Every picture of JD Vance looks like he's just been given a "Life Is Good" tshirt by a relative who hopes it will lead him to, finally, be less miserable at Thanksgiving dinner.
A benefit from the technical side, for me, is if I'm plateauing I'll just drop weight back down & focus on technique. The workouts are still great & I improve lift quality in the long run.
During the pandemic I only did sandbag training, but heaps of cleans. The first time I was back in the gym on a bar in 2 years, my squat clean was the same as pre-pandemic because of how much my form, speed & mobility had improved. Whereas my benchpress had dropped ~50%
Yeah it is more technical than power lifting, but the delta at a non competitive level is lower than it seems. As in, it's an accessible level of difference. EG, the texas powerlifting method includes (power) snatch & clean.
So my take is oly lifting isn't THAT much more technical than power lifting. And the contributions to mobility & explosiveness/power from oly is great for other sports applications. I've done Oly work as strength training for ultra distance events
But the biggest points for me are they're fun in a way that power lifting or bodybuilding never was for me. And the full body nature of the lifts means doing them delivers a pretty complete workout
It's true they're technical, but that just gives you a lifetime of work to improve. I was a bodybuilder in my youth & got into oly lifting in my 30s. The focus on explosiveness, mobility, full body work and lower reps is all super attractive.
Here’s a strong case for Arsenal @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social: historically great team coming out of a period in the relative wilderness under one of the best young managers in the world. Four players in the conversation for best in the world at their position (Saka, Saliba, Odegaard, Rice).
Arteta’s football is defensively solid, creative in possession, dynamic on the counter attack. The rest of the squad is full of quality, likeable players (and a couple great shithouses). We have a great stadium in a beautiful part of North London, where you can watch Champions League football.
I’d also add there’s a massive global fanbase that’s highly active online and some great blogger/podcaster content to follow. While the club is owned by a billionaire, it’s not owned by a petrostate nor an oligarch from an autocracy. And unlike some of our neighbors in London, we win trophies.
I think it's perfectly appropriate that the author of the book all the "both sides" people in 2016 told us to read is now going to be second in command of a fascist coup.
Kind of poetic, really.
