Exercise scientist Dr. Mike Israetel continues to analyze the workouts of some of the most prolific bodybuilders, powerlifters, and strongmen in the world. In his latest venture, shared via YouTube on January 3, 2025, he critiqued the training and bodybuilding dieting approach of Larry Wheels.
“Larry is a gym legend out of 10, he’s done powerlifting, he’s done some strongman stuff, he’s done crazy gym lifts. He’s one of the gym lift YouTube kings.”
Larry Wheels has shown otherworldly strength on multiple occasions in different disciplines. He’s tested his power in strongman, bodybuilding, powerlifting, arm wrestling, and even slap fighting. He doesn’t shy away from risky lifts that could go wrong either. Whether it’s a one-arm 675-pound deadlift or taking on Ronnie Coleman’s 200-pound dumbbell press, Wheels has carved out a successful career thanks to his lifting prowess.
His eye-opening feats of strength have caught the attention of Dr. Israetel, who boasts over 3.1 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. Below, he not only critiqued Wheels’ technique but offered some pointers to those who are aiming to rebound from bodybuilding contests successfully without putting on too much weight.
Exercise Scientist Critiques Craziest Lifts & Diet of Larry Wheels: “He’s One of the Gym Lift YouTube Kings”
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To begin the YouTube video, Dr. Israetel looked at Larry Wheels’ heaviest dumbbell row ever recorded, which amounted to 280 pounds.
“This is absurd, I probably can’t pick this up at all,” he shared. “Versa Gripp is critical for this because you’re not just raw-dogging a 280-pound dumbbell row. Even chalk won’t go far.”
“The range of motion is very limited. Most of the force is actually coming from the extensor musculature, the glutes, and the hamstrings and there’s a lot of spinal erector stability required. This is more of a deadlift accessory movement than anything else. The back isn’t doing a ton of work. As you can tell the actual angles of movement at the shoulder joint are very low.”
When looking at Wheels’ deadlifting strength on a 930-pound load, Israetel underlined that he used efficient technique to get the weight up.
“See how he hitched the weight, he got his knees under, a second knee bend, and then he basically hack squatted the weight up with his quads.
Very efficient technique. You can’t really pull this off in competitive powerlifting because if they see a crease of skin under the bar that means that you’re hitching.”
Next, Dr. Israetel examined how Larry Wheels executed a 405-pound bench press for a staggering 32 reps.
“You know you’re really strong with 405 on the bar they got to fast-forward the video just to make it convenient for people to watch,” he shared. “32 reps, let’s call them what they are, 32 half reps with 405, that in my mind equates to probably 15-20 full reps with a gentle pause at the chest, powerlifting technique textbook style.”
He also touched on Larry Wheels’ shocking five-day 53-pound weight gain during a post-bodybuilding show rebound phase. Dr. Israetel broke down two factors that can cause excessive hunger following a contest.
“This is going to get crazy. What’s the background here? When you’re dieting down for a show, you’re doing two things: you’re subjecting yourself to a hypocaloric, not enough calories to keep your body weight at maintenance condition for months and that makes you insanely hungry on a very deep physiological level.
Not only is that you dieted for a long time but you dieted to an objectively very low body fat and those two things together combine to give you a radical hunger,” he shared. “Factor number two is because they had to get Larry down in body weight to really dry him out to make the weight for Classic Physique, they had to get pounds and pounds and pounds of body water out from his muscles and out from his skin.”
Although he critiqued his range of motion during dumbbell rows, Dr. Israetel was more than impressed with Wheels’ technique while performing deadlifts. Given how long he’s managed to defy the odds with incredible lifts, Wheels continues to motivate fans in various sports even since stepping away from bodybuilding.
RELATED: Larry Wheels & Vladislava Galagan Team Up for Crazy Shoulder Workout, Discuss PED Experiences
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