Are you curious about the Larry Wheels training program?

Do you wonder how Larry Wheels trains to build size and strength?

Then you’ve come to the right place.

In this comprehensive guide, I will show you how to use the Larry Wheels workout routine to take your training to the next level!

Introduction

• Part 1: Larry Trains Like A Bodybuilder
• Part 2: Larry Trains Like A Powerlifter

Larry Wheels is a professional powerlifter and one of the biggest names in the fitness industry.

Larry has competed in bodybuilding, powerlifting and strongman and has trained with some of the strongest men in the world including the World’s Strongest Man winner Hafthor Bjornsson.

However, Larry is best known for his electric personality and his superhuman feats of strength!

Here are some of Larry’s best lifts on the powerlifting platform:

• Squat: 870 pounds
• Bench Press: 645 pounds
• Deadlift: 855 pounds

Larry is even more impressive in the gym. Just take a look at Larry lifting 400 pounds for 10 reps on the seated overhead press:

Larry might have the strongest overhead press in the entire world! It’s hard to think of anyone who can match that kind of raw strength.

So how does Larry train to build size and strength?

Larry likes to alternate between bodybuilding training phases and powerlifting phases. This is a favorite strategy of Stan Efferding and many other top bodybuilders / powerlifters.

When Larry trains like a bodybuilder his goal is to build muscular size while maintaining his overall strength levels.

Larry actually uses a typical bodybuilding bro-split when he trains like a bodybuilder. Check it out:

The Larry Wheels Bodybuilding Training Split

• Day 1: Chest
• Day 2: Back
• Day 3: Shoulders
• Day 4: Legs
• Day 5: Arms
• Day 6: Off
• Day 7: Off

Larry’s bodybuilding workouts are focused on performing lots of sets on many different exercises. Larry finds that this style of training works best for him when he wants to build muscle mass.

When Larry trains like a powerlifter his training program is completely different: he trains three days per week with each workout focused on the squat, bench press or deadlift. Check it out:

The Larry Wheels Powerlifting Training Split

• Monday: Squat
• Wednesday: Bench Press
• Friday: Deadlift

Larry performs his heavy sets on the “big 3” powerlifting exercises and then performs a few assistance exercises for his upper or lower body. Larry found through trial and error that this simple training split works best for peaking his strength for his powerlifting competitions.

I hope you found this overview of Larry Wheels’ training program helpful. Now let’s get down to business…

Part 1: Larry Wheels Trains Like A Bodybuilder

Larry Wheels is an extremely large bodybuilder. He weighs around 300 pounds at 6 feet 1 inches tall and has a true “six pack” 12 months out of the year.

I don’t know about you but I don’t know a lot of ripped 300 pound bodybuilders!

When Larry wants to take a break from his heavy powerlifting style workouts he uses a traditional 5-day bodybuilding bro-split. For example:

The Larry Wheels Bodybuilding Training Split

• Day 1: Chest
• Day 2: Back
• Day 3: Shoulders
• Day 4: Legs
• Day 5: Arms
• Day 6: Off
• Day 7: Off

As you can see Larry trains each muscle group on its own separate training day. He does this so that he can perform more volume per muscle group and to keep his workouts short.

Larry is so strong that he doesn’t need to use high-frequency workouts to make progress. He found that he gets his best results just destroying each muscle group once a week.

Now let’s take a closer look at some of Larry’s bodybuilding workouts.

Here is a very typical looking bodybuilding chest workout for Larry. Check it out:

Larry Wheel’s Bodybuilding Chest Workout #1

• Exercise #1: 30 degree incline DB press, 3 sets of 5-10 reps
• Exercise #2: Standing cable fly, 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #3: 30 degree incline bench press, 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #4: Rope cable pushdowns, 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Here is the training video for this workout:

Larry uses his normal powerbuilding-style approach for this workout.

For his first exercise Larry goes heavy on the incline dumbbell press. Larry presses the 200+ pound dumbbells for an incredible 5 reps on his main working set.

Then Larry performs a couple of higher-rep accessory exercises for his chest. Larry finishes up the workout with some extra chest work for good measure.

Here is another bodybuilding chest workout that Larry performed recently. Check it out:

Larry Wheel’s Bodybuilding Chest Workout #2

• Exercise #1: 30 degree incline bench press, 3 sets of 10-15 reps**
• Exercise #2: Machine pec dec, 3 sets of 10-15 reps**
• Exercise #3: Machine incline press, 3 set of 10-15 reps**

**On your last set perform a double drop set. Train to failure in the 10-15 rep range, drop the weight, train to failure again, drop the weight, train to failure a third time, done!

Here is the training video for this workout:

For this workout Larry focuses on drop sets. On his last working set for each exercise he performs a double drop set.

He trains to failure in the 10-15 rep range, drops the weight, trains to failure a second time, drops the weight, trains to failure a third time and then racks the weight.

Many bodybuilding coaches like John Meadows are also big fans of drop sets for building a huge chest.

Now let’s look at some of Larry’s bodybuilding back workouts. Check it out:

Larry Wheel’s Bodybuilding Back Workout #1

• Exercise #1: Barbell row (bounce on floor), 3 sets of 5 reps
• Exercise #2: Lat pulldown (wide / overhand grip), 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #3: Pull ups (narrow / neutral grip), 3 sets of AMRAP**
• Exercise #4: Hammer strength low row, 3 sets of 10-15 reps

**Perform as many reps as you can with just your bodyweight

Here is the training video for this workout:

This is another powerbuilding-style hypertrophy workout that Larry likes to use. Larry starts the workout with some heavy barbell rows.

Larry likes to bounce the weight off the ground almost like he would if he was performing a deadlift. Once the weight gets close to his knees he rows the barbell back into his stomach. This is an awesome accessory exercise for the deadlift, especially when you can row almost 600 pounds like Larry!

The rest of his back workout features 3 bodybuilding style movements for higher reps.

Now let’s look at one of Larry’s lighter, higher-volume back workouts. Check it out:

Larry Wheels Bodybuilding Back Workout #2

• Exercise #1: Hammer strength shrug, 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #2: Pull ups (wide / overhand grip), 3 sets of AMRAP**
• Exercise #3: Lat pulldown (wide / overhand grip), 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #4: Machine chest supported row (narrow / neutral grip), 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #5: Hammer strength pulldown (narrow / supinated grip), 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Here is the training video for this workout:

This is a very normal looking bodybuilding style workout. Larry performs five different exercises for higher reps to overload all of the different muscles of his upper back.

If you watch a lot of Larry’s back training videos then you will notice that he loves to perform sets of pull ups to failure with just his bodyweight.

Pull ups are a fantastic upper back exercise that you don’t see people use in the modern era. This is a shame as they are one of the fastest ways to increase the size of your lats.

Now let’s look at some of Larry’s shoulder workouts. Check it out:

Larry Wheels’ Bodybuilding Shoulder Workout #1

• Exercise #1: Seated barbell overhead press, 3 sets of 1 rep
• Exercise #2: Machine viking press, 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #3: Seated DB overhead press, 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #4: Standing DB lateral raise, 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Here is the training video for this workout:

For this workout Larry was in a good mood and decided to max out on the seated barbell overhead press. He put up almost 500 pounds on this exercise – what an incredible lift!

After his main heavy movement Larry pumped up the volume and performed three bodybuilding style shoulder exercises for higher reps.

The machine viking press is an exercise that many of you haven’t heard of before. Larry learned this exercise while training with the professional strongman competitor Hafthor Bjornsson.

Now let’s look at one of Larry’s lighter shoulder workouts. Check it out:

Larry Wheels’ Bodybuilding Shoulder Workout #2

• Exercise #1: 45 degree chest supported rear DB fly, 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #2: Reverse cable fly, 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #3: Front barbell raise, 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #4: Hammer strength overhead press, 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #5: Standing DB lateral raise, 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps

Here is the training video for this workout:

For this workout Larry performs a couple of rear delt isolation exercises before targeting the rest of his delts.

Larry says that this simple trick has really helped him bring up his rear delts and has helped to give his delts that full, 3-D look.

I guess Larry Wheels needs a break from 500 pound overhead presses once in a while!

Now let’s look at some of Larry’s bodybuilding leg workouts. Check it out:

Larry Wheels’ Bodybuilding Leg Workout #1

• Exercise #1: Machine leg extension, 3 sets of 8-12 reps
• Exercise #2: Back squat, 3 sets of 15 reps
• Exercise #3: 45 degree leg press, 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #4: Seated leg curl, 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #5: Walking alternating lunges, 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Here is the training video for this workout:

Larry is known for his incredible squatting strength so it is interesting to see him back off the heavy weights and perform a higher-volume leg workout.

Larry decides to pre-exhaust his legs with leg extensions before moving onto back squats.

Many famous bodybuilders including the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger have used this pre-exhaust technique to bring up their legs.

Larry finishes up this workout with some classic bodybuilding style leg exercisers including the 45 degree leg press, seated let curls and walking lunges.

Here is a shorter bodybuilding leg workout that Larry performed with Mike Thurston. Check it out:

Larry Wheels’ Bodybuilding Leg Workout #2

• Exercise #1: Machine seated leg curls, 3 sets of 10 reps
• Exercise #2: Machine pendulum squat, 3 sets of 10 reps
• Exercise #3: 45 degree leg press, 3 sets of 10 reps
• Exercise #4: Machine lying leg curls, 3 sets of 10 reps

Here is the training video for this workout:

Larry keeps this workout nice and short. He performs just 2 exercises for his quadriceps and 2 for his hamstrings.

If I had to guess I would say that Larry was giving his body a break with this workout and just taking it easy. If he really pushed himself on the pendulum squats then he would be hogging all of the 45-pound plates in the gym!

Now let’s take a look at Larry’s bodybuilding style arm workouts. Check it out:

Larry Wheels’ Bodybuilding Arm Day #1

• Exercise #1: Cable pushdown (V-handle), 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #2: Seated DB french press (one dumbbell), 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #3: 30 degree incline skull crusher (behind head), 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #4: 30 degree incline ez-bar spider curl, 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #5: Unilateral machine preacher curl, 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Here is the training video for this workout:

Larry Wheels almost never goes heavy on his arm workouts. He is already training all-out on his chest, shoulder and back workouts so there’s no need for him to kill himself on his arm workouts too.

Instead Larry performs a few higher-rep exercises for his biceps and triceps. His only real goal is to feel his muscles working hard on each exercise and to get a great pump. Many other bodybuilders including Milos Sarcev approach their arm training days in a similar way.

Here is another one of Larry’s arm workouts:

Larry Wheels’ Bodybuilding Arm Day #2

• Exercise #1: Standing DB curl (hammer grip), 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #2: 45 degree incline ez-bar spider curl, 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #3: Hammer strength dip machine, 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #4: Standing rope cable pushdown, 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Here is the training video for this workout:

This arm workout is even shorter than his other one! Larry keeps things nice and simple and performs 2 exercises each for his biceps and triceps. Once again his only goal is to feel his arms working on each set and to get a great pump.

If you’re incline pressing 230 pound dumbbells or rowing 580 pounds earlier in the week then there isn’t much need to train heavy on arm day! Now let’s take a closer look at Larry’s powerlifting style workouts.

Part 2: Larry Wheels Trains Like A Powerlifter

Larry Wheels is one of the strongest powerlifters in the world. In 2017 he set the powerlifting world record total in the 275 pound weight class and his strength continues to go up every single year.

Larry trains with a simple 3 days per week powerlifting split where he trains the squat, bench press and deadlift once per week. Check it out:

The Larry Wheels Powerlifting Training Split

• Monday: Squat
• Wednesday: Bench Press
• Friday: Deadlift

Larry says that he trains the squat and bench press once per week and the deadlift once every 2 weeks.

Larry says that this lower-frequency training program works perfect for him. He is so neurologically efficient that he doesn’t need to train each lift very often to make progress. This lower frequency approach also puts less wear and tear on his body and helps him to avoid injuries.

Let’s start by looking at some of Larry Wheel’s squat workouts. Here is a heavy squat workout that Larry performed just a few weeks before one of his powerlifting meets. Check it out:

Larry Wheels’ Powerlifting Squat Workout #1

• Exercise #1: Reverse band back squat, 3 sets of 1 rep
• Exercise #2: Planks, 3 sets to failure
• Exercise #3: Glute ham raise, 3 sets to failure

Here is the training video for this workout:

As you can see Larry performed a few heavy singles on the squat with reverse bands.

Larry really likes the reverse bands because they let him get used to the feeling of an ultra-heavy weight on his back and they take some of the pressure off your back and legs in the bottom position.

Larry finishes the workout with a couple of accessory exercises for his abs and hamstrings.

Now let’s look at more of an “offseason” squat workout that Larry performs further away from his powerlifting meets. Check it out:

Larry Wheels’ Powerlifting Squat Workout #2

• Exercise #1: Back squat, 1 set of 8-10 reps
• Exercise #2: 45 degree leg press, 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #3: Machine leg extension, 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Here is the training video for this workout:

For this workout Larry works up to a heavy set of 8-10 reps on the squat and then performs some higher-rep assistance work for his legs.

This is a perfect example of how Larry trains when he is still 3-4 months away from his next powerlifting meet. He wants to get stronger and build muscle but avoids the really low rep ranges to avoid beating up his body too much.

Now let’s look at some of Larry’s powerlifting bench press workouts. Here is a workout where Larry works up to a 1-rep max on the bench press. Check it out:

Bench Press Day #1

• Exercise #1: Flat bench press, 3 sets of 1 rep
• Exercise #2: Super yolk push press, 3 sets of 5 reps
• Exercise #3: Seated cable rows (V-handle), 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #4: Standing cable external rotation, 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Here is the training video for this workout:

Larry hit a new personal best of 675 pounds in this video. Is Larry an alien from another planet or what?

After his heavy sets on the bench press, Larry picks some key accessory exercises for the rest of his upper body.

I really like that Larry performs some sets for his rotator cuff. The external rotators of the rotator cuff are one of the most important muscles for healthy shoulders and a huge bench press.

Now let’s look at one of Larry’s “offseason” bench press workouts. Check it out:

Bench Press Day #2

• Exercise #1: Flat bench press, 1 set of 10-15 reps to failure
• Exercise #2: Flat DB press (feet elevated), 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Exercise #3: Preacher ez-bar curl (wide / supinated grip), 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Here is the training video for this workout:

This is a very typical looking offseason bench press workout for Larry. He performs one high-rep set of bench presses to failure and then goes relatively heavy on a couple of assistance exercises.

One of the interesting things about Larry’s powerlifting workouts is he performs very little assistance work. He just goes heavy on the main lift, performs 1-3 accessory exercises and goes home. This is even more true for his deadlift workouts.

For his heavy deadlift workouts Larry doesn’t perform any assistance work. He just works up to a heavy set of 1-10 reps on the deadlift and then goes home.

Here is a recent deadlift workout where Larry hit an all-time PR of 937 pounds on the deadlift. Check it out:

Larry Wheels Powerlifting Deadlift Workout #1

What an incredible lift!

Larry’s entire workout revolved around this one set. He works up to a 1-rep max on the deadlift and goes home. I guess when you deadlift 900+ pounds you don’t need to do a whole lot of accessory work!

Larry performs his upper body accessory work on his bench press day and lower body accessory work on his leg day so there isn’t much need to do anything else.

Here is another one of Larry’s deadlift workouts. Check it out:

Larry Wheels Powerlifting Deadlift Workout #2

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz8GQZi7A6E

For this workout Larry works up to a ridiculous 765 pounds for 6 reps deadlift. Once again Larry performs his heavy set of deadlifts and goes home.

I mentioned earlier that Larry only trains the deadlift every other week.

On the weeks that Larry does not deadlift, he just performs some easy upper back accessory work. You can check out Larry’s bodybuilding style back workouts to see what this might look like.

Conclusion | The Larry Wheels Training Program!

Larry Wheels is an absolute freak of nature and I mean that in the best possible way. I

f you are not already following Larry on social media, then you are really missing out. Larry is on track to set some insane powerlifting world records in the next few years and it will be very fun to watch.

If you want to learn more about Larry then check out the following links:

• Larry Wheel’s Youtube Page
• Larry Wheel’s Instagram Page
• Larry Wheel’s Website

Is Larry Wheels on track to beat Julius Maddox’s bench press record or Hafthor Bjornsson’s deadlift record? It’s hard to say but if there is anyone who has the raw potential to do it then it’s Larry.

“When you have a vision that is strong enough and powerful enough, nothing can stand in your way.”

Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of luck on your strength training journey!