was mid-July that I last spoke with Flex Lewis , while he was waiting in an airport lobby for his delayed flight to New Brunswick for the first Flex Lewis Canadian Classic . While booming background voices relayed instructions for red zones and white zones , I listened as a woman from the airline explained to Lewis that because of the delay , the meal on his flight had been cancelled .
Back on the phone a moment later , he explained that he ’ d long since learned the importance of being prepared for those times when plans go off course — he ’ d packed a backup meal for this part of his trip just in case .
Olympia Weekend — where Lewis would be fighting for his sixth 212 Olympia title — was two months away , and the Canadian contest would be the last event before he would begin his prep in earnest . Lewis is , of all things , a man who comes up with a plan for getting things done , and he has the tunnel vision that is necessary to see it through to the end .
TRAGEDY STRIKES The hardest hit to his O prep plan , and to the Welsh Dragon himself ,
came on Aug . 22 , less than four weeks before the O : the death of close friend , workout partner , and fellow IFBB Pro League bodybuilder Dallas McCarver .
“ Like me , in the small town where he grew up , Dallas was a big fish in a small pond ,” Lewis says . He ’ d known McCarver since McCarver was an up-and-comer packed with potential and living in Tennessee . The two were living in two different parts of the state — McCarver was in Knoxville and Lewis was in Murfreesboro — but knew of each other because of the sport ’ s grapevine .
They became friends as athletes at BSN . “ I got to know him there . At first he was a typical teen — he wasn ’ t really mature . Maturity came from his fast rise , getting his pro card so early — what happened is that he realized he had to treat the ‘ sport ’ as a professional job .”
Signed by Redcon1 , McCarver moved to Florida . “ That ’ s when we became close . He was like my little brother . Took him under my wing , talked to him about the business side of the sport . The guy was ungodly superstrong . He was a remarkable young man with a great heart . We trained every day . He took the Olympia off this year to focus on the 2018 Arnold Classic . He was going to push me hard while I trained for the Olympia and he wasn ’ t dieting , and then come 2018 I would be the one who wouldn ’ t be dieting , and I would push him while he trained for the Arnold .
“ I ’ m still stunned by the loss . We trained together , we traveled to contests together , we talked on the phone every day , even when I was on the other side of the world . He was truly like a little brother to me , and beyond that , he had such potential . He would have won the Arnold one day . He could have won the Olympia one day .”
IRMA ADDS TO THE ORDEAL Lewis was in Tennessee for McCarver ’ s funeral — where he helped carry his friend ’ s casket — when word of the advance of Hurricane Irma spread .
“ My wife , Ali , has lived in Florida half of her life , and she knows to take
MARCH 2018 | FLEX 11