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idk if it actually improves performance and if you eat cooked garlic regularly (and why wouldn't you) you're probably getting all of its benefits anyway, but consider these two humble facts:
1. ancient greek olympians would eat raw garlic to boost performance
2. when you're in the gym, you can look around at the sheep doing dumbbell romanian deadlifts and cable lateral raises, people "lifting light weights" for their muscle "tone", and ask yourself "who else here ate three cloves of garlic before working out today?" the answer will invariably be: "no one".
it's no secret that i'm a big nietzschehead, so i think the ancient greeks definitely knew something i didn't, and i value setting yourself apart from the herd. there's no hard evidence that raw garlic helps you lift more but i don't care. yeah it's gross and uncomfortable, but i'm about to do gross and uncomfortable things in the gym, and this ritual prepares me to face the iron. the gains in mindset are undeniable.
Jan 15, 2025
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I won't blather on about all the physical, hormonal, empirical benefits that I'm sure we've all been informed of ad nauseum. I think lifting allows for a firsthand encounter with the suffering that's inherent to living, the suffering that the more sensitive among us can't help but metabolize as depression or despair. Lifting weights is not pleasurable in the traditional sense; you are literally tearing your muscles apart. It's taxing, it's exhausting, and when you go to failure you're gracelessly reminded of your limitations, of your mortality. In fact, the only way to grow stronger is to go to failure— it’s absolutely necessary that you must confront your own weakness regularly. But this encounter is incredibly important, it makes something previously nebulous and overwhelming and undefinable real, measurable, and extremely importantly, in your control. And this suffering with time transforms into growth, strength, beauty. When everything's said and done, I think that's the best you can hope to make of the sorrow that's essential to life. It's not for everyone, but it's brought me a surprising amount of peace.
Nov 25, 2024
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I got into weight lifting for the same reason I get into most things, which is pure unbridled vanity. I read or heard somewhere in my many biohacker information channels that weight lifting is the most anti-aging form of exercise, especially for women, and so I was like on my way! I wasn’t about to pay some community college bro $100 an hour at my LA Fitness to train me though so I just googled “weight lifting classes near me” and because I live a charmed and bless life I found the fucking coolest independent gym like a mile from my house and have been going there for almost a year. Vanity aside, it just makes you feel so good all the time. I love watching myself get stronger and I love the feeling after you lift something really heavy you thought you could never have lifted and I love all the neighborhood friends I’ve made there, including former PI subject and possibly coolest girl alive Petra Cortright. (Honestly a large part of my social life takes place there?) Anyway everyone over 30 should lift weights, preserve your waning muscle mass and build up your self-esteem babe.
Oct 20, 2023
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Heavy metal pressing down, your neck in its path to the ground.
Contracting muscles, screaming joints squeeze out the chemicals your brain knows as "fear".
It's the folly of humanity, the preference for harm over boredom.
It's the schizoid relationship with the self; the awe at the infinite potential shown on the magazines, and the despair over the work required, work that can only end ever end underground unless you love (or hate) your body enough to try and make it perfect.
It's cool. It's a craft. It should be catered to your tastes.
It's endless lies, peddled and inherited, the biggest two being that the numbers matter and that the numbers don't matter.
It's the love for the moment; the sweaty mechanics of forever existing in a present ready to abandon you. That's where the power of the exercise comes in. When you lift, you defy space but also time. Taking the bar means taking the present and refusing to let go, stretching the instants as far as your condition can because on some deep, reptilian level you know you don't have an infinite supply of them.
Apr 24, 2024
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holy shit rock climbing is so overrated and even my rock climbing sibling (who holds a degree in agro ecology from the university of vermont if that puts things in perspective) agrees. i did it a couple of times cuz some friends told me that the sport is similar to solving puzzles and i assumed i would just love that sort of thing cuz i'm an """intellectual""". well, "solving puzzles" with your body sounds like fun but what's even better is just doing heavy ass compound lifts at your local gym. forget about "solving puzzles", the only "puzzle" you'll need to "solve" is this one: "how do i lift twice my body weight off the floor?" and the answer will be quite simple (just lift it) but actually going through with it is a different matter and takes a form of mental sharpness entirely separate from intelligence: willpower. God cares as much for a moment as He does an hour and let me tell you the endorphin high you get from performing an exercise which is so intense and heavy you can only do it ONCE per day is so euphoric that you'll believe me when i say that these rock climbers must have some kind of hormonal imbalance if this is seriously their preferred form of exercise. one of my best friends is currently focusing on rock climbing because climbers "tend to have the best physiques"--which is true if you think having no legs, ass, chest, or abs looks good. i hope this man sees the light soon.
Jul 28, 2024
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in europe (i lived in germany for a month btw :p) you can wake up, ride your bike 2 blocks away from your house, and pick up fresh baked goods--in america, you can drive your car 20 minutes to the nearest supermarket and buy shitty ass processed ass croissants that were shipped to your local market on a truck. but if you pop them in the toaster and eat them with some good jam (i'm partial to trappist blueberry preserves, thank you father 🧎♂️➡️🤲📿) it doesn't even matter. if you're a gymgoer like myself it's pretty good first thing cuz all those carbs get your cells flush with glycogen ykwim
Nov 20, 2024
