One of the all-time greats in the sport of bodybuilding, Flex Lewis, announced his retirement on the first episode of his podcast, Straight Outta The Lair. The surprising retirement news came from Flex Lewis as he was speaking with his wife Ali about future plans. Let's get into this major announcement!
7-Time Mr. Olympia 212 Flex Lewis Retires From BodyBuilding
The seven-time Mr. Olympian shocked the bodybuilding world when he announced his retirement on Friday during the recording of his podcast. The podcast episode covered numerous topics, including his family’s move to Las Vegas.
Around minute 22 of the podcast, Flex gets to the juice and says, “There’s no real easy way to say this, but it’s time. Bodybuilding has served me well. It has opened up some amazing doors for me, but it is time for me to hang up my posing shorts.”
It seems like Lewis is satisfied with his remarkable career and now wants to move on to a new chapter in life to be present for his family more, as he just recently had his second kid.
During the podcast, we also learned of some health issues facing Lewis; he said it was hard for him to eat as much as he needed to if he wanted to pursue the dream of winning the Olympia in the Open division.
The past six months had been rough for Lewis as he described waking up daily with nausea and dry heaving. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause, but now that he’s down about 25 pounds, he feels much better, thanks to a diet change.
At the end of the day, Lewis said he made this decision alone, and it was the right time to walk away.
Watch the full podcast episode below where you can see Flex announce his retirement and future plans
WHO IS FLEX LEWIS?
Flex Lewis is a Welsh bodybuilder that holds 7 Mr. Olympia titles in the 212 division. The name Flex actually originated from his childhood when he was 6-year-old playing rugby due to his ability to break tackles.
It was at age 12 when Flex fell in love with bodybuilding. Looking up to Arnold and Tom Platz, he started lifting secretly at home when he found some of his father’s old weights. At 15, he stepped into the gym for the first time and never looked back.
By 19 years old, Flex entered his first bodybuilding competition and won Junior, Mr. Wales. He then went on to win Junior Mr. Britain four weeks after his first show.
Flex moved to the US to pursue bodybuilding and ended up in the mecca; Venice Beach. From there, Flex became close with some of the biggest names in the industry.
From there, let’s look at the biggest wins of his long, dominant career:
- 2008 Europa Pro 202: 1st Place
- 2009 Atlantic City Pro 202: 1st Place
- 2011 British Grand Prix 202: 1st Place
- 2012 Mr. Olympia 212: 1st Place
- 2012 British Grand Prix 212: 1st Place
- 2012 EVL’s Prague Pro 212: 1st Place
- 2013 Mr. Olympia 212: 1st Place
- 2013 EVL’s Prague Pro 212: 1st Place
- 2014 Arnold Classic 212: 1st Place
- 2014 Mr. Olympia 212: 1st Place
- 2014 Korea Grand Prix 212: 1st Place
- 2014 EVL’s Prague Pro 212: 1st Place
- 2014 San Marino Pro 212: 1st Place
- 2015 Mr. Olympia 212: 1st Place
- 2016 Mr. Olympia 212: 1st Place
- 2017 Mr. Olympia 212: 1st Place
- 2018 Mr. Olympia 212: 1st Place
CLOSING THOUGHTS
We know Flex originally had his eyes set on competing in the Men’s Open at the 2022 Olympia, but he made the smart choice to step away from the sport. With so many deaths coming in recent years, we’re happy to see he put his health and family as his number one priority. SET FOR SET wishes him well and thanks him for the awesome memories and contribution to the sport.
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