What is HEAVIES?
It’s a modern newsletter about health, wellness (including the dark side), and learning how to feel good in your body. The goal is to create a practical yet spiritual publication that’s conversational, winking, and useful for thoughtful folks who might feel intimidated by the current fitness and health ecosystem… or just think all that stuff out there is corny—which it is.
Who’s behind HEAVIES?
HEAVIES is by Chris Gayomali, a writer and longtime GQ editor. He’s written stories on everyone from Steven Yeun to Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus to Acronym designer Errolson Hugh. You might know him from his viral feature on cosmetic leg lengthening, which was so widely talked about that Saturday Night Live saw fit to spoof it.
Outside of journalism he’s a Muay Thai practitioner and sometimes competitor who spends a lot of his downtime training at Five Points Academy in Soho/Chinatown.
(photo by the great Gemma Fleming)
He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son but is originally from Long Beach, California, which means that he surfs and knows how to play the bassline to “Santeria.”
Obviously, to the great dismay of his parents, he is not a doctor. So all the usual disclaimers around health and discretion apply here.
Where did the name HEAVIES come from?
One time someone at the gym referred to the big kettlebells as “the heavies”—which sounded cool. So here we are.
What do I get if I subscribe?
The bulk of this site will be free and accessible for everyone, but for the monthly cost of a single cold brew, paying subscribers will get insider access to some of the cool stuff that Chris is making (TK on all that) as well as complete access to the archive of gym routines, recovery recommendations, protocols, and more.
What if I can’t afford a subscription?
All good! Just DM me—er, Chris—with your email and the post you want to read.
Who designed the HEAVIES logo? It’s super sick.
You sound like someone with exquisite taste, thank you for asking. The HEAVIES logo was designed by GOATED design god MIKE SUNDAY.
What are cool people saying about HEAVIES?
HEAVIES is officially a Substack-featured publication. Peep the badge:
“Every new newsletter is more or less obligated to sell you on itself in its first send, but few do so as assuredly or with as much narrative flow as Chris does in his introduction to HEAVIES.” — Laura Reilly
“fine dark nutrition content” — SNAKE
“Chris Gayomali is one of kindest and most generous editors I’ve ever worked with — and that’s not just because he assigned me profiles of Usher and Zendaya. I’m thrilled to read his new letter HEAVIES.” — Hunter Harris
“The landscape for quality men’s health and wellness news is pretty sparse. GQ is decent, the How Long Gone guys do a pretty good job, and I take what Joe Holder says as gospel. But I don’t think there’s necessarily a standout cool voice online for this kind of stuff” — Emily Sundberg
“gorgeous Substack” — Yasi Salek
