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 : Nerve Repair = More Personal Training Clients’
  Scott Andrew Bird
  

• Looking At : Sep 8, 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 : “Kung Fu” Means MORE than You Think (Sensei Seth)

Exploring the meaning and origins of the term. Fascinating.

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 154 we discussed Make It Yourself (DIY Equipment II) with Everyone. 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 : Snowcap (Thermoelectric Ice Bath)

Looks great. The Snowcap is an app-controlled thermoelectric ice bath for use in the home, gym or outdoors. Look forward to trying it out. A little video :
The Snowcap.

Tip of the Week : Training for Unusual Feats

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.

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When Jeff Wilson was training for the Soda Can Crush (video below), he quickly realised that his usual training approach wouldn’t work. For one thing, you can’t progressively crush a can of soda. In the article Unusual Goals Require Unusual Measures, he explains exactly how to tackle something like this. Here’s a snippet to give you the basic idea :

I knew that without actually being able to accomplish the feat that my training would have to take a drastic turn from what I had become accustomed to over the years. The seemingly supplemental exercises of my workouts would now become my core movements. I scoured my repertoire (as well as the training logs of top gripsters world-wide) for hand, wrist and grip exercises to find those that closely mimicked the movement I would use for the crush – and I came to the conclusion that the final crush of an unbraced bend was strikingly similar. With some alterations to my particular style of bending I knew I could get huge carryover to the soda crush. I upped my bending frequency a bit and focused on generating as much power as possible through the final crush down as I could with each piece of steel I attempted. During my bending sessions I used high volume, isometrics and pre-kinking steel that was a little out of my league, but I didn’t want to bend too often because going too overboard with unbraced bending can potentially set you up for some pretty nasty injuries. I knew that I also needed movements that I could safely perform on a very regular basis that would have big carry over to the can crush, while having very little risk of injury in order to accomplish my goal in a timely manner.

And the feat itself? Over to Jeff :
Love it.

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 : Kettlebell Iron Cross

Punch Gym‘s Anthony DiLuglio demonstrates a slightly modified version of an Iron Cross, or a reversed Lateral Raise. This is definitely an exercise that can just as easily be done with two dumbbells, small sandbags or anything else with a bit of weight. Benefits: far less stress on shoulders and elbows. Perfect.

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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 : ‘Backfired : The Vaping Wars’ (by Leon Neyfakh and Arielle Pardes)

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. Leon Neyfakh and Arielle Pardes’ ‘Backfired : The Vaping Wars’ is a wonderfully thorough look at the story of vaping – the origins of the product, advertising, regulatory environment and of course the potential downsides. 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.