Transcript of Seminar with Flex Wheeler

[_OZ_]

From Musclemag International, Nov '97.

"I don't have a formal format for my seminar," Flex says as he begins, "but I'll start by telling you a little about myself. My name is Flex Wheeler, and I'm 31 years old. The first time I ever stepped on a bodybuilding stage was when I was 16. Did I ever think I'd get to the point where I am today? No. I just thought weight training was fun and would keep me out of trouble.

"Ask any question you want. It doesn't matter. It can be about weight training, diet, even personal stuff. I've been all around the world so I've been asked a lot of questions. In foreign countries I've been asked some pretty bizarre things! But [smiling] if you ask a very personal question, I'll feel free to ask you a personal question in return [audience laughter]. I'm not going to try to impress you or BS you, just level with you. If I don't know the answer to a question, I'll tell you I don't know."

As Flex speaks, his voice fades away. "I'm sick as a dog, and my voice is weakening, going in and out. Getting sick after a show happens sometimes with all the stress you go through, the dieting and the heavy training."

QUESTION: Lately the judges have been treating you with more respect, you've gotten good coverage in the magazines, and two or three of the magazines have said that you may be one of the most gifted bodybuilders of all time. How does that make you feel?
FLEX WHEELER: [Shrugging] I don't get a big head about it. I remember when I started competing, a lot of hype was written about me. That pleased me at the time, but I've also had a taste of the other side because they ripped me apart and tore me up in '94 and '95. So I don't get up or down about what anybody reports. Instead I rely upon people whose opinion I respect. They'll tell me the truth.

I figure that the people who like me are going to like me, and the people who don't like me won't like me. I'm here today, but somebody else will be here tomorrow. I know that, and I don't trip about it.

I still look in the mirror and see Ken Wheeler with the little arms. I'm not really happy with where I am physically. There's much more I want to accomplish.

Q: Is there anything different that you wish the judges would do in a pro show?
FW: Yes. I wish they'd go through the whole row - the entire lineup - and call out each of the guys. They should do that out of respect for the men as athletes and for all the preparation they've been through. It's humiliating not to get even one callout. I know I've been there before.

Q: Is it true that you moved away from Venice?
FW: Yes. I have a house in Rowland Heights. It's more peaceful up there, away from the high-voltage activity of the Los Angeles area. It's easier to concentrate there and keep my mind focused.

Q: And is it true that you're training with Shawn Ray?
FW: Yes. My house is about ten minutes away from where Shawn is. Training together has been good for both of us so far. We geared up for the first three shows of the season -- the Iromnan, Arnold and the San Jose pro show [all of which Flex won, taking home $1OK, $1OOK, and $1OK respectively, totaling a healthy $120,000]. Shawn can be a tiger. He's pushed me harder than I've ever been pushed!

Q: Are the articles I read in the magazines about you and the other stars truthful and accurate?
FW: I always tell the truth, but not all articles tell the truth. The trouble with articles is that they tell you what I do or what someone else does, but that may not apply at all to you or work for you. When I read the articles, I know that I can never be them -- the guys the articles are about -- and they can never be me, unless they go talk to my parents and manage to go back in time somehow [laughter]. There's nothing you can do to look like me and nothing I can do to look like you...and that's how it is.

So when you read the articles, remember that you can't train like me, and vice versa. Your physique and body type are different from mine, and we're at different stages of development. It's like you can't drive a Volkswagen the same way you do a Ferrari.

Remember too that an article tells about what a person has found works for him. My advice to you is to try these other people's routines that you read about and see what applies to you. Then use that.

Q: You kept your shape for three weeks - at the Ironman, Arnold and San Jose. That's hard to do [Flex smiles]. A lotta guys say it's really hard [Flex smiles more]. How did you do it?
FW: Wait until you see me tonight! [spoken self-mockingly, as if implying he's not in the same shape now]

You know what it is? I hate to lose! Losing takes a hard toll on me. In our sport there's no #2, no #3 - it's just who's #1. I diet hard and train hard, so when I come into a show I know that I've done all my work and I'm coming in the best I can.

On Saturday night after a show I eat as much as I can of whatever I want. I do the same on Sunday until 5 p.m. That way I reward myself and fill all of my cravings. But I actually get sick of it, and then I can hardly wait to get back on my diet.

I know also that with my particular body type and physique, when I'm in shape, I'm in. I just about glide, and it's hard for something to get me out of shape. When I'm borderline, it's difficult for me to try to improve. And when I'm outta shape [shaking his head], there's nothing I can do!

Q: But how do you keep up your energy and drive to stay in condition?
FW: I'm paid to. That's my job. Let me ask you: How do you get up every day and go to work? How do you get up, say, at 7 a.m. every day, every week, every month, every year? How do you do it, man? But you do it because that's your job. In that respect things are no different for me than for anyone else. It's my job, my profession. It's earning money for me. It's how I feed my family. I don't want to sit out a year and watch other guys make money.

Q: You have competed quite consistently, haven't you?
FW. Yes. I've done a lot of shows. I started competing as a pro in '93 and did seven shows that year. In '94 I had my car accident. In '95 I did five or six shows and in '96 five or six again. I've done three already this year, '97. I'm the winningest pro there is. No one else has accomplished what I have as a pro.

Q: Do titles help your promotion?
FW: Definitely. The more you can win, the more you can sell.

Q: Some of us in the audience have known you for a long time. For instance, Ron Flowers and his wife have known you since high school, and Rosemary Hallum wrote about you even before you won the NPC Cal. You were always genetically gifted and always very good. But you seem to have matured a lot lately, within the last year or so. Do you agree?
FW: Yes. The change happened in a very short period of time. It has a lot to do with the Man Upstairs. The biggest part is my fiancee, Madeline. I'm actually sharing my life with someone, and that has changed me tremendously. Some guys say I'm not as fast as I used to be [smiling, referring to his days as a ladies' man], and I agree. I'm at a snail's crawl right now, and I like it!

Q: When you started training, was any one bodypart superior to the others? And if so, how did you get all the bodyparts in balance?
FW: My biceps were superior. I always had big arms and was known for my big guns. They were big - and everything else was skinny [laughing]. I even had a sunken chest.

What did I do about it? I looked in the mirror and critically appraised myself, assessing and acknowledging what was good, what wasn't, and what needed a lot more work. Finally I started wearing shorts and tights so that my weak bodyparts would show. That was rough on the ego! But I had to admit my weak bodyparts and start to train them with priority, not leaving them for last or just doing a couple of sets, but doing them first, concentrating on them and training them when I was at my freshest and most rested.

Q: What is your nutrition like?
FW: I have three different programs:

* Off-season, when I eat normal bodybuilder food.
* Precontest, serious diet time.
* Preshow, when I manipulate calories and dial in for the competition.

Q: Is your diet really strict?
FW: Yes. At the level where I'm competing, you can't fool around. None of the other guys do. Actually, water is my biggest problem, not diet.

People think that everything is easy if you have good genetics. I've been blessed with full muscles, round muscle bellies and good body structure, but that doesn't mean I can take it easy. Let's compare my situation with that of a voluptuous woman. She looks great, but if she gets careless, she's fat. The same sort of thing happens with a bodybuilder.

Q: What are your main sources of protein?
FW: Three chicken breasts per meal, and that ain't nothin' to be happy about!

Q: Do you space your meals?
FW: Yes, pretty evenly, at 5 a.m., 9 a.m., 12 noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. That means I've got to live around a three-hour clock.

Some people see the glory of this sport, but they don't see all the work and sacrifice that go into it. I don't go hang out. I don't go to movies. I sacrifice all that. Why? I figure I've been given a gift, and I can use it for only so long. This is my window in time. I don't want to look back when I'm 45 or 50 and see what I didn't accomplish because I didn't do the necessary work or didn't have the maturity to handle it.

[_OZ_]

Continued

Q: What do you do all day?
FW: Eat, sleep and train -- that's all I do. I'm up at 5 and get with the program right away - eat, sleep, train... and maybe listen to the radio. It's a lot of fun. That's the sacrifice I make, but I have to do it in order to achieve what I want. I've done well. I've done things no professional has ever done in this sport. My kids can read about what I've done. That's something to be proud of.

Q: You've said that creatine is one of the best supplements. What brand do you use?
FW: I represent Weider and use all Weider products, including creatine. They're paying me to use it. Besides, Joe's been around for a while, so you've got to figure he knows a lot. But as for you personally, I can't make creatine - or any particular brand of it - work for you. You've got to use it, go and train, and then see if there's any improvement.

Q: How much effect does growth hormone have?
FW: What kind? Over-the-counter or under-the-counter?

Q: What would you say about me - a serious but noncompetitive bodybuilder taking growth hormone?
FW: [Replying instantaneously and looking right at the guy:] I'd say take your money and go see a psychiatrist. Using powerful drugs recreationally is the stupidest thing in the world. I'm down on any kind of drug whatsoever. It's a personal decision, of course, but since you asked me, I'd say to use your money for something else.

Q: What is your training routine?
FW: I do a double split, training one bodypart in the morning and another in the afternoon or evening, usually four days on and one day off.

Q: How long is your training session?
FW: One and a half hours or an hour and 45 minutes, normally. I go home when my business is done and not a minute before. The other guys would love to tear me up onstage, but I'm not about to let that happen. If they're better than me on the day of the show, that's the luck of the draw, but they won't beat me because I didn't do my work or didn't do what I should.

Q: Do you change your training exercises from off-season to precontest?
FW: Believe me, there ain't no off-season! If I'm hammering legs and it works off-season, do you think I'm gonna change it? No way. Keep doin' what works.

Q: What's your leg workout?
FW: For a warmup I do leg extensions, 4 sets of 20 reps. Then I immediately go into squats, again 4 sets of 20 reps. Next I do leg presses and end with leg extensions. The reps are always 20, the sets always 4 or 5.

Q: I've heard you say that you do 10 to 12 reps for other bodyparts. Why do you do 20 for legs?
FW: Think about it. Think how important your legs are. They propel you all day long, so when you train 'em you've got to give 'em more weight and more stress than they normally handle.

Q: What weights do you use?
FW: Weights don't mean crap. It's the workout that counts. It's your intensity and concentration, your form and the number of reps that count. [Noticing the questioner looking at him quizzically, Flex continues:] It's never, never the weight, but always the intensity. If you're trying to do a leg press with 400 pounds, say, but you can hardly move it, how much better it would be to cut the weight back to 300-something and be able to do 20 good reps where you control the weight.

Q: Your calves have developed immensely lately. What did you do different?
FW: [Spoken perfectly straight-faced] I spent $3500 on implants.

Q: Apiece or altogether?
FW. When I was training, my arms went from 20 to 23-1/2 inches and my thighs from 26 to 32-1/2 inches. Everything else grew, so it's logical that my calves did also. I hope everything grew accordingly!

I train calves once or twice a week, doing 60 reps for 3 sets: 20 with a heavy weight, 20 a little lighter, and 20 still lighter.

Q: Your back is so well developed. What do you do for back-training?
FW: My back-training isn't about any certain specific movements. Instead I hit it from any angle and every angle. I want to make sure that every pose from the rear is impressive, so I train the outer, inner, upper and lower back. I do all the bread-and-butter movements and variations.

Q: What's the best exercise to bring out your abs?
FW: [Replying at warp speed:] Dieting! You've got to get that layer of fat off first. After you get rid of the pad of fat and water,then the abs can be prominent.

Q: What about your cardio?
FW: Cardio has never been a problem for me. I do cardio from 15 weeks out, and I may do it for two hours a day. If I'm really off, I'll do more, adding 30 minutes in the morning. I believe in adding whatever you need.

Q: If you could give us just one piece of advice on training, what would it be?
FW: [Pausing, considering his reply] That's pretty hard to say, but really, what I'd tell you is this: Get your butt in there and do it! Stop sitting around, stop talking and asking questions, stop saying that you'll come in later. Do it and stop BSing around.

This advice applies to everything - like some guys complain that nobody tells 'em anything about diet. Stop asking questions and go find out how to eat. Get a book. You don't need to sit around and be pissed off because nobody's helping you. Get out there and do something for yourself.

What you need to realize is that bodybuilding is an individual sport. It's all individuality -- that is, centered around and dependent upon one person: you. You have to train, you have to diet, you have to get onstage in front of the judges, so assume responsibility and do whatever it takes.

Q: What is your opinion of your fellow competitors?
FW: They're all world champions, and they're all formidable. In all the shows I'm in, there are seven or eight world champions onstage, like Nasser, Shawn, Dillett and Cormier. At any time any of us can win. Almost all of us have beaten one another at some time.

Q: Were you happy to beat Kevin Levrone at the Arnold?
FW: Kevin wasn't in his best shape then, so I didn't really beat him. He beat himself. When we both get onstage and we're both in our top condition, that's when I want to beat him. At the Arnold I did my job and he didn't do his. So... tough luck.

Q: What bodybuilders do you consider aesthetically pleasing?
FW: First of all you've got to remember that what's aesthetically pleasing is in the eye of the beholder. I'd say Shawn Ray, of course. He's a lot like me but in a little smaller package. And of course Lee Labrada. There are others too, but I can't remember all the names immediately.

Q: Why did you shave your head? Did you copy someone, or were you influenced by someone else?
FW: I was the first one in the southern California area to shave my head. I've been doing it off and on since '92. 1 didn't go onstage this way at first, although I have lately.

Q: As a well-known sports figure, how do you deal with people coming up to you all the time?
FW: I tend to walk with my eyes down, so I don't see any negative looks or expressions, and no admiring ones either. Therefore I don't get pissed off or happy [laughter]. I pretty much don't make eye contact with people. Wearing dark glasses helps too.

My privacy means a lot to me, but I know that when I go to work or go out in public, I've got to deal with people. That's part of the package. So I acknowledge the people, or I let people get to know me if I choose to.

Q: What do you see yourself doing when your competitive days are over?
FW: Well, the movie thing is going very well. There's going to be a major motion picture situation coming up, but I don't want to say anything about it at present. We'll see what happens.

[drewwwww17]

a good read he sounds like a nice guy surised peole rag on him so much

[Chococat]

a good read he sounds like a nice guy surised peole rag on him so much

I've had a chance to speak with him in person about 12 years ago. He was a nice guy and I'm sure in real life he's a nice guy. I think the problem is his video persona is a little narcissistic.

Pro Bodybuilding is in some ways like Pro Wrestling, the fans know what's really going on but it's still entertaining. At least most fans who have been around long enough know the games they play and the b.s. they lay out. They have to though, it's how they make a living. Characters and drama help to add to the spectacle. I'm going to make a call and say that in the next few years you will here more drama between competitors in bodybuilding.

I think the internet and increased knowledge has dealt a blow to bodybuilding media credibility. Especially when it comes to magazines and supplement ads. We all know that they say whatever to make money. They gotta make a living and I'm starting to reconsider what to expect from them in terms of real life versus media persona's. In that regard they aren't much different than other pro athletes. The more drama the better, hence that's why you have team rivalries in professional sports.

[Captain Sagara]

Good read.