Welcome to another episode of In Search of Excellence! My guest today is the incredible Flex Lewis. Flex is a serial entrepreneur, coach, motivational speaker, and one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. He has won 7 consecutive Mr. Olympia titles.
He's 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 Gym in Las Vegas.
Time stamps:
00:55 Flex’s family and background
- Grew up in a loving home in Wales
- His father was a steel worker and his mother a nurse
- Decided to be a millionaire as a kid
03:52 Born with a rugby ball in the mouth
- He started playing rugby at the age of 6
- His full name is Steven James Lewis
- Flex is a nickname he got as a kid
06:27 The pressure to better himself
- A pressure to become better
- His first entrepreneurial momentsome text
- Delivering papers on his bike
- Learned responsibility and dealing with money
13:22 Investing the money he earned
- Bought a male and female finch
- Started breeding and selling them
15:57 Starting a moving company
- Powerlifting and starting a moving company
- Bought his first truck and developed the business
- Went an extra mile to do a good job
22:05 Learning from the Quadfather
- Spent weekends at his grandparents
- Discovered a book by Tom Platz at 12
- The book changed his life
- Found weights and started doing squats
26:23 His parents’ worries
- His parents were afraid it would stunt his growth
- Stayed away from training weights for a number of years
- Funny story about his father catching him squatting
28:30 Steve Naylor and his influence
- Flex had a lot of admiration for Steve
- He was drawn by his humility
- Started training with Steve
- Bodybuilding is all about mind-muscle connection
32:19 Elbow injury and getting a tattoo
- Spent the whole summer building his motocross bike
- Had an accident and broke his elbow
- After removing the plaster cast, his arm was dead
- Had to make it stronger by himself
- A tattoo on the weakened arm
38:53 Working in silence and achieving things
- Didn’t like school but liked PE teachers
- He had dyslexia or ADHD, was labeled stupid
- How schools were failing kids by discouraging them
- Practicing a handstand and the first day at school
47:26 The first powerlifting competition
- From high-level rugby to powerlifting show
- Bodybuilding in Wales is a big thing
- The competition was held in the Royal Princess Theatre
51:59 Getting on a bodybuilding stage
- Was drawn by a free gym membership
- Changed his diet and watched a lot of VHS videos
- The competition and the alter ego
- Performed great and won the show
- Deciding to prepare for British nationals
- A 20-year relationship with his coach
- The importance of loyalty
1:01:40 Chasing dreams and making sacrifices
- Winning the British Nationals
- Got an invitation from Gold’s Gym to come to the US
- It was a magical experience and a massive culture shock
- Worked to save and come again
- Coliseum Gym in California
- Slept on a friend’s sofa for 1.5 year
- Trained a lot and waited for an opportunity
Sponsors:
Sandee – https://sandee.com/
Bliss: Beaches – https://www.amazon.com/Bliss-Beaches-Randall-Kaplan/dp/1951836170/
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