Flex Wheeler might be considered one of the greatest bodybuilders, but he had to fight his own battles. The four-time Arnold Classic winner is an incredible bodybuilder who competed neck-to-neck against legends like Ronnie Coleman. The retired IFBB bodybuilder is also known as the ‘Sultan of Symmetry’. However, this is not it. In a recent interview with Jay Cutler, Wheeler had a lot to share about the darkest battles he fought to reach his success today.

Before starting bodybuilding, Flex Wheeler first learned martial arts. He had great interest after getting inspired by the legend Bruce Lee. Wheeler shifted to bodybuilding in his teenage years after getting fascinated by weight training. Moreover, as a bodybuilder, he has won many titles. The four-time Arnold Classic winner is also a five-time Ironman Pro winner.

Why did Flex Wheeler create a pseudo-identity?

Flex Wheeler’s real name is Kenneth Wheeler. It took relentless mental trauma for him to change his identity for the world. He would get dark thoughts about dying. Wheeler would deeply think about the absence of people who were dead. At one point, he would also feel sad about not loving himself enough to get rid of his trauma.

In fact, while fighting martial arts, he would become scared of hitting people. The bodybuilder had a fear of breaking people’s bones. So, to break through his problems, he promised himself to embrace his life as much as he could. To do so, he pseudo-character named ‘Flex Wheeler’. In the interview, Wheeler expressed;

“I developed a character called Flex Wheeler who didn’t mind fighting and would hurt people if they wanted to make it happen. I started buying more into the character and eventually became Flex Wheeler all the time”,

He further explained what he learned by becoming something that he was not. He said, “When you try to put on a facade, you realize who you really are. Therefore, you have to realize the truth before you can tell a lie. When I started trying to identify and wanting to change,”.

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Wheeler’s trauma was so much that he would not sleep at night. However, his trauma ultimately forced him to change, becoming the best version of himself.

Wheeler was once close to defeating Ronnie Coleman

In 1998’s Mr. Olympia, Flex was very close to defeating The King, Ronnie Coleman. He came second in the competition but had no regrets at that moment. He was absolutely star-struck by him.

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Flex accepted in the interview that he did not give his 100% in the competition. Hence, he does not regret it. But he did give his everything to defeat his trauma.