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 : Pull Like A Strongman
Max Misch
Time to test yourself. - Looking At : Feb 15, 2015
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 a little fitness writing and would like to submit your own piece for Straight to the Bar, here's how.
Video : Globe and Blob Lifting
A quick dose of grip work. Good stuff.
Gymchat 276 - NLP Skills for Fitness Professionals (Jen Mulhall)
Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Certainly an interesting - if somewhat controversial - form of psychotherapy. Perhaps more widely known in communications and personal development contexts.This week we'll be looking closely at these last two areas, identifying the specific skills which are most valuable in a strength-training environment. Particularly for those on the Fitness Professional side of the fence.
Tackling this one are are Personal Trainers (and Strength Athletes) Jen Mulhall and Josh Hewett. Fantastic.
NB : No matter where you stand on a subject like this, we'd love to hear your thoughts. If there's a particular subject you'd like Jen and Josh to address, just swing by the event page for this Gymchat and leave a comment or jump in the Hangout and ask them directly.
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 : Personal Trainers (and Strength Athletes) Jen Mulhall and Personal Trainer (and Strength Athlete) Josh Hewett
Topic : NLP Skills for Fitness Professionals
When : Monday Jan 12, 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 shortly after the Gymchat.
Tip of the Week: Checking Your Squat Depth
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.
This tip comes to us from a thread on the VirtualMeet Forums, looking at a device called the Safety Squat. Very interesting idea.
Over to James Chochlinski :
The safety squat arrived yesterday. No instruction manual, just a picture. Tried some squats with it using just the bar. Seems to work similarly to the youtube video sensor. Placement just above the knee requires deeper squat to trigger the sensor; Not as deep when placed higher up on the thigh. It's just a level sensor, so the difference is due to the shape of my thigh. Happy with the safety squat so far.
James was also kind enough to share some video of the device in action :
The obvious use is for powerlifters when training for a meet. However, on Google+, Raymond Ho shared an alternative way to put it to work :
The idea is actually good. I see people when they start loading up the bar (which is too heavy for them) they start to get higher out of the holes until it looks more like a partial rep. and if you squat by yourself then it stops you from cheating.
Sounds great.
I'm curious : has anyone here used a device like this, and what are your thoughts on the idea?
Revisiting : The Encyclopedia of Clubbell Training
Remember these?
Over the weekend I was chatting to a friend of mine about club training, and the excellent Encyclopedia of Clubbell Training came up. We first looked at it a while ago now (and we'll be posting a few additional thoughts shortly); this is just a quick note to mention that it's currently on sale on the RMAX site.
For a whopping 50% discount, just use the Coupon Code CBKB50 at Checkout. Good stuff.
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.