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 X/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 X/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 X/Twitter’s ‘List‘ functionality quite a bit. There’s a full list of them here :

https://x.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 posts 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, 8 May 2023

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 : Bars, Plates, Hooks and Collars
Scott Andrew Bird
The essentials.

Looking At : May 7, 2023
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 : 40 Years Of Muscle Gain Wisdom (scooby1961)

It’s fair to say that he’s learnt a few things in 40 years. This is wonderful advice.

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.

Chris Lutz.

Previously : In Gymchat 220 we discussed High Intensity Training : HIT with Personal Trainer Chris Lutz and Strongman & Personal Trainer Josh Hewett. Great conversation.

And if you missed it the first time (or just want to go over a particular point again), check out the full video over on Josh’s Youtube channel :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIfstWKxHgo.

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 : Nitetronic Z6 (Anti-snore Pillow)

Looks good.

The Nitetronic Z is an anti-snore pillow which uses a combination of sensors and air pockets to gently move the head whenever required. Each time the user snores, that is.

The video below will show you what’s on offer, though it really doesn’t look a lot different to any other pillow :

The Nitetronic Z.

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 : Holding the Bar in the Front Squat

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 is not so much ‘How to Hold the Bar in the Front Squat‘ (though the article shows no fewer than 10 ways to do just that), as much as a simple demonstration that there are often many ways to achieve the same result in strength training. If what you’re doing isn’t working (or you simply don’t enjoy it), try something else.

From the article Holding the Bar in the Front Squat :

Front Squat.

If the Mike Boyle article on T-Nation has you considering the Front Squat, you may be mindful of just how awkward it can be to hold the bar. Like Zercher Squats, they’re often overlooked simply due to the difficulty.

There are several ways to hold the bar for the Front Squat. If one method doesn’t feel right, or your current flexibility or injury precludes it, try one of the others. It really is a great exercise.

Good stuff.

Exercise Feat Of The Week : 25kg ‘Block Weight’ Clean

If you’ve got a few 5kg plates, some duct tape and fairly large hands; try this. Harder than it looks, but great fun.

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/Listening For The Week : ‘Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration’ (by David Roberts)

Alone on the Ice

It’ll come as no surprise that we discuss a lot of fitness-related books, courses & podcasts; on this site as well as the various networks noted in the sidebar.

‘Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration’ details Douglas Mawson’s ‘Australasian Antarctic Expedition’ of 1913. Incredible.

Incidentally, I’m always looking to add to the ‘books to read‘ list. If you’ve come across something which you’d love everyone else to check out, drop me a line.

There’s also a list of our all-time fitness suggestions over there. Dive on in.