Page 195 - Muscle & Fitness (December 2019)
P. 195
FLEX LEWIS_FLEX
LINING UP WITH
THE GIANTS
New Yorkers hate Times
Square for its tourist-heavy
congestion and commotion. The
best examples lie around 45th
Street, where tourists fork over
their cash to take pictures of a
bevy of superheroes—the Incred-
ible Hulk, Captain America, even
Mickey and Minnie. And there’s
Optimus Prime.
Even with the champ standing
at just 5'5", it was hard to tell
which giant was larger when
Lewis’ mass lined up next to
Prime. It’s sort of like what Lewis Sergio Oliva Jr. up onstage—it’s
faces come next September embedded in my head. When
when he competes in the open the opportunity came, I thought,
division for the first time. It’s ‘Wow, I would love to bring my
been a long time coming. Why daughter on the stage.’ ”
the wait? Lewis adds: “The 212 was my
“The storyline would change baby. So it’s something that I’ve
every year,” he says. “My third helped grow, taking it to the
win was the 50th anniversary of main stage, from prize money
Joe Weider’s Olympia. I wanted being a joke at first to being
Flex-ing through NYC
Lewis strikes poses to create that milestone and be substantial. We’re now seeing
with Optimus Prime, in
front of NYC’s Oculus, the 50th winner. Then the fourth the new blood of athletes
and with fans during a year my wife and I were expect- coming through. My goal was
recent city tour.
ing our first child. I remember to pass it off to somebody who
as a kid, a teenager, seeing a really knew the value of what
photo of Sergio Oliva picking up this title meant.”
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