Olympic weightlifting. It’s not much of a bro workout — the max bench press isn’t a particularly important skill — but smart coaches know that it can be extraordinarily useful for football players. It’s pretty well established that full body explosive movements like the Olympic lifts can significantly help athletes of any discipline sprint faster, jump higher, improve body composition, and boost flexibility, balance, and coordination.
Phew.
Anyway, Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Geoff Gray seems to know that. Over at Pro Sports Performance in Ohio, the guy is hitting some pretty remarkable lifts given that he’s 6’6” and 315 pounds: a 130kg (286.6lb) snatch and 170kg (374.8lb) clean & jerk. This is some really impressive mobility for a guy this size.
[Read more: Why Olympic weightlifting can make you better at practically any sport.]
The caption reads.
Fun working with Geoff Gray, OL for the @clevelandbrowns. Moderate lifts, 130kg snatch and 170kg CJ on the menu. He’s 6’6 315lbs, pretty rare to see this kind of flexibility at his size. Have a great season big man!!
But we wouldn’t want to imply that Pro Sports Performance introduced the lifts to Gray, who has actually competed in Olympic weightlifting before, usually during football’s off season. He told USA Today in 2017,
Jumping is a great indicator of how explosive you are. I compete in Olympic weightlifting in the offseason. That definitely helps my (jumps).
Gray signed with the Browns in late 2017 and his (very infrequently updated) YouTube channel contains more weightlifting than football. Here are the heaviest lifts we found: a 144kg snatch and a 181kg clean & jerk.
[Watch these 5 strength athletes who hit over 50 reps on the 225lb bench press test.]
His combine results, meanwhile, show that he benched 225 pounds for 25 reps, ran a 5.34 in the 40-yard dash, and has a 31-inch vertical jump. This is a well-rounded athlete.
Featured image via @pspweightlifting on Instagram.
