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, 7 May 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 :

Quael dich, du Sau! (Talent Alone Means Nothing!)
Maik Wiedenbach
Sometimes you’ve just got to put in the work.
Looking At : May 6, 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 : Muscle Up Progressions

How are your muscle-ups?

Gymchat 168 – Workout Nutrition II

Maik Wiedenbach.

The other side of training – nutrition.

This week we’re returning to our conversation on diet, looking at Workout Nutrition. What to consume before/during/after a workout, how it changes based on workout type, and why it all works. The good stuff.
Helping us explore this fascinating topic is none other than Olympic athlete, personal trainer and nutritionist Maik Wiedenbach. Fantastic.

As a bonus, we’ll also be having a bit of a giveaway this week. Maik will be giving out 5 copies of his ‘101 Fitness Myths‘ ebook shortly after the gymchat, to randomly chosen commenters. If you’d like a chance to win a copy of the book, just fire in a question or comment at any point during the discussion.

Details –
Who : Olympic athlete, personal trainer and nutritionist Maik Wiedenbach
Topic : Workout Nutrition II
When : Wed May 9, 9pm EDT (here’s how to find out when that is in your timezone)
How : Post a comment, question or reply
Link : https://plus.google.com/u/0/113406428532094481598/posts/T8rqkYjru3A
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.
For everyone who’s joining us for their first Gymchat, welcome. Just dive right in, and ask Maik any nutrition-related questions you like.
See you there.

Andrew Nalepa.

Quick update on last week’s gymchat : Thanks once again to everyone who took part in the discussion : Setting Up the Home Gym. 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.

The Hunt for Broken Links

Video Removed by the User.

Straight to the Bar has been around for more than 8 years now, and there are a lot of articles/videos/photos/reviews to say the least. Nearly 6,000 in fact (there’s a full list here).
Unfortunately, this number also means there’s inevitably a video that’s no longer available, or a link to a site which has just moved. Whatever it is, I’m always looking to fix it as quickly as possible.

To help me find the problems : if you spot something that isn’t quite working right – a video that’s been removed, or a link that no longer works – let me know. Leave a comment, or send me a message on Google+, Twitter or Facebook (all of the details here). As a bonus, you’ll receive a selection of strength-training goodness shortly afterward. Not to mention my eternal gratitude.
Thank-you.

Tip of the Week: Lifting Without a Spotter

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.

Andrew Nalepa.

I love the home gym – it’s definitely the perfect place to focus, and to really get to work. Particularly when you’re training solo.
That said, there are a few things to keep in mind when lifting by yourself. In last week’s Gymchat, Andrew noted his own guidelines for Lifting Without a Spotter. Good stuff.

From Gymchat 167 – Setting Up the Home Gym :

My personal general rules for lifting without a spotter:
Don’t do:

1. Anything I haven’t done before.

2. Anything that could get me killed.

3. Anything that I am not 100% sure that I will get all the reps.

4. Anything that I cannot do with good form.

Do:

1. Anything that doesn’t violate the “don’t do” and will get me stronger!

Love it.

Looking Forward To : StrongerGrip Modular Grip System

StrongerGrip Modular Grip System.

Beautiful.
If you’ve ever tried any of the StrongerGrip gear (and if you’re a grip fan, you absolutely need to give it a run – superb equipment), you’ll certainly appreciate this. After being in the works for years, the StrongerGrip Modular Grip System is finally ready for prime time.

Full details shortly, but in the meantime, here’s what’s in the collection so far :

The Thickburger grip plug-in
2-3/8″ V-bar (with other V-bar options as well)
3″ GripBall plug-in (other sizes to follow)
Plateau Buster Handle
StrongerGrip loading pins
Bear Hug device

Also available will be a hook (like on the GripBalls) into which plugs each of these attachments.
All-in-all, it’s an awesome setup. Full specs and videos shortly.

Fixing Elbow Pain.

Quick update on the superb Fixing Elbow Pain we mentioned recently. Suffice to say that if you’ve ever experienced conditions like Tennis Elbow or Golfer’s Elbow, it’s essential reading.
Love it.

Exercise of the Week : Long-Pull Triceps Extension

Larry Scott performing Long-Pull Triceps Extension.

I love coming across new exercises (new to me that is); and a few years ago I stumbled across this gem – demonstrated here by Larry Scott – the Long-Pull Triceps Extension.
Brilliant.

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

Conditioning Tools.

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

Neck Training.

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.