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All-round strength training
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A blog about strength training for men and women. All types of strength - maximal, explosive, bodyweight etc. How to perform exercises, how to maximise your training or try something new, debunking myths about women's weight training and introducing new
Recent Posts Tagged With 'free weights'
Speed work
Since the beginning of 2009 I have been incorporating speed work into my training and it has brought a valuable new dimension to my powerlifting. Speed work has been around for many years and has been popular in the powerlifting world since it was...
First powerlifting meet
I did my first powerlifting competition last weekend. It was great fun and I thought I would share my experiences with you. Perhaps it will encourage some of you to enter competitions too, if anything has been holding you back. It would also be inter...
How much can you lift?
This is a question as much for my male readers as my female readers: do you have a conception of how much weight women can/should be lifting? Because relatively few women lift free weights and of those who do, many are new to lifting, it is deemed ap...
The Loneliness of the Lifter
Psychology plays a big part in any sport but strength training is an interesting example in that it is pursued by many on their own, often in their own basement or garage gym. For those of us who train in solitary, it can be a lonely business. It is ...
How-to: Bench press
Possibly the most popular exercise in any gym, the bench press is not just for ego and the t-shirt muscles. It is an event in powerlifting and a great way to build upper body strength. What is the bench press? The bench press is one of the three lif...
Improve weaknesses with unilateral exercises
Unilateral exercises are, quite simply, exercises done on one side only, such as single leg squats or one arm dumbbell presses. Most exercises that you do in the gym have a single-side option. Why do unilateral exercises? Many of the best functional ...
How-to: Front squat
The front squat is a very useful exercise that is not often seen in the average gym. But it is unjustly neglected and some coaches even prefer it to the back squat. What is a front squat? Holding the bar across the front of your shoulders, squat down...
The Wisdom of Dan John
Who is this man who has such a suitably evocative name? ‘Dan’ conjures images of a deadly judo master; ‘John’ is reminiscent of the prophets. Even T-Nation calls him “Yoda”… Dan John is one of the few strength pundits who is both te...
Planning your training
Now that summer is over (did it ever really begin?) I am planning my autumn/winter training. This is a process that starts with ideas and goal-setting and ends up with a weekly training schedule. Because I am involved in so many sports and activitie...
Kettlebell training guide
Following on from Crossfit London’s excellent Ring Training guide, they have now published a Kettlebell Training guide, which I am stocking. Like the Ring Training guide, this Kettlebell Training guide is a snip at only £3.50 and if you buy it via...
Push press
This is the seventh article in my series of Top 10 Functional Strength Exercises. The aim of this series is to introduce some of my favourite strength exercises, that people may not be aware of or may not have tried. What is the push press? A push p...
Overhead squat
This is the sixth article in my series of Top 10 Functional Strength Exercises. The aim of this series is to introduce some of my favourite strength exercises, that people may not be aware of or may not have tried. What is the overhead squat? The ove...
Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide
This is the first article in the series Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide. 1. Why lift weights? 4. Exercise technique 2. Types of weight training 5. Training programmes 3. Starting Out 6. Create your own programme Why lif...
Types of weight training
This is the second article in the series Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide. 1. Why lift weights? 4. Exercise technique 2. Types of weight training 5. Training programmes 3. Starting out 6. Create your own programme Most c...
Starting out
This is the third article in the series Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide. 1. Why lift weights? 4. Exercise technique 2. Types of weight training 5. Training programmes 3. Starting out 6. Create your own programme Starting...
Exercise technique
This is the fourth article in the series Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide. 1. Why lift weights? 4. Exercise technique 2. Types of weight training 5. Training programmes 3. Starting out 6. Create your own programme Exercis...
Training programmes
This is the fifth article in the series Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide. 1. Why lift weights? 4. Exercise technique 2. Types of weight training 5. Training programmes 3. Starting out 6. Create your own programme Training...
Create your own programme
This is the sixth article in the series Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide. 1. Why lift weights? 4. Exercise technique 2. Types of weight training 5. Training programmes 3. Starting out 6. Create your own programme Create y...
Why do most women still avoid the free weights room?
This puzzles me because almost every strength website I come across these days has the obligatory “why women should lift weights” article. Yet despite all these attempts at myth-busting, it appears the message isn’t getting through. Body Pump, ...
Crossfit London sunday workouts
Crossfit London does Fight Gone Bad I’m in London for the festive season so I have grabbed the opportunity to get some quality Crossfit sessions in. I’ve been going to the weekly Workout On Sunday sessions down in Stratford, east London. ...
One-arm dumbbell swing
This is the second article in my series of Top 10 Functional Strength Exercises. The aim of this series is to introduce some of my favourite strength exercises, that people may not be aware of or may not have tried. Many of these exercises are never ...
One-arm dumbbell snatch
This is the first article in my series of Top 10 Functional Strength Exercises. The aim of this series is to introduce some of my favourite strength exercises, that people may not be aware of or may not have tried. Many of these exercises are never f...
Free weights and machines: the debate
You will often hear or read people debating the merits of training with free weights or machines. Most people seem to fall into one camp or the other. A lot of it comes down to individual circumstances: the purpose of one’s training, a bad experien...
