Professional Heavy Duty Abdominal Roller

Looks great.

Serious about your ab work? Check out the Professional Heavy Duty Abdominal Roller - the 'King of Ab Wheels'.

Good fun.

NB : if you've never used an ab roller (aka 'ab wheel'), the basic idea is described here.

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 : The Reversal of Sports - From 'Aspirational' to 'Pure'
  Scott Andrew Bird | Follow @scottbird
  There's a change on the way.

  
  

• Looking At : Apr 29, 2018
  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 : Using DIY Strongman Equipment with Clients (Alan Thrall)

Very interesting area (and yes, I agree entirely).

Gymchat 278 - TBA

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

Raymond Ho

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: Ice for Better Sleep

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.

Sleep is easily my favourite form of recovery. Huge fan of a well-timed nap, and the associated dietary fine-tuning. Love it.

This tip comes to us from the Gymchat on sleep as a recovery method, and is a comment by Personal Trainer Derek Peruo on how he helps his new clients get a solid dose of shut-eye. Very interesting approach.

Just Resting.

For sleep, I usually recommend zinc and magnesium. If those don't help, I also recommend an ice pack to the back of the neck right before bed.

The ice pack lowers core temperature and promotes the release of melatonin.

And yes, all of those things work extremely well. Good stuff.

Checking Out : Professional Heavy Duty Abdominal Roller

Professional Heavy Duty Abdominal Roller

Looks great.

Serious about your ab work? Check out the Professional Heavy Duty Abdominal Roller - the 'King of Ab Wheels'.

Good fun.

NB : if you've never used an ab roller (aka 'ab wheel'), the basic idea is described here.

Rather than trying to explain how it works, here it is in action :

Good stuff Bret, looks great.

Interesting idea.

The Perk is caffeine-laden wearable which delivers a set amount of caffeine (via a patch) gradually. Looks ideal for the pre-workout caffeine hit, particularly when travelling (or whenever a cup of coffee simply isn't available).

A spot of video :

The Perk.

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 : How Many Calories Do I Need?
  Scott Andrew Bird | Follow @scottbird
  Work it out precisely.

  
  

• Looking At : Apr 22, 2018
  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 : The Deadlift Bar (Alan Thrall)

Great explanation.

Gymchat 278 - TBA

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

Eric Chessen

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: Speedbag Punch Technique

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.

The humble speedbag is a fantastic tool. When it comes to the right way to use it, there's no better place to discuss technique than the incredible Speed Bag Forum.

Amazing place.

This tip comes to us from SBF's own Alan Kahn, and looks at a couple of the basic techniques (leading up to a front + side punch combination). Good stuff.

Checking Out : Perk (Caffeine Bracelet)

Interesting idea.

The Perk is caffeine-laden wearable which delivers a set amount of caffeine (via a patch) gradually. Looks ideal for the pre-workout caffeine hit, particularly when travelling (or whenever a cup of coffee simply isn't available).

A spot of video :

The Perk.

Rather than trying to explain how it works, here it is in action :

Good stuff Bret, looks great.

Interesting idea.

The INBair O2 is an oxygen purifier, delivering the gas via a simple headset. Although the claims made are fairly general in nature, I'm keen to test this (as well as the competitors which will undoubtedly follow rapidly) in the home gym.

To give you an idea of the setup, a bit of video :

The INBair O2.

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 : Sandbag Training Protocols
  Scott Andrew Bird | Follow @sandbagfit
  Get the most out of this amazing tool.

  
  

• Looking At : Apr 15, 2018
  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 : How To Properly Train To Lose Fat (Omar Isuf)

Great information.

Gymchat 278 - TBA

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

Gymchat 141 - Stretching & Warming Up

Kirk Fontaine

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 : Neck Bridge Progressions

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 is in the form of a video which we first saw back in 2008; I was reminded of this technique after a brief discussion of neck training over on Google+. It's a very interesting series of neck bridge variations.

Over to Martin Rooney :

Good stuff.

Checking Out : INBair O2 (Oxygen Purifier)

Interesting idea.

The INBair O2 is an oxygen purifier, delivering the gas via a simple headset. Although the claims made are fairly general in nature, I'm keen to test this (as well as the competitors which will undoubtedly follow rapidly) in the home gym.

To give you an idea of the setup, a bit of video :

The INBair O2.

Rather than trying to explain how it works, here it is in action :

Good stuff Bret, looks great.