kid. Like, me?
• 56:12
  Flex Lewis: Yeah, I'm okay. Of course, put the front things like it's okay to be nervous. I get nervous too. But you know what I do, I kind of channel into, again, not exactly the words, but I channel into something and the word Alter Ego came out. And I hear that. And again, everything else was just contacts, right? The Alter Ego element to things. So as literally 10 to 15 minutes before I walked on stage, I heard this advice. And it's been advice that I use to this day.
• 56:37
  Flex Lewis: When I walked on stage, I was like, Yeah, Alter Ego. Nobody knows me up there, outside of the people obviously have come to support but forget that.
• 56:48
  Flex Lewis: Every doesn't know me. So I went out that on when you go out and do your, when they bring you out the first time, it's normally a routine that brings you out. So I've done my routine to manage dramatically deeper underground.
• 57:01
  Flex Lewis: It was the Godzilla song. Yeah, like going deeper underground.
• 57:04
  Flex Lewis: But there's a build up to that.
• 57:07
  Flex Lewis: So I walked out to this, and then dramatically opens up the song out there and they hit the shot on that. My training partner, Steve Nayla was being trained to me not plenty of time for like a year and a half comes backstage. He's like, flex. Some kid just went out there. You've got to go all out, believe it or look down and I'm like, What do you mean more kid before me?
• 57:30
  Flex Lewis: He's like, No, he just came up.
• 57:30
  Flex Lewis: I said, that was me, Steve.
• 57:33
  Flex Lewis: Everybody couldn't have had the most people couldn't believe that I turned into that guy on stage. And I left it all out there. Now. I done the show. I won the show and walking back to the car and my parents, big bag of chocolates. My college friends came and they knew I love chocolate. So how neat never 12 weeks, so they put this huge sack like a Christmas sock together. All I wanted to do is drink all liquid rituals like drink Lucozade or Gatorade. Last thing I want to do is eat chocolate. So I was trying to force myself to eat chocolate.
• 58:08
  Flex Lewis: Obviously, the next day is different. But he just saw dehydrated, so tired. Got a knock on the window. And this gentleman standing there, head judge. And I said he's weighing down the window. My parents are in the front seat. He's like, Hey, you, you're gonna do the British nationals. I was like, respectfully, I said, I know who you are. Thank you, you know, for all you've done. And thank you for the judge in today. And I don't know I don't think so.
• 58:31
  Flex Lewis: It's it's been a tough prep.
• 58:34
  Flex Lewis: I've done my own diet. You have some questions, and you often helped me. So I took that in consideration. And he gave the whole Braveheart speech of why you need to represent Wales against England and Scotland and Ireland because we're the smallest nation in the British Isles. So he gave that speech and I was like, Okay, I look at my parents. They're like, Okay, how long, four weeks. So myself and this gentleman spoke, be agreed. That Tuesday, I drove down to this gentleman's house.
• 59:05
  Flex Lewis: And this is Neil Hill. And he's been with me ever, ever since that day, 20 years late, they still my coach to this day. So I'm a very loyal person, to the, to those who are loyal to me, I don't think grass is greener. I had many opportunities to work with many different coaches when they came to United States. In fact, I was told, You're not going to win anything unless you work with these coaches. And I was like, I want everything as an amateur with this guy. We've always been in shape. That's my calling card, and I'm gonna be the biggest guy on stage. I suffered to be in condition. And you know, we all know, many years later, you're telling me that I need to work with somebody else. It's not gonna happen. We came here together, will will endure together and that those 20 year relationship with Mr. Myself and my coach, to this day,
• 59:47
  Randall Kaplan: you go with the people who got you there. And so many times in life, we see it.
• 59:49
  Randall Kaplan: I'm from Los Angeles, you're an actor, and it's a stepping stone process, right? You got to get a Asian your diet again, they finally get a part. And the small agent can't get you the bigger part so that you're going to total agents, you're at CAA endeavor, and it sucks for the little person. But sometimes, the smaller agent does carry the client and that helps make that first agent. bigger idea, but I think it's a lost. I think it's loyalty is underrated in terms of our success in life,
• 1:00:26
  Flex Lewis: value and trade. In trade, I preach about that, more than you would know. More roles.
• 1:00:30
  Flex Lewis: Again, I have a clothing company called culture, culture is CLT.
• 1:00:34
  Flex Lewis: And as we spend a culture, loyalty, trust, respect, and then the morals that I live by.
• 1:00:42
  Flex Lewis: And to your point, you know, loyalty is a word. It's not the mentality. And there's so many people who have again, got to Shouldn't level and then jump ship? Selfishly, when that person has been there for you, through, you know, things that let's just keep it in the bodybuilding world, outside of the gym, you know, coaches are psychologists, that's that they're all that they have to play tours like my, you know, with myself and Neil, you know, the majority of times, we're talking in depth about different things that have nothing to do with a training, we're not talking about reps and sets, we're talking about mentality.
• 1:01:19
  Flex Lewis: But we're talking about tapping into that toe, I can get into that gym and garner something that wasn't seen in the last session. But again, when you have the opportunity, then to go with a coach that may have a couple more wins underneath his umbrella, and maybe a couple of Olympia wins the jump, and they lose evidence they built up with somebody else, because now you are the coach, and you're the ticket number. And the attention that you had with that other person that was gone, you expected with this other person, maybe no, you're paying somebody a lot of money to be a coach.
• 1:01:54
  Flex Lewis: But now we are sharing the role with other athletes who may be standing on stage against you.
• 1:01:57
  Flex Lewis: And then there's the other element of like, oh, man, he's given this person more attention because he's winning. It's all these other different variables that I've seen it firsthand, sitting in the seat that I've been in for all these years.
• 1:02:08
  Flex Lewis: There's nothing better than having the faith in the person that believed in you way back when when maybe you didn't believe in yourself, and doubling down on that. And if you make mistakes, that's part of the course, just like entrepreneurship. I love talking about my failures, because it's made me who I am to this day, and a lot of people just don't want to fail. They don't want to even put themselves out there to fail. And even if they do it, they don't talk about it. When really the lessons are learned in the times of despair when you're looking at the seal and stressed out all this pressure on you. That's when you can use that to get out in the world and chase whatever it is that you're trying to chase down