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 : How to Become a Better Armwrestler
  Scott Latella
  Time to get serious.
  

• Looking At : Feb 18, 2024 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 : NO STONE UNTURNED EP1: Physio and Chiro (first ep of 12) (Mitchell Hooper)

This is the start of what promises to be a wonderful series (12 episodes) on recovery work. Enjoy.

Gymchat 278 – TBA

We’re still finalising the details for this week’s discussion. I’ll post them on the blog (and X, 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 267 we discussed Carving out a Niche in the Strength Equipment Business with Exercise Physiologist Eric Chessen, and Personal Trainer and Strength Athlete 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 : Minimis Glass (AR Fitness Glasses)

These look great. Minimis Glass purports to be (I’ll be testing it soon) a pair of AR glasses with a clear focus on fitness. Think sunglasses with various metrics displayed as you run/cycle etc. Perfect. A little video :
Minimis Glass.

Tip of the Week : Strengthen Your Neck, Reduce Pain, Increase Lifts

Each week we publish a number of tips and techniques via X (Formerly `Twitter`), the blog; and the newsletter. Wherever you are, there’s always a way to improve what you’re doing. This tip is from Josh Hewett‘s excellent ‘Bulletproof Your Body‘ series. The ‘right‘ way to strengthen your neck. Over to Josh :

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When starting a neck strengthening program, you must be careful to be very progressive… start slow and easy and work your way up to more challenging exercises over time. For example, you can begin your exercise program by doing simple chin tucks while sitting or standing. (See video) Once you get comfortable with basic sitting/standing chin tucks, you can try doing the exercise lying down. Build up to doing around 10 reps, holding for 5 to 10 seconds each rep. The goal is to increase the muscular endurance of your muscles as well as their strength. Your neck is designed to carry the weight of your head all day, not to lift trains or buses!

Good stuff. Note that this is only a snippet from the full piece – swing by Josh‘ blog for the entire article. A great read.

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 : 8 Push-Up Varieties

Interesting video from Turbulence Training demonstrating 8 push-up varieties. Naturally there are many more than this available, but this selection contains a few of those not commonly seen in gyms such as the Grasshopper and Spiderman versions.

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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 : ‘The Exquisite Machine: The New Science of the Heart’ (by Sian E. Harding)

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. Sian E. Harding’s ‘The Exquisite Machine: The New Science of the Heart’ is a wonderful exploration of this fascinating area. How everything works, why it all does what it does and how we’re taking advantage of various discoveries in other fields. Love it. 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.