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 :
Health & Fitness Research
Various authors
There has been some fantastic research posted recently (particularly surrounding Vit D, and new stem cell trials), both on the forums and the Facebook page. Dive in.
Calculating Your One-Rep Max (1RM) (registered forum members only)
Scott Andrew Bird
How do you work out your 1RM? 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 : Bulgarian Bag Guillotine Series
Interesting way to put the Bulgarian Bag to work. Nice one.
Twitterchat 120 – Exercise Variations
You know the feeling.
Perhaps you’ve run out plates, or room on the bar. Perhaps you’re sick of the routine, and want something a little different. Or perhaps you’re just having a great day, and want a bit more of a challenge.
Whatever the reason, there’s always a way to switch things up. An alternative exercise, the use of bands or chains; shorter rest breaks and so on.
This week we’re discussing these options, and many others. How to make your favourite exercises just a little more interesting, challenging and – in some cases – effective. Looking forward to it.
Details –
Who : Strength-training fans
Topic : Exercise Variations
When : Wed Jun 1, 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.
The Virtualmeet.net Gathering 2011
Kris, this looks fantastic.
The Gathering is quite simply a way to physically meet those you’ve only competed against virtually (in the Virtual Meets – great things). It takes place in Kris’ own outdoor gym just outside Vaasa, western Finland.
To give you an idea of what goes on during the 4 days of The Gathering, here are some of the photos from the last meet-up in 2009. There’s also an excellent write-up by Alberto Caraballo over on his blog The Reinvention Tour.
For full details – and to sign up – head over to the Virtual Meet site. Beautiful.
Quick update on last week’s twitterchat : Thanks once again to everyone who took part in the discussion on Biofeedback. Some superb ideas in there.
For those who missed out on the conversation, here’s a brief summary. Was a great one.
Tip of the Week: Why Armwrestlers are Called ‘Pullers‘ (and How To Be a Better One)
Each week we publish a number of tips and techniques via twitter, facebook, the forums, the blog; and now the newsletter. Wherever you are, there’s always a way to improve what you’re doing.
This tip comes to us via professional armwrestler Scott Latella, and is part of his superb article How to Become a Better Armwrestler. Enjoy.
Pulling: If you go to an armwrestling tournament or maybe watch some matches on YouTube you will notice people calling matches pulls or hear armwrestlers being called pullers. Why?? Well the best basic move in armwrestling is to first pull your opponent’s arm back to you before trying to press sideways for the pin.
Armwrestling is a leverage sport; gain that advantage and your chances of winning skyrocket. So when getting your grip focus on a nice tight grip, tighten your whole arm so it stays super tight at a 90% angle and then when the ref (or 3rd buddy) says go, yank his arm straight back to you (aim for your nose). If he is not ready for this his arm will open up and you will have a great leverage advantage. At this point you go for the pin and thrust sideways. Can you say winner??
Checking Out : The StrongerThanU Ultimate Anchor
This is a great idea.
StrongerThanU is a collaboration between StrongerGrip’s Ryan Pitts and trainer Eric Chessen. This product – the StrongerThanU Ultimate Anchor – is a superbly simple concept; an anchor point for undulating rope training, for up to 4 people at once. If you train groups of people using things like the Battling Ropes, the StrongerThanU Ultimate Anchor really is an essential piece of kit.
Beautiful.
Quick update on Explode Your Deadlift : A few weeks ago we mentioned Explode Your Deadlift, Andy Bolton‘s much anticipated ebook on deadlift training.
As I’m more than a little partial to the deadlift, I’m a big fan. What do you think – has Explode Your Deadlift helped you in your own quest?
A great read.
Exercise of the Week : Front Plate Raise
These are beautifully simple. Love ’em.
The Front Plate Raise really is just what the name suggests. Grab a plate, hold it at arms’ length and raise your arms to parallel. At the top of the movement, you’ll find yourself briefly looking through the hole in the centre.
Here’s a bit of video to show you what I mean :
NB : as this is almost an isolation exercise for the anterior deltoid (the front of your shoulder), you don’t need to go all that heavy for it to be brutal. If a plate is too much, use something like a medicine ball; or you want more of a challenge, grab something like this and add a plate or two.
Whichever way you do it, it’s great 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.
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.