Episode 256 of The Threat Podcast host Dennis James along with Milos Sarcev, Jose Raymond and the legendary Kenneth “Flex” Wheeler. During the show, James asked Flex about a recent Instagram post criticizing the state of bodybuilding in the 2020s, and the retired Olympian gave his honest opinion.
Derek Lunsford won his second Mr. Olympia title on October 11, and as always, fans were quick to debate whether the winner was worthy of the championship. One post that got a lot of attention on Instagram was from bodybuilding enthusiast @brianathony_5, who wrote: “Why isn’t my era conditioned? Idk? Why were the 90s much better? Idk? Why am I (Derek Lunsford) Mr. Olympia? Idk.”
Flex Wheeler comments on controversial social media posts
The message received both support and criticism as industry insiders and fans weighed in on the merits of destroying the 1920s era. In the image itself, Wheeler, who shared the post with his nearly one million IG followers, can be seen looking ripped, while Lunsford is shown smooth.
During The Menace Podcast, Dennis James wanted to know more about Wheeler’s views. “I have to call on Flex, because you know, you started a world war,” the presenter joked. “I didn’t do that,” laughed the four-time Arnold Classic winner. “Listen, that was a repost,” Wheeler told the team. “And that started a little war,” James replied. “What was your thought process behind this? And why do people get mad at you for reposting a photo that someone else took?”
“It’s a shame, right?” said Wieler. “Because the competition should be getting better, not worse, but I think we can pretty much all agree that the 1990s were the days of bodybuilding,” he added. Flex also shared that some bodybuilding fans had called him selfish for supporting the claim that his era was better than the current state of the sport. “It’s just different now,” Wheeler said. “A lot of people say, ‘oh, it’s the lighting’ and stuff like that. No, we were just in better shape then, you know, we came from an era where fitness mattered, right?”
Wheeler went on to say that Dorian Yates’ dominance changed the direction of the requirements for future Mr Olympias. “I agree, looking at the current Mr Olympia (Derek Lunsford) and the last few Mr Olympias, I mean we were just in better shape,” Wheeler said. “We were more shelled out, and I don’t know if we had less distractions or what, but I don’t understand why the sport hasn’t progressed.”
For balance, the image used in the aforementioned Instagram post showed Flex Wheeler looking great in his prime, photoshopped into him standing next to Derek Lunsford on the Olympia podium, but Wheeler’s image appears sharper than Lunsford’s image. In post, Wheeler towers over Lunsford, but Flex is thought to be only about 3 inches taller in reality. Still, the post, and Wheeler’s reposting of it, has reignited a heated debate in the bodybuilding world. What is your opinion?
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