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, 6 Oct 2014

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 :

How They Got Started : Alana Grimolfson
Scott Andrew Bird
How it all began.
Looking At : Oct 5, 2014
Scott Andrew Bird
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 more writing in 2014 and would like to submit your own piece for Straight to the Bar, here’s how.

Video : Ramstein Blob Challenge

A fairly unusual approach to lifting the Blob. Good stuff.

Gymchat 258 – Questioning Fitness Authority : Your Trainer Might Be Wrong (Bud Jeffries)

Bud Jeffries.

When should you accept that your trainer knows what they’re doing, and when should you question things? And if you do, what sorts of areas are up for grabs?
This week we’ll be tackling these, and all of the underlying questions they invoke. Helping us get a handle on this critical area is Performing Strongman/Author/Speaker Bud Jeffries, together with Personal Trainer and Strength Athlete Josh Hewett. Fantastic.

NB : We love hearing from as many people as possible. Join Bud and Josh on the Hangout, or fire in your questions via the Q&A. Full details below.
And if you’d like to point your friends/colleagues to the discussion, just use the ‘share‘ button at the top of that page. The more the merrier.

Details –

Who : Performing Strongman/Author/Speaker Bud Jeffries, Personal Trainer and Strength Athlete Josh Hewett, and You
Topic : Questioning Fitness Authority : Your Trainer Might Be Wrong
When : Monday Oct 7, 8:00pm EDT (the Event page shows what time that is in your local timezone).
How : Watch the live stream, join the hangout (just add Top Form Fitness to one of your circles, and Josh’ll send out the URL when the Hangout starts), or jump in the Q&A on the Event page itself. We’ll also post the full video on the main site shortly after the Gymchat.

Matt Palfrey.

Coming Up : We’ve got several fantastic discussions coming up shortly – with Powerlifter Bill Piche, Strength & Conditioning Coach Matt Palfrey and many, many others. Of course, we’re always scheduling more; if you’d like to suggest either a topic or a person that should definitely be on the show, drop us a line. Cheers.

Tip of the Week: The Benefits of Getting Your Shoes Fitted (Rather Than Fitting Them Yourself)

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.

There were a number of great points raised in Gymchat 185 – Training for Marathons & Triathlons, including this suggestion from Chas. There are real benefits to having your shoes fitted, rather than simply picking the ones you think will work well.

Well said.

Checking Out : Cadence Based Gripper Training

Cadence Based Gripper Training.

Perfect.
It seems as though my ‘to read/watch‘ pile has exploded in the past week or two; although ‘Napalm‘ Jedd Johnson’s Cadence Based Gripper Training certainly made a rapid rise to the top. I have to say, it looks superb.
I’ll post a full review once I finish the course (8 weeks); for the full explanation of what it’s all about, over to Jedd :
Cadence Based Gripper Training.

Quick update on the Hip Thruster we mentioned recently – fantastic thing.
Rather than trying to explain how it works, here it is in action :

Good stuff Bret, looks great.

Exercise of the Week : The Tornado

Ryan demonstrates a great club exercise – The Tornado. Nice one.

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.

New Guide : The Straight to the Bar Guide to Fat Loss

Vic Magary.

We’ve received some fantastic feedback following Vic Magary‘s Gymchats on Fat Loss, cheers. Greatly appreciated.
If fat loss is one of your own fitness goals, and you haven’t yet watched the discussions, you’ll find them all here. I’ve also added several other fat loss resources we’ve noted over the years – all of them highly recommended. Dive in.

Straight to the Bar Strength Calendar

Straight to the Bar Strength Calendar 2014.

Taking part in, helping out with or going to watch an upcoming strength competition?
Tell us about it.

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.

A Daily Dose

Love this stuff? Same here. If you’re looking for a daily dose of strength-training goodness, grab the Straight to the Bar Daily.
Absolutely free.

Giving

Straight to the Bar Team on Kiva.

If you’ve been training for a while, gradually cleaning up your diet, no doubt you’ve experienced the amazing power of transformation. It’s a tremendous feeling.
If you’re ready to give someone else a hand to transform their own lives – through education, sharing equipment, financial help – take a look at the full list of organisations on the Giving page. Cheers.