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 :
Gem From The Vault : Starting Your Fitness Journey – 10 Things to Consider
Scott Andrew Bird
What’s been going on this week? Quite a lot actually.- Looking At : Apr 19, 2015
Scott Andrew Bird
What’s been going on this week? Quite a lot actually.
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’re keen to do a little fitness writing and would like to submit your own piece for Straight to the Bar, here’s how.
Video : Explaining the Seal Row, Engaging the Lats, & Working on Deadlift Weaknesses
Very interesting insights, as well as a demonstration of the somewhat uncommon Seal Row. Good stuff.
Gymchat 280 – How to GRIND for Your Gains (Nassim Jebran)
Time to show what you’ve got. How do you squeeze out the last few percent – both mentally and physically?
Whether it’s for your own training or in competition (or both), it’s an essential skill. Helping explain exactly what’s involved – and how to maximise things – is Strength Coach (and Strength Athlete) Nassim Jebran, and Personal Trainer (and Strength Athlete) Josh Hewett. Fantastic.
NB : We’d love to hear your questions and comments. If there’s a particular subject you’d like Nassim and Josh to address, just swing by the event page for this Gymchat and leave a comment or jump in the Hangout and ask it directly.
And if you’d like to point your friends/colleagues to the discussion, just use the ‘share‘ button at the top of that page. The more the merrier.
Details –
Who : Strength Coach (and Strength Athlete) Nassim Jebran, Personal Trainer (and Strength Athlete) Josh Hewett, and You
Topic : How to GRIND for Your Gains
When : Sunday Apr 26, 8:00pm EDT (the Event page shows what time that is in your local timezone).
How : Watch the live stream, join the hangout (just add Top Form Fitness to one of your circles, and Josh’ll send out the URL when the Hangout starts), or jump in the Q&A on the Event page itself. We’ll also post the full video shortly after the Gymchat.
Coming Up : We’ve got several fantastic discussions coming up shortly – with Powerlifter Bill Piche, Strength & Conditioning Coach Matt Palfrey and many, many others. Of course, we’re always scheduling more; if you’d like to suggest either a topic or a person that should definitely be on the show, drop us a line. Cheers.
Tip of the Week: Ice for Better Sleep
Each week we publish a number of tips and techniques via Twitter, Google+, the blog; and now the newsletter. Wherever you are, there’s always a way to improve what you’re doing.
Sleep is easily my favourite form of recovery. Huge fan of a well-timed nap, and the associated dietary fine-tuning. Love it.
This tip comes to us from the Gymchat on sleep as a recovery method, and is a comment by Personal Trainer Derek Peruo on how he helps his new clients get a solid dose of shut-eye. Very interesting approach.
Over to Derek :
For sleep, I usually recommend zinc and magnesium. If those don’t help, I also recommend an ice pack to the back of the neck right before bed.
The ice pack lowers core temperature and promotes the release of melatonin.
And yes, all of those things work extremely well. Good stuff.
Re-Reading : Card Tearing eBook
It all began with a conversation on card-tearing.
When it migrated to a serious question-and-answer session, I pointed them to Jedd’s ‘Card Tearing eBook‘. Wonderful resource.
The result? Pics in a day or two, but it’s fair to say that they were pleased with the purchase. It really is a fantastic place to start.
Quick update on the Hip Thruster we mentioned recently – fantastic thing.
Rather than trying to explain how it works, here it is in action :
Good stuff Bret, looks great.
Exercise of the Week : The Partial Deadlift (And Why its Beneficial to Fighters)
Mike Bruce takes a look at my own favourite exercise – the Partial Deadlift. Love it.
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.
Images of Strength
As you might expect, we love seeing training-related photographs. Pics of your home gym, DIY equipment, workouts, diet or competitions – it’s all fantastic.
If you’ve got an image or three that you’d love to share with a strength-focussed audience, just upload them to Flickr/Instagram/SmugMug and send us the link. Cheers.
Straight to the Bar Strength Calendar
Taking part in, helping out with or going to watch an upcoming strength competition?
Tell us about it.
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.
A Daily Dose
Love this stuff? Same here. If you’re looking for a daily dose of strength-training goodness, grab the Straight to the Bar Daily.
Absolutely free.
Giving
If you’ve been training for a while, gradually cleaning up your diet, no doubt you’ve experienced the amazing power of transformation. It’s a tremendous feeling.
If you’re ready to give someone else a hand to transform their own lives – through education, sharing equipment, financial help – take a look at the full list of organisations on the Giving page. Cheers.