Strength & Fitness Newsletter

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 Twitter ( I’m @scottbird ).

 

cheers,

Scott

DragonDoor Workshops

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.

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?

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.

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.

Twitter Lists

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

https://twitter.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 tweets regularly about a particular subject and should be on one of them, let me know.

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, 22 Apr 2024
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 : 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 : Lifting Weight in the Splits? (MovementbyDavid@MovementbyD)


Interesting lift.

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 133 we discussed Workout Nutrition with Examine.com‘s Kurtis Frank, and CaptainKirk Fontaine. 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 : CIRCUL RING (Smart Ring)

Looks great. Yet another entrant to the Smart Ring space – the CIRCUL RING. Once again, a clear focus on the health-tracking side of things, together with an ability to automatically adjust its size. A little video :
The CIRCUL RING.

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 : Use a Weight You Can Control

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 comes to us from the enigmatic Gerard F, and is a snippet from a series of very interesting conversations surrounding the insights of the ‘Iron Guru‘, Vince Gironda.
The full quote is :  
Use a weight you can control, and control the weight you use.
This applies to a lot of things, but in this case we were talking about the bench press. Gerard noted :
At best the Bench Press is an “OK” exercise even when done correctly, but nearly everyone performs it based on the wrong concept. Using 8-12 reps its OK, but what happens is, when the reps get tough, your form goes bad, the back arches and/or your torso torques; stress goes from the chest to the triceps to the shoulder/cuff, and your strong side lifts the load that your weak side can’t handle.
Over bench pressing gives you a circle looking chest, that’s when the shoulders and tris are developed because the chest can’t handle the weight, and what happens is the shoulder and tris are targeted more than the pecs.
Very interesting. Would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

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.

Exercise Of The Week : Overload Kettlebell Press

Pavel Tsatsouline
Pavel Tsatsouline.
The current issue of Hard Style [.pdf, 8.6mb] contains an interesting excerpt from Enter the Kettlebell on Overload Presses. This looks at 3 ways to work up to military pressing a heavier kettlebell than the one you’re used to using. Pavel goes into more detail on the DVD, but briefly :
Long Push PressThe Long Push Press From the newsletter :
The push press is a “cheating” press that allows you to use a leg kick to help your arm and shoulder to put up the weight.
Clean the kettlebell and go into a full front squat. Drive out of the squat and push press as you are nearing the top of the squat.

Backup PressThe Backup Press Again, from the newsletter :
Clean the kettlebell and start pressing it in the familiar outward arc. As soon as the kettlebell clears your chin, push its body–not the handle, not your arm, but the ball itself–with your free hand.   Don’t push straight up, but up and to the side. You will feel the pec on the backup side if you do it right.
The Loaded Clean Once again it’s over to Pavel :
…when you do your kettlebell cleans. Even though you do not plan on pressing the kettlebell, load your body as if you will. Tense the glutes, brace the abs, “root” your feet into the deck, flare the lats, crush the handle. Pause momentarily, a coiled spring of tension, then drop the kettlebell. Five sets of five will do the job.
Time to grab my favourite toy and try these out.

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 : ‘Pain & Performance : The Revolutionary New Way to Use Training as Treatment for Pain and Injury’ (by Matt Fitzgerald, Ryan Whited)

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. Matt Fitzgerald & Ryan Whited’s ‘Pain & Performance : The Revolutionary New Way to Use Training as Treatment for Pain and Injury’ is an intriguing look at the use of exercise as a treatment for various types of pain. Very interesting area. 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.