Strength icon Larry Wheels has undergone a noticeable physical transformation, dropping what coach Greg Doucette estimates to be 20 to 30 lbs (9 to 14 kg) of muscle as he shifts his focus away from bodybuilding and powerlifting toward combat sports like MMA and boxing. Doucette addressed the change in his recent video.
Doucette explained that the size loss is a direct consequence of Wheels’ new training regimen.
“He’s gotten himself into MMA boxing and combat sports in general. Of course, he’s losing his size. How do you think you get size in the first place? You think doing a bunch of rounds of cardio, boxing, grappling, and not training as hard as you can in the gym that you’re forever going to keep all your size?”
While acknowledging Wheels is likely still using PEDs, Doucette speculated he may have reduced his doses.
“It is possible that he’s lowered his doses to HRT levels, although high levels of HRT, in order to downsize and become healthier. Larry Wheels has been blasting st**oids for over 10 years. And does anyone think that it hasn’t caught up with him?”
Central to Doucette’s argument is Wheels’ resting heart rate, which he says had climbed to concerning levels while competing as a bodybuilder.
“Resting heart rate of 95, it’s a wrap, bro,” Doucette read a comment. He then said, “Like, when I go for a walk, a zone one cardio, my heart rate it maxes out into the 80s. When you’re at 95, it’s as if you’re actually doing cardio.”
Doucette noted that while 60 to 100 beats per minute is considered a normal range, that standard doesn’t apply the same way to a high-performing athlete like Wheels.
“To have a resting heart rate at the top of the range consistently, that indicates tachycardia. That’s a abnormally high heart rate, and that is not good.”
Doucette drew a comparison to former bodybuilder and actor The Rock, who also downsized significantly after health scares.
“He had a partial clot of the circumflex artery in the back of the heart. And how much longer do you think he could continue to abuse s**roids before suff ering a heart attack and no longer being with us?”
Despite the risks associated with combat sports, Doucette argued bodybuilding at an elite level carries its own severe dangers.
“Now frankly, being in figh ting, MMA it’s very dangerous. You can obviously get injured, you can get concussions, there’s a lot of things that can go wrong. But bodybuilding may in fact be even worse. Competing in bodybuilding, strongman and powerlifting on abusive doses of performance enhancing dr**s while weighing about 300 lb, what do you think that’s going to do to your longevity?”
Ultimately, Doucette framed Wheels’ transformation as a positive step. He said, “You don’t need more muscle. You don’t need to be huge. You just need to be healthy and happy. Everything else is icing on the cake.”
