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 : Ultimate Masters World’s Strongest Man 2011
  Davie Easton | Follow @davieeaston
  Great competition.

  
  

• Looking At : Jan 19, 2020
  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 : Healed through AI (The Age of AI)

I love this series, which looks at the wonderful uses of artificial intelligence. Here, a look at AI and the medical side of things.
Fantastic.

Gymchat 278 – TBA

We’re still finalising the details for this week’s discussion. I’ll post them on the blog (and Twitter, 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.

Jedd ‘Napalm’ Johnson.

Previously : In Gymchat 245 we discussed Grip Strength with the insanely strong Jedd Johnson, joined by Personal Trainer (and Strength Athlete) Josh Hewett. Great conversation.


If you missed the live stream (or just want to go over a particular point again), you’ll find the entire video here.
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.

Tip of the Week: Fix Your Feet

Each week we publish a number of tips and techniques via Twitter, the blog; and the newsletter. Wherever you are, there’s always a way to improve what you’re doing.
This tip is from Josh Hewett‘s excellent ‘Bulletproof Your Body‘ series. The real benefits of including your feet in your training.
Over to Josh :

You need to gradually strengthen your feet and slowly introduce them to greater range of motion. Walking barefoot on soft sand or grass is a great way to start… plus it feels good! If you have access to a beach or a well manicured lawn, slowly progress from walking barefoot for a few minutes at a time and working up to a longer duration, before introducing any more challenging barefoot activities.

For walking on solid surfaces such as concrete, I suggest you wear appropriate footwear that will provide minimal support while still allowing for greater natural movement of your feet.

Good stuff. Note that this is only a snippet from the full piece – swing by Josh‘ blog for the entire article [.pdf]. A great read.

Checking Out : BP Doctor (Health-Tracking Smartwatch)

Interesting idea.
I’m a big fan of the various Health-Tracking Smartwatches currently available – especially things like the Apple Watch. Still, there are several things I’d love them to track; blood pressure in particular.
The BP Doctor performs that function, using an inflatable cuff within the watch itself. Keen to see how well it performs, and which software it integrates with (hopefully anything and everything, so I can add my own).
A spot of video :



The BP Doctor (Health-Tracking Smartwatch).

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 : Heavy Kettlebell Clean and Heave

More from the world of heavy kettlebell training – here’s a 48kg bell and a 60kg bell going for a ride. 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.

Want to Guest Host a Gymchat?

Gymchat 211 – Training Approaches.

I love the Gymchats – great show. Fantastic to hear how everyone trains.
To help uncover even more, I’d like to extend an invitation. For you to act as a Guest Host, and interview someone you know about their own workouts & competitions. Whether that’s a work colleague, training partner or just someone you know who likes to lift.


If you’d like to Guest Host an episode or two of the show, let me know. And if you haven’t watched any yet and would like to see what they’re all about, there’s a full list here. Cheers.

Images of Strength

Wide Plate Pinch.

As you might expect, we love seeing training-related photographs. Pics of your home gym, DIY equipment, workouts, diet or competitions – it’s all fantastic.
If you’ve got an image or three that you’d love to share with a strength-focussed audience, just upload them to Flickr/Instagram/SmugMug and send us the link. Cheers.

Free Downloads from the Strength Kit

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, audio files 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.

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

Chris Stanciu 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.

Twitter Lists

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.

Ferocious Fitness (Phil Ross, Marty Gallagher)

Ferocious Fitness.

Remember this? Great book.
Ferocious Fitness : A Fighter’s Proven Action Plan to Develop Blazing Power, Animalistic Strength and Killer Conditioning is a distillation of Phil Ross’ training wisdom, in the form of a superbly comprehensive book.
We took a look at the digital version recently, and you’ll be pleased to know that the paperback version is now available. Definitely worthy of a place on the fitness shelf.
Phil Ross’ Ferocious Fitness.

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.

Daily Newsletters

Finally, for a daily dose of tangentially-related information – check out the following. All are compiled daily, and cover the following topics :
Electric Cars in Australia (great way to help tackle air-pollution)
Leave It In The Ground (tackling air-pollution from a slightly different angle)
Better Sleep Nightly (my favourite form of recovery)
And yes, they’re absolutely free.