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, 7 Jan 2013

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 :

Conor’s Corner : Hockey Speed Drill
Conor Doherty
How do you become faster? Try this.
Looking At : Jan 6, 2013
Scott Andrew Bird
We’ve been discussing some very interesting techniques, products and services recently. Here are the highlights.

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’d like to submit your own piece for Straight to the Bar, here’s how.

Video : Front Lever Progressions

Love your chin-ups? How about the Front Lever.
Good fun.

Gymchat 195 – Fitness Over 40 (with Kevin Redman)

Kevin Redman

How does strength-training change when you’re a little older? What do you start doing, stop doing or just do in a slightly different way?
This week we’re going to be discussing the many forms of ‘Fitness Over 40‘; everything from serious gym sessions to simply staying active. Helping us tackle this one is Corporate Trainer Kevin Redman, Personal Trainer Kirk Fontaine and you. Should be a great one.
NB : If you’re joining us on the Hangout (and sharing opinions, asking questions etc) be sure to get there a little early – only 8 spots are available. Cheers.

Who : Corporate Trainer Kevin Redman, Personal Trainer Kirk Fontaine and you.
Topic : Fitness Over 40
When : Wednesday Jan 9, 9pm EST
How : Google+ Hangout. If you’ve never been to one, here’s how to take part.
URL : https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/ca7hjv1svnr2g47c5kfdqm1qlvg?cfem=1
NB : If you’re keen to fire in a question or three, be sure to get there early. In addition to Kirk and the Interviewee, only the first 8 people to join us on the Hangout (and here’s how) will be able to join in the conversation. Everyone else will be able to watch, but not ask questions.
See you there.

If you’d like to suggest a future topic, or schedule an interview for one of the upcoming discussions, you can send us a message privately here, or swing by our Community site on Google+. Look forward to hearing from you.

Tip of the Week: Constructing the Inner Shell

Each week we publish a number of tips and techniques via Twitter, Google+, the blog; and now the newsletter. Wherever you are, there’s always a way to improve what you’re doing.
This tip comes to us from Derek‘s superb article How to Build Your Own Sandbag; and looks at a simple way to build the sandbag’s inner shell.

Over to Derek :

Inner Shells.

Inner linings can be made out of contractor bags. Contractor bags are thicker than garbage bags and are used on construction sites for waste disposal. They come in various sizes, from 30 to 55 gallons, so find a size that works for your project. I used four 42-gallon contractor bags. I doubled-bagged the sacks and filled each with roughly 15lb of sand. Then I rolled each into neat little parcel and used packing tape to keep everything from exploding all over my rug.

One Inside the Other.

Leave room for the sand (or stones or shot) to move around inside your inner linings. About 3/4 full is good. The final product should shift and move as you use it. This is what makes sandbag training unique.

Good stuff.

Checking Out : The Precision Nutrition Fat Loss Crash Course

Precision Nutrition Fat Loss Crash Course.

Remember this?
We first noted this one last year, and it’s equally powerful now. If one of your dietary goals is to shed a bit of excess fat, but you’re not quite sure what to do/where to start, have a look at the Precision Nutrition Fat Loss Crash Course. Absolutely free.

This 5-day course goes through the basics of fat loss – no matter what your starting point is. Whether you’re looking to lose a few pounds or a few hundred – without severely compromising your strength in the process – the Precision Nutrition Fat Loss Crash Course is the perfect place to start.
There are two versions (one for men, one for women), and you’ll find the details here :

Fantastic information.

Quick update on the Renaissance Fitness Supplement Kits we mentioned recently – superb idea.
As we noted, we’ll be reviewing these just as soon as they’re available. And if you missed the announcement, here’s a brief video to explain the basic idea :

For more information, head on over to the official site – http://renaissancefitness.wordpress.com.

Exercise of the Week : The Stand Press

The Stand Press – like a Floor Press on a bench. Very interesting idea.

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.

Kettlebell Exercise Demonstrations & Tutorials

We’ve looked at a lot of kettlebell exercises and variations over the years – in the form of tips, tutorials and demonstrations.
Where do you find them all? Right here – a complete list of Kettlebell Exercise Demonstrations & Tutorials.
Enjoy.

Free Downloads from the Strength Kit

Returning to Heavy Training After a Break

I recently added a number of resources to the Straight to the Bar Strength Kit, and as a Strength & Fitness Newsletter subscriber you’re more than welcome to download as many of them as you like. Several great eBooks, podcasts and videos – all absolutely free.
Just head over here, save them to your hard-drive, and dive in.
Good stuff.

NB : This is an ever-changing list. If you’d like to put your own work in front of a fantastic strength-focussed audience, let me know.

Want to Help Out?

Shout!

As you might expect, at Straight to the Bar we’re always looking for new ways to share the love of strength-training with the world. Via the main site, the weekly Gymchats, this newsletter and a whole lot more.

We’ve got a new project coming up (a couple actually), and we’re looking for someone to help out with the graphics side of things. In return we offer not only our eternal admiration, but the sincere appreciation of the entire strength-training community. And, of course, the myriad connections and opportunities that go along with that.
If you’re a designer (think illustrations more than physical products) and have more than a passing fondness for the world of strength training, get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.