Welcome to Straight to the Bar
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 (part of the Strength Kit), which contains details of new posts on the site, freshly-minted video demonstrations & tutorials, details of upcoming Gymchats and a whole lot more.
And yes, it’s absolutely free.
To help get you started, here are a few of our most recent posts. And if you want to dive in to a particular area. check out the ‘Start Here‘ page above. Enjoy.
Limbic Active (Physical Gaming Console)
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.
Safety and Autonomous Cars (Frenchie)
A Tesla FSD (beta) drive to the hospital, and to a Police Station. An early preview of a wonderful, life-saving future.
Looking At : Feb 14, 2021
During the past week we’ve discussed a number of great links; on Facebook, Twitter, in The Daily ‘Paper’ and so on. Here are a few of my favourites.
Eight Sleep Pod Pro Cover (Thermoregulation Add-On For Your Mattress)
Interesting idea.
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.
How The COVID-19 Vaccines Could Lead To A Cure For Cancer (Joe Scott)
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.
Looking At : Feb 7, 2021
During the past week we’ve discussed a number of great links; on Facebook, Twitter, in The Daily ‘Paper’ and so on. Here are a few of my favourites.
Pivot Bed (A Folding Bed Which Transforms Into A Home Gym)
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.
How Weightlifting Changed My Life (Henry Rollins)
Feel like working out right now? You certainly will (and likely quite a bit more) after watching this.
NB : Incidentally, if you ever have an opportunity to help someone else begin their own fitness journey, take it. As you can see, it really can have a massive impact.
Looking At : Jan 31, 2021
During the past week we’ve discussed a number of great links; on Facebook, Twitter, in The Daily ‘Paper’ and so on. Here are a few of my favourites.
What are Bumper Plates?
Bumper plates are a type of weight plate designed for Olympic style lifts and CrossFit movements. They are made out of dense rubber and therefore won’t crack when dropped from a hip height or above, unlike standard iron plates. They usually use specific colors for each weight and there is a metal “hub” or insert” in the centre, which is about 2″ in diameter so they fit perfectly on Olympic barbells.