Image by TheCrookedMon via TikTok
In a grotesque twist to the online trend of “looksmaxxing,” a term referring to male incels looking to maximize their own physical attractiveness, a TikTok user has spent over 160 days working out just a single trapezius muscle.
In daily update videos, the college student, who goes by the fitting online handle TheCrookedMon, showed off the results of his unorthodox “looks minimizing” strategy: a massively imbalanced shoulder muscle diagonally — and unsettlingly — stretching from the left side of his head to his left shoulder.
Why? Besides a modicum of internet clout, we’re still not entirely sure.
To get his very particular gains, TheCrookedMon did daily shrugs on his left side only, using a variety of objects, including a dog, a backpack, and a pack of drinks at the grocery store.
Instead of cheering him on, commenters appeared largely concerned for his health.
“Bro you proved your point,” one user wrote, with a crying emoji.
“Bro stop please,” another comment reads.
Others were more impressed.
“This is literally the biggest flex I’ve ever seen,” one user wrote.
The trend became so big, it spawned an entire memecoin, dubbed $TRAPMAN. According to DexScreener, the coin spiked to a value of $0.00003649 — yes, you read that decimal point correctly — when it launched on April 13. Unsurprisingly, the dubious asset crashed almost immediately, wiping out most of its value.
The jury is still out on whether TheCrookedMon could be damaging his body, but chances are he’ll be fine in the long run. Researchers have found that primarily focusing on training just one side of the body could still have plenty of benefits for the other side.
It’s a particularly pertinent reality for those recovering from an injury or missing part of their body. Research has shown that training just one side could even build muscle mass in an unused, injured limb through the triggering of neural pathways, a phenomenon referred to as the “cross-training effect” or “cross-education.”
However, that doesn’t mean we condone the kind of eyebrow-raising workout regimen TheCrookedMon chose for himself — there are far better ways to design a unilateral training plan.
In a tongue-in-cheek April 2 video, he attempted to explain why he intentionally sacrificed his looks.
“I was scrolling TikToks in my Ferrari, and I kept getting these looksmaxxing TikToks,” he said. “And they were like, ‘Do this, do that, you’ll look more attractive, you’ll get more women.”
“And it’s like, people have that problem?” he added. “I’ve the opposite problem. I get so many DMs I don’t even have time to get through them all.”
“If I have the opposite problem, then I need the opposite solution,” TheCrookedMon argued.
Worse things are on the horizon: Over the past month, TheCrookedMan has now started working out just his right leg.
More on the incel community: A Google-Backed AI Startup Is Hosting Chatbots Modeled After Real-Life School Shooters — and Their Victims
