Jason Kirby (All Things Strength)
Not essential by any means, but great to have.
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 : Want To Build A Home Gym? Do It NOW! Here’s Why. (Garage Gym Reviews)
We’ve discussed ‘how to put together a home gym‘ many times over the years (here’s an explanation of the basics), though we’ve never really taken a dive into the reasons for doing so. This is a brief discussion of those reasons (particularly now). Nice one.
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 137 we discussed Grip, Clubs & Health with StrongerGrip’s Ryan Pitts and Personal Trainer Josh Hewett. 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 : Kara Pure (Air-To-Water Dispenser)
Interesting idea. The Kara Pure is essentially a finely-tuned dehumidifier, taking some of the water from the air and filtering it accordingly. Ready for drinking. Perfect for the home gym. As for the device itself, a little video :The Kara Pure.
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.