Testing multiple sports, Larry Wheels is no stranger to the demands necessary to become a top-tier athlete. In a recent sit-down with bodybuilding legend Flex Lewis, Wheels talked about the anxiety he’s dealt with following years of performance-enhancing drug use.
“The anxiety would be from health concerns, watching people like Dallas McCarver pass away, yeah. Just young bodybuilders dropping dead. Like whoa. I am on that same track. What’s stopping me from suffering the same fate, right?” Larry Wheels shared.
Accustomed to pushing his body to the limit, Larry Wheels has tried his hand at a number of disciplines like arm-wrestling, powerlifting, bodybuilding, and strongman. While he was set to showcase his power in strongman once again, the 29-year-old was sidelined due to a back injury before getting the chance to compete.
Larry made a bold move last August: he decided to quit all PEDs except for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Candid with fans about the experience, Larry said there have been zero differences in his strength or mood since making the switch. Having used these compounds for over ten years, Wheels to this day, is unsure of the lasting consequences.
Wheels’ concerns are absolutely warranted given the way the wind has been blowing in bodybuilding. Last year saw a number of deaths shake the sport, most notably, 44-year-old former Arnold Classic champion Cedric McMillan passed away. Fans were also stricken with grief months ago following the tragic death of 30-year-old bodybuilding influencer Jo Lindner, who was a close friend of Wheels.
Larry Wheels Talks Anxiety, Heart Attacks from PEDs: ‘Even If You’re Taking All Precautions, It Could Still Happen’
Wheels shared that he lived in a constant state of anxiety when he was pushing PEDs, nutrition, and training to the max.
“That anxiety was constant. Because I knew I was pushing my limits with PEDs with nutrition, with training, I was really going to my limits and going beyond that.”
“When I watched these examples of people I just mentioned, I had that constant feeling: like what if I have a heart attack? What if I wake up one day dead? What if I don’t wake up at all? So, the only way to help curb that anxiety is just to get the blood work checked, go to the doctor regularly, check my heart, Echo scan, all that stuff.”
Part of Wheels’ anxiety stems from the fact that even if you take ‘all the necessary precautions,’ you could still die of a heart attack. He used his coach as an example, who was told by doctors that he was ‘all good’ only to have a heart attack later.
“That would help reduce it but it doesn’t completely nullify it. Like Ryan Benson, my coach, he had a heart attack a couple of years ago and he was getting scans done regularly for his heart, regularly. He would go lay down on the bench and he would get dizzy. He went to his doctor, got his scans done and they said nothing is wrong, ‘You’re all good.’ Next thing you know, heart attack. Even if you’re taking all the necessary precautions, it could still happen. That’s what scares me. Every time I get dizzy now, I think I’m having a heart attack.”
“Joesthetics just passed away, 30 years old, you’d think he’s as healthy as can be. I know what Jo was taking, he was hardly taking anything. He was on TRT for Christ’s sake, you know and 30 years old, passed away. That anxiety is really – it’s every day I think about it. Every time something doesn’t feel right on the left side of my body, I’m like, ‘What’s going on you know?’ It’s not as bad as it used to be that’s for sure. Because now I really am just on TRT. I’ve lost like 20-30 pounds from where I was competitive in powerlifting, doing strongman,” Larry Wheels shared.
“I Was Prepared To Die Doing What I Loved To Do” Larry Wheels Details Past Cycle
Overall, Wheels feels more at ease about his health nowadays since stopping most PEDs. However, looking back, Larry said he was ‘prepared to die’ and thought he needed that mentality to find success.
“I feel significantly better about my health but when I was chasing records, that’s all I thought about. Was like, ‘Any day now.’ Any day now is going to be my last day. Yeah, I did because I knew what I was doing. I was prepared to die doing what I loved to do. And I thought that that’s the mentality I needed to have to get to where I wanted to be. I thought if I’m going to be better than everyone else, I need to do what no one else is willing to do.”
When asked specifically about some of his cycles, Larry Wheels said the following:
“So I would take Anadrol, Tren, Test, Dbol, insulin, you know, I would take all those things at once. That sounds like if you’ve been in bodybuilding and you know typical cycles, there’s typical cycles for size and strength. Despite the sides I was getting like with the bacne, and the mood swings, and the night sweats and the insomnia.
It’s just I found it difficult to see any other way to the top because I knew what the other guys were doing as well. I didn’t know what they were taking but despite that anxiety, having heart palpitations, having those side effects, getting my blood done knowing everything is, cholesterol is super high, my lipids are way off, knowing everything is not where it’s supposed to be in the danger zone still doing what I was doing… that’s where the anxiety came from. I knew this was killing me on the inside but if I stop now, I’m not going to get where I need to be,” said Wheels.
Wheels explained that he often used PEDs for longer periods of time to achieve consistent personal records in the gym.
“I wouldn’t take more, but I would take it longer because I wanted to be bigger and stronger just to make great content. Because being Larry Wheels, smashing PRs every week is what put me on the map and got everyone’s attention. I felt I needed to be that person to retain that attention or become irrelevant, and boom, there goes my career.”
This wasn’t the first time Larry discussed changes to his life since switching to TRT. Last October, the famed YouTuber showed off a side-by-side photo of him on TRT versus when he was at the ‘peak’ of his steroid abuse. Fans were blown away by Larry’s newfound youthfulness, and many took notice of the changes to his facial appearance.
Larry Wheels has become a role model for the younger generation, who continues to test himself with different athletic ventures. In the months to come, Larry Wheels will aim to transform his body for a potential Classic Physique bodybuilding debut but plans to make it happen using only TRT.
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