Jen Mulhall.

This week we'll be discussing this area in detail, examining the thinking behind it, and the way to make use of it in your own training. Taking us through the entire process are Personal Trainers (and Strength Athletes) Jen Mulhall and Josh Hewett. If you've got questions/comments for Jen or Josh, just swing by the event page for this Gymchat (during the discussion itself). Details below.

Details -

Who : Personal Trainers (and Strength Athletes) Jen Mulhall and Josh Hewett
Topic : Self-Hypnosis For Strength Gains
When : Wednesday Jan 22, 9pm EDT (the Event page shows what time that is in your local timezone)
How : Watch the live stream, and ask questions, directly on the Event page. We'll also post the full video shortly after the Gymchat.

See you there.

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 : Why Bend Steel?
  'Unbreakable' Adam Glass
  An incredibly rewarding way to train.

  
  

• Looking At : Jan 19, 2014
  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 more writing in 2014 and would like to submit your own piece for Straight to the Bar, here's how.

Video : The Strength Athlete - Deadlift Cues

Good stuff Bryce. Excellent information.

Gymchat 232 - Self-Hypnosis For Strength Gains (Jen Mulhall)

Jen Mulhall.

This week we'll be discussing this area in detail, examining the thinking behind it, and the way to make use of it in your own training. Taking us through the entire process are Personal Trainers (and Strength Athletes) Jen Mulhall and Josh Hewett. If you've got questions/comments for Jen or Josh, just swing by the event page for this Gymchat (during the discussion itself). Details below.

Details -

Who : Personal Trainers (and Strength Athletes) Jen Mulhall and Josh Hewett
Topic : Self-Hypnosis For Strength Gains
When : Wednesday Jan 22, 9pm EDT (the Event page shows what time that is in your local timezone)
How : Watch the live stream, and ask questions, directly on the Event page. We'll also post the full video shortly after the Gymchat.

See you there.

Vic Magary.

If you missed the live stream (or just want to go over a particular point again), you can watch the entire video here. And if you're looking for the site that Vic mentioned at the end, it's fatlossforfree.com.

Tip of the Week: Building a Bulletproof Body

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.

Over the past few weeks we've looked at some great pieces from Josh Hewett's excellent 'Bulletproof Your Body' series. If you've missed any, here's a quick overview.

To give you an idea, a brief piece from the post :

Fix muscle imbalances by addressing your weak or inhibited muscles rather than trying to stretch out the tight ones. The key is to address the root cause, not just the symptom. This is why I suggest to avoid passive stretching, and instead to employ active stretching, isometric exercise, and corrective isolation exercises.

Good stuff. And again, this is only a snippet from the full piece - swing by Josh' blog for the entire article. A great read.

Checking Out : Bones of Iron - Collected Articles on the Life of the Strength Athlete

Bones of Iron - Collected Articles on the Life of the Strength Athlete.

I missed this one originally, and had actually forgotten all about it - until someone mentioned it today. Matt's fantastic gathering of articles on Olympic Weightlifting - Bones of Iron - Collected Articles on the Life of the Strength Athlete.

Full review shortly; in the meantime, here's a quick comment from the Amazon page to give you an idea :

Matt Foreman is one of the truly "good guys" in Olympic Weightlifting, and his book reads just like he's sitting next to you on the platform sharing the tips that make the difference between a PR and abject failure (which he understands only too well is a thin, thin line...). Foreman's approach is pragmatic, easy to understand and conversational, making it enjoyable to read and applicable to your own training. His wit is only matched by his vast knowledge and experience and both come out in spades in this book.

Bones of Iron - Collected Articles on the Life of the Strength Athlete.

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

Good stuff Bret, looks great.

Simon Carter, Onsight Photography.

Fantastic.

Thanks again to everyone who watched and sent in questions for the discussion Gymchat 231 - Fat Loss 101 [with Online Fitness Coach Vic Magary and Personal Trainer Josh Hewett] - much appreciated. If you haven't seen it yet (or simply want to go over a particular point again), here's the entire video.

Vic Magary.

This week we'll be discussing this fascinating area. Whether you're looking to do a little fine-tuning or shed a load of 'extra material', we'll detail precisely how to do that. Taking us through the entire process is Online Fitness Coach Vic Magary, joined by Personal Trainer Josh Hewett. If you've got questions/comments for Vic or Josh, just swing by the event page for this Gymchat (during the discussion itself). Details below.

Details -

Who : Online Fitness Coach Vic Magary and Personal Trainer Josh Hewett
Topic : Fat Loss 101 (for Beginners / Intermediates)
When : Wednesday Jan 15, 9pm EDT (the Event page shows what time that is in your local timezone)
How : Watch the live stream, and ask questions, directly on the Event page. We'll also post the full video shortly after the Gymchat.

See you there.

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 : 5 Surprising Factors That Drive Training Results
  'Napalm' Jedd Johnson
  Is your progress grinding to a halt? Try changing some of these.

  
  

• Looking At : Jan 12, 2014
  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 more writing in 2014 and would like to submit your own piece for Straight to the Bar, here's how.

Video : Fitness for Google Glass™ in Action

In previous Gymchats we've discussed various ways to use Google Glass in your training. To give you an idea of what it might look like, here's a brief demo video of the Lynxfit app in action.

Good stuff.

Gymchat 231 - Fat Loss 101 (Vic Magary)

Vic Magary.

This week we'll be discussing this fascinating area. Whether you're looking to do a little fine-tuning or shed a load of 'extra material', we'll detail precisely how to do that. Taking us through the entire process is Online Fitness Coach Vic Magary, joined by Personal Trainer Josh Hewett. If you've got questions/comments for Vic or Josh, just swing by the event page for this Gymchat (during the discussion itself). Details below.

Details -

Who : Online Fitness Coach Vic Magary and Personal Trainer Josh Hewett
Topic : Fat Loss 101 (for Beginners / Intermediates)
When : Wednesday Jan 15, 9pm EDT (the Event page shows what time that is in your local timezone)
How : Watch the live stream, and ask questions, directly on the Event page. We'll also post the full video shortly after the Gymchat.

See you there.

Jeff King.

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

Tip of the Week: Strengthen Your Neck, Reduce Pain, Increase Lifts

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 from Josh Hewett's excellent 'Bulletproof Your Body' series. The 'right' way to strengthen your neck.

Over to Josh :

When starting a neck strengthening program, you must be careful to be very progressive... start slow and easy and work your way up to more challenging exercises over time. For example, you can begin your exercise program by doing simple chin tucks while sitting or standing. (See video)

Once you get comfortable with basic sitting/standing chin tucks, you can try doing the exercise lying down. Build up to doing around 10 reps, holding for 5 to 10 seconds each rep. The goal is to increase the muscular endurance of your muscles as well as their strength. Your neck is designed to carry the weight of your head all day, not to lift trains or buses!

Good stuff. Note that this is only a snippet from the full piece - swing by Josh' blog for the entire article. A great read.

Re-Reading : The Grip Masters Manual

The Grip Master's Manual.

A friend of mine mentioned the can-crushing feat the other day (it's a superb feat - here's a bit of video if you've never seen it), and we got to chatting about this superb book. An incredible collection of John Brookfield's training ideas and approaches.

Rest assured, if you're looking for world class grip strength, make sure you've got a copy of this.

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

Good stuff Bret, looks great.

Thanks again to everyone who watched and sent in questions for the discussion Gymchat 230 - World's Strongest Disabled Man [with Strength Athletes and Personal Trainers Jeff King and Josh Hewett] - much appreciated. If you haven't seen it yet (or simply want to go over a particular point again), here's the entire video.

Jeff King.

In the Gymchat this week we'll be talking to Strength Athlete and Personal Trainer Jeff King. About strength athletics in general, and competitions such as the World's Strongest Disabled Man.

Joining him is fellow Strength Athlete and Personal Trainer Josh Hewett. If you've got questions/comments for Jeff or Josh, just swing by the event page for this Gymchat (during the discussion itself). Details below.

Details -

Who : Strength Athletes and Personal Trainers Jeff King and Josh Hewett
Topic : World's Strongest Disabled Man
When : Wednesday Jan 8, 9pm EDT (the Event page shows what time that is in your local timezone)
How : Watch the live stream, and ask questions, directly on the Event page. We'll also post the full video shortly after the Gymchat.

See you there.