Powerlifting Is Just One Flex for Check My Ads’ Arielle Garcia

Being the director of intelligence for adtech watchdog group Check My Ads means a lot of heavy lifting for Arielle Garcia.

She leads research and industry engagement for the nonprofit, “starting the conversations that no one else is really in a position to start.” Currently, that’s a deep dive into the motives and funding of trade associations. The organization’s spotlight shines wherever there’s a need for transparency to benefit advertisers large and small.

But it’s not the only heavy work she does: Up to six times a week, Garcia and her husband, Chris, get up at 5:30 a.m. for an hour of lifting weights in their home’s garage-turned-gym.

“It’s something about starting the day lifting something very heavy—makes the idea of fixing the industry feel possible,” she said with a laugh. “There is something about feeling powerful first thing in the morning that just really changes your outlook on the day.”

The hobby began during the pandemic, when the couple got tired of the work-from-home rut. “There were days where we would hardly actually look up and talk to each other,” she recalled. “It’s been so nice that we found this passion and hobby, and start every day doing something intentional together.”

They began reconnecting by focusing on their health: changing their diets and doing video workouts. Garcia found herself enjoying the weightlifting videos more than “jumping around,” so they got a set of weights from Facebook Marketplace, which ignited something else.

As a “very goal-oriented person,” powerlifting—which focuses on lifting as much weight as possible—offered a built-in way to track progress and keeps her pushing limits. In November, she reached a new personal best of 400 pounds in the deadlift, where the barbell is picked up from the ground. (The typical deadlift for a woman is just shy of 200 pounds.)

It’s not a hobby she can set aside without losing her hard-won gains. While covering the Google antitrust trial this fall in Washington, D.C., Garcia’s Check My Ads team found her a place to stay across the street from a gym.

Since she had duties before and after the daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. trial, she was up at 4:30 a.m. to get her lifts in. “I was not a diva—I did not ask for this, but they know me and somehow they found the absolute perfect place,” Garcia said.

Besides improving her health “significantly,” weightlifting has been a powerful stress management tool. But one activity won’t work for everyone—the key is trying out a lot of them to find something you enjoy.

“I was never a big sports [or] fitness person,” Garcia said, describing herself as “allergic” to running, until she tried weightlifting.

And being so close to their gym removed any excuses to skip working out. So her second, equally important piece of advice, is “make it practical for yourself.”