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.



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, 12 Mar 2012

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 :

Shrugs – The Most Misunderstood Exercise in North America?
Maik Wiedenbach
Maik explores the potential of the humble shrug. Beautifully simple exercise.
Looking At : Week Ending Mar 11, 2012
Scott Andrew Bird
We’ve been discussing some very interesting techniques, products and services recently. Here are the highlights.

Over to you. I’d love to hear what you think : leave your comments on the above articles, and share them with your friends/colleagues/clients and so on.
NB : If you’d like to submit your own piece for Straight to the Bar, here’s how.

Video : Basics of the Kettlebell Goblet Squat

Great exercise.

Gymchat 160 – Supplementation

Supplements & Shakes. Photo by Noodles and Beef.

What do you take, when and why?
I’ll announce the full details during the week on Google+ (just confirming a couple of things), but that’s the general topic. Vitamins & minerals, protein shakes and everything else you take to help fine-tune your regular diet. Should be a great one.

NB : If you’ve just joined us on Google+, welcome. Join us on Mar 14, and add a comment/ask a question or three. Dive in.

Details –
Who : Strength-training fans
Topic : Supplementation
When : Wed Mar 14, 9pm EDT (2am UTC)
How : Post a comment, question or reply
Where : https://plus.google.com/u/0/113406428532094481598/posts/1k2YnK3A8my
If you’ve never been to one of these discussions 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 calendar.
See you there.

Just Resting.

Quick update on last week’s gymchat : Thanks once again to everyone who took part in the discussion on Recovery Methods : Sleep II. Some superb ideas in there.
For those who missed out on the conversation, here’s the transcript. Was a great one.

NB : if you’d like to add a fitness-related event (either a competition you’re taking part in, or something you’re helping to organise there), just login to the forums and add it to the calendar. Cheers.

Tip of the Week: Holding the Bar in the Front Squat

Each week we publish a number of tips and techniques via twitter, Google+, the forums, the blog; and now the newsletter. Wherever you are, there’s always a way to improve what you’re doing.
This tip is not so much ‘How to Hold the Bar in the Front Squat‘ (though the article shows no fewer than 10 ways to do just that), as much as a simple demonstration that there are often many ways to achieve the same result in strength training. If what you’re doing isn’t working (or you simply don’t enjoy it), try something else.

From the article Holding the Bar in the Front Squat :

Front Squat.

If the Mike Boyle article on T-Nation has you considering the Front Squat, you may be mindful of just how awkward it can be to hold the bar. Like Zercher Squats, they’re often overlooked simply due to the difficulty.

There are several ways to hold the bar for the Front Squat. If one method doesn’t feel right, or your current flexibility or injury precludes it, try one of the others. It really is a great exercise.

Good stuff.

Checking Out : The Tsunami Bar

This is one incredible bar. To get an idea of what it is, here’s a bit of video showing it in action :

Although you may be wondering about the strength of something like that, as Dave Tate noted recently :

I didn’t trust it to bench 225 until I saw that someone squatted 700 pounds with it.

And yes, it’s definitely on the wishlist.
NB : it’s being tested at the moment; production begins in a few weeks. Fantastic.

Quick update on the superb The Primal Blueprint we first looked at quite a while ago now. Holds up extremely well.

Over the weekend I was re-reading this (yet again – it’s a great book), after discussing the numerous benefits of a Primal diet with a friend of mine. There’s a full review here, but suffice to say if ridiculously good health is something you’re after, it’s essential reading.
Love it.

Exercise of the Week : Neck & Jaw Exercise (Using a T-shirt)

This is certainly an interesting way of strengthening the neck (and getting a little jaw work in at the same time). Nice one.

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 Straight to the Bar eBooks

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.