Texas Tech stirred controversy this week when college sports influencer Adam Breneman made a shocking discovery in the Red Raiders weight room.
Texas Tech took every weight under 40 lbs out of their weight room.
Love this!! No shortcuts.@NextUpBreneman x @USAT pic.twitter.com/2NN4PYHfZk
— Adam Breneman (@AdamBreneman81) March 14, 2026
Weights under 40 pounds have been banned in the weight room at Texas Tech, with players saying they won’t take shortcuts to get stronger (yes, taking weights out of the weight room is a shortcut).
This didn’t go over well with former NFL star JJ Watt, who knows a thing or two about lifting weights.
Hopefully just performative for social media and not actually true.
Would be wildly absurd and irresponsible.
Also, jumping straight to 40 pounds would literally be a shortcut. So “no shortcuts” doesn’t really apply…
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 14, 2026
Social media agreed with Watt, citing how dangerous and dumb the idea of removing weights under 40 pounds, especially for athletes who are constantly grinding to perfect their bodies and stay healthy.
That’s absolutely ridiculous. I hope this is a joke. Regardless of how “strong” someone is, we ALL have to warm up especially if NOT a compound movement where lower weight is NECESSARY! What about isolation exercises? All this is is the shortcut to getting someone hurt. DO…
— Joey Swoll (@TheJoeySwoll) March 14, 2026
This is so performative. Even if you’re 300 pounds there are uses for a 20 pound weight https://t.co/QcuWQ1BSxC
— Max Toscano (@maxtoscano1) March 14, 2026
Texas Tech is going to miss the game-winning FG in the CFP Final because their starting long snapper tore his rotator cuff doing 40-lb lat raises. https://t.co/hbPIrcaKou
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) March 14, 2026
all that to get shut out in their bowl game
— Official Ohio State DG (@DylanEveryday) March 14, 2026
If Texas Tech really did remove all weights under 40 pounds from their weight room, we might see some really weird injuries coming out of the Red Raiders locker room.
