New York City Council member Chi Oss\u00e9 might be a Pisces, but on the day we meet, he\u2019s telling me about what he calls \u201cthe other big three outside of astrology\u201d: back squat, bench press, and deadlift.<\/p>\n
This past weekend, Oss\u00e9 competed in his first powerlifting competition, one-piece singlet and all. He fell in love with lifting about a year and a half ago when his CrossFit box began offering classes. \u201cIt felt really nice to pick up heavy weights and put them back down,\u201d Oss\u00e9 says. \u201cIt\u2019s very primal, but somehow also meditative and peaceful.\u201d<\/p>\n
After that first class, he started training with Anthony Aristy<\/a> and quickly bulked up. He likens the experience to a real-life version of a video game: \u201cI was just getting stronger and learning new skills and hitting new levels and picking up heavier weights.\u201d<\/p>\n Photo: Lisa Eri<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n This past weekend, he leveled up by joining his first-ever powerlifting competition. He describes the week leading up to the event as \u201cincredibly hectic at work\u201d\u2014he attended an event tied to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in DC; on the morning of the competition, he filmed a video with Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion; and he got arrested<\/a> while protesting the eviction of one of his constituents. \u201cIt\u2019s so funny to be thinking about my protein<\/a> intake and trying to be consistent with my creatine<\/a>,\u201d he says, \u201cwhen I\u2019m also doing my regular politics job.\u201d (For the record, he tries to eat between 200 and 250 grams of protein a day\u2014essentially one gram per pound of body weight\u2014a rule Aristy taught him.)<\/p>\n The competition itself was big for Oss\u00e9. He PRed (set new personal records) twice, and had a lot of fun. \u201cI see exercise as a part of self-care,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a symbiotic relationship\u2014I have found it essential for me to exercise in order for me to do my job and navigate the world.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was nervous, but [the competition] was an incredibly welcoming space. All week, I had been running on endorphins. Obviously, there were big bro-dudes, but there were other folks there that you wouldn’t really consider to be the powerlifting archetype.\u201d He counts himself as somebody in the latter. \u201cI view powerlifting and getting buff as a leftist, queer person as something really important. It\u2019s political for me to take control of my body and get strong\u2014it\u2019s an act of resistance. The manosphere and the patriarchy seem to think that if you\u2019re not white, straight, and conservative, then you\u2019re weak. Getting buff and shutting them up is just a form of resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/assets.vogue.com\/photos\/69f255cd3a31cd6902b47913\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/IMG_3436.jpeg\"\/)
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