“Didn’t Believe in Myself”: Lack of Confidence Led Flex Wheeler To Be an Imposter on Stage During His Career, He Admitted in 2021

More often than not, there is more to a person’s personality than what meets the eye. So was the case with one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, Flex Wheeler. Wheeler’s enigmatic nature brought a lot of attention to the bodybuilder. However, it wasn’t all positive. While many considered him to be an arrogant person, it was a result of his insecurities.

Though Wheeler wasn’t able to claim the Mr. Olympia title, he has the best IFBB pro debut in history. In the year 1993, Wheeler won the Arnold Classic, Pro Ironman, French Grand Prix, and German Grand Prix, along with the second position at his first Mr. Olympia.

Flex Wheeler: The arrogant man

In 2021, Wheeler appeared on the 3rd episode of the podcast “The Menace.” On the show, he not only spoke about his health condition and ambitions but also opened up about his lack of self-confidence and talked about how he dealt with his public image,

Wheeler said, “I would dismiss it and think they were wrong. My analogy was ‘people say bad things about me and if people say good things about me, they just don’t know … Even in times when I went onstage and people considered me very arrogant and full of myself, it was a façade because I didn’t believe in myself. ”

Read More: Flex Wheeler, Who Battled Through Suicidal Thoughts as a Child, Shared His Greatest Bodybuilding Achievement in 2019

He further spoke about how his lack of self-confidence affected his training and performance. “You know, it’s sad, and it’s embarrassing, but to be honest, I beat myself out of it. I didn’t believe in myself, and I didn’t think I was worthy. So I didn’t train hard. If you competed against me at the Iron Man or if you competed against me at the Arnold Classic, I felt I could beat you. I honestly felt that was my house. Come get it, come try. But when it came to the Olympia, I just didn’t feel like I could be No. 1,” he said.

Wheeler: The Sultan of Symmetry

Born in August 1965, Kenneth Flex Wheeler is a bodybuilder from Fresno, California. Before training as a bodybuilder, Flex trained as a martial artist from a very young age. He has gone on record to say that he recognizes himself as a “martial artist first, a bodybuilder second.”

Flex Wheeler started his professional career as a bodybuilder in 1983. Over the years, he made tremendous progress as a bodybuilder. However, a fatal car accident in 1994 took him back to the starting point. Later, in 1999, he was diagnosed with kidney disease.

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In 2000, Flex Wheeler announced his retirement from competitive bodybuilding competitions. However, despite all odds, he continued to participate until 2003.