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