Thanks again to everyone who watched and joined in the discussion Gymchat 248 - Establishing Standards for Strength & Progressions [with Personal Trainers (and Strength Athletes) Brian Tabor 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.

Brian Tabor.

This week we're talking about these key areas, from both the clients' and trainers' points of view. Tackling these are Personal Trainers (and Strength Athletes) Brian Tabor and Josh Hewett. Fantastic.


NB : We'd love to hear your questions and comments. If there's a particular subject you'd like Brian 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) Brian Tabor, Josh Hewett, and You
Topic : Establishing Standards for Strength & Progressions
When : Wednesday Jun 5, 8:00pm EDT (the Event page shows what time that is in your local timezone).
How : Watch the live stream, or join the hangout (get your questions ready), directly on the Event page. We'll also post the full video shortly after the Gymchat.

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 to Build Your Own Sandbag
  Derek 'D-Rock' Peruo
  Whether it's for the versatility, experimentation or budget constraints - this is the only way to go.

  
  

• Looking At : Jun 1, 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 : Paleo Breakfast

Curious : what do you currently eat for breakfast? Cereals, this sort of thing or something else entirely?

Gymchat 249 - TBA

Mystery Guest.

In the meantime, take a look at some of the previous episodes of the show - there's 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.

Jen Mulhall.

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: Tie Your Water Consumption to the Number of Calories You Burn

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.

Water.

From the article 8 Glasses of Water Per Day?, a bit of history that'll make the whole thing a lot clearer :

Most people are aware that the drinking of plenty of water is advisable, and anecdotal evidence suggests that more = better (up to a point). However, where did the current guideline of '8 cups per day' come from?

According to Valtin (i) the origin is probably the 1945 recommendation made by the Food and Nutrition Board of the US National Research Council. This stated :

A suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 liters daily in most instances. An ordinary standard for diverse persons is 1 milliliter for each calorie of food. Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods.

The 2.5 litres was changed to 8 x 8 fluid ounce cups in later recommendations, but is otherwise unchanged.

Incidentally, if you're wondering how to work out the number of calories you're burning these days - here's how to work it out.

Re-reading : Never Let Go

Never Let Go.

I spent a fair bit of time over the weekend scanning the barcodes of fitness books (ready to add to the main part of Goodreads) following a book fair here. Love the things.

In the process I came across a few fitness gems, such as Dan John's wonderful Never Let Go: A Philosophy of Lifting, Living and Learning.

And as you'll quickly see, it's packed with incredible insights that Dan delivers in a, well, Dan John sort of way.


The book is based on a series of articles, each providing fantastic insights into Dan's approach to training. To give you an idea, a quick comment from the Amazon page :

Anything will work for three to six months. What then? That's the dynamic message I got from Dan's book. Oh, there was a lot more here. But I generally take one or two new and interesting ideas from a book --- assuming it's a good book. And this one is.

A great read.

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

Good stuff Bret, looks great.

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 Pistol Squat
  Al Kavadlo
  Time to build a new neurological pathway.

  
  

• Looking At : May 25, 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 : Raw Series, Back - Seated Cable Row

Nice one.

Gymchat 248 - TBA

Mystery Guest.

In the meantime, take a look at some of the previous episodes of the show - there's 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.

Jen Mulhall.

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: Dynamic Thumb Training with the Titan's Telegraph Key

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.

TTK.

Still, there's always a different way of looking at things. Here's an excellent example of that - Jedd shows just how a piece of equipment like the TTK can be put to a slightly uncommon use. I'll let him explain.

From the article Getting the Most out of Your TTK :

Thumb training can be broken up into at least four different types: Dynamic, Static, and Extensor, and Multi-Planar.

The focus of this article will be Dynamic thumb training with the Titan's Telegraph Key, or TTK.

One way to mix things up a bit is to make the Range of Motion longer by adding something underneath the finger-side handle. A catalog is a perfect choice for this. This makes the hand work through a longer range of motion the muscles are not used to. The first time I did this, I was sore for several days from the new stimulus. This technique has worked great for me in my quest for lifting heavier and wider block weights.

A brief demonstration :

Love it.

Re-Reading : Convict Conditioning 2

Convict Conditioning 2

We first talked about this one a couple of years ago - Paul Wade's excellent Convict Conditioning 2 - and it's safe to say that there are some very interesting ideas in there. It's full of them.

To give you an idea, here's a brief piece from one of the comments on the Dragon Door page :

In plain English, but with an amazing understanding of anatomy, physiology, kinesiology and, go figure, psychology, Coach Wade explains very simply how to work the smaller but just as important areas of the body such as the hands and forearms, neck and calves and obliques in serious functional ways.

His minimalist approach to exercise belies the complexity of his system and the deep insight into exactly how the body works and the best way to get from A to Z in the shortest time possible.

Convict Conditioning 2. Fantastic.

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

Good stuff Bret, looks great.

As you might expect, Straight to the Bar works with a number of Personal Trainers and Strength Coaches. If you're ready to take your fitness and strength development to the next level, here are the people that can help :

Josh Hewett.

Josh 'Do It With Hewett' Hewett

Toronto, Canada

Josh has an incredibly thorough, no-nonsense approach to fitness. Fun, simple and incredibly effective.

Details of his training services :

• face-to-face
• online

Fantastic.

Jen Mulhall.

Jen Mulhall, Thrive 365

Jen Mulhall is a competitive Strength Athlete and Personal Trainer who is very much focussed on the mental aspects of training. If you'd like to learn more about topics such as Visualisation, check out her appearances on Gymchats 225, 232 and 247.

And to work with Jen directly, swing by her website or drop her an email :

• thrive365life.com
• Email jenmullhall@live.ca

Good stuff.

Jon Hinds.

Jon Hinds, Monkey Bar Gym

Jon Hinds has a brilliant 'a little bit of everything' approach to training. It's fun, and it works.

The Monkey Bar Gym online training packages certainly hold true to this. Not only is your plan laid out in detail, it's reviewed constantly to make sure you're moving toward your fitness goals. To gain muscle, lose fat and to feel fantastic.

In short, this is the way training should be. Highly recommended.

Dave Lemanczyk.

Dave Lemanczyk

Dave Lemanczyk, MSPE is a former professional athlete who owns and operates a successful training business in Long Island, New York. He developed both the Keg Conditioning & Basketball Strength training systems used worlwide. Dave specializes in the training of athletes. In addition he is a licensed Health Education and Physical Education Teacher who is CPR, AED, and First Aid Certified.

If you're looking for private strength and conditioning services in Long Island, New York, look no further than Dave Lemanczyk's Private Training. Fantastic and honest.

Thanks again to everyone who watched and joined in the discussion Gymchat 247 - The Power of Visualization [with Personal Trainers (and Strength Athletes) Jen Mulhall 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.

The Amazing Samson

Alexander Zass' The Amazing Samson is another of the superb resources noted in Gymchat 237, with Logan Christopher and Josh Hewett. And as with the 'Görner the Mighty' book we noted at the time, I haven't read it for many, many years. Certainly keen to dive in this time around.

The book details Zass' life and feats, both in training and in his various performances. Fantastic.