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

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 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.

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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, 30 Aug 2010

This Week on Straight to the Bar

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 :

Blast from the Past : The Forgotten Lifts III
Scott Andrew Bird
Love using exercises that have other gymgoers scratching their heads? Here’s another gathering of ‘Forgotten Lifts‘ to add to your arsenal.
Floral Apron Adventures
GoodyGirl77
Hard and heavy.

Ready to add your own opinion, workout log or training article? Just head over to the Forums, Training Logs, or swing by the Article Submissions page. They’re fantastic ways to share your ideas.

NB : if you enjoy the articles, show the authors your appreciation by voting (using the Like, Digg and Retweet icons). Cheers.

Video : Self Defense – Falling into a Wall

How do you absorb the shock and defend yourself when thrown against a wall? Like this.

DIY : Strongman Yoke

Looking for an inexpensive way to knock up a yoke? Take a look at this.

Coming Events

Armwrestling Anyone?

Twitterchat 81 – Training for Armwrestling

Whether you’re challenging your friends or just getting in to serious competition, a spot of Armwrestling is superb.
This week we’re taking a look at this wonderful sport, with the absolute beginner in mind – specifically the Training side of the fence. Everything from the techniques and psychology to the many facets of hand, wrist and forearm work. Helping us explore this fascinating topic is none other than StrongerWrist‘s, Scott LaTella (@strongerwrist). Fantastic.

NB : If you’ve been following Scott’s work for any length of time, no doubt you’re familiar with the wristball (brilliant thing). As a thankyou to participants in this discussion, Scott is donating a wristball to one of the questioner/commenters at random. Just use the #sbgym hashtag during the discussion.

Details –
Who : Strength-training fans
Topic : Training for Armwrestling
When : Wed Sep 1, 9pm EDT (1am UTC)
How : Include #sbgym in your tweets.
To see when it’s on in your timezone, head over to the twitterchat calendar.
See you there.

Derek Peruo.

Quick update on last week’s twitterchat : Thanks once again to everyone who took part in the discussion on Setting Up The Home Gym. Some superb ideas in there.
For those who missed out on the conversation, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Are you looking to gain a little weight, whether for a competition, or performance in the gym? How?

Checking Out : Wrestle and Win

Wrestle and Win.

Wrestle and Win: The Wrestler’s Guide to Strength, Conditioning, Nutrition and College Preparation is Steve Kimpel’s new book; arriving on Sep 23rd. A very interesting gathering of information.

A brief description from Amazon :

‘Wrestle and Win: The Wrestler’s Guide to Strength, Conditioning, Nutrition and College Preparation is your guide to success in high school and college wrestling. Every wrestler has a daily mat practice, but great wrestlers know that it’s what you do outside of practice that gives you the edge. This book is a comprehensive guide to the in-season and off-season training habits necessary to succeed at the state or national level. First, find out exactly what kind of strength training and conditioning you should be doing, including how to get the most out of your time in the weight room and what type of workouts to do during the off-season. Then get the facts on eating right, making weight and evaluating supplements. Finally, learn how to successfully make the transition from high school to college wrestling, including an inside view of the recruiting process and a step-by-step plan for getting recognized by college coaches.’

Looks good.

Exercise of the Week : Fingertip Pushups

I love these. Nice and challenging.
To see exactly what I mean by Fingertip Pushups, check out the video below. The incredible Jack LaLanne.