If you’ve just joined us, welcome. Here you’ll find everything that grunts, groans and ticks in the world of strength training. In short, this site is the home of all things strength.
There have been some superb articles posted here over the years (my favourites are listed below), as well as training logs, product reviews, forum discussions and of course the twitterchats. It's really been (and continues to be) an incredible ride.
Before we dive in to the list itself, a quick word on the content : while it's quality stuff, there's a lot of it. Feel free to pick out your favourites, bookmark them, add them to Instapaper/Evernote/Pinboard; Stumble them and share them with your friends. Dive in.
Today marks the 8th anniversary of Straight to the Bar (the first post was Re-Entering the World of Fitness), and to say I'm grateful is an understatement. Thank you for all of the comments, techniques, ideas and inspiration.
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.
Tweet
I give a quick review of this AWESOME DVD made by Jedd Johnson. If your looking to take your gripper training to the next level or your just beginning, this is the one and only DVD out there you need to CRUSH anything!
Tweet Mixed Martial Arts is such an intensive fitness activity in terms of both physical and mental exhaustion that one has to train extensively in a number of areas in order to be adequately prepared. One has to have incredible endurance, enough at least to stay up and alert at all times. Being able to aptly utilize brunt force is also a huge advantage, so one has to be able to strengthen his body to such a level that he can draw said force, and not only that, but he must learn to concentrate well enough to focus that force on a particular target. If you're enticed by the allure of Mixed Martial Arts and want to prepare yourself for the action by following an all-inclusive regimen to get your body up to speed, you'll need to do more than just train for the matches themselves. You'll need to amplify the strength and durability of your own body and mental state, and to do that you'll have to incorporate several different strategic areas into your training routine.
Shortly after the discussion on Nutritional Basics, we took a look at this particular topic over on Google+; and there were some very interesting responses indeed.
I love Google+. It's proven to be a great place to share article links & commentary, photos and research from both the fitness and medical worlds. It's also ideal for the Gymchats.
There are several reaction balls on the market today that all do the same thing, however, I have chosen the most commonly known one for the analysis. The Nike SPARQ eyeReact Ball.
Like to contribute something? I love hearing about how other people are training; if you’d like to write an article, record a video or tell us about a site you’ve discovered, get in touch.
Welcome. Here you’ll find everything that grunts, groans and ticks in the world of strength training. To give you an idea, here are the most recent articles on the site :
NB : if you'd like to review a product for Straight to the Bar, I'd love to hear from you. It's fantastic to see how other people put things to the test.
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Straight to the
Bar is very much an interactive website. In addition to the
articles here, there are a number of ways to share your passion with
other lovers of the iron :
If you're new to the world of nail bending, this is the perfect book to get. It'll show you the exact techniques you'll need to get started right away. Written by world-class bender Jedd Johnson.
This is a fantastic book. If you've ever considered learning this incredible strength feat, the Card Tearing eBook is the perfect place to start. Love it.
If you ever wake up with that 'just run over by a truck' feeling, you need a copy of Tim Hull's Functional Correction Manual. Not only will it help you to locate and repair the problem, it'll help prevent it happening in the future.
When it comes to body transformation - whether that's an increase in strength, packing on a bit of muscle or losing a bit of excess fat - this is the perfect place to start. Dr Berardi's Precision Nutrition.
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.
And if you're a strength coach or personal trainer, check out the books Derek found invaluable when setting up his (commercial) gym. Fantastic place.