Customer Reviews

Flex Ability: A Story of Strength and Survival

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I enjoyed reading this book, but as time has passed and I have reflected upon it further, I have become more and more disappointed with it. Flex now writes for Muscular Development, and his pieces in there vary a great deal in the persona he projects. In FlexAbility he portrays himself as the quasi-innocent, long-suffering victim. The suspicious "ninja attack" which supposedly occurred right before an Olympia, thus forcing him to withdraw, is not even mentioned here, though surely it ought to be discussed--if it were real, because that would be a major event in his career; if it were invented, because only by 'fessing up would he really be honest. I think that in this book Wheeler is working really hard to convince the reader that he, Flex, is a good guy. He might be, but methinks this book doth protest too much.

Once I started reading this book I could not put it down. Flex is very honest with painful stories from his childhood all the way to the present. When you read this book you understand exactly the pressures he was under during his bodybuilding career and in his personal life. In fact he was so honest, that at times I hated him, and at times I loved him, and you can tell that he's learned lessons from his life and is now a completely changed person.

I don't understand why some of the readers gave him such negative reviews. First, this is not a "training manual," it is a biography. Second, how can a reader really question Flex's extremes that he wrote about? Do you think he was lying about the size of his house or the number of cars he had? He states that now he realizes how foolish he was to blow all his money and not save anything. And how can a reader question the amount of work he put in when training for a show? I must say that 3 hours of cardio in a 24 hour period is extreme but it is certainly not uncommon for the few weeks leading up to a big show; how do you think the guys get to the level that he was on -- everything they do is extreme, from the amount of drugs they use to the amount of exercise they do to prepare for a show.

All in all a great in-depth story about an interesting guy living in the interesting world of pro bodybuilding.

This book really lets you see the real Flex Wheeler from the inside out. He gets down to the dirt of what is printed about him and clarifies the untruths. You'll love this book. I could't put it down.

I gave this book a 4 out of 5 because of the positive messages that it contains in addition to the interesting stories. Like most biographies it was an easy read. At times I found the book tough to put down due to some of the parts that really drew me in.

I was absolutely blown away by the challenges this man overcomes throughout his life, and STILL manages to become one of the greatest bodybuilder's ever. He completely stole my heart with his tale. As soon as I got this book I started reading it, and finished in 2 days. It was breath-taking. I have a great respect for Flex Wheeler as both a bodybuilder, and a survivor.

A must have for all bodybuilding fans.However it might be boring for someone who is not a fan.

The book is reasonably well written, not fantastic. The organization and pace could use some help. It scratches the surface on most subjects and leaves me feeling that Flex's primary issue preventing him from success and enjoying his success are his immaturity, his emotions,his morality, and his intelligence level. I don't buy into his crying about his upbringing, his seduction by an older woman/women which he now calls abuse or anything else. Nor do I buy into his passing off of Steroids in the 80's as an unknown OK or an unknown safety issue. The danger, and the illegality of steroids has been around gyms since I can remember - which includes the 70's.

However, since there are so few tittles on this subject - if you are a bodybuilder, or a casual lifter who works out to look and feel good - this book is a must read. I hope Flex's next book has more details on the Male Beauty Contest Industry, (Bodybuilding) the Supplement Industry that Supports it, and Strange people like Joe Weider. We all read the magazines, and we all try to get through to the truth of the mater, and this book gives you a quick fish eye lens view of it. The fact that Weider Industries cut off Flex's contract immediately upon his car crash without even checking on him or his family tells you something about the industry. I finished the book wanting more, and a faster pace. Do another one Flex and Stay Clean!

I was immediately drawn to this book due to my lifelong fasination with muscles, especially as displayed in the world of bodybuilding with the art of muscle sculpting. I was delighted to not only find a story of a great athlete but also pages filled with risk, struggle, love, belief, triumph, endurance and miracles. This is a story of a stronger than life spirit that meets his every challenge with a strength greater than any amount of physical weight that can be lifted. What an incredible inspiration Flex Wheeler is and his story is worth knowing.

Flex Ability: A Story of Strength and Survival by Flex Wheeler is written in a fluid of connecting pieces that easily allows the reader to paint a vivid picture of the authors life story. This was such a nice easy read that I found it hard to put down. Flex Wheeler is a man with integrity who tells it like it is, makes no excuses and picks himself up and moves on to his next challenge. Childhood trauma, poverty, fatherhood, pro-athlete status, steroids, diuretics, severe auto accident, hereditary disease Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), fame, drug free and finally peace - Flex has survived it all. Readers young and old can take something away for themselves from his life story.

Today Flex is a champion of his spirit and speaks out about the dangers of using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs and uses his life story to teach others.

Flex Ability: A Story of Strength and Survival by Flex Wheeler is a book worth your time and attention. This is a great choice for an afternoon summer read!

I would give this book 0 stars if I could. Where do I start? First, I love bodybuilding. I read all of the muscle magazines every month, and have followed the "sport" for almost 20 years. Mr. Wheeler, who never misses a chance to remind everyone that he is a Christian, must not be 100% converted yet, because he lies throughout this book and wastes valuable paper with this gutless tome. For those who don't know, Mr. Wheeler has been one of the top ranked bodybuilders for over a decade. He recently had a kidney transplant because of a rare kidney disease that has tragically stricken NBA superstar Alonzo Mourning and Sean Elliot. The fact checkers, or is that liar enablers, that allowed Mr. Wheeler to say that these athletes did not disclose their disease when they retired (Mourning twice) should be fired and never be allowed in the industry again because they both spoke about it when they retired. Wheeler's past steroid use did not cause this problem, allegedly. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Mr. Wheeler regales us, or is that bores us to death, with stories about his numerous sexual conquests, of course while he was in relationships.
Wheeler details his troubling health problems because of his use of diuretics (taken to eliminate all water fromt the body to make someone look leaner). Amazingly, he collapsed at a show with the judges knowledge, and yet this supposed-truth-telling Christian, does not name those who knew about this and chose to ignore and enable this plague on our sport. Instead, Wheeler attempts to have his cake and eat it, too: put out a book to entice the legions of fans of bodybuilding, but because he is now competing again (drug-free???), he refuses to point fingers at a sport that has been ruined by bloated, drugged up freaks weighing 300 lbs. at 5-8-6-0. Wheeler had a unique opportunity to out the sycophants in the bodybuilding media, the pimp empire of Joe Weider, and the psycotic bodybuilders who have ruined this sport.
Wheeler refuses to even name the bodybuilder who famously accused him of having calf implants. This from a guy who claimed to be afraid of noone and brags of beating people senseless, but oh, that is because he was sexually abused, so it's ok, right.
One of his most notable lies is that bodybuilding magazines had annointed him the best bodybuilder...ever. Not one magazine has ever said that about Wheeler, simply because it is not true. That isn't a subjective analysis, it's a fact. He never even won the Mr. Olympia, the most important bodybuilding show. Also, he plays "the media was out to get me card." In fact, just the opposite is true. The press in bodybuilding don't really call anyone out because of their abusive, steroid-rage-induced attitudes; if they did, they would only be writing about the personalities of so many of these guys.

His training section is stupid as well. He was being trained by world class trainers (Charles Glass for one), yet he supposedly did three hours of cardio a day (yes, THREE hours a day). Any person with even the most rudimentary knowledge of bodybuilding knows that this is training suicide!!

His "bling-bling" descriptions would make P Diddy proud. By my count he had 11 cars at one point and 48,000 sq. ft. home.

Another great "Wheelerism": he says there is a dearth of research on his kidney disease because it primarily effects African-Americans. That's great Flex: play the race card, too.

He glosses over his steroid use/abuse, again because he was afraid of offending others in the "community." Pick up any bodybuilding magazine today and the descriptions of the current "stacks" of roids these freaks are taking will blow your mind. Bear in mind, these drugs are ILLEGAL. The reigning Mr. Olympia, Ronnie Coleman, was a police officer until two years ago. How do you reconcile ingesting massive amount of illegal drugs while serving as a police officer. Many of the athletes purchase steroids that are prescribed to horses.

What a shame that honorable, decent men such as Lee Haney, Sergio Olivia, and many others don't get a chance to write books. Instead, a bible abusing, philandering, ostentatious, drug addict does, and yet doesn't have the courage to address the many issues ruining the sport.

In light of the tragedy that has befallen juiceball, er, baseball, Mr. Wheeler's irresponsibility is even more apparent.

Thank you to Amazon.com

I was amped when I bought this book because I thought it was going to have a lot of information about Flex Wheeler's bodybuilding career, training, etc. He has awesome genetics and is a legend in bodybuilding.

While it did contain some bodybuilding information, it was overshadowed by all the bad stuff that happened in his life, long boring stories of him talking about how awesome his girlfriend was, and how low his self esteem was.

I was REALLY disappointed in this book and wish I didn't spend my money on it or more importantly, waste my time reading it.