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, 4 Apr 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 :

Spider/Blob & Variety
Dan Hardisky
A modern twist on an unusual 1960s training method.

Training Logs : Database, Spreadsheet, Paper etc?
Various authors
This is a great discussion on how training logs are stored and updated – whether that involves a pencil & paper, a spreadsheet, a database or an application on your phone or tablet. Whatever you use, we’d love to hear about it.

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 : DIY Pinch Grip Apparatus

More DIY goodness, this time in the form of a 115lb pinch grip apparatus. Love it.

Twitterchat 112 – Outdoor Training

Log Flipping.

I love training outdoors. Hot or cold, wet weather or not. Always fun.
This week we’re discussing the many ways to get at least part of your training outside, and the benefits of doing just that. Helping us explore this fascinating topic is none other than USA Jungle Gym‘s Daniel Lapic (@mantis77). Fantastic.

Details –
Who : Strength-training fans
Topic : Outdoor Training
When : Wed Apr 6, 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.

Bo Jackson Sports & Wellness Center. Photo by Kat ‘The Mighty Kat‘ Ricker.

Quick update on last week’s twitterchat : Thanks once again to everyone who took part in the discussion on Making the Most of Your Gym Time II. Some superb ideas in there.
For those who missed out on the conversation, here’s a brief summary. Was a great one.

Checking Out : Foam Roller Workbook

Foam Roller Workbook.

Whether you’re recovering, stretching or managing pain, the foam roller is your friend. Great thing.
The Foam Roller Workbook is a detailed look at using this deceptively simple piece of equipment. No matter how the roller fits in to your own training regime, this book will show you exactly what to use; and how. Very comprehensive.
The book comes out in hardcover form on June 1st, and a little before that for the digital version. Looking forward to it.

The Beast Sled.

Quick update on the Beast Sled : Last week we noted the Beast Sled; beautiful thing.
If you haven’t ordered yours yet, swing by the The Beast Sled site and check them out. I’d love to hear what you think.

Exercise of the Week : The Zottman Curl

George Zottman.

Long-term readers may recall the discussion on Philadelphia strongman George Zottman, and the exercise which bears his name – The Zottman Curl. A somewhat uncommon, though incredibly effective movement.
This is a dumbbell bicep curl with a twist – quite literally. The weight is curled using the standard supinated (palm facing up) grip, with the wrist angled back slightly so as to make the bicep do all the heavy lifting. At the top of the curl the wrist is straightened and the hand rotated 180 degrees, before being slowly lowered to the start position. The hand is then rotated 180 degrees and the cycle begins again.

This movement succeeds in working both the biceps and forearms, and is a great way to warm up the entire arm. Here it is in action :

Great exercise.

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.

Time for Some New Gear? Here’s What to Get, and How to Use It

Thanks to everyone who’s sent in feedback (via email, Facebook and Twitter) about the Straight to the Bar Guides – it’s greatly appreciated.
For everyone who hasn’t seen them yet, the Guides will help you decide what to get (and where), and how to train with it. There’s some great information in there.