What's This?

The Strength & Fitness Newsletter is a weekly email newsletter which summarises the things added to Straight to the Bar (as well as a few gems from the archives). Absolutely free.

btw, I’d love to hear your feedback – both on the individual items and the newsletters themselves. Drop a comment below the relevant issue, or swing by Twitter ( I’m @scottbird ).

cheers,

Scott

Ready To Learn Even More?

I love learning new skills, and the many seminars & workshops available are a great way to do that. If you’re looking for a specific type of workshop nearby, check out the ones on Dragon Door. Great mix of kettlebell and calisthenics-based offerings.

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Podcasts

I listen to an ever-changing pool of podcasts, discussing the many aspects of training and nutrition possible. Most recently :
FoundMyFitness (Dr Matthew Walker on Sleep)

Over to you. Any you’d recommend?

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Strength Training on Instagram

It’s fair to say that we’ve checked out quite a few images over the years – on Flickr & Smugmug in particular.

A friend of mine just pointed me to Chris Stanciu ‘s Instagram feed, which contains a great mix of nutrition and workout images :

instagram.com/officialgainsthetics.

NB : if you’d like to share your own images, just add them to one of the sites noted above and send us a link.

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Strength Training on Facebook

I suspect you love talking about strength training constantly (certainly the case here), and you’re always on the lookout for places to do that. Comments on various sites, forums as well as various in-person communities.

Online, I gravitate toward both Twitter and Facebook. In addition to the SttB offerings, here’s another one you may wish to check out :

Garage Gym Reviews (Cooper Mitchell’s page)

We’ve noted a few of his videos in the past, and they’re great for diving in deep on a particular type of equipment. Nice one.

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Twitter Lists

I use Twitter for a number of things, as I’m sure everyone else here does. To talk about strength training, nutrition and many other topics. Works well.

To make this a little easier – and so people can dive right in to the topics that interest them – I use Twitter’s ‘List‘ functionality quite a bit. There’s a full list of them here :

https://twitter.com/scottbird/lists

Whatever you’re in to, it’s all there.

NB : the above lists are always being fine-tuned. If you know of someone who tweets regularly about a particular subject and should be on one of them, let me know.

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Other (Daily) Newsletters You Might Like

Finally, for a daily dose of tangentially-related information – check out the following. All are compiled daily, and cover the following topics :

Aging & Longevity (living for a very, very long time)
Electric Cars in Australia (great way to help tackle air-pollution)
Better Sleep Nightly (my favourite form of recovery)

And yes, they’re absolutely free.

Bruce Lee : The Art of Expressing the Human Body (Bruce Lee & John Little)

If you’ve ever watched a Bruce Lee film and marveled at his strength, speed, agility, endurance, flexibility or muscularity, this book should take pride of place in your collection. Unlike many other writings covering everything from Lee’s training methods to nutrition, this book is based not on the recollections of people around him; but on Lee’s own notes. Brilliant.

Definitely worthy of a place on the fitness shelf.

Bruce Lee : The Art of Expressing the Human Body.

Monday, 26 April 2010

This Week on Straight to the Bar

I’m constantly amazed at just how much my training is influenced by the people on this site. Whether you’re looking for a new piece of equipment, an unusual exercise variation or just an idea of how others approach things, you’ll enjoy these :

First Powerlifting Meet
Various authors
On the forums, both Chris and Meatax are getting ready for their first powerlifting meet (fantastic experience). What advice would you give them?
Floral Apron Adventures : 26
GoodyGirl77
The hard training continues. Nice one.

Ready to add your own workout log or training article? Just head over to the Training Logs, or swing by the Article Submissions page. They’re fantastic ways to share your ideas.

NB : if you enjoy the articles, show the authors your appreciation by voting (using the Like, Digg and Retweet icons). Cheers.

Video : Pain Time – Farmers’ Holds

Combining grip strength, mental toughness and a great posterior chain workout. Farmers’ Holds.

Checking Out : Bulldog Leash

Bulldog Leash.

Just noticed this on the Art of Strength site – the Bulldog Leash. Essentially a covered 10′ length of chain designed to attach to the base of a kettlebell, ready for swinging, lifting, throwing, and other fun things.
Looks fantastic.

Coming Events

Girlwithnoname.

Twitterchat 63 – Kettlebell Training for Beginners : I love training with kettlebells. Indoors or outdoors, by themselves or with ropes, bands and other fun things.
This week we’re taking a look at Kettlebell Training for Beginners – how to get started with this wonderful form of training, what to use and where to go for help. The way to go from a complete novice to someone who uses them on a regular basis.
Helping us to navigate this fascinating world is Jackie, better known as @girlwithnoname. Fantastic.

Details –
Who : Strength-training fans
Topic : Kettlebell Training for Beginners
When : Wed Apr 28, 9pm EST (1am UTC)
How : include #sbgym in your tweets.
To see when it’s on in your timezone, head over to the twitterchat calendar.
See you there.
NB : If you’d like to be a guest on a future twitterchat, let me know. It’s great to hear how other people are training.
Nitro Circus Live

Nitro Circus Live.

Last night, 60 Minutes (the Australian version) had a segment on motocross rider and stuntman Travis Pastrana; the core of Nitro Circus.
For anyone who’s currently enjoying the sun in this beautiful part of the world, there’s a great chance to check out Travis in action – the Nitro Circus Live show. Fantastic.

Learning From : Free eBooks, Podcasts and More

Free eBooks.

I’ve added a number of ebooks to the list of items that newsletter subscribers receive. For everyone who’s already signed up, here are the links. As a bonus, there are also a number of sites, podcasts and newsletters I recommend :
Free eBooks, Podcasts and More
NB : if you’d like to recommend an item to add to this list – whether it’s yours or just one you’ve stumbled across – I’d love to hear about it. Thanks.

Exercise of the Week : Band-Assisted Handstand Push-up

Handstand Push-ups are great things, and this is the perfect way to test them out. Band assisted.