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, 15 Nov 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 :

Rob’s Training Log
Rob Sinnott
Hard and heavy.
Pushups Hardcore Mix
Serious Athletes
If you’re looking for a bit of a challenge with your push-ups, check out this video. Some great variations (especially the unstable ones).

Ready to add your own opinion, workout log or training article? Just head over to the Forums, 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 and Retweet icons above & below each post). Cheers.

Video : Homemade Reverse Hyper

Extremely creative. Fantastic.

Twitterchat 92 – Auxiliary Olympic Lifts for Core Strength

Kat ‘The Mighty Kat‘ Ricker.

If the idea of core training doesn’t exactly get you excited, make sure you join this discussion. Whether you’re working out at home or in a commercial facility, we’ve got a few ideas to share.
This week we’re taking a close look at Auxiliary Olympic Lifts for Core Strength, in any form, anywhere. Everything from the prerequisite strength and skills to testing and measurement. Helping us explore this fascinating topic is bodybuilder, serious lifter and fitness writer Kat ‘The Mighty Kat‘ Ricker (@themightykat). Fantastic.
NB : As I’m currently travelling and without internet access for a few days, Derek ‘Body by D-Rock‘ Peruo has graciously agreed to take on the role of guest moderator for this discussion. Should be a great one.

Details –
Who : Strength-training fans
Topic : Auxiliary Olympic Lifts for Core Strength
When : Wed Nov 17, 9pm EDT (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.

Rob Decillis.

Quick update on last week’s twitterchat : Thanks once again to everyone who took part in the discussion on Getting Started with Combat Training. Some superb ideas in there.
For those who missed out on the conversation, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Are you currently learning one of the many combat sports? Which one?

Checking Out : Primal Blueprint Reader Created Cookbook

Primal Blueprint Reader Created Cookbook.

Readers of Mark Sisson‘s (Mark’s Daily Apple) newsletter may have noticed a link to The Primal Blueprint Reader Created Cookbook, a fantastic collection of primal-friendly recipes (including more than a couple I’m keen to test out here).
Head over to the blog, check out the newsletter and grab the free ebook. Love it.

Exercise of the Week : Seated Rope Pull

There are many, many ways to train with a length of thick rope – climbing, undulating and dragging. Good fun.
This week we’re looking at one of my favourites, the Seated Rope Pull. Over to Joe.

As you can see, the choice of weight is up to you. Plates, kettlebells, sandbags; or children. Great way to get the kids involved.