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During the past week we've discussed a number of great links; on Google+, Twitter, the Forums and so on. Here are a few of my favourites.
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.
When it's time for a little bench work, how do you position your feet? Clint explores.
Who Ultrarunner, airline captain and insanely competitive triathlete, Chas Melichar
Topic : Training for Marathons & Triathlons
When : Wed Sep 19, 9pm EST (here's how to find out when that is in your timezone)
How : Google+ Hangout. Follow either Kirk or Scott for details on the live feed.
See you there.
For those who missed out on the conversation, we'll be posting a brief version of the interview over on Kirk's Youtube channel. Details soon.
If you're a fitness professional and love the Precision Nutrition approach, check out their certification offering. To say it's comprehensive is an understatement.
For full details of exactly what's on offer, swing by :
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/products/certification
Very interesting indeed.
Quick update on the StrongerGrip Modular Grip System (MGS) we mentioned recently - absolutely fantastic.
If you haven't seen it yet, check out the video. Warning : you will want one.
Who Ultrarunner, airline captain and insanely competitive triathlete, Chas Melichar
Topic : Training for Marathons & Triathlons
When : Wed Sep 19, 9pm EST (here's how to find out when that is in your timezone)
How : Google+ Hangout. Follow either Kirk or Scott for details on the live feed.
See you there.
One notable change : as my own bandwidth here's a little ordinary at best, these Video Gymchats will be held by Personal Trainer Kirk Fontaine. If you've joined us for the previous Gymchats, you'll appreciate just how incredible this is. Please make him feel welcome.
For the first of the Video Gymchats, Kirk will be interviewing Olympic Athlete / Bodybuilder / Personal Trainer Maik Wiedenbach; discussing the mental side of preparing for a bodybuilding competition. The what, how and why.
Looking forward to it.
NB : I'll post detailed instructions on the blog regarding 'how to watch live, how to ask questions, where to find the video later' and so on; in the meantime, just follow either Kirk or myself on Google+. We'll be starting at the usual time, 9pm EST on Wednesday.
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.
Love it.
One notable change : as my own bandwidth here's a little ordinary at best, these Video Gymchats will be held by Personal Trainer Kirk Fontaine. If you've joined us for the previous Gymchats, you'll appreciate just how incredible this is. Please make him feel welcome.
For the first of the Video Gymchats, Kirk will be interviewing Olympic Athlete / Bodybuilder / Personal Trainer Maik Wiedenbach; discussing the mental side of preparing for a bodybuilding competition. The what, how and why.
Looking forward to it.
NB : I'll post detailed instructions on the blog regarding 'how to watch live, how to ask questions, where to find the video later' and so on; in the meantime, just follow either Kirk or myself on Google+. We'll be starting at the usual time, 9pm EST on Wednesday.
Details -
Who : Olympic Athlete / Bodybuilder / Personal Trainer Maik Wiedenbach
Topic : Mental Preparation for Bodybuilding Contests
When : Wed Sep 12, 9pm EST (here's how to find out when that is in your timezone)
How : Google+ Hangout. Follow either Kirk or Scott for details on the live feed.
See you there.
Each week we publish a number of tips and techniques via twitter, Google+, the forums, the blog; and now the newsletter. Wherever you are, there's always a way to improve what you're doing.
In Gymchat 136 - Heavy Training after a Break, Vic noted :
I lost a LOT of strength on some lifts. It was surprising. That's why that initial 3 weeks of lighter work was important to me - it was smart to underestimate my strength at first.
And
It's important to consciously do less those first few weeks. I was off for almost 2 years - as a rule I did not put any more than 135lbs on the bar the first week. I did not push any sets to failure the next two weeks while still staying at 5 reps or less for most sets.
Good stuff.
Paul Zaichik takes a look at a key component of almost every Martial Art or Yoga form; the stances. Not simply 'how to do them', but a detailed examination of the essentials behind performing them flawlessly.
From the main page :
There are three components to stances, which most people lack. These are:
- Flexibility or Depth
- Strength and Endurance
- Balance and Stability
In addition common requests had to do with muscle and joint pain while performing the stances. If you are reading this, there must be a part of your stances that you want to improve. What you may not know, is that all the factors mentioned above are very interdependent. Take balance for instance. If you try to go deeper than you flexibility allows, you will fall off balance. If your joints begin to hurt, you will get out of stance or will find yourself off balance as well. The same would happen if you lack strength or endurance, you are bound to fall in one direction or another. Now that you know the above, you may be surprised to find that your strength maybe lacking due to your lack of flexibility. Your joints may hurt due to poor strength, balance or flexibility as well.
Fantastic.
Quick update on the StrongerGrip Modular Grip System (MGS) we mentioned recently - absolutely fantastic.
If you haven't seen it yet, check out the video. Warning : you will want one.
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.
Interesting movement. Over to Perry for the full explanation :
Nice one.
We're still finalising the details for this week's discussion, I'll post those shortly (on the blog, Twitter, Google+ etc - you'll certainly hear about it). In the meantime, if you'd like to suggest a future topic, or schedule an interview for one of the upcoming discussions, get in touch. Look forward to hearing from you.
Each week we publish a number of tips and techniques via twitter, Google+, the forums, the blog; and now the newsletter. Wherever you are, there's always a way to improve what you're doing.
Matt explains the overall process in his article DIY : How to Build Your Own Tire Sled, but the video below - showing the sled in action - will give you the general idea.
Good fun.
Although there are certainly quite a few sales going on around Labor Day (in the US, at least), it's a free ebook that caught my eye. In particular, Kelly McCann's Face Mash.
If you're at all familiar with Kelly McCann, well, you know what you're getting in to. And if not, here's a snippet from Black Belt to help you get up to speed :
Kelly McCann is a former U.S. Marine special-missions officer responsible for counterterrorism and counter-narcotics. He now serves as the president of Crucible, an elite empty-hand and weapons-training facility that provides security support services and trains military, government and law-enforcement operators to do whatever it takes to survive.
Nice one.
Quick update on the StrongerGrip Modular Grip System (MGS) we mentioned last week - absolutely fantastic.
If you haven't seen it yet, check out the video. Warning : you will want one.
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.
What's a Tough Mudder event really like? Have a look.
Nice one Pete. The GoPro is perfect for things like this.
Around a year ago they migrated to Google+, and were renamed 'Gymchats' at that time. These have a lot of advantages - particularly the fact that there's a permanent link to each discussion. You'll find a complete list here.
Now, we're getting ready to grow once more - to include a video of the interview alongside the text. They'll still be on Google+, and you'll be able to access them in much the same way.
We'll be posting the full details of the change over the next few days.
If you've spent much time on Google+, or joined us for some of the previous Gymchats, no doubt you've bumped into the incredible Kirk Fontaine. In addition to being a Personal Trainer and Fitness Writer, he's taken part in the Gymchats from both the interviewer and interviewee sides of the fence. Greatly appreciated.
Kirk's now helping out by scheduling interviewees for future discussions. If you're at all interested in taking part in one of the Gymchats, get in touch.
Each week we publish a number of tips and techniques via twitter, Google+, the forums, the blog; and now the newsletter. Wherever you are, there's always a way to improve what you're doing.
As I switched to being an early riser fairly recently (after 40+ years of being a self-confessed night owl), I've noticed a similar change myself. And in our conversations on Google+, Louis George helped explain exactly why :
Our evolution makes us more suited to the "lark" type behavior. The circadian rhythm is based on the pattern of day and night. Fighting it continually, with shift work and personal preferences usually ends badly.
More than behavior patterns, or being organised, I feel, the damage done to hormonal regulation by poor sleep is a bigger factor.
Good stuff.
Remember the StrongerGrip Modular Grip System (MGS) we mentioned a while ago? It's arrived.
A little video to show you what it's all about :
(warning : before you watch this, just be aware that you will end up wanting it)