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 :
A Brief History of Circuit Training and Peripheral Heart Action (PHA)
Scott Andrew Bird
How it all began.- Looking At : Jul 29, 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 : 100 Places to do Pullups
Ever find yourself thinking that pull-ups are great, but that you don’t have anywhere to do them?
Scooby has a few ideas.
Gymchat 180 – Arm Training
Arm training can be a complex beast.
Considering the first exercise that comes to mind for many people is the humble bicep curl, it’s a little tricky to encourage arms to gain size and strength in all the ‘right‘ ways. The ones that help with your own goals, whether you’re a professional Armwrestler, Powerlifter or Olympic Gymnast.
This week we’re looking at Arm Training overall. What’s involved, how it helps, and how to make sure it works for you. And if you’ve got any specific questions on your own arm training, fire them in. We’ll get through as many as we can.
Helping us explore this fascinating topic is none other than Olympic athlete, personal trainer and nutritionist Maik Wiedenbach. Fantastic.
Details –
Who : Olympic athlete, personal trainer and nutritionist Maik Wiedenbach
Topic : Arm Training
When : Wed Aug 1, 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/17RMFN2V4zw
For everyone who’s joining us for their first Gymchat, welcome. Just dive right in, and ask Maik any training-related questions you like.
See you there.
Quick update on last week’s gymchat : Thanks once again to everyone who took part in the discussion : Interval Training. Some superb ideas in there.
For those who missed out on the conversation, here’s the transcript. Was a great one.
Tip of the Week: Training for Unusual Feats
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.
When Jeff Wilson was training for the Soda Can Crush (video below), he quickly realised that his usual training approach wouldn’t work. For one thing, you can’t progressively crush a can of soda.
In the article Unusual Goals Require Unusual Measures, he explains exactly how to tackle something like this. Here’s a snippet to give you the basic idea :
I knew that without actually being able to accomplish the feat that my training would have to take a drastic turn from what I had become accustomed to over the years. The seemingly supplemental exercises of my workouts would now become my core movements.
I scoured my repertoire (as well as the training logs of top gripsters world-wide) for hand, wrist and grip exercises to find those that closely mimicked the movement I would use for the crush – and I came to the conclusion that the final crush of an unbraced bend was strikingly similar. With some alterations to my particular style of bending I knew I could get huge carryover to the soda crush. I upped my bending frequency a bit and focused on generating as much power as possible through the final crush down as I could with each piece of steel I attempted. During my bending sessions I used high volume, isometrics and pre-kinking steel that was a little out of my league, but I didn’t want to bend too often because going too overboard with unbraced bending can potentially set you up for some pretty nasty injuries. I knew that I also needed movements that I could safely perform on a very regular basis that would have big carry over to the can crush, while having very little risk of injury in order to accomplish my goal in a timely manner.
And the feat itself? Over to Jeff :
Love it.
Checking Out : Industrial Strength Grip Vol. 2
Fantastic.
If you’ve ever seen ‘Unbreakable‘ Adam T Glass in action, you’ll appreciate just how valuable this is.
I’ll post up a full review shortly, but briefly : if you’re looking for seriously strong hands & forearms, grab a copy of this.
Industrial Strength Grip Volume II.
Quick update on the superb Fixing Elbow Pain we mentioned recently. There’s a full review here, but 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 : Cable Tricep Extensions With Bands
Looking for another way to hit the triceps? Have a go at these.
Good stuff.
NB : for a whole lot more on things like this, join us for the discussion on Arm Training noted above. Plenty of tricep-building goodness.
Incidentally, if you’d like to get in touch regarding this or any other aspect of strength, you can contact me here. Look forward to hearing from you.
Kettlebell Exercise Demonstrations & Tutorials
We’ve looked at a lot of kettlebell exercises and variations over the years – in the form of tips, tutorials and demonstrations.
Where do you find them all? Right here – a complete list of Kettlebell Exercise Demonstrations & Tutorials.
Enjoy.
Free Downloads from the Strength Kit
I recently added a number of resources to the Straight to the Bar Strength Kit, and as a Strength & Fitness Newsletter subscriber you’re more than welcome to download as many of them as you like. Several great eBooks, podcasts and videos – all absolutely free.
Just head over here, save them to your hard-drive, and dive in.
Good stuff.
NB : This is an ever-changing list. If you’d like to put your own work in front of a fantastic strength-focussed audience, let me know.