Kemari Copeland’s Explains His Technique for Squatting 605 Kilos for 10 Reps

Kemari Copeland shot to fame in 2024 after obliterating Virginia Tech’s squat file, lifting an astonishing 605 kilos—for 10 reps! And, whereas the Hokies’ defensive lineman’s highly effective efficiency within the health club is constructing a stable basis for soccer, he’s additionally engaged on the finer particulars, like engaged on his technique and hitting the fitting body weight for Saturdays this season—and hopefully Sundays within the NFL.

M&F sat down with the thrilling lineman to search out out extra about his love of lifting, and the way he’s been utilizing the low season to prepared for 2026 and past. And the way in which he describes it, it’s been a household affair.

With three football-playing brothers, and a father within the Navy, Copeland has by no means been in need of a powerful male presence to encourage him into motion. Nonetheless, being a part of a naval household has meant plenty of shifting round for this younger athlete who confirmed promise as a stellar defensive lineman again at Floyd E. Kellam Excessive College. He started his school footballing profession in 2022, for Military West Level, however would quickly switch to Iowa Western Group Faculty in quest of extra minutes on the sector.

“You have to have self-belief,” he tells M&F. “Since you don’t actually know, once you’re hopping within the switch portal, there’s so many unknowns. There’s youngsters that have been getting dropped, youngsters that don’t discover a house, so I type of needed to guess on myself and be like: I can show to varsity scouts that I’m the participant that I say I’m, and that’s what I did, and by chance it labored out.”

One of many causes that all of it labored out is the truth that Copeland was in a position to withstand the temptations of school life in favor of bettering himself as a participant.

“The way in which my mother raised us, we have been by no means actually in a position to fiddle, as a result of we have been within the army,” explains Copeland. Nonetheless, whereas life as a miliary household supplied the younger man with self-control, the fixed shifting round made it troublesome to search out buddies. So, when Covid hit, he determined to make use of an excellent better time of solitude to cement his relationship with the health club.

“They are saying that arduous work pays off, so I went as laborious as I might throughout Covid to attempt to get forward of individuals, and that’s actually the place it took off,” confesses Copeland, explaining that he would repeat a push/pull cut up. “I’ve really by no means instructed anybody about this, however I simply searched a random exercise routine, and Massive Man on Campus (by Steve Cook dinner) got here up,” he shares. “It was type of my escape. I simply needed to develop into the most effective soccer participant I might be and I really like figuring out, so it was the most effective of each worlds.”

Kemari Copeland Remembers his Document-Breaking Squats at Virginia Tech

Signing with Virginia Tech in 2023, Copeland had already helped Iowa Western to win the NJCAA Division I Nationwide Championship, and it didn’t take lengthy for him to make an impression within the Hokies weightroom, repping a record-setting 10 squats at 605 kilos. “I knew I used to be going to have the ability to do it,” he displays, noting that at simply 19 years of age he’d already squatted a single rep of 675 kilos.” Nonetheless, Copeland remembers that he needed to go to a “darkish place” in his early 20s to nail his  605-pound, double-digit-rep feat. “I dang close to handed out after, however I obtained it completed,” he beams.

Copeland’s herculean energy is one factor, however he tells M&F that he’s now concentrating on kind and method, in an effort to develop additional as a participant. “After that squatting file, there’s no level maxing out and going increased in weight,” he notes. “As a soccer participant, you solely have to get a lot stronger.”

Kamari Copeland is Digging into the Particulars Forward of the 2026 Season

Apart from the normal again squat, Copeland has additionally been working towards the entrance squat with straps at Virginia Tech. “So, our coaches need us to do plenty of actions based mostly on attempting to get a stronger energy clear,” he explains. “Constructing on out explosive actions. So, entrance squats with straps work on the top of the motion of the facility clear, the place you need to get below it, squat, and arise.” Copeland says the straps additionally assist with people who have stiff shoulders or wrists, as a result of the elbow is additional away from the barbell.

By way of fueling his ferocious actions on the line of defense, Copeland says that his dietary precedence is protein, and he tries to devour round a gram per pound of body weight, which means that he eats round 280 to 300g of protein per day, principally made up of entire meals like rooster, beans, and rice—topped up with shakes. The defensive deal with additionally takes vitamin D to bolster his bone density. That is essential, he says, as a result of Copeland’s physique takes a daily beating on the sector. “I might say, as a D-lineman, we’re all the time bent over, and we’re all the time putting any person. So by way of what hurts essentially the most, the following day, my fingers are jammed. You’re utilizing your knees, ankles, and simply continually bumping heads with the opposite dudes.”

For restoration, the Hokies get common therapeutic massage therapy, and Copeland is a big fan of scorching saunas. “We’ll have a sport Saturday, then Sunday we’ll have an off day, then Monday is our restore day,” explains the baller. After all, the easiest way to take care of an harm is to stop one within the first place. “If I don’t stretch beforehand, my decrease again is gonna be actual tight,” Copeland says. “I stretch my hips flexors, my glutes, my hamstrings, my quads, and I attempt to make it possible for my entire decrease physique is free.”

Copeland says that he makes use of the froth curler to construct flexibility, and that having stayed constant along with his coaching, he’s excited for what’s to return in 2026. “I wanna know as a lot info because the offense does,” he shares, noting that he has been research movie in an effort to construct his strategic IQ. The Hokies Quantity #13 says that he’s additionally upping the cardio to trim round ten kilos off his body.

In his restricted downtime, Copeland continues his ardour for making social media content material. “Since I used to be like 8 or 9 years outdated, simply making silly little cringey movies,” he jokes. “I’ve a TikTok channel that I grew to 150,000 followers. I simply love making content material.” However proper now, the upcoming season is taking precedence, after which there’s the prospect of gaining curiosity from the NFL. “I’m attempting to take it day-to-day,” shares Copeland. “I used to be projected to get drafted final yr however I made a decision to return again and play my final yr and lift my draft inventory. I’m undoubtedly going to do the NFL Draft subsequent yr, and hopefully it’s a excessive choose, so we’ll see.”

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