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 : Nails – Converting Imperial to Metric
  Scott Andrew Bird
  What’s what?
  

• Looking At : Feb 23, 2025 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 : How To Cut Microplastics Out Of Your Life (Chris Williamson & Dr Rhonda Patrick)

Very interesting area.

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 181 we discussed Training with Grippers II with certified Mash Monster, Strongman and Personal Trainer Matt Hunt. 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 : HUALINGKANG (oxygen supplement device)

Interesting idea. The HUALINGKANG looks ideal for a spot of oxygen therapy, or whilst training at higher altitudes. A portable supply of near-pure (95% or more) oxygen. A little video :
The HUALINGKANG.

Tip of the Week : Finding a Good Training Partner

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 Gymchat on ‘Motivation‘, and is part of a longer discussion of training partners. Enjoy.

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Over to Roger :

Finding a good training partner is rough and really all depends on the person’s temperament. Some like to train with someone who is far above them as motivation to get better while others like someone who is at their level or slightly beyond them, otherwise they get discouraged because the gap is so wide (a prime example of that negative self talk). I would start by just searching the gym for someone who does a similar style of training (or something completely different if you’re in to trying new things) that you do or someone who has attributes that you’d like to have (e.g. freaky strong, etc) and strike up a chat with them. You already have at least the gym in common, so start there.

Good stuff.

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 : One-Handed Barbell Curl

In a never-ending quest to add a little wrist work to my routines – as well as generally avoiding isolation movements – I decided to try a few one-handed barbell curls. The length of the bar makes this a far more difficult movement than a dumbell curl, and simply keeping the bar horizontal proves quite a challenge. Another thing in its favour is the way in which cheating is discouraged – anything but a slow and steady curl will see the bar quickly falling to one side. Fantastic.
The movement itself really is as simple as the name suggests. Grab a plate by the sides (angled down a bit, as if driving a bus) and straighten your arms in front of you. Raise it until you’re looking through the hole, and lower it again. That’s it. As this is pretty close to an isolation exercise (for the anterior deltoid) I tend to slip these in after a bit of pressing.

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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 : ‘Win the Inside Game : How to Move from Surviving to Thriving, and Free Yourself Up to Perform’ (by Steve Magness)

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. In ‘Win the Inside Game : How to Move from Surviving to Thriving, and Free Yourself Up to Perform’ Steve Magness takes a wonderful look at mental toughness from the ‘what’s happening in the brain‘ and ‘what should you do‘ points of view. Wonderful. 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.