All Articles & Reviews by
Patrick Ward
(1 posts in total - only latest ones shown)
Patrick Ward is the owner of Optimum Sports Performance LLC. He holds a Masters Degree in Exercise Science and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the NSCA and a Performance Enhancement Specialist with the NASM. He is certified in Active Release Techniques (ART) for the upper extremity and is a few weeks away from completing the necessary requirements to be licensed as a massage therapist in the state of Arizona (where he currently resides). He has worked with athletes and general population clients of all ages and abilities on both exercise programs and soft tissue therapies. For more information on Optimum Sports Performance, please check out the OSP site.
Additionally, Optimum Sports Performance hosts a free online forum covering strength and conditioning, sports performance, health and human performance, nutrition and injury prevention.
NB : Like to write a guest post for Straight to the Bar? I love hearing about how other people are training. And 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.
Recovery and Regeneration for the Strength Athlete
Does your training plan involve a solid dose of recovery work?
Farmer's Walk. Photo by Green Colander.
Are You as Strong as You Could Be?
Grab the Straight to the Bar Strength Kit.
Training Guides, eBooks and of course the Strength & Fitness Newsletter. Absolutely free.
If you love talking about training, make sure you check out the Gymchats. There's a full list of previous shows here.
To give you an idea of what they're like, here's an example :
Gymchat 277 - Barefoot Running - Believe the Hype! (Steven Sashen)
Fantastic discussion.
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
NB : As well as leaving a comment or two beneath the articles themselves, you might like to swing by the Daily 'Paper' for a somewhat more frequent dose of training goodness.
ready to get in shape?
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 - including the wonderful Josh Hewett. If you're about to begin your own strength-training journey, swing by his site at :
top-form-fitness.com/online-coaching
Highly recommended. If you're looking to get serious about 'getting in shape', book some time with Josh. Fantastic guy.
setting up a home gym?
If you're getting ready to put together a solid Home Gym (fantastic thing), here's how.
And for more, swing by the full guide. Absolutely free.
images of strength
Want to see (and learn) more Feats of Strength like this? Dive in.
reading : Ferocious Fitness (Phil Ross, Marty Gallagher)
Remember this? Great book. Ferocious Fitness : A Fighter's Proven Action Plan to Develop Blazing Power, Animalistic Strength and Killer Conditioning is a distillation of Phil Ross' training wisdom, in the form of a superbly comprehensive book. We took a look at the digital version recently, and you'll be pleased to know that the paperback version is now available. Definitely worthy of a place on the fitness shelf. Phil Ross' Ferocious Fitness.
community
talking about If you tweet a lot about fitness and would love to be on this list, let me know.love your grip work?
Check out The Grip Authority. Fantastic site.
daily newsletter
For some people, this site's weekly newsletter (The Strength & Fitness Weekly - part of the Strength Kit) isn't quite frequent enough. For those I produce a daily version, which you can grab here. Absolutely free.
in the wild
It’s always great to see how other people train.
If you’d like to send in a photo of yourself in action (wearing one of the Straight to the Bar Shirts of course - info 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.
air pollution & health
We discuss air pollution quite a bit on this site - particularly the various health impacts involved. If you'd like to dive in a little deeper, I invite you to check out the following :
- The 'Electric Cars' list on Twitter
- The 'Leave it in the Ground' newsletter
- The daily 'EVs in Australia' 'paper'
and of course :
Cheers.
checking out
Follow Me (Real-Time Posture Trainer)Interesting device.
Follow Me is a small sensor-laden device which sits on your upper back, keeping an eye on your posture. A curved spine will immediately result in a notification being sent to your phone.
Additionally, the device keeps track of your daily step count; and has an hourly stand reminder (many smartwatch owners will already be intimately familiar with both of these). It'll be interesting to see if they add more of these fitness-centric features over time.
For now, a little video :
And for the full list of the Books & DVDs we recommend, swing by the Recommended Books & DVDs page. To check out what we're reading at the moment (and to make suggestions), join us on Goodreads.
See you there.