LOUIS URIDEL
Louis “Big Lou” Uridel is a family man, entrepreneur, bodybuilder, small business owner and one of the biggest fans of Oceanside, CA. He loves what American and Christian values are. Acceptance regardless of differences, open and willingness for everyone to work together for a common good and to always let freedom reign.
Louis started off his life in the Chicagoland Area and grew up on a suburban farm. Lou’s mother was a professional photographer and his father flew as a pilot for American Airlines, a World War 2 vet and was a LaPorte County Sherriff for the better part of 30 years. Louis attended Indiana University and received a degree in Criminal Justice and History. He then attended the DePaul School of Law in Chicago where his J.D. was conferred in 2001. Lou passed the bar exam in IL in 2001 and in California in 2004.
While Law has always been of great interest, it was never Lou’s passion and love. Fitness and Bodybuilding always caught his heart. It started off as a hobby, but he decided to walk away from a great career in the legal field to pursue his dreams in the fitness world. Literally starting at the bottom, he worked sampling out products for supplement companies and slowly worked his way up the ranks in the community until he was a sponsored athlete being paid to body build. To earn extra money, Lou also became certified as a personal trainer and started working and coaching clients of his own.
But the story isn’t without speed bumps. Earlier in his life, Lou dealt with alcohol addiction and it was constantly inhibiting his true potential. One day, on November 22nd, 2007, Louis decided to not drink alcohol ever again. He wanted to be a bodybuilder more than anything and gave up drinking cold turkey. Louis credits bodybuilding with redirecting his life on an upward path and fitness for saving it.
He even met his wife, Sabrina, at a bodybuilding competition in 2009. The spirit of bodybuilding met them, but love of each other and their amazing chemistry united them and they were finally married on June 28th, 2017.
In 2016, the real message was delivered with Louis Uridel was saved by Christ. It was then that his life took on meaning and his passions of fitness were focused on his ultimate dream… to own a gym of his own. He knew, that making money would never be the prime motivation for what he wanted to do in life. Rather, he knew that he had to direct his efforts to living for Christ and making his gym somewhere to share his testimony of life and success.
Louis believes in leading and living by example. He is a firm believer that Christians must not judge another – and must love all equally regardless of their beliefs, actions or designations.
“It’s not our place to judge another for any reason… if Christianity is to survive, we as Christians must be open, loving and caring to everyone … even if we don’t agree with them.”
Louis Uridel currently owns Metroflex Gym in Oceanside and is a strong proponent of small businesses in the area. He lives with his wife Sabrina and pup Django in East Oceanside.