Cheap Crack for Powerlifters
By Chad AichsPublished: May 13, 2010
Posted in: Powerlifting, Products & Reviews
Tags: ammonia caps, chad aichs, crack, powerlifting
I feel bad for the ammonia caps, they never really get the credit they deserve! They’re such a fine addition to any hardcore gym bag and in fact should be one of the essential keys to it being a hardcore gym bag, right next to a bottle of ephedra and box of ding dongs. No ammonia? Then it’s just another yuppie workout bag with lifting gloves, anti-bacterial wipes, and a fluffy little towel for wiping their sensitive forehead off so a bead of sweat doesn’t get in their girly eyes. Real hardcore lifters sniff the hell of the ammonia!
The ammonia cap is like cheap crack for a powerlifter. When you need that little pick-me-up for a big squat, your little friend, the ammonia cap, will never let you down. It opens the sinuses, gets your body to release a big hit of adrenaline and gets the heart pounding! There’s reason they stick an ammonia cap under the nose of a big lineman that knocked himself out on the field…it’s because it wakes his big ass up! Once you take that big sniff in, you just want to rip a door off a car, or rampage through a town like Godzilla. It clears your head of all that daily grind bullshit, and gets too much adrenaline going to worry about that shit. It gets you jacked up and ready to destroy some big weights.
The ammonia cap is such a great device and it’s so simple to use. Although most people go sissy with it – they crack it with their arms stretched away from their body and gradually start sniffing it as they bring it closer. They get within a foot of their nose and throw it down. This is the complete sissy way to go about it.
The man way – the hardcore way – is to push all the air out of the lungs and hold it while you crack the ammonia directly under the nose, touching the bottom of the nose. Then, you immediately inhale as much air as you can. That does the trick! You want your eyes watering and you want to get to the point when you can’t help but let a good yell out. Then as you progress with your ammonia addiction, you’ll eventually have to jump up to two caps at a time. After that, you go to actually sticking them in the nostrils. The nostrils will burn a bit from the ammonia, but this is normal and really ads to the whole effect. When you get really hardcore, you’ll go straight to the source and get a bottle of ammonia. Holding it under the nose breathing in and out while making bubbles in the bottle. This is hardcore, although not sure how healthy it is to sit and sniff a bottle of ammonia for long periods of time. Most people will stick with the ammonia cap.
I’ve had a long love affair with the ammonia cap…ever since the first time I took a big hit, I was addicted. I spread this addiction to my team. It’s like food when we’re training – you don’t break out the ammonia caps unless you have enough to share with everyone. That includes someone who is just spotting for the day. When a lifter cracks his ammonia and throws it on the floor, as soon as the lift is over, others will scramble for it to see if it has any bite left. Just like a bum looking for good cigarette butts. I had one partner taking the ammonia caps out of the first aid kits at work. I think the company was totally confused on where they were going and eventually stopped ordering them. It’s not uncommon for a team member to ask if anyone has ammonia just because his sinuses are all stuffed up and he want to clear them out. My training partner, Scott, gets pissed if he doesn’t get enough of a hit to make his eyes water and gags a bit. I’ve spread out to using the ammonia caps for my highland games too.
I once read a comment on one of my videos were someone ask if I was sniffing coke before I lift…what a dumbass! The poor ammonia cap just doesn’t get the credit it deserves. It’s a beautiful, wonderful, extremely helpful little thing that’s always there to get you up for the big lifts and never lets you down.
.gif "IP Gear")
