Before Larry “Wheels” Williams walked into the gym, his personal record in the squat was 850 pounds (385.5 kilograms) at about 268 pounds (121.5 kilograms) bodyweight. When he left, he was a man who had squatted 900 pounds (408.2 kilograms). (We’re not totally sure of his bodyweight right now.)
For a man as accomplished as Larry Wheels, who holds three world record totals in the 242lb, 275lb, and 275lb weight classes, a fifty-pound PR is a phenomenal achievement. Normally we’d say it’s the kind of PR he probably won’t ever see again, but we’ve learned not to underestimate the man.
Now that’s a man who celebrates with the same raw intensity as he lifts. He posted with this comment.
900lb SQUAT PR IN SLEEVES TREMENDOUS PR FOR ME (50lb PR). And 865 right before it for a 20lb PR! 2 PRs in one day!(Swipe right) 2 weeks out from my first national bodybuilding show!
Yup, he hit a fifty-pound personal record two weeks out from a bodybuilding show, which for normal folks is when they’re in a calorie deficit, trying to shed fat, sticking to hypertrophy workouts, and generally feeling the weakest they have in months. But this is Larry Wheels we’re talking about.
[Watch him winning his first bodybuilding competition earlier this year here!]
Interestingly, the man doesn’t post a whole lot of heavy squat singles on his Instagram, instead showing off his incredible proficiency in the deadlift and in upper body movements. The most recent example is a casual 585-pound one-armed deadlift.
But he also hit a pretty interesting high-rep milestone in his squat last month: 500 pounds for 25 reps. This was also a personal record — the man just cannot plateau.
We’re looking forward to his bodybuilding show but we’d be lying if we said we weren’treallylooking forward to the total he’ll put up at his next meet.
Featured image via @larrywheels on Instagram.
About Nick English
Nick is a content producer and journalist with over seven years’ experience reporting on four continents. Since moving to New York City in 2013 he's been writing on health and fitness full time for outlets like BarBend, Men's Health, VICE, and Popular Science.
only been 113 people squat at least 900 pounds since openpowerlifting.org has kept record of sanctioned events. Brody didn't stop with the awe-inspiring squat. He went on to bench press 465 pounds and deadlift 685 pounds for a total of 2050 pounds.
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Introduction: My name is Errol Quitzon, I am a fair, cute, fancy, clean, attractive, sparkling, kind person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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