I knew he wasn't done. These guys don't leave until they drop dead or walk with a cane and have 10 broken screws in their backs. Mental disorder of peace. The guy is at his peak, why not step down now while he's on top and do other fitness-related things instead? Instead he wants to get bigger, like they all do.
Great post. In fact - great thread here, on that note.
I agree, Kwon3. Flex was either born in 1984 or 1985 [I think 1984], making him either 33 or 34 right now. That would be a great time to retire and focus on ventures with supplement companies, riding on the coattails of his previous success. Flex is 5'5.5", right? Even 212-lb of hard muscle at that height is massive, let alone 225-lb or more.
It's sad that when bodybuilders retire, everyone can tell. When I get a great upper body pump, I look radically different in as little as an hour after my workout. I would say I look a little different even 15 minutes after my workout. So pro bodybuilders, whose physiques are propped up with a fair amount of performance-enhancing chemicals, experience this sort of disappointment at a far greater level.
Is there really so little money in bodybuilding that Flex has to do this? As a multi-winning 212-lb Mr. Olympia champion, wasn't Flex making at least $200,000 each year? If not over $500,000? In all these years, did he not think to bank that money to get some businesses running in Wales so that he could retire at a comfortable age [35 or 40], and focus on slimming down and being healthy for the second half of his life? I worry that doing it this way - competing in the open class - he may not have much of a second half of his life to focus on.
