Can I just say I’m fucking tired of listening to men talk about what they think is important like it’s universal? I haven’t done a post about an evidence-based podcast episode in a while, and the biggest contributor is that I’ve found myself losing interest. Not in learning the latest research. Not in lifting. NotContinue reading ““Deadlifting six plates initiates more conversations,” Stronger by Science, Ep 136: How to Powerbuild”
Category Archives: Disability
Because Why Matters
Over the last few years, I’ve been caught in a perfectionism loop with my lifting. I find moments of more peaceful existence with my exercise habits, but eventually, those perfectionism thoughts take hold, push aside my reasonable, wise self, and the systems crash for a while. I can’t do everything I want to do, and so IContinue reading “Because Why Matters”
Stuck in the Perfectionism Loop
I don’t want to write this post because I don’t want to accept the truth of it. But the truth is, I’m stuck in a perfectionism loop. My coach defines this as the mindset behind thinking like “I can’t do X, but Y isn’t good enough.” And yet, that is exactly where I’m at with my movementContinue reading “Stuck in the Perfectionism Loop”
Fitness and the Productivity Trap
I haven’t done enough. I could do more; I haven’t reached my limit yet. This destructive voice in my head is on repeat. At work, I haven’t done enough. In my home, I haven’t done enough. In finding alternatives to emotional eating, I haven’t done enough. In lifting, I haven’t done enough. The rubric IContinue reading “Fitness and the Productivity Trap”
How much do we have to lift to get bigger muscles?
So, you’ve decided you want to get swole, how much work do you need to put in to see results? It seems like the evidence-based fitness folk have come to a fairly strong consensus that optimal volume for building muscle mass is between 10-20 sets per muscle group. But how much time do you (andContinue reading “How much do we have to lift to get bigger muscles?”
Can Intuitive Lifting Lead Us Towards a More Inclusive Lifting Space?
There’s lots of folks out there who want to be stronger and build muscle. Only a small percentage of them can commit to 4-5 training sessions a week, an hour more at a time, doing the most effective, optimal exercises year in and year out. Barriers include, but are not limited to: So, here’s aContinue reading “Can Intuitive Lifting Lead Us Towards a More Inclusive Lifting Space?”
Lifting with Tigers in the Room
I have PTSD and lifting weights can trigger me. I love lifting weights, and I’ve spent the last half year or so trying to figure out how I can keep lifting in my life. What I have learned is that lifting, for me, for now, requires that I practice radical self-acceptance–listening to all the subtleContinue reading “Lifting with Tigers in the Room”
How much do genetics define our physique results and how much should we care?
At 16, I dreamt of becoming a geneticist–that or the lead singer/songwriter for a band. Genetics was a new and exciting scientific frontier (whereas my songwriting admittedly didn’t mesh with the then-current Pacific NW grunge scene). Back in the Nineties, we believed that we could unlock the genetic code of anyone and read each ofContinue reading “How much do genetics define our physique results and how much should we care?”
The Importance of Inclusive Examples
How do I color like a 4-year-old? The question perplexed me. I was fourteen, working my first “real” job at a daycare center, and I’d been given the instruction that when I join them for creative tasks, I was to protect the children’s self-esteem by not working too far ahead of their abilities. So, asContinue reading “The Importance of Inclusive Examples”
The Value of Resilience and Lazy Metaphors
What do you do when life throws you a curveball?(1) Do your systems collapse? Do you rigidly adhere to what you think is best or most optimal and hope you can hold it all together until things settle down? Or do you practice flexibility and self-compassion, allow things to change as they need to butContinue reading “The Value of Resilience and Lazy Metaphors”
Progressive Strength 