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 :
DIY : How to Build Your Own Tire Sled
Matt Hunt
I love occasionally building my own training gear – great way to test out new ideas. Matt walks us through the process of building a particularly fun training tool – the Tyre Sled.
Sgt Sweaty : A New Beginning
Kevin ‘Sgt Sweaty‘ Miller
How did Kevin become obscenely strong? Like this.
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 : I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment beneath the article itself, and share your views with the fantastic strength-training community. Cheers.
Video : Dave Lemanczyk – On Form, Frequency, & Gains
If you’ve watched Keg Conditioning, you know that Dave clearly knows his stuff.
Over the past couple of weeks he’s uploaded a stack of videos to his youtube channel, both demonstrating and analysing various aspects of his own training. Here’s just one example – a detailed analysis of form, frequency and gains.
Nice one.
Twitterchat 110 – Making the Most of Your Gym Time
For those of you who’ve got your own training facility (or are considering getting one), how do you make the most of your time there? How do you not only look after yourself, but keep the business running well?
This is the first part of a discussion on ‘Making the Most of Your Gym Time‘, looking at the business side of things. How to get client referrals, marketing, supplemental income and so on. Everything that can mean the difference between financial success and failure. Helping us explore this fascinating topic is none other than Body by D-Rock‘s Derek Peruo (@bodybydrock). Fantastic.
Details –
Who : Strength-training fans
Topic : Making the Most of Your Gym Time
When : Wed Mar 23, 9pm EDT (1am UTC)
How : Include #sbgym in your tweets.
If you’ve never been to one of these twitterchats before, here’s how to join in the fun. Simple, quick to set up and free.
And to see when it’s on in your timezone, head over to the twitterchat calendar.
See you there.
Quick update on last week’s twitterchat : Thanks once again to everyone who took part in the discussion on The Future of Fitness. Some superb ideas in there.
For those who missed out on the conversation, here’s a brief summary. Was a great one.
Checking Out : StrongerGrip Olympic Plate Adapter Sleeve
Perfect timing.
I’ve been doing the eBay thing quite a bit lately, and it’s fair to say that I’ve amassed quite a respectable collection of plates (both Olympic and standard, in various conditions). For the Olympic ones among them, this is ideal.
It’s a StrongerGrip adapter sleeve to enable the Olympic plates to be used with all kinds of grip toys. It’s shown here on a Red Rafter, but it also works beautifully with things like the Gripballs.
If you love your grip work (and I can’t exactly blame you), and are keen to make a little more use of your Olympic plates, check out the StrongerGrip Olympic Plate Adapter Sleeve. Beautiful thing.
Quick update on Home Made Strength II : Grip Strength Edition : A few weeks ago we noted Jedd’s upcoming DVD (now on sale), the second in the Home Made Strength series. Absolutely fantastic.
This is the one that shows precisely how to build – and train with – several fantastic grip tools. It really is top quality.
Thanks to everyone who grabbed a copy, and to those that left feedback; it’s greatly appreciated. If you haven’t yet got one for yourself, you can grab it here. Love it.
Exercise of the Week : The Front Squat
Although somewhat uncommon, the Front Squat is a fantastic exercise. Quite apart from shifting the emphasis to different areas of the body, it encourages everything from core stability to an appreciation of the benefits of the clean grip.
This video – part of the incredible Squat Rx series – takes a very thorough look at the Front Squat. Definitely a keeper.
Question : if you’re just starting out with the Front Squat, or don’t yet have the flexibility you like, how do you typically hold the bar? As you’ll see, there are plenty of choices.
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.
Free eBooks from Straight to the Bar
As a Strength & Fitness Newsletter subscriber you get several great eBooks, absolutely free. Just head over here, save them to your hard-drive, and dive in.
Good stuff.
NB : This is an ever-changing list of books. If you’d like to put your own work in front of a fantastic strength-focussed audience, let me know.