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.



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, 6 Sep 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 :

Why Conditioning is King

Dean takes a superb look at the exact nature, purpose and goals of conditioning workouts. Brilliant.

Floral Apron Adventures
GoodyGirl77
Strongman training, leverage work and other fun things. Nice one.

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 : Deep Bottom-Up Squat

Nice one Dave.

Deal of the Week : Body by D-Rock Complete Training Package

Derek Peruo.

If you’re looking for a hand in designing the perfect training program for your own needs, Derek ‘D-Rock‘ Peruo‘s Complete Training Package may be just what you’re after.
Consisting of a month’s worth of personalised, written workouts – in addition to priority access to workshops, clinics and other special events hosted by Body By D-Rock – the Complete Training Package puts you on the right track and lets you get underway.
And as a bonus for readers of this newsletter, Derek’s offering a massive 50% discount to the first 5 people to sign up.
Superb.

Coming Events

Jedd Johnson

Twitterchat 82 – Grip Training for Beginners

I love grip training. Challenging, unusual and extremely inventive.
This week we’re taking a close look at Grip Training for Beginners; the equipment you’ll need, what to do with it and the many benefits of a little grip work. Helping us explore this fascinating topic is none other than the Diesel Crew‘s, Jedd ‘Napalm‘ Johnson (@jeddjohnson), fresh from the incredible Global Grip Challenge.
Fantastic.

Details –
Who : Strength-training fans
Topic : Grip Training for Beginners
When : Wed Sep 8, 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.

Armwrestling Anyone?

Quick update on last week’s twitterchat : Thanks once again to everyone who took part in the discussion on Training for Armwrestling. Some superb ideas in there.
For those who missed out on the conversation, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you compete at all? Where?

Checking Out : The Fighter’s Mind – Inside the Mental Game

The Fighter’s Mind.

The Fighter’s Mind: Inside the Mental Game looks at the things which contribute to a successful mental approach in professional fighting; regardless of the sport.
Featuring interviews with athletes as diverse as Randy Couture, Dan Gable and Tai Chi master Josh Waitzkin, The Fighter’s Mind takes a fascinating glimpse into the world of pugilistic psychology.
Looks great.

Exercise of the Week : Weighted Chair Lifts

When it comes to forearm work on an extremely tight budget, you really can’t go past these. Love them.
Chair lifting is one of the first strength-training exercises I can remember doing as a kid; and requires nothing more than a chair and a heavy object. I typically use weight plates, but almost anything will work fine.
To see exactly what I mean by Chair Lifting, check out the video below. Dave Wigren in action.