#i say i do weightlifting and she says i should do sports???

[armandism]

no cause i thought abt the talk i had with this gender psychologist or whtever the hell she is and got so mad again

[justliketoreadsowhat]

Not So Simple 𖣊 2.0

𖣊𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞

𖣊𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬.

-------------------------

𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝟏𝟎:𝟎𝟔𝐚𝐦

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐔𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥

“Are you going to the pumpkin patch after class?”

“We have those here?” Her brows raised in confusion, for someone who’s been here for over 3 years, she sure didn’t know much about the events going on, unless they were sports-related.

“Yea, you should come. We can paint pumpkins, carve them, bake the pumpkin seeds and they’re gonna give out free pumpkin lattes!” You adored the fact fall was finally here, the best season ever to exist. The leaves changing colors, cool mornings, and rainy nights healed something inside you.

Paige on the other hand lolled at the thought of seasons changing, the only season she’d be looking forward to was her last season here at UConn. That didn’t stop you from constantly talking to her about it though, for the past couple of weeks you’ve yapped the athlete's ear off in class about anything and everything, As Paige herself was a professional yapper, her mind unconsciously filled with adornment from listening to your voice fill her ears.

“Anything pumpkin flavored sounds nasty but, I’ll go, only because you asked me so nicely” She shrugged, a smug smirk plastered across her face that always made your knees weak. Eyes rolling to the back of your head despite the butterflies roaming in the pit of your stomach.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself Bueckers, I just think it' 'll be a fun thing for you to experience” Turning back to face the front of the class, her knees purposefully kicking the back of your seat, the pressure going straight to your lower back causing you to squirm uncomfortably.

As class ended the two of you made your way through the empty lecture halls. It was always quiet during the morning hours, the sound of your ice splashing around in your Stanley echoing with each step you took.

“Damn did you fill the whole cup with ice?” her long arms reaching into the side pocket of your bag, snatching the cup from the side of your bookbag “You carry a 20-pound weight around all day and wonder why you’re stressed all the time, you’re basically weightlifting”.

"Y'know if you're gonna torment me and my hydration choices, the least you could do is walk a little faster, the show is gonna start in 30 mintues"

"30!? I need more time than that to get ready, Ion even know what I'm gonna wear" her voice laced with urgency as her speed quickened, leaving you to scurry behind her confused by her notion of urgency. In your eyes she looked heavenly, her freshly dyed pink-hued hair draped perfectly down to her shoulders, navy blue USA basketball hoodie fitted around her comfortably, black sweats hanging low against her waist.

"What do you mean get ready? you need to dress comfortably, we're carving pumpkins not walking across the red carpet"

Her eyes widened, glint sparked within her expression "All you had to say was that I look good, but I'll take the backhanded compliment" flipping her hair to the side dramatically.

"it's gonna get all tangled up doing that" Reaching up on your tiptoes, you carefully fixed her loose stands standing out of place. "The color looks fits you so well though, it brings out the color in your eyes"

Paige's cheeks flushed at your compliment, "Appreciate it princess, I knew you were gonna say something eventually just because it's your favorite color” the nickname rattled across your mind, failing to realize she had remembered the little fact about you.

Your heart began to flip in your chest, grateful the two of you had finally reached the exit, holding the door open for her to walk through, only to find out she wasn't behind you anymore.

Stopping just before the doorway, her large hands pulling her hoodie over her head, quickly tucking the loose strands of hair into the thick fabric. "Don't ever touch the door again, let me hold it from now on" eyes peering down to meet yours.

Nodding softly at her demand, drowning in the thought of her changing her appearance in the public eye, knowing that someone is always watching you, plotting your next move.

Maybe a simple fun outing, wasn't so simple at all.

----------------

𝟏𝟎:𝟒𝟐𝐚𝐦 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡

"No way everyone decided to wake up before 11am to carve and paint pumpkins" Paige blurted, scanning the wide area of pumpkins in chops of hay, occupied with at least 50 people looking for the perfect one.

"We in fact are one of these people" you protested grabbing her hand leading her to the farthest row, her long fingers fit perfectly in between yours slightly feeling the acrylics painted maroon with a hint of chrome complimenting the top coat. "The back rows usually have the bigger ones"

Thousands of pumpkins arrayed from different sizes and colors, you always admired the ones that were rare and different from the others. "What about this one?" Paige held up a pumpkin with the perfect shape and shade of orange, gradually palming t with one hand.

"I think that's a good one for you, but you don't have to hold it like a basketball" you laughed watching her throw it up in the air effortlessly. Her eyes sparkled as if she was picturing an actual basketball in her hands.

"it's shaped like one, you don't like any over here?" she pointed at the top stack filled with merely indentical-shaped ones.

Shaking your head "No I want mine to look different from the rest, that's what makes it fun"

Paige cocked her head as her train of thought was altered, she stepped past you looking around to find your definition of "different" Stooping down to pick up a pumpkin, slightly smaller than hers with the same shade of orange and hints of green from ripeness. The stem was significantly shorter. "What about this one?"

You smiled realizing the overall shape was the same as hers. Stepping closer, taking it from her grasp "Paige this looks like a miniature basketball"

"Yea but it's different, it's got whatever.. this green stuff is" she pointed at the blotches scattered everywhere. "Opposites attract anyways"

You laughed at her antics, she was so corny but deep down you loved it. "Oh, so we're the pumpkins?"

"Yes, now let's go find the paint before everyone takes all the good colors," she insisted, holding out her free hand for you to take, happily doing so. "What are you going to paint yours?"

"The Corpse Bride" you said confidently, remembering you had saved one of her pictures from Pinterest to use for inspiration, your all-time favorite movie.

"The what?" her eyes darted down to meet your shocked expression. "Please don't tell me you don't know that movie" frowning in disbelief.

"Okay then I won't" she laughed "Maybe we can watch it later but, you can paint yours like Sally"

"Sally from... who-"

"Oh nah, you don't know the nightmare before Christmas?!" her tone reached octaves you didn't know she could reach.

You never even paid attention to any other character besides Jack.

"No I've seen it! I just didn't remember her name honestly" you confessed. "You can paint yours like Jack, he fits your personality"

"How so?" she asked amused by your notion, you refused to tell her anything further more to boost her ego. "I won't elaborate any further, it's not that simple Bueckers"

--------------------

[uboat53]

Well, it's the Olympics in the age of trans panic and I'm sure you can guess what that means. With that in mind, a few thoughts about gender and sport.

Okay, let's talk about the specific event that touched this off, Italy's Angela Carini abandoned a boxing match with Algeria's Imane Khelif after only 46 seconds, citing Khelif's strength and power. Some of the less reputable people in politics and media then began to speculate that she had some gender advantage despite having passed a gender and drug test which would have discovered something.

Look, let's get this out of the way at the start, Imane Khelif is a woman. She was born a girl and matured into a woman. She lives in and competes for a country where gender transition is illegal and there's no indication to any reasonable person that she's anything other than a woman who is very good at boxing. Perhaps she has some genetics that help her but, let's face it, every single athlete capable of competing at the Olympic level does; no one complained that Michael Phelp's low production of lactic acid was an unfair advantage! The only reason that there's any "controversy" at all is that people have this ingrained idea that women should NOT be too good at boxing.

And, ultimately, that's the biggest problem with this whole gender panic. There are three (count 'em, three) transgender athletes in the Olympics this year, Canada's Quinn (soccer), New Zealand's Laurel Hubbard (weightlifting), and the US's Chelsea Wolfe (BMX Freestyle - Reserve). Every other athlete in the Olympics was born in their assigned gender and has been tested as such in order to compete.

So why are people panicking about trans athletes? Simple, because their ideas about gender do not match the reality. Not every woman is physically smaller and weaker than every man, not every man has a hulking physique, and there is no clear dividing line between the testosterone levels of women and men. There's also racism at work, African and Middle Eastern women tend to have facial features associated with masculinity in the west while Asian men tend to have facial features associated with femininity in the west making it easy for white audiences without exposure to minorities to assume the worst.

Ultimately, though, the problem is this idea of a sharp gender binary as if men and women were two clearly different species with no overlap between them. Let's say this as clearly as possible: there is no way to define "woman" in a way that excludes all trans women and includes all cisgender women. There is simply too much overlap between men and women; biologically speaking, mammals in general have very small gender differences compared to other groups of species such as insects or certain groups of fish (look up the differences between male and female spiders or anglerfish sometime, THAT'S a gender binary).

What that means is that, no matter how you try to define "woman" or "man", you will always end up with a category that includes some people who every reasonable person would consider to be the opposite.

So here's the question I think we all need to answer before we go any further: what is the purpose of separating sports by gender? Is it so that inferior female athletes can get medals that would be denied to them by superior male athletes? Is it to reinforce our cultural gender norms? Is it another way to divide the competition for fairness like weight classes in boxing?

I suspect that different people have different answers to that question and, until we settle on a universal answer, athletes (who, by the way, are pretty much all outside of the averages for their age and gender by definition) are going to continue to be caught in the crossfire of one of the worst arguments to dominate our society.

[the-gateway-to-madness]

@thesadpuffin

Behold, your very own high school radio station kids to play around with or ignore as you please. If this school does not have its own radio station, please assume they found a way to make their own, because these imbeciles absolutely would.

Shisi concepts:

17

Favorite color: seafoam green

Favorite drink: Sprite

Favorite food: any fresh bread, but especially sourdough

Would be from Kakariko

ASMR girl energy

Very quiet and calm

The one in charge

Aroace or just casually disinterested in drama, idk/idc which (both probably)

DJs Mon-Wed-Fri after school

The only neurotypical

She weightlifts. I didn't think of this until after drawing her, so she looks slimmer than she should, but it fits her so I'm adding it.

Torenn concepts:

16

Favorite color: teal

Favorite drink: Fanta lemon

Favorite food: Fish, shrimp, and crab (he doesn't like lobster)

Would be from Lurelin

Works and repairs all the tech involved

✨️autism✨️

A little nervous, follows the rules well enough to keep their station from being shut down by the school

Long n skinny with no muscle so his clothes are all baggy to be long enough

Flawless deadpan

DJs Tues-Thurs after school

Kyta concepts:

16

Favorite color: Purple

Favorite drink: fruit punch

Favorite food: chicken cordon bleu

Would be from Hateno

Knows a wide range of music

DJs on weekends because she's the only one willing to, and also runs the music for things like sporting events (she likes to play dramatic music when Revali goes out on the field, because she thinks it's funny when he gets mad)

✨️adhd and autism✨️

Has a running joke with herself about how many hair ties she can carry on her person

Refuses to wear the skirt

Ships Zelink. Torenn and Shisi don't get it

Gremlin energy- talks on live radio like she's making tumblr posts, her only concession to the rules is not swearing (she thinks it's funnier to use stuff like "fiddlesticks" and "horsefeathers" on air and watch Shisi and Torenn cringe, anyway)

"and today on friendships that just seem really nice: that one sporty dude whose hair is better than mine- Lonk, I think, right? And Zeeta! ... Link and Zelda, apparently. Torenn is making faces at me- oh there he goes again. Uh. Link and Zelda, if you're listening- which I bet a dollar y'ain't- sorry about the lonk and zeeta thing."

She sings, and also sews! If she ever managed to meet Link and Zelda she'd make them matching flannel frog plushes with each others' eye and hair colors included in the color schemes.

Further concepts:

Torenn and Kyta are childhood friends

To this day they say they faked papers and parental permission and got married at 14 as a joke. Everyone is still stunned they pulled it off

They did not. They both refuse to let anyone find out it's a hoax though.

They are really dating! A year so far and going strong.

Shisi is the only one who knows the truth about the whole shebang. She finds it pretty dang amusing, for the sole reason that Kyta and Torenn do too.

Shisi and Kyta share a love of sewing. Shisi taught Kyta to quilt and use a sewing machine and Kyta taught her to make plushes. After hearing the rumors about Zelda they would probably get her favorite colors from Impa and make her a nice quilt with fleece backing to cheer her up.

Shisi plays guitar, harp, and ocarina (>:])

Torenn can draw really well

They call their listeners their study buddies and go out of their way to occasionally throw in ridiculous songs for people to get up and stretch and dance to

Alright my bad night last night has caught up im out of ideas

i did make a playlist for these idiots' radio station tho

[survivalistghost]

Top 10 kdrama friendships that had me bawling

#10 - alchemy of souls : mu deok/bo yeon + the boys

the only reason this doesnt get a higher rating is because they just didnt have enough scenes together. it was always pretty secondhanded, like the boys helping her with her servant exam in s1, or scenes between seo yul and mu deok/bo yeon. however, their friendship was amazing, and just adore this show in itself.

#9 - doom at your service : tak dong kyung, na ji na and cha joo ik

okay, they weren't a trio, necessarily, but they had such a great friendship through indirect interaction. joo ik and dong kyung had such a wholesome excited little sister and passive older brother relationship. and dont even get me started on the cuteness that was the friendship between na ji na and tak dong kyung.

#8 - strong girl do bong soon : do bong soon and gyeong shim

i wrote about this in my review of strong girl dbs as well, and the friendship between gyeong shim and dbs was so cool because both women were willing to go to such lengths for each other. one of the lesser-highlighted friendships of kdramas.

#7 - crash course in romance : nam haeng son and kim young joo

it takes a lot to sacrifice your national sports for your friend, and young joo made that sacrifice like a pro. their friendship was so cute, a bit annoying at times, but cute nonetheless. they were there for each through the goods and the bads, and that's all we really ask for.

#6 - lovestruck in the city : lee eun oh, suh rin i and kang geon

why! are! they! not! talked! about! ultimate peak best friendship, no romantic subplots to this gang, absolute delights. everyone should give lovestruck in the city a try.

#5 - twenty five twenty one : the gang

how could i say friendship and not have these people. this gang singlehandedly and platonically had enemies to besties, childhood besties, sunbae besties and just everything. right in the feels.

#4 - weightlifting fairy kim bok joo : the trio + the boys

the 'swag' trio. every time they did the swag thing it made me cringe so bad but they were very cute. the rooftop scene was legit so cute and the addition of the boys was even better. nothing beats these weightlifting girls and we stan.

#3 - extraordinary attorney woo : woo young woo and choi su yeon

this was sosososososo cute. the way su yeon was literally always there for young woo. she couldve easily been a villain, young woo took the guy she had a crush on, was higher in grades and well known. had an influential background. such telltale signs of bad women in kdramas. BUT this amazing person really was so good with young woo and totally spring sunshine su yeon.

#2 - the fabulous - the gang

everyone seems to hate the fabulous. genuinely, come at me. i dont give a shit about cinematic art or marketing strategies or whatever, this is my opinion gonna stick to it. i ADORED the fabulous. their gang was so amazing, the definition of supportive, cute and somehow maintaining that joke around stuff. they had their little pairs in the middle as well, but that didnt take away the overall love. go watch it.

#1 - hospital playlist - the band

im a recent to hosplay bandwagon, but. i fell in love. finished the (almost) entire show in nearly a week, an achievement considering it's my finals rn. we've got the piggies, buddha who is catholic, the guy who knows everybody and his dad. it was the little things with them for me, really. when they called jeong won andrea like that was so cute. when jun wan called seok hyeong ik jun's dad it made me laugh so much. and the fact that they're really not that close when u think about it but they still are? like that is adult friendships and we love.

[bearpillowmonster]

Incredibles 3 Sorta Kinda Wishlist

I have a lot of thoughts about Inc 2 but I decided to leave them in the past, is Inc 3 going to be what I wanted Inc 2 to be? Well...

A lot wanted/expected the second to be a time skip from the first when the kids are older, I get it, I'd like that but I think I understand why it wasn't treated that way. Incredibles is very specific, we see the period where superheroes are a thing and when there was an absence, that's sort of the gimmick. I feel like if Inc 2 didn't time skip then Inc 3 isn't going to either unless it's an end sequence, it just seems weird to cap off a trilogy that way.

Oh...well, maybe, I didn't entirely rule it out but should we skip forward, we're sort of denying that opportunity that heroes will rise again and just skip right into it and deny Inc 2 of building that up. Besides, let's be honest, how many cared for those hero rejects in Inc 2? I remember Voyd...uhhhh, brick man! But we ALLLL remember Gazerbeam, right? Anyways, I think that should be more held for the end anyways because for me, Inc 2 was an 'of the moment' type of thing.

I tried to analyze how it exactly I feel about it versus a Marvel movie and you could argue that the first came out in a time where we had a few superhero movies, Spider-Man and X-Men for starters but it wasn't as common to see that as it is now, you can go to the theaters pretty much any given time now and nearly guarantee that a superhero movie will be playing but I'm going to argue against that because if you were to take a Marvel fan and show them the Incredibles today for the first time, I have a hard time believing that they won't think it special. Skipping into the era of superheroes WILL just make it a Marvel movie.

Another thing I kind of expect/hope to see is a fleshing out of the style or the "Andytization"

I mean, you know, they changed his character and everything and his build is more shaped like the rest of the cast but I just feel different when I see the two side by side

And I like vibrant lighting, heck, I just made a post about it not too long ago but the way it is in Inc 2 is...it's just too much

I like that you can see the fibers on the shirts, whatever but it just didn't look fully there yet, like-like...wth, I'll say it.

It looks filtered. So I hope that gets ironed out somewhat, maybe round out some edges.

but I for one want to see where this Violet relationship goes, how does she navigate school and secret superheroing and a boyfriend...she's like Kim Possible to me. And Dash with sports and all that but to be honest, I care to see new superhero themed activities, like in the first movie, we see Bob and Dash playing long distance catch and Bob lifting a train to weightlift, it's fun.

The babyfication of the merchandising with Jack-Jack and the raccoon went WAYYYY overboard before, I even see it today, like Jack-Jack had his own short in the first film but he wasn't the star of the show. I think I saw more of him than I did of the literal star Elastigirl, like-

Make it well ROUNDED, no more "I need to succeed so that she can succeed so that we can succeed." I want our cast to have learned that they're a family and need to act as such through the movie, no coming together of the third act, we're already well acquainted, it's no surprise.

Another worry I have is Michael Giacchino. Sure, I've liked his tracks as of late, every now and then he drops a banger but nothing will ever stack up to the soundtrack of the first Incredibles movie that literally went to define part of my life so far. What did I walk out to when I got dressed for Prom?!

I don't remember Inc 2 whipping out anything like that. And Michael's been at it, really deep into Marvel, in fact, he's doing Fantastic Four which is uh, eerily similar to the atmosphere of the Incredibles (I didn't listen to the theme from D23 yet, I'm holding off) but it scares me to think that he's putting out so much that Inc 3 won't get that banger soundtrack, I just don't want him to think where he's came from...oh, he started in video games? Well, after that.

Now the villain, I want to see the place in ruin. We've somewhat seen how to superhero when the world doesn't want saved but what about the ridicule, people hating superheroes because they draw too much attraction and so forth. That sort of goes against what was established by the last two endings which I'd really hate to retcon anything but I like that plot.

We haven't gotten a superpowered villain yet (I don't think the Underminer is) and I'm fine with not getting one here, I will feel a bit cheated if we get the Underminer but that IS a thread left unresolved.

[boqvistsbabe]

Ok so fun gossip I heard

- 2 of the hockey boys had been secretly (nothing is actually a secret to me) dating for like 2 years but one is a science god who weightlifts competitively and plays 2/3 other sports very well and the other dropped out to smoke weed so they don't talk anymore and that is almost definitely the stoners fault and the nice really smart one is now stuck with a bunch of assholes because that was his only friend and he doesn't know that the queer femmes would adopt him to carry our bags

- there's a really popular girl who reads like Harry potter and colleen hoover (this is irrelevant I just like slander) exclusively who wants to be a radical politician but has never read any theory and don't follow politics

- the self appointed queen bee who cheated on her decent blonde bf by hooking up with her ex bffs abusive ex and then she left him for blondie and now has an on and off throuple with blondie and his besties, both of them are proclaimed straight and all of the are friends with shithead

- same queen bee and blondie, she posted on her til tok her rice purity score and it said that she had never come during sex, they were together for like 5 years and she has caught him watching porn while they fuck

- the annoying ass conservative dude who is like 6'6 and is the bad bitch lesbians man servant (he says friend but idk) started a fight with a known tiny 14 year old gang member and when a knife got pulled his mom, who works at the school, called the cops, same day a kid got stabbed in the head with a pencil during math but that was unrelated

- the grade 11 gymrat that my friends and I are fairy gay parenting into leftism at the start of the year believed that drug dealers deserve the death sentence (we are canadian???) and his ex gf's brother is in prison for petty drug crimes and his new gf is a scary bisexual weed dealer but I influenced him to be way better and they are a power couple

- all of the boys bathrooms are missing the soap dispenser and the mirrors, sinks and toilet seats are regularly stolen also once a custodian quit after having just walked into the main one

- we had a 3 hour secure school because a girl punched the librarian and the librarian passed out and then the girl hid somewhere in the school

- at a beach party during the summer my favourite random school person (you know what I mean, right?) was super drunk and shot a firework at the police, put his Crocs in sport mode and then ran away, successfully as well

- same dude had a job at an arcade and would break in during the night to just vibe with the lasers and run around drinking and smoking I guess, he also once hid from the cops in a tree, he postef all of this on his snap

I can't think of other big ones but this should do for now

Omg it’s been forever and a day since you sent this but I’m still gonna react to this lol

- okay first of all what a story second of all I feel bad for the one guy 😢

- okay but like that checks out based on the books soooo

- wild absolutely wild. First of all cheating is so bad but somehow who she cheated with made it even worse? Also throuple?!

- NOTHING IN FIVE YEARS?! WHAT IS BRO DOING WRONG (obvi everything but like omg) also while they fuck? 🫢

- man servant I love 💀💀 also hang member? ! And a pencil stabbing? That’s a lot on one day

- death sentence?! Omg?! Literally what? Also ur so slay for that tho

- it’s giving devious licks 💀😭 also that’s so real

- why did she punch the librarian 😭 like what

- (ik what u mean, i love my random people) AT?! Also putting the crocs in sport mode then running is such a funny picture

- this guy sounds like such a vibe tbh

[notsadspicyfunny]

I was convinced that Sawyer had a thing for Bella. And then it turns out he dated pepper which I completely forgot. They ended up breaking up. And I was like what the fuck. And I’m 97% sure that fucking Newt was gay, but was scared to come out because his dad is most likely a bigot his stepmom is obviously homophobic.

Going back to Sawyer and Bella. He didn’t like her… He didn’t even confess to her. His cousin ended up doing it. His cousin and Bella ended up dating. And that is insane to me like they kissed during fireworks. That is so fucking cute.

And then fucking Troy dude, Troy is a fucking asshole . And he’s so self-centered, but he’s also kind of hot. But I would honestly prefer Newt over him any day. The series also like reminded me how much I fucking love and miss football. Also, for when the show is made, there were so many before the times are references. Like gender equality, LGBTQ plus rights, bullying, etc.

There was even a gay character. Like he didn’t come out and say he was gay, or had a boyfriend. But he literally said in Season 2 episode 20: ‘Im not into girls. But I’m into free tacos’

Let’s go back to Newt. He was obviously a theater kid at heart. Like there was an entire episode about how he was a god of a singer.. but he couldn’t do that for a living one because he had stage fright and two because his dad wanted him to play football. And one of the other episodes he was too ashamed to tell his dad that he was mostly on the bench all of the time.

He also had crushes on very masculine girls. And made a lot of ‘jokes’ about being into guys. He and Sawyer even joked about smacking troys butt.

Also, most of the mannerisms he had we’re just obviously LGBTQ plus. I think because it was the time that the show was created they couldn’t make an outwardly gay dude.

Or maybe he was just really wimpy and I’m over reacting to all of this. I don’t know he just had a lot of hints.

Bella was like the main character because like she’s the title character. But she was honestly such a bitch. She made every situation about herself all the time. And while I did enjoy some of the moments she was shown. She was honestly kind of awful. First of all, she made a boy cheat on his lovely ass girlfriend for her. She almost didn’t let her best friend go with a girl because she had beef with the girl.

And then, when the girl broke up with him, she goes: ‘lol told ya’

Like I’m rooting for the dudes on this one. Choose a new best friend man.

Sawyer was honestly so funny in this. He was my favorite bit of comic relief. He had a shitty, best friend though who is Troy. What are my favorite scenes was when he wore a dress and fucking rocked it

There was an episode, when two of the male football players were like ‘cheerleading isn’t a real sport’ and the girls literally taught them a lesson. And it was so entertaining and I think it was a great lesson because cheerleading is a real sport. And it should be treated as such. Like it’s a literally gymnastics, AND weightlifting

The coach in this, though is so funny. He’s one of my favorite adult characters that is ever been introduced into any type of series besides grunkle Stan in gravity falls.

As much as I hate to admit it the intro song. Such a fucking bop. Honestly really really good. It’s gonna be stuck in my head for the rest of the night/day,

That reminds me, I’ve pulled an all nighter to finish this stupid series

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk

[revenconcepts]

5 Powerful Brain Hacks to Enhance Your Quality of Life

Do you ever feel you need to live up to your full potential? Are you looking for ways to boost your brain power and enhance your quality of life? If so, you're in luck! In this article, we'll share five powerful brain hacks that can help you achieve greater success and happiness in all areas of your life. It will take some practice and patience, but these five powerful brain hacks will change your life.   Five Powerful Brain Hacks Meditation and Mindfulness Exercise Sleep Eating Quality Foods Brain Training/Mindset Training   Meditation and Mindfulness Meditation and mindfulness are two practices that can profoundly impact your brain function and overall well-being. Meditation involves focusing on a specific object, such as your breath or a mantra. In contrast, mindfulness involves paying attention to your thoughts, feelings, and surroundings in a non-judgmental way. Regularly practicing these techniques can help reduce stress, improve memory and focus, and boost creativity.   To incorporate meditation and mindfulness into your daily routine, try starting with just a few minutes each day and gradually increasing the time as you become more comfortable with the practice. One of my favorite types of meditation is walking meditation. Doing a meditation where you are sitting is good sometimes, but I would rather be mobile or in a yoga class going through the poses. Also note that though this is Hack one, there are better ones you should follow.   The hacks that work best for you will be dependent on many factors. For example, I had a friend in college whom I tried to do some sitting meditation with, and after five minutes, she said she couldn't go on. She said that she could not stop the thoughts from flowing in her head and quieting her mind. I told her that our thoughts were like the leaves on a river. They will come and go, and we must allow them to do so.   Even for myself, mediation took me many years to master. Though I say master, there is always room for improvement regarding meditation. I enjoy meditation most because every session produces a different result and challenge. Sometimes I am energetic and ready to go after a meditation session, while other times, I am ready to sleep. Regardless of the effect, I feel better after being more mindful of my day, body, and goals.   Exercise Exercise has to be my favorite hack on this list, and for a good reason. Regular exercise is another powerful tool for enhancing brain function and quality of life. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, stimulates the growth of new brain cells, and releases endorphins that can improve mood and reduce stress. In addition, exercise can also improve physical health and help you maintain a healthy weight.   As you can imagine, exercising is a two-for-one special. Not only are you getting your body in order, but your mind also benefits from this brain hack. Even when I do not feel like working out or going to the gym, I do it regardless because that is my mindset; I am always happy that I went and got my workout in, rather than skipping it. I understand that working out can be challenging for everyone, but working out can differ from what you see in the movies and magazines.   To incorporate exercise into your daily routine, find an activity you enjoy and try it for at least 30 minutes daily. This could be anything from walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, weightlifting, playing sports, practicing martial arts, or yoga. The important thing is to find an activity that you enjoy and can stick with over the long term. I have found that even if people do not love working out, they can learn to love it.   A great example of this is my wife. When we first met, she loved the idea of working out but wanted to avoid the actual act. The reason was a set of limiting beliefs and the understanding that she had to output massive energy to reach her goal weight. I am proud to say she got a body she was proud of through my training program, but it didn't come easy.   When working with clients, the greatest obstacle is not the working out aspects but the mental aspect that is necessary when working out. The brain does a good job of keeping us safe, but it cannot tell the difference between a workout and a situation where our life depends on our physical prowess. After years of working out, that emergency signal the brain sends when you are running at top speed becomes quieter and easy to ignore and push past our comfort to create growth.   My top secret hack for exercise is to work out in groups. This can be a yoga, cycling, or CrossFit-style class that will get you around people. When you see other people working out, it will be easier for you to work out because other people are doing it, so it tricks your subconscious mind. The other benefit of working out with a partner or in a group is having someone who will push you when you are less motivated.   Sleep If everyone could have a best friend, I would want their best friend to be sleep. The reason is that healthy sleep cycles will lead to better actions and mindset. Getting enough sleep is essential for maintaining good brain health and overall well-being. During sleep, the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and restores energy. I know many people try to get away with less sleep, but when you do that, you break down your body because it doesn't have time to heal appropriately each day.   Chronic sleep deprivation can impair cognitive function, cause mood disturbances, and even cause physical health problems. I am a victim of lack of sleep at times. You can even check the podcast and see bags under my eyes, especially from the past year. There is a reason, but never an excuse, for my lack of sleep. As you may know, I had my first child last year, and when you have a child, puppy, or sick family member, you will be missing some beauty rest whether you like it or not.   I can recall when I was a kid, and I would tell my mom that taking naps is for babies. Now that I am an adult, I take naps as often as possible (I guess I am a baby, ha ha). How I built my schedule since starting a family is extremely different from when I was younger and in college. Though I had many long nights cramming or doing papers, I always was able to get my sleep cycle after the "push." Today, it is more difficult when we do not have much help, and you have a toddler needing either mom or dad.   My situation made me think I needed to get more sleep, but I also had a business to run. This gave me the idea that if I cannot get my 8 hours of sleep at once, I get it in spaces in the day. This means that I will take naps during parts of the day when there is downtime in the business in between the family's schedules. For me, movie night is nap time. It sounds crazy, but many parents will relate to my sentiment. However, only some have the flexibility to sleep like me, so we have to figure out how a regular person can enhance their sleep.   To enhance the quality of your sleep, try to establish a regular sleep schedule. You will also want to create a comfortable sleep environment and avoid caffeine and electronic devices before bedtime. A rule in our house is no television in our room. You can bring your phone in if you have to, but even that is lowkey breaking the rules. Although it is great, technology harms good sleep.   I want you to try to implement a no-technology in-room rule for one week. Leave your phone in the living room, and if you are too cheap to buy an alarm clock, you can leave your phone outside of your door. That will force you to get up and not hit the snooze button. I have found this to be extremely helpful not only to get me out of bed but by helping me not grab my phone and start combing through all the emails and messages I received while I was in dreamland.   A secret brain hack I will share with you is to turn off the snooze option or to set your alarm for the exact time you have no more time to sleep. For example, if you have work at 7 am and set your alarm for 5:30 am, calculate your travel time and morning routine and subtract that. The time you get will be when you have to wake up or be late. You may have to calculate other factors like kids or traffic, but the trick will get you out of bed sooner because you have no time to procrastinate.   If you're having trouble sleeping, many resources are available online, such as sleep meditation and relaxation exercises, that can help you improve the quality of your sleep. You can also invest in better bedding to ensure the most comfortable setup. Some rules to follow are not eating three hours before bed and not having a screen on one hour before bed. Though you might be doing that right now and getting away with some decent sleep, you need to understand how good of sleep you will get if you follow these tips.   Brain-Boosting Foods You know that consuming certain foods will affect your energy levels and mindset. Looking back at the darkest moments, I find I was not eating the foods I should be. I opted for fast, greasy foods over a nutritious and balanced diet. It took me time to realize that my poor mental state and performance were caused by the foods I was eating. Once I got on a plan, I saw my life shift toward the positive.   Realizing that the foods you eat can significantly impact your brain function and overall well-being was enough for me to make better food decisions. I understand that eating healthy can cost more, but when you eat well, you feel good, and I would rather feel like a million bucks than have a million bucks. This is a concept many people learn the hard way because they do not realize how important their health is until it is gone.   We want to gravitate towards certain nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, and antioxidants, because they are essential for maintaining healthy brain function. If you did not learn this in high school, you would want to work with a nutritionist to learn what foods your body excels in. Yes, your body will not like every food you give, so the only two options are to work with a professional and get the work and assessment you need or do trial and error.   The key is to find the foods that your body can maximize energy and brain power. It might sound crazy, but your food does more than fill your stomach. Your food choice will determine how much energy you will have today and tomorrow and how many good choices you can make daily. You will want to fill your day with as many brain-boosting foods, such as nuts, fruits, and vegetables, and make that the new normal in your life. It is time to get away from the old meat and potato diet. Brain Training, A.K.A Mindset Training Finally, engaging in brain training activities can help to enhance cognitive function and improve mental clarity. I knew this growing up, but I only sought the full benefits of brain training in my late 20s. The secret is that you must engage and practice and digest new content daily. It sounds like a lot because it is, but it is easy to do.   When I began this brain training and mindset hack, I read for an hour each night before bed. I read real books with pages, no Kindles or audio books because there is a power that comes from reading a book that doesn't come from a Kindle or an audio book. The ratio I found for effectiveness is 3-5 Kindle books, and audio books will equate to reading one book with papers where you have to turn the page.   What happens mentally is that your brain can transition into a learning phase much quicker due to your conditioning in the school system. I cannot even tell you how many pages I turned growing up. I fear that with technology in schools today, more children will lose this building block to create a powerful brain hack. However, it is possible that new conditioning will be formed from reading off of screens and laptops, but the trend I am seeing now is that there is less focus, which means fewer data is retained.   Though we must be aware of changing times, we must also know what people can do to strengthen their brains and elevate their mindsets. Some simple things a person can incorporate beyond reading include puzzles, playing games, and daily memory exercises. These activities can increase focus, improve memory, and enhance problem-solving skills.   Moving past the physical aspect of learning, we must look at the mental aspect of fortifying the mind to become stronger. In a way, it is almost by brute force, but the process is simple. A great example of brain training is by doing things like martial arts that help not only the body but also the mind. These athletes must create a mindset to break past their limits, which is brain training.   Another secret people can do to train their brains is to shock the body. The easiest and most popular way to give your body this shock is to take a cold shower or an ice bath. When I was younger, we didn't have a working furnace, so we didn't have hot water. Sometimes we had a working stove to boil water and bring it upstairs to run a bath, but many nights were cold showers. That shock would make us jump, but it was normal for us growing up to take cold showers. Fast forward to today, I take cold showers to relieve stress and strengthen my mindset.   This next story about brain training will be in my parenting book because I was unaware of it until my wife started to do it. My wife started to douse our first child with cold water. The baby would cry because of the water, and I almost said something to her, but we have an agreement not to get in the way of how we want to raise our child as long as the value remains consistent. Surprisingly, he eventually stopped crying when she bathed him in cold water. Today, he is one year old and has immense pain tolerance and a fighter mindset.   The last brain hack is something I used when I was going through the greatest mindset shift in my 20s. I learned about the "5 Second Rule" by Mel Robbins, who discovered that our brain has about five seconds before it gets in the way of our actions. This is why hitting the snooze button is a bad idea. The five-second rule states that if you start counting up to five or down from five and take action within those seconds, the chance you will succeed in your desired action increases exponentially. However, if you do not do it within the allotted five-second time, the chance you will do it decreases.   The Drawbacks As with anything, there will be drawbacks that will render these brain hacks ineffective. I already gave some examples like obligations like work, school, and parenting, but other factors like time and money have to be calculated into the mix. The reason is that most people in the world trade time for money and have no time because they need more money. This cycle will leave you feeling drained in these areas. At that point, this is when you have to enhance your quality of life not only with hacks but with results.   Living paycheck to paycheck without time to exercise, meditate, sleep, or eat healthy is a great place to begin. One of the services we provide for our clients is we give Health and Wellness Coaching. Fitness is also an aspect of the service any client can take full advantage of in our monthly subscriptions. Being flexible and getting help is the best way to combat outside and circumstantial factors.   Incorporating these five powerful brain hacks into your daily routine can enhance your brain function, reduce stress, improve your mood, and achieve tremendous success and happiness in all areas of your life. If you struggle to incorporate more than one of these brain hack areas, I recommend getting a Coach. A Coach will help you create the habits, routines, and mindset you need to gain a deeper understanding of your potential, which will help you increase the quality of your life.   Until then, Michael Rearden Founder of Reven Concepts Read the full article

[anna-mellgren]

I am not a huge fan of Piers Morgan & I disagree with him on a great many things. I think his obsession with Meghan Markle is a bit unhinged for example. However, I do think him & I have common ground on our view about transgender athletes in sports.

I have absolutely no problem calling someone by their preferred pronouns, having gender-neutral bathrooms and generally being kind and respectful to the transgender community. I believe in live and let live. I believe people can feel as if they are born into the wrong gender and if they want to change gender then go ahead! I think we should be inclusive as a society. 

One thing I do disagree on with some people in the transgender community is allowing transgender athletes in female sports after puberty. I think you can mix genders as much as you want in sports when people are kids but transgender female athletes have a significant advantage over females in athletics after puberty. This is a fact, plenty of research supports this now. For example, Tommy Lundberg’s research suggests that transgender athletes still have significant skeletal muscle strength after hormone therapy. This is especially a problem in contact sports like the UFC, ice-hockey & rugby because safety cannot be guaranteed. Research also suggests that muscular advantage is only minimally reduced when testosterone is suppressed. Lia Thomas was ranked 554th among male swimmers but she beat female Olympic medalists after transitioning. These women put down thousands of hours in training only to have their accomplishments stolen from them at the NCAAs, this is wrong. There are plenty more examples in track, cycling, weightlifting etc. 

This issue is not equivalent to gay rights movement in the 1980s. Broadly speaking when the rights of one group starts to infringe on the rights of another group, it becomes a political issue. Of course, transgender rights should be protected but not at the expense of the hard-fought rights of women. There should be separate categories for transgender athletes and athletes who compete in their biological sex. This gives transgender men a chance to compete too since it is overwhelmingly transgender women who benefit from competing against women. Some people might think this is unfair but life is unfair. Female professional ice-hockey players have full time jobs on the side & often pay for their own equipment while male professional ice-hockey players make 10 million dollars a year + huge endorsement deals. Some might say that is a little unfair? To ask women to step aside from their hard-fought rights is not ok. 

I agree that there are differences in athletic abilities already in female sports. I have sometimes played soccer against girls who are faster than me. When this happens I position myself so I can try to catch them but the gap should never be so wide that you can never catch them no matter what you do. Research proves that transgender athletes have greater muscle & bone density, bigger lungs, faster reaction time etc.

To say that truth doesn’t exist and that everything is a social construct is wrong. In my opinion transgender athletes should have their own division starting in high school because thousands of students compete for hard fought college scholarships every year. More competitions should follow Boston Marathon’s example by having a non-binary category.

Women have rights too and this should matter to you if you have a mother, sister, girlfriend or a future daughter. You might not care about female sports but millions of people do. I think it is deeply wrong of people to threaten, harass & accuse women of being a TERF or transphobic because they disagree on one single issue. I don’t think women should be cast in the same basket as JK Rowling for having a different opinion on one issue. I started attending pride parades as a teenager because I have old friends that are part of the LGBTQ community. I support transgender people right to live a happy life, to transition, to start a family, to be respected & live in peace but just because I disagree on one single issue it does not mean I am against transgender people in general.

My main point is that someone can disagree with you and they are not a monster for having a different opinion. 

[novoplata]

Resolutions schmesolutions

I haven't written much in this online journal, so I thought the New Year would be an excellent opportunity to restart my writing journey. So, here goes my (loosely held) resolutions for 2023:

1. Don't put a limit on yourself

I was watching the Torian Pro team clean and jerk ladder event last year, and on the floor was a team with a female masters athlete in her late 40s clean and jerking 80kg. The commentator then commented on how rare it is for masters athletes in their late 40s to hit higher than 70-75kg in a clean and jerk, let alone 80kg.

I remember thinking, 'damn, I must've missed my boat', having struggled with hitting a new PR on my clean and jerk last year, after hitting a slew of PRs in my first year of CrossFit in 2021. For the record, I shall turn 40 in November this year but would still like to lift as heavy as my body would permit.

I then made it my personal mission to start following masters weightlifters and powerlifters on social media who would prove to me that age is just a number and you can still hit those heavy lifts as long as you do them safely with good techniques.

Last week, I also had a chance to share a rack with a slightly older athlete who has also been training way longer. She proves to me that being older doesn't mean that you should automatically start lifting pink plastic dumbbells. She lifts heavier than I do and I'm so inspired to have someone to look up to in my own gym!

I come from a generation where sports were just some extracurriculars you do to represent your school when you're younger, not something to be adopted as a way of life. When I picked up Jiu-Jitsu at 27 years old, people were already telling me that I was too old and should only sign up for Zumba classes. Imagine how much fitness and practical life skills I would've missed out on if I had listened to them?

Of course, that being said, being older also means that I have to learn to listen to my body more. If she says rest and I'll do just that

2. Wear that damn sports bra

I remember making this resolution in 2011 when I was a scrawny 52kg runner who couldn't do a single push up.

My resolution then was to lose another 5kg (haha!) and wear a sports bra during my next half-marathon race in 2012. I did the half-marathon alright, but I didn't lose the weight as hoped, therefore, I never wore a sports bra in public.

In hindsight, if there was a time when I should have been wearing a sports bra in public, it was back then in 2011. I was never 52kg again and my waistline was never as tiny anymore. Nonetheless, if CrossFit had taught me anything valuable, it is to honour your body for what it can do rather than what it looks like.

That being said, if it's too hot during a workout, just take your top off and wear that damn sports bra! Everyone else would be too busy dying to judge your body anyway.

3. Go on that damn vacation!

I have this weird annoying habit of moving my goalpost each time I've reached it.

I told myself I'd get a new pair of lifters when I hit a 60kg clean (I only got mine a year and +5kg later), I told myself that I'd go on a staycation for my birthday last year (I cancelled last minute; would rather save that money) and recently, I told myself that I'd start travelling again once I've hit my savings goal.

I hit that savings goal in August 2021 and already felt like I should be moving the goalpost before I should allow myself to travel.

Stop, just stop! I'm turning 40 this year and had been working so hard in the past three years to survive the pandemic. I survived with flying colours and now, it's time to treat myself to some new memories. Besides, I seriously don't know just how much longer I will be this healthy and strong. Seize that day already!

Happy New Year, everyone!!

[radicalcoffeeclub]

"What can you achieve as a female lifter? There seem to be only 2 camps. The general public thinks a woman that touches a loaded barbell will wake up the next day as the SheHulk.

People with a bit more understanding of exercise physiology realize that this is obviously nonsense. One look around you in the average gym makes it clear that getting seriously big is difficult even for men. The statistic that women have ~15 times less testosterone than men is often quoted to explain that as a woman, you can’t grow much muscle anyway. So the common recommendation in today’s fitness circles is that women should train like men and should expect not to see much muscle growth.

The natural muscular potential of women

There is truth to this, but the causality runs in the opposite direction. Before I explain this, let’s first look at how the natural muscular potential of women compares to that of men. Percentage wise, how much muscle can a woman build compared to a man? Does it scale with testosterone so that women can build only ~7% as much muscle as men? Is it about half?

It’s 100%. Women gain the same percentage of muscle mass as men during strength training. In fact, women gain as much size and sometimes more strength than men [2]. The only difference is the starting point. Men start off with more muscle mass and more strength, but the relative increase in muscle size is the same between men and women.

Research on protein metabolism comes to the same conclusion. Women build just as much muscle protein after training and after meals as men. In fact, one study found that given the same level of muscle mass, women have a higher rate of muscle protein synthesis than men.

Women vs. men in elite sports

If you think this is all just silly theory from labcoats studying beginners, consider this. Elite, natural female athletes have 85% as much muscle as elite male athletes. The studied sports included Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting. The 15% difference can easily be explained by 3 factors.

Women have a genetically higher body fat percentage. Women have ~12% essential body fat to regulate their hormones compared to just ~3% fat in men. And you know, boobs.

People have lower expectations of women, even most women themselves underestimate what they can achieve physically compared to men. In a famous study, simply telling people they were on steroids increased their strength gains by 321%. These were advanced trainees already benching and squatting over 300 pounds (137 kg) before taking the fake steroids. Moreover, the androgenic-anabolic steroid protocol in question was just 70 mg of Dianabol per week. Giving that same dosage of actual Dianabol to advanced trainees improves strength by only a few percent. So what do you think it does to women when you tell them they have 15 times less testosterone?

There are more men in sports, so at the elite level, the selection to get to the top level is stronger. Elite male athletes are likely the best the male race has to offer. For women there may be more potential world record holders that will never know it because they don’t try.

What about testosterone?

Within an individual, more testosterone means more muscle mass. There is little doubt about that. Between genders, however, the relation becomes much weaker. In their study of elite athletes, Healy et al. concluded that “The difference in lean body mass is sufficient to account for the observed differences in strength and aerobic performance seen between the sexes without the need to hypothesize that performance is in any way determined by the differences in testosterone levels.”

How can this be? Testosterone functions differently in men and women, as I explained in my BioSignature review. In animals we have a good understanding of why testosterone is not needed for muscle development in women. It seems growth factors like IGF-1 and growth hormone take over the anabolic role that testosterone has in men. Growth factors are more important for strength and muscle mass in women than in men. Since women have just as much IGF-1 as men and women produce ~3 times as much growth hormone as men, this explains in part why having less testosterone does not limit how much muscle they can build. To make matters more complex, the sex hormones and growth factors interact and all these hormones also interact with your genes.

In short, saying women have less potential to build muscle mass because they don’t have as much testosterone as men is shortsighted.

The other sex hormone

Not only is testosterone not the great savior, estrogen is not the bad guy. Most people, even women, shun estrogen as the evil hormone that makes you bloated and does all sorts of negative things. Although it’s rarely described what exactly the negative effects of estrogen are, most people agree nonetheless that’s it’s bad for your body composition. This is complete nonsense. In my article on hormones and fat loss I explained the positive effects estrogen has on abdominal fat storage, but estrogen does many more awesome things.

Estrogen aids in muscle repair.

Estrogen is anti-catabolic and prevents muscle loss.

Estrogen protects your joints, bones and tendons from injury.

Estrogen does not make you fat. On the contrary, estrogen increases your metabolism.

These aren’t a few obscure and irrelevant findings I’m dragging up to support my point. Hundreds of studies have demonstrated the anabolic effects of estrogen. Estrogen is also crucial for your health, but that’s another topic. In short, estrogen’s bad reputation is based on nothing more than the poor intuition that if testosterone is anabolic, estrogen must be catabolic.

Why women aren’t living up to their potential

Women have the same relative natural muscular potential as men. They even have several advantages over men. So why don’t we see more muscular women?

Women are underrepresented in sports and in the gym. Even at the Olympic level there are fewer female participants. It is even true in science. There are over 50% fewer female participants in scientific studies than men.

Even if women go to the gym, most of them spend their time on the treadmill or playing with pink dumbbells.

We don’t have the same expectations of women. If a man benches a lot, that’s taken as a sign of social dominance. If a woman benches a lot, she’s seen as a freak, people get worried and men feel their pride sting and shrivel. I’ve heard from many of the women I train they’re approached in the gym ‘not too lift that heavy’ when they bench more than a plate.

Many women use contraceptives that harm their strength training progression. Many birth control pills impair muscle growth by decreasing androgen activity, lowering growth factor levels and increasing cortisol levels. It is primarily the progestin content of the contraceptive that’s harmful, because this competes with testosterone for the androgen receptor.

Lastly, the women that do actually train seriously in spite of the stigma often train like men, which doesn’t align with their physiological strengths. Since women produce much more estrogen than men, this gives them several advantages over men in the gym. Women don’t fatigue as much as men and women recover faster after training. There are many more important gender differences in metabolism, anatomy, neurology and physiology: see this article a full review of why and how women should not train like men.

Conclusion

It’s time we stop treating women like second rate men. Women have just as much relative potential for muscle growth as men. It’s up to them if they want to fulfill that potential. If they do, they should realize they’re not men and train to their strengths.

[coochiequeens]

All but three were before 2017. Once it was 2018/2019 season the victories for transwomen exploded.

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

A biological male athlete who identifies as transgender as well as transgender activists recently stated grievances against sports-governing bodies like the NCAA for “regressing” from “efforts to create a safe and inclusive environment” for male athletes who identify as transgender. 

The complaints come despite an increasing number of girls’ and women’s sporting events being dominated by biological males.

The Washington Stand has found that there have been at least 28 separate girls and women’s sports titles that have been won by biological males (or have included biological men as part of a winning women’s team) in the last 19 years, with the trend accelerating exponentially in the past three years.

These events include:

— Downhill mountain biking Canadian National Championships in 2003.

— Long Drivers of America women’s competition in 2008. 

— Trofee Maarten Wynants cycling race in 2015. 

— 2018 and 2019 UCI World Masters Track Cycling Championships. 

— 2019 national championship for bench press. 

— Two Commonwealth Championships (2017 and 2019) and one Pacific Games championship (2019) in weightlifting.

— Division II NCAA championship 400-meter hurdles in 2019. 

— 100- and 200-meter high school Connecticut state championships in 2018. 

— 100- and 200-meter high school New England regional championships in 2018. 

— Two mountain bike New Zealand national championships in 2018 and 2019. 

— 100-, 200-, and 400-meter races at the Italian Paralympic national championships in 2020.

— Volleyball Brazilian Cup in 2022. 

— Six Ivy League swimming championship titles in 2022. 

— 500-yard Division I NCAA swimming championship in 2022.

These titles do not include the multiple second place, third place, and other finishing spots in women’s events awarded to biological males that would have been won by biological females had the events been for biological females only.

In one of the most recent examples, which many are seeing as a symbolically poignant moment that encapsulates the debate over the fairness of biological males competing in women’s sports, two men were pictured kissing each other on the winner’s podium for the women’s ThunderCrit cycling event in London on June 2. 

The men had placed first and second in the event, with a biological woman placing third. As reported by The Post Millennial, the male winner of the event had won male cycling competitions “as recently as February” 2022.

A growing number of female athletes are voicing their concerns about letting biological males compete in women’s events. Before University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas—who is a biological male who spent three years on the men’s team—won the women’s 500-yard Division I NCAA swimming championship in March, 16 women on Penn’s swim team wrote a letter saying that Thomas should not be allowed to compete women’s events.

“Biologically, Lia holds an unfair advantage over competition in the women’s category, as evidenced by her rankings that have bounced from #462 as a male to #1 as a female,” the letter said.

Mary Szoch, director of Family Research Council’s Center for Human Dignity, agrees. 

“After three years of trying and failing to make the basketball team at the University of Notre Dame, finally, my senior year, I earned a jersey and the very last seat on the bench,” she noted. “Had the NCAA made ‘accommodations’ to allow men to compete in women’s sports, I would have never had the opportunity to accomplish my dream of playing for a National Championship. No woman should be forced to sit in the stands because a male takes her spot on the floor.”

Recent poll results indicate that the American public largely agrees with this sentiment. When asked in a poll commissioned by FRC Action if biological males should be allowed to compete against biological females in women’s K-12 and college sports, a significant majority (61%) disagreed, while just 18% agreed.

Originally published by The Washington Stand

The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation.

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

[nonegenderleftpain]

INFOMERCIAL VOICE: My fellow asthmatics! Do you feel like you are doomed to be perpetually awful at anything resembling exercise? So did I! Until I discovered the wonder of *anaerobics!* The hip, new way for you to get that sweet, sweet shot of endorphins, without any of the chest-clutching, lung-squeezing terror of an asthma attack!

Okay in all seriousness, though. Growing up, I sucked at sports. At gym. I hated exercise because any amount of running, jumping or crouching would make me nearly pass out. When I was twelve, I picked up taekwondo, and fought through feeling like I was going to die until I conditioned my lungs enough to get to black belt and national sparring champion.

So I thought.

Since then, I have become disabled. I am no longer able to do taekwondo because I struggle with vertigo, and am a fall risk (which you do NOT want in contact sports). I have been mourning the sport that I loved, and the incredible feeling I got from feeling strong, fast, and unstoppable. Just recently, I started testosterone and decided "Fuck it. All the other hot trans dudes I see go to the gym and get swole and dammit I want to, too." So I picked up weight lifting, first in my apartment, and then at my apartment complex gym. And, in a shock to myself, I was able to do it! No asthma triggering, at all, despite it being five years since I did any amount of movement.

I needed to know why. Why was I able to do this, when walking up the stairs from my car makes me have to stop at the top of the landing, leaning against the wall with my cane like a 75-year-old named Doris after she chased her excitable new puppy around the yard? It was then, after a moment of research, that I learned that martial arts, and taekwondo specifically, rely more on anaerobic processes than aerobic ones.

I'd heard the terms "aerobic" and "anaerobic" before, briefly, back in middle school health class, but it was never elaborated on in any capacity. And, as the other Americans reading this can surely relate to, it was DEFINITELY never taught in gym class. Physical Education was never education, it was just a bunch of running laps, being forced into sports they expected us to already know how to play, and hammering in fatphobia. And this is a SHAME, because had I known this sooner, I would have been able to continue working out and strengthening my body against my disabilities much sooner.

I'm sure you know, but I'll say it anyway - asthma is caused by inflammation in the bronchioles and an increase in mucus production leading to blocked airways. This prevents oxygen from reaching the body. Aerobic exercise is its own personal hell for us asthmatics, because aerobic exercise depends on sending oxygenated blood to the muscles. Anaerobics, on the other hand, convert glucose to energy without oxygen's help. What does this mean? It means doing these things requires minimal oxygen intake.

Now, this isn't to say go pick up karate or weightlifting and expect it to be effortless - I really DID have to condition my lungs to handle the bits of aerobic exercise that are included in martial arts, and I was never able to do Olympic-style sparring because it converts from anaerobic to aerobic when those short bursts of energy become a drawn-out match. But what I hope you take away from this is that you are not incapable. You were wronged by the education system, which is more focused on presidential fitness scores than actually teaching anything. I should not have had to learn this in my mid-twenties, but since I have, I want to share that information.

There is so much ableism in sports, and so much casual ableism towards asthmatics who attempt to exercise. We're not trying, and if we are we aren't trying hard enough, and if we are we must just suck. It's. A. Lie. Asthma is a disability, and others not respecting it does not make this any less true. We shouldn't have to self-advocate constantly, but we do, so this is me doing a little bit of advocating for you. Just to take a bit of the weight off. (And pick it up, and put it back down, and pick it back up, and-)

[lorenfangor]

an incomplete examination of AniTV

so I’ve finished season 1 of AniTV now, watching it in earnest for the first time ever (late to the party, but I’ve always known it was bad, and now’s the first time I’ve wanted to have anything to do with it) and I’ve come away with three main sets of feelings

things that they did as well as the books or in some cases better:

Tobias’s ridiculously emotionally intense reunion with holo!Elfangor, which was brilliantly acted compared to a lot of the other acting on the show and made me feel a lot of things. I think it’s more satisfying actually that he gets his morphing back this way as opposed to the Ellimist, but I’m aware I might just be saying that because I love this family

“The Capture, Part 2″ is also just fucking great. Temrash being smart and everyone else being smarter, Temrash flirting with Cassie and quasi-flirting with Tobias, and Temrash inadvertently leading the team to another Pool entrance? All great. It’s a solid bottle episode and it gives the kids’ actors a chance to really shine

since the kids are all high schoolers and their actors are adults there’s a lot more immediate established chemistry between Rachel and Tobias, which makes their relationship feel fleshed out more quickly than in the books, where they’re a lot more will they/won’t they about how they feel

Ax eating and interacting with humanity isn’t better than the books but it’s often just as good, with a special shoutout to the scene where he tries to get Tom to watch women’s weightlifting in an effort to blend in after hearing from Marco that guys talk about girls and sports

Jake gleefully eating escargot in front of Visser Three in human morph and Controller!Tom

Actual!Tom getting a scene where he encourages another host to keep fighting

things they did way worse that they could have done better:

I’m purposefully choosing to focus on things that aren’t “get a better budget” or “get better production design” so this is primarily about writing and story structure

There’s no reason that Rachel and Tobias should have as much hinted history and relationship as they do but nothing actually depicted onscreen. From the start, even in the alternate-universe episode, Rachel thinks Tobias is cute and charming, and she saves him from bullies rather than Jake doing it. We get the sense that they liked each other before he went nothlit, and we’re also shown that she has a secret bird morph solely for visiting him with. Relationship drama is cheap!

Jake/Cassie only comes up in the context of Temrash flirting with her to try and seduce her into letting him go and that’s Bad. Again, human relationship drama is cheap to film

If the writers had introduced morphing detectors earlier and used them more consistently, we could have more justification for why the kids have to spend so much time out of morph and sneaking around

actually there should have been in-universe justification for a lot of the budget elements - the flashlight Dracon beams were modified so that Controllers could carry them and not be stopped by Earth police or security, Tobias’s hawk actor having ties on his legs is so that people watching him spend time with Rachel in a park or in the woods don’t assume he’s a wild animal attacking her, the Blade Ship controls being an audio rig is because they were hastily retrofitted to fit human hands with salvaged equipment, Visser Three and Ax have to be in human morph because Earth is hostile to Andalites. things being cheap or looking like shit can be interesting, just ask Classic Who fans, but things being cheap and the production never acknowledging this or making it feel campy and fun just comes across like nobody cares

Marco is the most inconsistently written of any of the main cast, and the most “racist stereotype” of them too.

Why is everyone’s name changed? Why did Steve, Jean, Michelle, and Peter become Greg, Nikki, Aisha, and Jeremy?

actually this show is weirdly racist in a lot of ways and it’s very jarring after the books

what the fuck did I just watch, and why:

everything Esplin does with his tailblade is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen

Ax and Visser Three “fighting” by throwing punches and shoving one another

the It’s A Wonderful Life episode that dares to taunt me with “Tobias is the only one who met Elfangor” but does nothing with it

the Ellimist looking like a Star Wars hologram and sending Rachel back from the Bad Future with a knife 

Jake and Marco’s Blade Ship joyride that for some reason ends with a swamp crash and them just abandoning it

Visser One is an evil gardener now

Rachel only mauls like two people which feels like a crime against her character

Ax getting lassoed like a wild mustang

[seodami]

Gym surprises | KTH

Genre: Fluff, simping, (((suggestive???no?)))

Warning: thirsting over muscles, being awkward, mentioning of sweat

Word count: 1376

Pairing: Kang Taehyun x reader (gn)

Note: so so I just imagined going to the same gym as Taehyun after watching talk x today and he would honestly be a great gym buddy fr love his determination! Go go Taehyun!✨ anyways please don’t sexualise him I just think he has been working great on himself and has great physics! He is really working hard!

Main Masterlist

Sweat was dripping down your forehead, over the bridge of your nose onto your fitted red sport shirt. You quickly let go of the handles, belonging to the hanging leg raise workout equipment of your local gym. You tried standing.

Your feet were still wobbly from the previous exercise, now having to mainly focus on the intense pain in your abdominal muscles. With a quick movement you grabbed your small towel and dabbed away the fresh sweat on your face. A long sip of water closely followed.

Still with heavy breathing, trying to calm yourself down, you took a glance around the almost vacant gym. There were not many people around at this hour. Most people decided to come near the afternoon.

There was an older woman running on the track mill, humming softly to the tunes played from her headphones you believed. She obviously tried to block out the fast energizing sounds from the gyms speakers. You never minded them, being too occupied with your own thoughts anyway.

Further on the side, there was a very muscular man, working further on his biceps and triceps, even though they probably already had the size of your head. There were some actual gym monsters here. You and your noodle arms couldn’t even dare to compare. But you still wanted to keep fit and sporty, not being the next bodybuilder.

Your eyes moved towards the fully mirrored wall. Your eyes froze upon a head full of reddish hair. And an extremely attractive backside of a young man, probably around your age. Instead of being the decent human being, you should probably be, your eyes watched attentively how his muscles tensed at the impact of the weightlifting. His arms were smaller than the guy before but they looked just right on him. You already admired his hard working spirit.

To put it into words: this guy was absolutely goddamn attractive in your eyes. He had a determined look on his face, his dyed sweaty hair was sticking to his forehead. Besides that, his facial features were just heavenly. Eyes as big as coins and a defined jawline, sharp nose.

When your eyes met his suddenly in the mirror, it struck to you how long you must’ve stared at the stranger. You immediately averted your gaze, anywhere else. Oh look, what a nice water dispenser and wow, nice sweat stain on your shirt. The incoming blush on your face didn’t make it any easier.

Suddenly remembering you still haven’t finished your set, you moved up your recently used machine, propping your back up against the backside and started moving your legs upwards. You just prayed that he didn’t just catch you staring at him so obviously and that wasn’t looking at you now. Why was your life so humiliating sometimes?

When you finished your set, you quickly moved machines, just thinking about moving out of his eye sight radius. To your disadvantage, you didn’t think clearly about where to go next, resulting in you awkwardly trying to find out how to work this machine in particular, you never happened to use before. Really humiliating Y/N, actually!

No matter how hard you tried to move it, it didn’t budge by the impact. Not even an inch. This was just your lucky day. You were on the verge of quitting this unexplainable weird machine and moving on, when you suddenly heard a voice next to you.

“Do you maybe need help with this?” Your head whipped in lightning speed towards the source of the soft voice, to your shock swing the blond haired attractive guy in front of you. He now had a grey towel hanging from his shoulder and a water bottle in his hand. The strands of his hair were still sticking on his damp forehead. You nearly choked from pure air, being in such close proximity to him. From up close, he looked even more handsome.

Your eyes went wide, struggling to say anything. Your head was like cotton candy, nothing wise seemed to come out. You remembered faintly croaking out a strained and way too high ‘yes please’, when he started to explain you what you did wrong. You subconsciously held your breath, having him bend over to the front of the machine to adjust the settings more fitting to you.

“It’s a tricky machine, honestly. I wouldn’t have understood it either without a coaches help.” He explained, his hand now resting on his hip bone. You noticed the thick veins along his strong muscular arm, making you literally wanna hold onto them.

You looked up to him again. He had a gentle smile on his face. “Is it now better? You need to move this up in order to begin- yes just like that - perfect” he watched you finally being able to move on your own. You sighted in relieve, giggling slightly in embarrassment.

“Thank you, oh god I must’ve looked so embarrassing.” He looked down swiftly on the ground before shaking his head laughing lightly. “No it’s all good. Not many people use this machine in the first place. I’m glad to help.”

“You didn’t say it wasn’t embarrassing.” You chuckled, nervously trying to avert your gaze onto his shoes. He giggled childlike, not fitting to his first impression exactly, but still making you feel giddy. “Well, it looked a bit funny but it was cute.” He grinned cheekily. You flushed even harder, trying to persuade yourself that it was only looking like you just had finished a heavy workout.

“Hey, if you have any more questions about equipment or else wise, I’m right over there. Don’t feel shy to ask.” He pointed pack to the place in front of the mirror, he was standing before. His other hand reached for his neck as he send you a last smile, seeing as you nod and thank him again.

You couldn’t help but smile to yourself, feeling the typical symptoms of an incoming crush. In the corner of your eye you saw him get into position again. Your eyes met again for a swift moment before you both looked away. Were you really that easy to be swooned? Yes you were.

Half an hour and three more exercises machines later, you finally figured out a plan inside your tiny head. You couldn’t just let this chance slip away like the other ones. You were a goddamn strong woman who can pursue her own desires. And you were feeling surprisingly bold after this small encounter, so why not giving it a shot? The worst thing could happen was that you need to change gyms. You could live with that.

So after finally collecting all your courage you possibly could have, you went to the counter, asking for a piece of paper and a pen, quickly writing your phone number and name in large letters.

With a last deep breath, your feet carried you over to the other end of the gym, where the attractive boy was now working hard on the lat pulldown machine. Standing in front of him, you suddenly felt shy again, twiddling with your fingers.

He stopped to greet you again with a bright smile. Without much overthinking, you pressed the small piece of paper in his sweaty hand. He looked up to you with big sparkling eyes as if you should elaborate.

“Just...just you know, if I need anymore advices.” You managed to say, feeling your cheeks warm up once again. Before he could reply anything, you already muttered out a high pitched ‘bye’ and turned around to head towards the changing cabins. You gathered your belongings and left without making a scene or embarrassing you even further. Your whole car ride home was filled with doubtful discussions with yourself.

What you didn’t saw, was his relieved gentle smile after he opened the folded piece of paper, finding your phone number and name on it. Y/N...

So instead of having a shower on top of his priority to do list after going to the gym today, it changed to texting your number with the best feeling of confidence in his system.