If you’ve just joined us, welcome. Here you’ll find everything that grunts, groans and ticks in the world of strength training. In short, this site is the home of all things strength.
Incidentally, this site’s been helping people become fitter, healthier and stronger since January 2004. If you’ve just joined us, I highly recommend subscribing to the weekly Strength & Fitness Newsletter, which contains details of new posts on the site, freshly-minted video demonstrations & tutorials, details of upcoming Gymchats and a whole lot more.
Interesting idea.
The Exerbell is a cross between a kettlebell and sandbag, designed with travel workouts (Remember them? Won't be long.) in mind. Great combination.
To give you a brief look at the bag/bell itself, a little video :
The Exerbell.
Incredible potential.
The Limbic Active bills itself as a 'Physical Gaming Console', though it has possibilities far beyond that. An incredible variety of medical & fitness applications.
Still, the various active games offered look wonderful. And yes, you can add your own.
To give you a brief look at the system itself, a little video :
The Limbic Active.
The Eight Sleep Pod Pro Cover is an add-on for your mattress, which combines thermoregulation with in-built sleep tracking functionality. I first saw this on Tim Ferriss' '5 Bullet Friday' email list, and I have to say that it looks fantastic.
With dual zone temperature control (just in case), and a companion app for your smartphone. To see exactly how you slept, and get a little coaching if desired.
The Eight Sleep Pod Pro Cover.
A fascinating look at the history of vaccines, and the potential future uses of the ideas behind the mRNA-based COVID-19 ones. Although it comes at a terrible cost, it's a wonderful silver lining.
Interesting combination.
The Pivot Bed is a wall-mounted bed which can be quickly transformed into a basic home gym. Space for a little free-weight work, inbuilt bars for chin-ups and assorted ab exercises, and a variety of mounts for video screens. Perfect.
It even has connections for an optional power rack and dip bars.
A little video :
The Pivot Bed.
Like to contribute something? I love hearing about how other people are training : if you've got a strength-related competition or seminar coming up, add it to the calendar. And if you'd love to be on one of the weekly Gymchats - get in touch. Look forward to hearing from you.
Want More?
As you can imagine, there’s an incredible amount of material on this site. Articles, video demonstrations & tutorials, the weekly Gymchats and a whole lot more. To keep up with everything going on in the World of Strength, grab the weekly Strength & Fitness Newsletter - part of the Straight to the Bar Strength Kit.
NB : if you'd like to be interviewed on an upcoming show (or know someone who should be), drop us a line. It's great to find out how other people train. And if you'd like to add your comments and suggestions on the Gymchats in general, we'd love to hear them.
Cheers.
what we're saying
And if you'd like to see the comments as soon as they arrive, you can grab the RSS feed here.
A dose of Online Personal Training is ideal. Your place, their experience.
As you'd expect, I work with a number of Fitness Professionals myself (both personally, and to research various parts of this site) - including the wonderful Josh Hewett. If you're about to begin your own strength-training journey, swing by his site at :
In addition, articles are submitted from across the globe. Got a piece
you'd like to share? Let us know.
elsewhere
As you can see, we love talking about training. In addition to the conversations on here, in the Google+ Community, Twitter and so on are discussions on several other great fitness-focussed sites.
Of course, we're always on the lookout for new additions to this list. If you'd like to suggest a site you've come across personally (or perhaps one that you run), drop us a line.
If you've been training for a while, gradually cleaning up your diet, no doubt you've experienced the amazing power of transformation. It's a tremendous feeling.
If you're ready to give someone else a hand to transform their own lives - through education, sharing equipment, financial help - take a look at the full list of organisations on the Giving page. Cheers.
If you’d like to send in a photo of yourself in action (wearing one of the Straight to the Bar Shirts of course - the latest design is here), just upload it somewhere and send us a link. Cheers.
the future of fitness
Over the years we’ve looked at the fitness industry from a number of angles - discussing the history, present approaches and potential future trends involved. Fascinating areas.
When it comes to the last part - discussing potential future trends - things get a little, well, unusual. If it’s an interest you share, or you just want to find out the types of things we think are likely, check out the posts tagged ‘Futurism’. And of course, Gymchat 224 (Roundtable) - The Future of Fitness. Superb discussion.
leave it in the ground
On Straight to the Bar we talk a lot about air pollution, primarily from a gym-owner's perspective. In the 'Leave it in the Ground' newsletter we look at the topic far more broadly - the gradual move away from the use of fossil fuels. Daily, and free.
If you're new to the world of nail bending, this is the perfect book to get. It'll show you the exact techniques you'll need to get started right away. Written by world-class bender 'Napalm' Jedd Johnson.
This is a fantastic book. If you've ever considered learning this incredible strength feat, the Card Tearing eBook is the perfect place to start. Love it.
Mike Gillette explains the various ways to put the gymnastic rings to work - progressively - in Rings of Power. With clear emphases on both strength and rehabilitation, it's an ideal place to start.
When it comes to body transformation - whether that's an increase in strength, packing on a bit of muscle or losing a bit of excess fat - this is the perfect place to start. Dr Berardi's Precision Nutrition.
If you've ever watched a Bruce Lee film and marveled at his strength, speed, agility, endurance, flexibility or muscularity, this book should take pride of place in your collection. Unlike many other writings covering everything from Lee's training methods to nutrition, this book is based not on the recollections of people around him; but on Lee's own notes. Brilliant.
For a full list of what we're reading at the moment (training-related and otherwise), join us on Goodreads. And for a cut-down list showing only the ones we recommend, swing by the Recommended Books & DVDs page. See you there.