Vacations are supposed to be relaxing and full of tranquility, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for bodybuilding great Flex Lewis. During a recent trip to the Cayman Islands, Lewis suffered a tricep tendon rupture after an accident at a bar.
“I have torn my tendon off the bone. So, something a bodybuilder doesn’t ever want to experience but it’s happened to the best. These guys who I look up to have all come back and gone on to win shows and do some great things. Thankfully, for me, I’m no longer on that bodybuilding stage but I truly love living the bodybuilding lifestyle.”
Lewis says he was trying to watch the Ryan Garcia boxing match weeks ago when the accident occurred. He was using the restroom inside of a stall, however, the latches to lock the door weren’t operational. He held it with his arm and a man tried to kick in the door to use the restroom. As a result, Lewis’ arm took the brunt of the force, which resulted in the tricep injury.
Flex Lewis is on paper the greatest 212 competitor of all time, having amassed seven 212 Olympia titles from 2012-2018. Although he retired from the sport, he is dedicated to the bodybuilding lifestyle, often sharing progress updates, workouts, and physique transformations.
Level Up Your Fitness: Join our 💪 strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!
Flex Lewis Suffers Tricep Tendon Rupture, Will Require Surgery
According to Lewis, he suffered this injury during his one vacation of the year.
“My physique is obviously a massive part of that. How I got to where I’m at? I’ll tell the story. I’ve done an appearance in the Cayman Islands, what I was doing is combining business with pleasure. Myself and my wife don’t go on many vacations in fact we go on one a year,” said Lewis.
“I went to a local place that was playing the Ryan Garcia fight. I’m a big fight fan, I didn’t want to miss it,” said Lewis. “I’ve got this habit, a good one up until this point of peeing in the toilet [instead of a urinal]. I go in there and with most places like bars and clubs, the latches are normally broken, in this case, it was the case. So, I was holding the door whilst peeing and some idiot from the other side decided to kick it. So, with a straight arm, I took all that impact.”
After his arm absorbed the impact, it didn’t take long for Lewis to realize he’d been injured.
“It was either going to my elbow or my shoulder and most people know I have two torn shoulders, two torn knees, never have been an excuse all the times I won and defended my titles but I never had such an injury that has occurred to this nature in all these years also. I knew straight away something happened.”
Out with friends, Lewis nursed the injury in silence and tried to enjoy the rest of his night.
“Needless to say he [the guy who kicked the door] tried to shake my hand, brush that off. I went back to where my friends had sat down. I didn’t say a word. Nursed my injury, sucked it up, they were all enjoying themselves. The Ryan Garcia fight was on. It started throbbing. I told all my friends, they didn’t know nothing. Went back to the hotel and ended up watching it on my phone.”
The next morning, Lewis and his wife discovered widespread bruising around his tricep.
“I woke up the next morning being on vacation having no kids around us, my wife rolled over went to give me a kiss, and she decided to pull this crazy face while sliding on top of me while seeing this [my bruised tricep].”
An MRI confirmed Lewis tore his tricep tendon off the bone and while he intends to undergo surgery, he decided to wait because he had plans to work the World’s Strongest Man event that recently took place.
“I put on a brave face, that’s the name of the game, putting on a brave face but the bruising started to get worse. I told them exactly what they needed to hear, it wasn’t as bad as what it looks. Came home, that next day, I was booked into a MRI, had that MRI, squeezed me into the smallest MRI I have ever been in, head-first hand-up. It was confirmed that very next day by my doctor that I had torn the tendon off the bone.”
“These freak things happen. It wasn’t in the gym. It was one of them situations where I should have known better. I didn’t. I can beat myself up by saying that over and over again but I shucked it off. Right now, I could have already had this surgery but I have the World’s Strongest Man in a few days time. I head out tomorrow to work the World’s Strongest Man. I’m very excited to work this event and get around the best athletes in the world.”
Lewis remains in contact with his doctor and underlined that he did not suffer a muscle tear, only a tendon rupture.
“I’ve spoken to the doctor. He’s told me that if this was a regular person he would have a different mentality.
But I have thick tendons and muscles, it’s not a muscle tear. Otherwise, we’d be in straight away to make sure that doesn’t roll up. This duration of time is good enough for me to prolong it as much as I have already.”
Although Flex Lewis no longer competes professionally, he remains committed to the sport’s evolution. He recently joined hands with Open standout Rafael Brandao for a brutal shoulder workout and posing session. Even in retirement, Lewis’ strength is on constant display.
With tricep tendon ruptures generally taking six to nine months to heal, Lewis’ training routine will surely change. Our team at Fitness Volt wishes him a speedy recovery moving forward!
RELATED: Flex Lewis Considers Bodybuilding Comeback: ‘Fans Deserve to See Me Back Up There’
Watch the full video from Flex Lewis’ YouTube channel below:
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube for even more content.
