Strength & Fitness Newsletter

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

DragonDoor Workshops

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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, 3 Jan 2011

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 :

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 SU and Twitter icons beneath each post). Cheers.


Video : Training to Set Heavy Grippers (Using Lighter Ones)

Joe, this is fantastic. Your creativity is truly amazing.


Twitterchat 99 – Motivation

Dean Coulson

Dean Coulson.

What is motivation? What role does it play in your training, and how can it be improved?
This week we’re taking a look at this fascinating area from a number of angles. What it is, how to get it, and how to use it to your advantage. Helping us explore this fascinating topic is none other than All Round Athlete‘s Dean Coulson (@DeanCoulson). Fantastic.


Details –
Who : Strength-training fans
Topic : Motivation
When : Wed Jan 5, 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.

Anthony Paradis

Anthony Paradis.

Quick update on last week’s twitterchat : Thanks once again to everyone who took part in the discussion on Improving Your Client’s Success. Some superb ideas in there.
For those who missed out on the conversation, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Are your clients aware of each others’ goals? What about those of clients who’ve already achieved them?

Looking Forward To : You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises

You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises

You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises.

This looks great.
Having refined his routines training various groups of Special Forces operatives, Mark Lauren has teamed up with writer Joshua Clark to create this extremely detailed work. For anyone who enjoys the challenge of the occasional bodyweight session, You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises looks like a superb read.
Comes out tomorrow.

Exercise of the Week : One-Arm Weighted Bar Hang

Although this exercise isn’t one of the most common in the world, it’s certainly one of the most unappreciated. It’s also a great way to add to your grip training.
The idea is simple : using one hand only, hang from a chinning bar (more difficult than it sounds). In the other hand, hold your choice of weight – a kettlebell, dumbbell, plate : whatever’s nearby.
For a little variation, try the alternating version shown in the video below. Or just hang for as long as you can. Good fun.

Incidentally, if you’d like to get in touch regarding this or any other aspect of strength, you can send me an email here. Look forward to hearing from you.