
Ryan Pitts (StrongerGrip) | Follow @strongergrip
The ‘Right’ way to do it.

Scott Andrew Bird | Follow @scottbird
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, get in touch.
Video : How The Heart Changes With Exercise (Institute of Human Anatomy)
A wonderful look into precisely how the human heart works, and what happens to it during a bit of exercise.
Gymchat 278 – TBA
We’re still finalising the details for this week’s discussion. I’ll post them on the blog (and Twitter, Facebook etc) shortly. In the meantime, take a look at some of the previous episodes of the show – (there’s an example below, and a full list here). And if you’ve got any questions or comments on the various topics discussed, we’d love to hear them. Just leave a note below the video.Previously : In Gymchat 135 we discussed Conditioning II with Personal Trainer Kirk Fontaine and TDA Training‘s Nathan Teodoro. Great conversation.
NB : if you’d like to take part in a future episode – either as an interviewee, or as a guest host – just drop us a line. Love hearing how everyone else trains.
Checking Out : Apeman SEEKER-R1 (Realtime Cycling Camera)
Looks great. The Apeman SEEKER-R1 is an action camera with a strong focus on cycling, with features such as a realtime rearview video. It also affords a number of cycling-focused stats. Perfect. I suspect there’s a whole lot more to come. For now though, a little video : The Apeman SEEKER-R1.Ever Tried Kettlebells?
If you've seen people using them but never taken the plunge yourself, here are the ones I use personally. You can also pick up a book/DVD/course if you want to learn how to put them to work.
Tip of the Week: License Plate Tearing Technique
Each week we publish a number of tips and techniques via Twitter, the blog; and the newsletter. Wherever you are, there’s always a way to improve what you’re doing. This tip comes to us from performing Strongman Chris Rider, and is from his superb article Tearing A License Plate. Enjoy.Following a thorough description of the safety requirements for performing this feat (and it really can be a dangerous one, so proceed carefully), comes the basic technique involved. Over to Chris :

Now that we have ourselves protected, it’s time to grab the plate. I personally like to tear plates at chest level, and that is the method I am going to discuss. As a dry run without a plate, place your dominant hand in a hammer style grip. Place the pinky side of that hand just above the bottom of the sternum. Now place the other fist in the same manner below the dominant one so you have the thumb side of the non-dominant and the pinky side of the dominant meeting. Squeeze as hard as you can and push your hands in opposite directions with the top hand going slightly upward and the bottom hand going slightly downward. If you push straight through, the potential for being cut dramatically increases.
Want more? No problem. Head over to the original article, and watch the video below to see it in action. Beautiful.
Unlock Your Hips, Unlock Your Squat
I get a lot of questions regarding the impact of ‘unlocking your hips‘ on heavy squatting. Rick Kaselj goes into it in plenty of detail in the ‘Unlock Your Hip Flexors‘ program; and I’ve also posted a brief video below which demonstrates/explains some of the exercises.
Both (working with Ryan, and Rick’s program) are highly recommended. And as always, we love hearing your feedback – if you sample any of the above exercises or the ‘Unlock Your Hip Flexors‘ program, we’d love to hear about it.
Exercises of the Week : Great Ideas From The Ice Chamber
Russian barbell twist with chains.
The Ice Chamber looks like a great place to work out; especially with exercises such as these. Definitely time to get some chains.
Not to mention a decent length of rope for the “Charles Bronson in The Great Escape” thing. Upside down, of course.
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.
Fitness Reading For The Week : Tread Lightly (Peter Larson, Bill Katovsky, Richard Allen)
It’ll come as no surprise that we discuss a lot of fitness-related books; on this site as well as the various networks noted in the sidebar.
Tread Lightly is a fascinating look at running from both the ‘deeply scientific‘ and ‘run for pleasure‘ sides of things. Strongly recommended.
Incidentally, I’ve got an evergrowing list of ‘books to read‘, and I’m always looking to add to it. Suggestions welcome.
There’s also a list of our all-time fitness suggestions over on Goodreads. Dive on in.
