Digital Social Hour - Flex Lewis: From Mr. Olympia to Business Mogul – The Untold Story | Flex Lewis DSH #628

Episode Date: August 13, 2024

🎥 **Flex Lewis: From Mr. Olympia to Business Mogul – The Untold Story** 🚀   Ever wondered what it takes to transition from a 7-time Mr. Olympia champion to a successful business mogul? 🤔 **Tune in now** to this exclusive episode of the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly, featuring the legendary Flex Lewis. 💪   Flex opens up about his journey from dominating the bodybuilding world to founding the incredible Dragons Lair gym, which has become one of the biggest tourist destinations in the country. 🌟 He shares the raw, unfiltered truth about the challenges and triumphs he faced along the way, including his thoughts on health, wealth, and filling the void left by his bodybuilding career. 🏋️‍♂️   Don't miss out on Flex’s invaluable insights into the business side of sports, his take on the future of bodybuilding, and his heartfelt advice for up-and-coming athletes. 🙌 Get ready for an honest conversation full of inspiration, motivation, and a touch of controversy! ⚡   **Join the conversation** and discover how Flex continues to impact the world of fitness and business. **Watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets**. 📺 Hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more eye-opening stories on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! 🚀   #DigitalSocialHour #SeanKelly #Podcast #FlexLewis #MrOlympia #BusinessMogul #Bodybuilding #DragonsLair #Inspiration #Motivation #FitnessJourney #SubscribeNow   #FlexLewisPodcast #AthleteLifestyle #BodybuildingTransition #CelebrityAthletes #BodybuildingLifestylePodcast   CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:40 - Opening Be2See Gym 01:13 - Transitioning from Bodybuilding to Business 05:00 - Babbel Language Learning 06:15 - Speedster Performance 10:15 - Healthy Level of Delusion in Fitness 11:19 - Moving to the US: Reasons and Insights 11:55 - Viewing Competition in Bodybuilding 16:14 - Popularity of Classic Physique 18:11 - Downsizing in Bodybuilding: Personal Choices 19:40 - Achieving Goals in Bodybuilding 21:54 - Prize Money in Bodybuilding Competitions 24:22 - Health Issues Faced by Bodybuilders 32:30 - Conor McGregor's Impact on MMA 33:12 - The GOAT of UFC: Who Holds the Title? 34:22 - Dana White: Behind the Scenes 36:35 - Considering a Comeback Fight 38:07 - Final Thoughts on Fitness Journey 39:58 - Flex's Podcast Insights 40:33 - OUTRO   APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail]   GUEST: Flex Lewis https://www.instagram.com/flex_lewis https://www.instagram.com/straightouttathelair/ https://straightouttathelair.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@FlexLewisStraightOuttaTheLair   SPONSORS: Deposyt Payment Processing: https://www.deposyt.com/seankelly   LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you're in need of quality new tires and have been searching the internet for a good deal, look no further than your local Big O Tires. For a limited time, when you buy three tires, you'll get the fourth free on select set of tires. And because we know that tires can be an unexpected expense, take advantage of no credit needed financing made easy. They work with multiple lending partners, so the financing is tailored to you. Remember that when you buy three tires, you'll get the fourth free only at your locally owned big o tires the team you trust you cut back heavy on lifting and diet and all that i know you play basketball well imagine

playing basketball with your hand tied behind your back that's how i feel when i go into the gym because i cannot train the way i only know What are you trying to achieve right now in life? Are you trying to be the bodybuilder or is it health and wealth? I can see their growth and also help them more in the mentality element of things and also the business side. That's the thing that I love most about the position I'm in right now. All right, guys. Seven times Mr. Olympia, founder of Dragon's Lair.

We got Flex Lewis here today. Thanks for coming on, man. Thank you, Sean. It's been a minute of us trying to pullventh time, it's Mr. Olympia, founder of Dragon's Lair. We got Flex Lewis here today. Thanks for coming on, man. Thank you, Sean. It's been a minute of us trying to pull this off, but a pleasure to be here, and congratulations on everything you're doing, my friend. Thanks, dude. Honor be you.

To see the gym was cool, man. I looked up what percentage of gyms fail on the way here. Do you know the number? I don't know. 81%. Are you serious? Yeah. Super high, right?

Yeah. I came to Vegas with no intention of anything failing, but with this goal of creating this incredible gym and bringing people from all around the world. And suffice to say, it's outgrown my high expectations of everything that I have for myself and everything I do around me. So now, as you know, it's become one of the biggest tourist destinations in the country.

Love it. It's cool to see that transition because you retired a couple years ago and i feel like when most athletes retire they're kind of lost yeah but you went straight to that gym right i went straight into everything business i tried to fill that void right um nothing will fill the void i'll be honest there was a period of time where i'm so consumed in trying to fill that space of bodybuilding. But I thought it was going to be business. But I'm still trying to find that void. Wow, I love the honesty. Yeah, I got to be honest.

And I think that looking at what I have in front of me and the options that I've created whilst I was competing, suffice to say, has allowed me to progress and do things straight away after I retired. But again, nothing's going to fill the void of being the champ. Hearing your name cheered by tens of thousands of people and being known as the champ going

around the world. But I've got a lot of things that I'm excited to be doing, done and soon to do. But as I said, nothing will fill the void of being the best the best yeah because that was your life for 20 years right it was i first touched the weight to 12 years old holy crap yeah that is young 12 for rugby so as you know no pads in rugby you kind of get into the sport get it's a lot of physicality yeah um physical fighting all of the above. So without any type of pads,

you've got to build up your stature. So I was in the gym, I was about 15 years old, trying to put my weight on to take the impact. But that's how I found bodybuilding. And that's how I started falling in love with, I wouldn't say I ever wanted to be a bodybuilder, just to put that out there. My goal was to be a big rugby player.

Yeah. Run on the field with big legs, you know, be the shortest jack guy out there. Suffice to say, it took its own legs, no pun intended. And I find myself now on the bodybuilding world. Rugby is a dangerous sport, man. I tried it out in high school.

You did? I lasted one day. What position do you play? Dude, I didn't even get that far. I thought I could, because I was fast. So I thought I could make the switch from track to rugby, but I wasn't physical enough. So you played in the backs or the forwards?

Dude, we literally didn't even get that far. I quit after one day of practice. I saw kids just get injured. Yeah. Yeah, it was fucked. For me growing up at six years old, it was rugby. That's the main sport in my country. So you get born with the rugby bowling wheels in your hand.

You go to England, you're kicking around a football, soccer ball. But that was my path, I thought. I got my nickname Flex from rugby. Nothing to do with bodybuilding at six years old. And yeah, the physicality of rugby. And everything I learned from my days of playing rugby, good, bad, ugly, wins and losses, made me a better champion when I was competing in bodybuilding.

Wow. A lot of lessons I've learned from rugby that I took into bodybuilding. Because it's such a physical sport, you transferred it over. Just the mental fortitude, you know. I mean, listen, a good day in Wales is a rainy day in Wales and the position that I play

playing on the wing you're standing there waiting for the ball to come out sometimes you never get it maybe you touch the ball once the whole game

the whole game so you go and look for some physical action and for me I always like a little scrap on the rugby field so I was known as the shortest redhead

that loved the scrap oh I love it I love it so if you're on the wing, you're just the strongest guy. Is that how it works? Normally the fastest. Oh, the fastest. Yes.

You know what I mean? Kind of like the guy, kind of a cliche term for a wing is the glory boy that can go on the field with his hair intact and leave the field with his hair intact. I never matched that mold. I was one of them guys that run on if it was a fight or a scrap, I was always in the middle of it. And yeah, earned my stripes on the rugby field long before I bought it. If you're in need of quality new tires and have been searching the internet for a good deal,

look no further than your local Big O Tires. For a limited time, when you buy three tires, you'll get the fourth free on select set of tires. And because we know that tires can be an unexpected expense, take advantage of no credit needed financing made easy. They work with multiple lending partners, so the financing is tailored to you. Remember that when you buy three tires, you'll get the fourth free only at your locally owned Big O Tires, the team you trust. Are you tired of ordering on a menu in a different country only to be served snails?

Why not actually speak the language and order what you want? That's where Babbel comes in. Speak like a whole new you with Babbel, the science-backed language learning app that gets you talking. Wasting hundreds of dollars on private tutors is the old school way of learning a new language. Babbel's 10-minute lessons are quick and handcrafted by over 200 language experts ready to get you talking your way to a new language in just three weeks. Because talking is the key to really knowing any language. Babbel's advanced speech recognition is like having a personal language guru in your pocket,

massaging your pronunciation whenever you open your mouth. With Babbel, you can learn everything you need from vocabulary to culture while holding your own in conversation with anybody. All it takes is just about 10 minutes a day. It's designed by real people for having real conversations, and it gets you talking. I've been going to a lot of Spanish-speaking countries

over the last few months, and Babbel has come in clutch. I now know how to order food and ask where the restroom is when I travel. Here's a special limited-time deal for our listeners. Right now, get up to 60% off your Babbel subscription, but only for our listeners at babbel.com slash socialhour. That's 60% off at babbel.com slash social hour. That's 60% off at babbel.com slash social hour. Spelled B-A-B-B-E-L dot com slash social hour. Rules and restrictions may apply.

People in show. You were a speedster. You were fast back in the day. I still got a little speed. Yeah? I saw you in the Slubby Sweat football, flag football game, right? Yeah, I done that.

Listen, I don't know what I was thinking. I hadn't run that fast, John, in years, mate. But I still have this delusional viewpoint of what I can do in everything I do. I think delusion is taking me to where it is. I mean, it's taken everybody, I think, that has big goals and dreams to chase these dreams of theirs. For me, coming to this country, I said I was going to be the best bodybuilder in the world. And suffice to say, I chased that

and was able to retire with them titles. But the delusion is what got me here. And going back to the question of Celebrity Sweat, me feeling that I've got it, I'm able to run a couple of sprints here or there against some guys. Yeah. I was like, I've got it.

No problem. So they give me the option to get on the field and needless to say, I had a couple of plays, a couple of runs. I was great on the field until I hit the changing rooms and then I couldn't get out to the changing rooms

into the chair. So I was beat. Great fun though. Great fun. No, that's relatable. I hosted a kick kickball did you play kickball growing up no that's nothing you have in Wales yeah that's an American thing okay but I hosted a game out here last year we were all sore for a week yeah and that's just running from home plate to first base well my producer that is also yours too well suffice to say I'll tell you that uh I was still nursing these little injuries about a week ago.

Damn, that long? Yeah. Holy crap. It was actually coming from my feet. Oh, your feet? Yeah, I've had feet problems even when I was running for my country. I'm playing rugby high level. All my issues were from my feet. And in this case, everybody was treating my knees because that's where the pain was.

Yeah. But once they, you know, we found it was my feet. you you were probably lifting so much weight it all came to your feet right so um that foot issues growing up that no for me it was um running the majority of my feet issue came from my running on my athletic days and obviously the the celebrity sweat game that i played you know i hadn't used tendons and ligaments because everything is planular when you do bodybuilding. It's A to B, you know, and cutting up, changing angles at speed. My body hadn't seen anything like that for about 15, 20 years. I can't even say running away from my wife helped, you know, in the celebrity swag game.

But it's a harsh reality that, you know that I'm 40 now. And even though I think I can do it, and I still can, I have to have protocols now of what I should be doing to get me praying for whatever it's doing. So Celebrity Sweat, shout out to them guys. They put a fantastic, fantastic event on for the vets. A lot of celebrities played in that game. And you will see my face on the next one next year. But this time, Sean, I'll be ready,

warmed up and trained for it. We might have to get Gatlin there too. Oh, he's a speedster too. Him and I are going to have a race. Yeah? You think you can take him? No, I'm not that foolish. I said delusion, right?

But I'm not that delusional, okay? I mean, maybe in a 400. Yeah, let's just keep it 100, Sean. I'm not trying to killional, okay? I mean, maybe in a 400. Yeah, let's just keep it 100, John. I'm not trying to kill myself off here. I love that. The sprints, though, I definitely would love to run because obviously Justin has been a guest of yours on the show as well as mine.

And he was a poster boy for me, somebody I really looked up to when I was running track and field. So to have that full circle moment, to have him on my show and speak about the inspiration that he gave me when I was running track and field. So to have that full circle moment, to have him on my show and speak about, you know, the inspiration that he gave me when I was growing up. And then,

you know, he offered me, it's like, Hey, you want a quick little sprint outside? Now this is the day after the celebrity sweat. So I was like, Hey,

listen, normally no problem. And I'm not using the excuse, but I can't move. And then he seen, he seen the damage when I tried to get up to shake his hand off the show. But anyways, so you had to deny let sprint lessons from Justin Gatlin.

Cause you were sore. Well, it was a race. It wasn't a sprint session. Cause I'm not get up to shake his hand after the show. But anyways. So you had to deny sprint lessons from Justin Gatlin because you were sore. Well, it was a race. It wasn't a sprint session because I'm not getting sessions. I'm going to run against you and I'm going to win in my head, right? But anyway. I love that mindset.

There's a healthy level of delusion, I think. I agree. I think you need that to make it big. You have to. Delusion, as I mentioned earlier, has really got me to where I am. You know, I left my country. I came to the US at 20 and then I decided that I needed to where I am. You know, I left my country. I came to the US at 20

and then I decided that I needed to be a 23. And, you know, all the roller index of things that I'd done, achieved my businesses that I'd created in the UK, I left it all to come to the United States and sleep on a sofa and chase this dream. So there was many times where, you know, you have that reality check of, you know,

funds are running out or things are not going to plan. You just have to have that conversation in the mirror with yourself and be like, okay, how much do you want this? That delusion, is it delusion or is the reality in that delusion? knew that if I kept on this this path kept on knocking the door that these doors would open and even if it was a small one it was enough to keep me in the game and keep me in the United States right didn't happen as fast as I wanted of course but um after some time and again putting myself in the right areas around the right people then doors started open does the U.S. have the best bodybuilders is that why you came here um you don't have to be in the u.s now thanks to social media right you could train anywhere around the world but the united states is where everything takes place the olympia the arnold classic this is where all the big shows all the big shows take place in the united states so and also all the magazines

when i came here you had to come here so yes i would say that bodybuilding in the United States. And also all the magazines. When I came here, you had to come here. So yes, I would say that bodybuilding in the US, bodybuilding exists in the US, but you don't have to be in the US now to be a successful bodybuilder. Right. How did you view your competition? Was it on a friendly basis or was it more rivalry? Good question.

So I never looked at my fellow competitors as i have to beat you i think that just adds for me personally just that extra stress that i didn't need to have i already put a lot of pressure on myself so myself my coach developed a method soon early on that for me to get motivated it was really like what i was doing it for and the biggest drive for me to get motivated, it was really like what I was doing it for. And the biggest drive for me was to change my family's life. You know, I came, like I said, as a young kid, you know, and I dedicated my life to this craft.

I also knew what I was missing back home, the birthdays, the celebrations, all that time away was just dedicated for me to be the best. And yeah, it was a struggle, obviously, for everybody, even my parents, because we're a very close family. But then to see what I've achieved and then bring my family in over the years.

They never missed the Mr. Olympia. You know, I flew them year then everywhere. And also my mom adopted, you know, the kind of the mare type vibes. She'd go to Olympia every new, my mum and everything else. But to answer your question, my coach and myself devised this plan of really kind of looking at that internal drive and getting the best of me,

not by looking at another athlete and saying, okay, hey, this guy's looking incredible. Do you see his last post? Again, it wasn't any of that it was what i knew and again i've got enough inside my little brain here to to motivate me more than anything that i see in an image or a photo or a video i love that way of thinking because when i was a track runner i ran the 800 i would always study my competitors times and then it would give me anxiety because they were running faster than me you know what i mean And I wish I kind of locked in more just on my own beliefs and stuff like that.

So you would have changed really not looking at your fellow competitors and just... I would have changed it, yeah, because at the starting line, I would be like, oh, he's running that time, he's running that time. And you know what I mean? Like, I'd rather just focus on myself. Yeah.

And every year I competed at the Mr. Olympia, there was always a new guy that they were hyping up to beat me to. So like any sports, if you've got a champion that's dominant, it's not good business. So first, probably one, two, three, four, I felt the support.

And then after that, fifth, sixth, seventh, I felt the need for, I don't know, they were waiting for me to be off now my off is somebody's on so then I had to really squeeze the lemon in a sense and find a way of making an improved physique

every single year and I had a weight cut a weight cap I'm sorry so the weight cap was 212 oh you couldn't be over that? no so I was coming in every single year 211 point.

It kept on going up, eight, nine, 10, every year. Wow. So I was trying to make an improvement on a physique that, again, I had no room for. So what then I had to start thinking about was refine.

I refined my physique. And a lot of athletes don't really use that sort of mindset going into shows, especially guys who have a weight limit. When I started thinking about refining, it's making what I've already got much better. Not making improvements to that physique, but refining what I've already got.

So in bodybuilding, you're really homing in on the conditioning and the detail. And that's what I've done in the last couple of years was making sure that I made my stamp In bodybuilding, you're really homing in on the conditioning and the detail. Yeah. And that's what I've done in the last couple of years was making sure that I made my stamp and ending it on my terms. Interesting. I didn't know there was a weight limit. Yeah, 212 for me. Wow.

And was that a new rule or was it always a weight limit? No, they brought out the class. I turned pro and then they brought out the 202. And what happened was there was a lot of guys who were struggling to make that 202 or brought out the 202 and what happened was there was a lot of guys who were struggling to make that 202 or stay in that 202

so they opened up the weight cap then to a 212. Got it. And then I threw myself in completely and I saw it was great for me

because in bodybuilding they just used to be open class. So a lot of guys who are turning pro are middleweights light heavies then they're jumping in against guys who are outweighing them

By 100 pounds In some cases So the 212 class was a beautiful addition And now they've got so many different classes Classic physique Probably one of the fastest growing classes Which Chris Bumstead is the king of And Chris is obviously killing it right now

And you know what, Chris is on social media I think he's like 20 million followers He's more than arnold why is that one so popular right now it's physique it's i love classic physique because it's it's very similar to the old school and it's not quite open bodybuilding where people look at and go man you know that's huge they look at chris and go wow that's, but it's a pretty big. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay.

So it's not like you're on steroids. It's like a middle ground. Everybody's on steroids. As Nick Diaz says. They weren't testing anyone? I mean, the sport has been kind of one of them, you know,

tested sports for years as, as, as is many different sports. um but again if you look at something that's been done in the nfl or other sports that have a franchise that pays the athlete you know hundreds of millions of dollars or brings the franchise in right then you want the best product possible they want that guy to be on that field the best version of themselves they can sell the shirts they can you know get the titles so um bodybuilding is always going to be known as having peds in the sport right so with the new additions to the classes what they've done by doing that it's not a drug thing it's more

looking at the physiques that people have so even for yourself right obviously you're tall right yeah but for you you'll probably fall more into men's physique or classic if you decided to do it. Yeah, I'm too skinny to do the other one, I think. Well, when you start training, we never use the word skinny. That gets eliminated right away from your vocabulary. You're just lean and you need to put weight on. That's it. That's it.

I joke around saying I'm skinny now, but I truly am compared to the old version of me. You're so muscular to me. Well, I appreciate it. It's just good lighting in your great studio. That's it that's it fair i joke around saying i'm skinny now but i truly am compared to the old version of me you're so muscular to me well i appreciate it it's just good lighting in your great studio that's it shout out the tires shout out the tires yeah it was 60 pounds heavy at my biggest so i've been able to now downsize myself to the to the weight i am now and obviously again that was a feather in my hat i that was Flex Lewis. That was all encompassing, going around the world, doing what I done, being that guy. And that still is me to a certain extent. But now I'm obviously focused on other things. I'm doing much more on stage. And I think that me downsizing, especially when you're doing keynote speaking, is more relatable to somebody who's coming out that's waddling on 260 trying to tell people how to get motivated but i can use context of hey this used to be me but even not my biggest you know i knew that it was a goal and a dream to to achieve x and now my goal is this and in in the pursuit of me going on to this new route in life i had to downsize myself um to fill you know this new position that i'm doing and want to do so all right so you cut back heavy on lifting and diet and all that i'm training very little i love the

train sean and probably taking it to the extreme um i probably train probably two times a week three times a week okay as opposed to my six times a week but that training is not what it used to be okay so it'd be kind of like, I know you play basketball. Well, imagine playing basketball with your hand tied behind your back. That's how I feel

when I go into the gym because I cannot train the way I only know and that's balls to the walls. Right. So if I go in and I do a training session, I have to put the brakes on

and be like, okay, I'm done. Yeah. What are you trying to achieve right now in life? Are you trying to be the bodybuilder or is it health and wealth so all my training sessions right now in comparison i guess the best analogy would be like um me driving a rally car or a race

or something on a racetrack and then jumping in a regular car and driving it it's not the same right so me going into the gym and training it's not the same but i still love it i still you know enjoy and more than anything else now the gym that i've built i get to see the next chapter the next future of athletes that are moved from all over the world so i can see their growth and also help them more in the mentality element of things and also the business side that's that's the thing that i love most about the position i'm in right now there was no mentors for me when I was going through the ranks. I learned everything myself. There was a couple of people I would say

that were doing it better than others in the business and bodybuilding. But for now, and what I've gone and achieved and also failed on, now I can be the helping hand to help people, especially in contracts with these young up-and-comers. Because a lot of these guys just don't know what they can ask for in contracts.

So I kind of like to help all these guys who are on their path to chasing titles and trying to help them more so outside of the gym than in the gym. Because people used to gatekeep that information, but you're open with it. You're willing to help the up-and-coming guys. I just don't know why they used to gatekeep it,

to be truth and honest. There was a lot of great successful guys on the climb that kind of helped, should have helped, I say. But even Arnold. Yeah. Arnold didn't really help out people? No, Arnold has done a fantastic job with his career. But I think for Arnold, it's hard for somebody even for myself now because i

used to think more it's like why doesn't arnold help out more right and now i'm in the business position and i'm getting pulled from all over i can see why he was just mainly focused on his endeavors um but also knowing that i'm very conscious about that to make sure that even though I'm doing different things in different walks of life, I'll always be a bodybuilder. And I always want to see the future of bodybuilding grow much more than it ever was when I was competing. Prize money, for example, now is starting to go up significantly. I think the Arnold Classic this year, Arnold's put in $500,000.

Wow. Yeah. What was it when you competed? $40,000. Wow. Yeah. What was it when you competed? $40,000. Damn. So a 10X? Holy crap. Yeah, $40,000.

So, and then the Olympia, so the Arnold Classic and the Olympia, the biggest prize money. Yeah. So for the open class guys like, you know, Jay Cutler, Phil Heath and all them. Actually, when Jay Cutler competed, I think it was like $180,000. So it's gone up significantly. And I just want to see that grow. Bottom line, right? But again, with my class being the 212,

that is a class within, again, it's a category within the scope of bodybuilding. I would love to see that class grow much more than it already is. And when I was competing, I was kind of a spokesperson for it, right? I'd go around the world making sure that this class grew. Now the athletes that are chasing the titles,

I feel like they're scared to ask for stuff because politically they have to stay in line and whatever else. So now I feel it's up to me to ask and make sure that behind the scenes that I'm making sure that these guys get the push, get the opportunities that I never had. I love that. Yeah. You had a lot of young guys in your gym when I went, a lot of young up and coming bodybuilders. Yeah.

A lot of athletes in itself, I would say. Where these athletes that are literally moved from all over the world, truly, like pack their bags, come to Vegas, they're living in extended stays, they're living in Airbnbs, to be in and around that gym. I've created now the energy, the atmosphere, the culture,

so everybody, whatever genre of sports you're in, you could look left, right, behind you, in front of you, you will get motivated. You could see a woman who has lost 200 pounds that has come down from 400 to 200 and is on a weight journey transformation next to somebody that's training for the Mr. Olympia, next to somebody that's training for a title fight in the UFC,

next to somebody who is a high level CEO. It's all, again, it's all relative to you, but motivation is there. You can look around and get motivated. And again, it's a gym where culture is truly, truly worked on and I'm prideful to see what it's again, turned into. I love that. So on the outside, bodybuilders look super healthy, right? But did you see a lot of them have internal issues? The reason I'm asking, I saw you on Michael Sartain's podcast.

You said you had GI tract issues. Yeah. You see a lot of bodybuilders dying in their thirties and forties from organs being too big. Is that something you've witnessed? Oh yeah. I've been around, you know,

the sport long enough to see the greats get unhealthy. The guys that again, looked like Zeus, all fall to father time, and sickness. But again, you could look at this and say, was it bodybuilding or was it something else? Now, the guys in the late 90s, early 2000s, some of these guys, they burned the candle at both ends where they would train their ass off and also live for the weekend.

And I think that is a detriment. You've got to be focused. So, yes, there's health concerns in the sport, but the IFBB Pro League has done a great job recently of implementing rules and putting new structures in that um make sure that these um these health concerns that people have you know get checked out and i know there's protocols that are in place right now that that again not to you know pop this on the on on the podcast but health is is definitely now more of a focus because of issues of old.

I mean, I lost a trainer partner of mine three weeks before a show. Holy crap. And none of us knew about his health issues. He hid them away from us. So he came into the sport with a heart issue and trained throughout the years. He knew it, didn't want to admit it,

didn't tell any of us and um yeah he passed away holy crap yeah must have been young if he was your training he was he was young um and he's one of these guys that you know i didn't help with the nutrition or that he had his own coaches i was really there we trained periodically but i was really there to uh to help him more on the business side of things and help him on different things that I seen that he should have been doing

and that truly took a knock to be honest with you Sean it happened three weeks before the Mr. Olympia and I had to go to Mr. Olympia and see all my fans and from the front

to the back everybody was crying and I just had to be in the zone see every one of my fans and do my job and try not to let it affect me in the show the next day. It was very hard.

You know, it was very hard. And plus, we were filming a BBC documentary. So it was, it was, it wasn't the best of times. But yeah, but again, it's just part of the stories of, of overcoming, right? And I dedicated that year to Dallas. That was his name. So that show. That's sad, man.

Yeah. Yeah, heart issues are no joke. Yeah. And listen, there's issues in all sports. And now, as you know, from COVID and people having, whether it's the C word, I don't know if you get fucking blocked by saying it, but there's a lot of people with hard issues

that have come from that shot. Right, right. Right? Whether it's related or not. But it seems that there's a lot of athletes in so many different sports now that are having these weird complications. Yeah, for real.

So, you know, bodybuilding, again, is full of, you know, again, when you push your body to the limit anyway, every single day, and you're just putting yourself in this catabolic state in some cases, you know, you're always going against the grain. Like, I just can remember myself just being beat up every single day. But it was normality to feel this way. But now I'm not in that mindset of being the best. It's not, right? Yeah, it interests me because you're inflamed, right? Because you're lifting, you're tearing your muscles up,

so your body's always inflamed. And now they're doing all these studies on inflammation and disease, you know what I mean? So it just interests me. There's a lot of things now that I've retired that I wish I'd done, to be truthfully honest with you. And cold plunging, I wish I was doing that well so i was competing because to your point i was just inflamed 24 7 and you don't have the chance to you know give

your body a break even on my rest days which i would take two rest days a week it would be active active rest so i'd have all my therapies booked up and then days so i was always moving around doing stuff but it was all in the greater good of me being better. And I've always, to answer this question, if it was to be asked, been very, very health conscious. Because I came from track and field and rugby with an athlete's mentality. And thankfully for me, I met my coach at 19 years old. And he's one of these old school coaches that he was like listen we are going to

build the perfect physique just like the early days because the guys you know back in the day they weren't heavy on peds if i can build a physique that that doesn't rely on that then which most of the guys don't don't have that mentality it's more is better right and the more is better isn't better so thankfully for me at a very young age i met my coach and we've been able to to do everything and retire on top retired with all my blood markers in checked full head of hair that's rare right yeah and two kids so if that was any indication that i didn't abuse um then you know i don't know take it as it is.

How'd you keep the hair, man? Don't ask me. Trip to Turkey, a little hair transplant? You know what, Sean? I've had so many DMs from Turkey recently. Every time I get a DM from Turkey, I run to the mirror. I was like, babe, is it happening? You know, I fought hard.

But yeah, hair is something I probably use as a marketing brand too. So I used to spike my hair up more than what it is right now. But I definitely see that there might be a trip to Turkey in the future, but it's not to do with bodybuilding. Oh, yeah? I love it. You had kids while you were still? Yes.

Okay. Yes, yes. So my oldest is eight, and I got a two-year-old. Nice. So it's been definitely fun. But another reason to why I retired Sean because you know having my first kid when I was the champ

traveling around the world I missed a lot of firsts I was there for the first walk I was there for the first word I was there for Dada but then I was on the road so being the champ being the first at the booth you know last to leave even if I had booth times over two hours I would never I would stay until the last person So being the champ, being the first at the booth, you know, last to leave.

Even if I had booth times that were two hours, I would never, I would stay until the last person. That's my mentality. And I think it served me really well throughout my career. But when we found out we were expecting our second, I had to have that reality check. And not once did I ever think about retirement. Not once in all the years that I was competing, all the injuries and, you know, adversity that were thrown my way. And then this case just popped into my head.

I fought it hard. I told my training partners. They weren't too happy about it. They shed a tear because we all trained so hard for this moment and we believed in me. And I truly believe I would have won. Oh, you would have won in 22?

I believe whatever year I would have done. Wow wow i just given my life to this sport so then i had to face the reality of okay if i win this i'm back on the road i'm a back away from my family and i'm putting bodybuilding first and then uh i had to have that reality check and be like okay do you want to be around do you want to create these memories and uh there's so much more to life um i've achieved what i've achieved i got the feather in the hat if i continue to do that where does it end right is it defending is it a three is it a four and then you're in the mix of of competing again so it was um it was a tough call i fought it hard a lot of uh sleepless nights i'll be honest but that word retirement would not escape my head and as soon as i i told the world after three months of

initially telling my training partners and my wife um it was a lot of heartbreak for a lot of fans because everybody wanted to see me on that stage the best version of myself which i wasn't able to do because that weight cut wow yeah that cap yeah it's never enough right you won seven times so there was no end yeah it was moving on to the new category for me i wanted to be the first ever champ champ conor mcgregor is somebody that i i truly you know love you know shenanigans aside yeah but he comes from very humble beginnings very similar to me obviously two different countries but we both chased the dream and we, Law of Attraction, we put it out there and I love that story.

And even if you go back to early interviews of Conor, he was telling the world that he was going to win. Yeah, I love watching those, man. I love that stuff. Yeah.

And I've got early interviews of me humbly saying I was going to win. I saw one 12 years ago on YouTube. You did? With the blonde girl. Is that the famous interview that everyone's talking

about got like 54 million views yeah none of that monetized from my direction by the way i love it man yeah um dude so i know you're a big ufc fan you're at every fight every power slap fight who do you think is the goat of ufc good question i'd say john Jones. And it would be a shared title with John St-Pierre. Okay. GSP. Two different people, but skill sets on both are incredible. They both would be on my Rushmore.

No question. GSP is that humble, driven champion. Everybody loves GSP, right? Right. And then you see Jon Jones and everybody who has fought Jon Jones or or is a fan of ufc all talk about john jones because he was just this elusive athlete that was unpredictable yeah so them two guys i would definitely have as uh sharing that goat man i agree jones is my goat i hope he

wins his last fight i think he's coming up right me too yeah yeah i'm supposed to be up in uh watch him uh against deep in new york had tickets dana looked after with my 40th birthday okay and uh then obviously jones hurt himself so i was being that would have been a icing on the cake but you know i still had a blast everything happens right and that happens for a reason what's it what's it been like like building a bond with Dana? Dana White is an incredible, incredible person. What you see with Dana is what you get. We've got so many mutual friends. Also, he's a gym rat now too.

Oh, is he? Yes. He's got a lot of Arsenal strength pieces in his office. The HQ in USC. What I love about Dana is I've been kind of privy to a few in his office, the HQ in, in USC. But yeah, just what I love about Dana is I've been kind of privy to a few things of what they've been, or they were aligning to do. Power slap was one.

And just being in the early conversations or hearing about what power slap was going to become, sitting there listening to this, like power slap. And then you think this is this is the usc the dana white show you know and what they've done with power slap in particular by aligning you know these athletes that come in but then doing it in a way where they only invited influencers athletes celebrities to the events and brilliant everybody has a cell phone and

it's projected all around the world. Yeah. So that in itself. But Dana, I moved this town three years ago and what he's done to help me and my family is incredible. I love that. And, you know, even in this town alone, you hear so many stories about how Dana has helped people or what he's done for people. And it's just a great thing for me to be a bodybuilder, retire, move to Las Vegas, have a dream of being friends with these guys. And then within six months, I was sitting at the Apex in COVID watching the fights in a room of 10 people. Crazy. Yeah, wild, wild.

He's a good man to know out here, and I've heard so many great things. He's a truly great guy. And again, Hunter Campbell, shout out to Hunter Campbell over there at UFC. All the UFC execs, staff, just incredible people. It's a traveling circus. You see it whenever they go, whether it's Miami,

all the crew is there, all the friendly faces, and I just get welcomed with both arms. But as you can tell with me too i love to talk yeah i love to spend some extra time too much time probably talking to people but i think it sets the floor for for how you are then left to be spoken about when you're not in that room absolutely would you ever fight or power slap if the money was right listen i'm i've been fighting hard not to find another hobby um let's just say no because my wife will probably watch this yeah but if the money's right anything is boxing might be might be a good outlet yeah we've we've we got a couple of uh mutual friends who've been trying to get me to

do a celebrity boxing fight i threw uh I threw some hands at a pad and my heavy bag for the first time in 20 years, about two or three weeks ago. Yeah? Yeah. And I was pretty shocked how my shoulders were. Shit. I went home, told my wife.

I was like, hey, no. So she's watching. It's still a door. All right. For now, for now. If Jake Paul comes with the money, though. Oh, well, that's a whole different thing. But also, Sean, for me, being obsessed with bodybuilding for nearly 20 years,

I know my mentality. I can't do something just as a hobby for once a week. So if I find something I truly love and I get into it, it then turns into two a week, three a week, four a week. So I've put the brakes on knowing how I am. Got it. So I've got so much pokers in the fire right now for all these other opportunities

that I've created whilst I was bodybuilding. I know I kind of come into fruition. I need to focus on them things and not get caught up in the sauce trying to chase something else and get hit in the face. Shiny objects in your arm. It's easy to fall for that one. Yeah. Flex face. Shiny objects in your arm. It's easy to

fall for that one. Flex, it's been fun, man. Anything you want to end with? No, I just want to say thank you for getting me on the podcast and us speaking throughout the last several months. We met, what, about a year ago? Yeah, at Limitless last year, right?

Yeah, Limitless. For me to see what you've done with the show and all the guests you've been doing with, kudos to you. So I think I just, if anything, it's just giving you your flowers and saluting my heart to you and what you've been doing. Awesome.

Thank you so much. It means a lot. Of course. Outside of that, I'm working on expanding the gyms, looking at doing another location soon. So for the Dragons, there's got to be a location,

sorry, destination location. So we're looking at different parts of the world as well as potentially one or two domestically. Okay. So that is a fun project, not going to lie.

And obviously Arsenal Strength now is the number one gym equipment company in the world. Killing it, man. Yeah'm not going to lie. And obviously, Arsenal Strength now is the number one gym equipment company in the world. Killing it, man. Yeah, it's grown exponentially. So I just like adding these number ones

to the feather. That's all you know, man. I love it. I love it. But again, it's all about doing business, having fun,

learning new things, putting yourself around incredibly talented people, asking for help, which I never, putting yourself around incredibly talented people, asking for help, which I never, ever used to do. Getting over the fact that humility will get you to a certain point, but then asking with humility will take you to another level. So I've got some great key people around me now who are helping me see the bigger vision and um yes just exciting to to know start chasing these new goals these new dreams and chapters down from the public speaking

to the businesses to the podcast and getting on shows like this man so thank you yeah promote the podcast by my producer in the back straight out to the la podcast. Check it out guys. It's on a straight out there on YouTube, on Spotify. And, uh, yeah, it's been, it's been fun.

I never got into this to be a podcast host like you. So this has been really me talking to my friends, maybe a little bit longer than what we do, maybe an hour and a half longer. What we do, but nonetheless, it's been fun. And to get some of these athletes in front of me and have exclusives

that they've never broken to the to the world before as being kind of a badge of honor so valuable yeah we'll link that below thanks for coming on man i appreciate you sean of course thanks for watching everyone and i'll see you next time