There is an unusual period that follows or precedes a competition. It gets even weirder when two meets are close enough so that the funny pre-contest feeling merges with the post-contest one. That is the twilight zone. I’m at the twilight zone that followed the WPC Worlds and precedes the RPS Xmas Carnage. The WPC […]
Twilight zone: Columbus and more thoughts on teams and gyms Read More »
This is the time of the year when I write “I’m leaving”. Actually, I’m always leaving. I have never belonged anywhere. Nowhere, except one place. In 2006, as I entered this small gym hidden in the middle of a Brazilian slum and saw the colorful Olympic disks for the first time, I thought to myself:
Leaving: accepting the things I cannot change Read More »
Back to discussing pain management in powerlifting (the previous article being “No pain, no gain – the dark side of pain in powerlifting or any sport” , I bring two new items for us to chew on: first, the results of a survey I did with competitive powerlifters about their own pain management strategies. Second,
According to not-so-recent research, more than 95% of the world population believes in some form of deity. Along with it, usually people believe in protective entities that are frequently called “guardian angels”. If you are reading this article, chances are (95%, to be precise) that you believe in both. Supposing
Powerlifter Guardian Angels: Elite tactical athletes Read More »
There is no such thing as a half squat just as there are no half-pregnant women or half-dead people The relation between a Smith Machine and an Olympic bar and squat rack is the same as that between a coffin and a bed Squatting prevents almost any illness and cures most of them. The ones
MHC* to the series of “Squat Truths” Read More »
[Warning and disclaimer: this is not the best reading for a pre-competitive period.] A few years ago I wrote an almost poetic piece on why I lifted weights. It was the first time I tackled issues related to flow, still unaware of the wealth of literature on the subject. I just described the feeling
I was born in Brazil. Technically, I am Brazilian. I lack, however, the typical commitment to supposedly regional interests (whose rationality I question). I am not a patriot or a nationalist. Neither am I a naïve believer in any sort of neutrality: all intellectual claims are interest biased. Mine are informed by my ideological penchant
The economic and social cost of the mega sports events: an anti-Olympic manifest Read More »
