Gem From The Vault : Heavy Sandbag Training – Part I
Michael Amos
Good fun.
Looking At : Jun 18, 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 : How Much Protein You Really Need (According to Science) (Institute of Human Anatomy)
If you’re ready to do a little dietary fine-tuning, start here. Nice and thorough.
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 226 we discussed Advances in Strength & Power Development with competitive Strongman and Strength Coach Craig Bongelli and Strongman and 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=Cjh6THvRFqQ.
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 : Phill (AI-Powered Massage Robot)
Interesting.
Phill is an AI-powered massage robot that greatly simplifies a particular aspect of your recovery work. Although the massage itself is currently pretty basic, the fact that it’s frequent and convenient may outweigh that.
As for the device itself :
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: Constantly Fine-Tune Things
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.
I’ve received more emails over the years on the transition to biphasic sleeping than almost anything else I’ve ever written. I can’t thank everyone enough for those, they really are appreciated. Thank you.
Most of them take the form of ‘do you think this would work…‘ and the answer is usually to try it and see. I really haven’t made any large structural changes to the original routine; however there has been a little fine-tuning. A snippet from the article Biphasic Sleep : 30 Day Summary explains the overall idea :
When I started doing this, my idea was to have a 1.5 hour nap and a 3 hour main sleep period. This proved to be a little under what my body required, and I switched to a 3/4.5 hour split (3 hours by default, 4.5 on workout days). Once again this didn’t feel like quite enough, and I changed to a regular 1.5 hour nap followed by a 4.5 hour sleep (every day). This feels right.
I say this to demonstrate that making small changes can be of benefit, and I’ll continue to make them as required. As the volume of weight training increases (as it almost certainly will), as I age and as my life situation in general changes; the length of the main sleep period will change.
Good stuff.
Exercise Feat Of The Week : Car Pushing
All Around Strength‘s Jason Kirby tries out a bit of car pushing. Great stuff.
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 : ‘Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic at the Root of Most Chronic Disease–and How to Fight It’ (by Benjamin Bikman PhD)
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.
Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic at the Root of Most Chronic Disease–and How to Fight It is an extremely thorough look at insulin resistance, and the various roles it plays in chronic diseases. Dive in.
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.