Leading physicists penned a strongly-worded letter to Larry Wheels on Oct. 25, 2024, after news spread of Wheels’ latest and perhaps most egregious refutation of basic scientific principles.
- “Calisthenics is fun!” Said Wheels while demonstrating picture-perfect muscle-ups.
Wheels tips the scales at 270 pounds. While his defiance of gravity borders on unlawful, it’s also a tremendous display of general athleticism from a multi-sport strength athlete who is anything but musclebound.
Larry Wheels’ 270LB Muscle-Ups, Explained
Calisthenics, or bodyweight training, is deceptively difficult. Exercises like the pull-up, dip, and of course the muscle-up, become exponentially harder for every pound of weight you carry — even if it’s lean muscle.
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“Much like an Olympic lift, the muscle-up is a complex movement that requires both a pulling and a pushing phase,” wrote Drs. Walker et al. in a 2023 International Journal of Exercise Science study examining the differences in muscle activation between a bar muscle-up, which Wheels so eloquently performed, and one done on a set of gymnastics rings. (1)
- Yeah, Science: In their study, the authors observed that ring muscle-ups are more difficult than bar muscle-ups due to their inherent instability, which encourages higher activation of arm muscles like the biceps and triceps.
Yet Wheels can make the muscle-up look like easy pickings, despite carrying a tremendous amount of muscle mass in his lower body that does not contribute to his acrobatics whatsoever.
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Several fitness sports include calisthenics or adjacent movements, such as CrossFit or HYROX. Streetlifting, by contrast, makes the muscle-up a competitive discipline. The four movements judged in a streetlifting competition are:
- Muscle-Up
- Dip
- Pull-Up or Chin-Up
- Back Squat
As a content creator, Wheels isn’t afraid to try new things. He’s already taken to the bodybuilding stage and competed in plenty of powerlifting meets. Much to the chagrin of physicists the world over, Wheels would probably do pretty well in competitive calisthenics.
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References
- Walker CW, Bruenger AJ, Tucker WS, Lee HR. Comparison of Muscle Activity During a Ring Muscle Up and a Bar Muscle Up. Int J Exerc Sci. 2023 Dec 1;16(1):1451-1460. PMID: 38288256; PMCID: PMC10824315.
Featured Image: @larrywheels / Instagram
