Welcome.

If you’ve just joined us, welcome. Here you’ll find everything that grunts, groans and ticks in the world of strength training.

I’ve been interested in the history of physical culture for as long as I can remember : the performing Strongmen & women, feats of strength, ancient methods of training (and the equipment used) and so on. It’s an absolutely fascinating collection of stories.

Here’s a gathering of those stories, collected from Straight to the Bar as well as my own personal collection of strength-training memorabilia. Enjoy.

Strength Athletes

For a full list, head over to the History of Strength archives. Here are just a few of my favourites :

• Don Athaldo (Walter Joseph Lyons)
• George F. Jowett (George Finsdale Jowett)
• The Russian Lion (George Karl Julius Hackenschmidt)
• The Strong Man of Islington (Thomas Topham)
• Ed Zercher (Ed Zercher)
• The Great Zottman (George Zottman)

Inspirational Images

Photos and drawings of numerous strength athletes; performing, posing and training.

Strength Feats

Feats of Strength enjoyed by various performers for centuries. These are the ones you’ll typically see at a Strongman show, Circus Performance or in a seriously hardcore gym.

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Want more? No problem. Swing by Straight to the Bar for a collection of training-related articles, inspiration and demonstrations; grab the weekly Strength & Fitness Newsletter for training tips, video tutorials and uncommon exercises; and join us for the weekly Twitterchats discussing a range of training-related ideas, exercises and equipment.

Featured Products

images of strength

Want more? Grab the wallpapers, and check out the Flickr group.

on straight to the bar

Welcome. Here you’ll find everything that grunts, groans and ticks in the world of strength training. To give you an idea, here are the most recent articles on the site :

• Conor's Corner : Speed In Hockey
• Looking At : Dec 30, 2012
• Green Tea Fat Burning Pills from Applied Nutrition
• Conor's Corner : Shot Power In Hockey
• Looking At : Dec 23, 2012
• Survey : What Time Should We Hold the Gymchats?
• Conor's Corner : Slide Board Training For Hockey

If you enjoyed these, check out the complete 'Best Of Straight to the Bar' list. Fantastic.

also learning from

tell us about it

Straight to the Bar is very much an interactive website. In addition to the articles here, there are a number of ways to share your passion with other lovers of the iron :

• Seen something cool? Send us a tweet
• Discuss it in the forums
• Join the SttB Facebook group
• Vote for stories on StumbleUpon & Facebook
• Add training and comp pics to the Flickr group
• Submit articles on styles and techniques
• Subscribe to the tutorial videos on youtube

Want more ways to Get Your Fix? They're all here.

the team

There are several great writers here, looking at the world of strength training from a number of angles. The regulars :

• Scott Bird (@scottbird)
  Writer and Fitness enthusiast
  

NB : It's a big team - full list here.

In addition, articles are submitted from across the globe. Got a piece you'd like to share? Let us know.

elsewhere

In addition to the articles on Straight to the Bar are a number I've written elsewhere. Including :

• Paleo Diet : Increased Mental Clarity
• The Art of Working Out Alone
• The Ultimate Guide to Freezing Food (part II)
• Rock the Kitchen: Plan for Diet Success
• 10 Challenging Bodyweight Exercises
• Buying Your First Kettlebell
• Switching to Biphasic Sleeping? Start here.

how to

Other guides (what to get, how to train) :

• Battling Ropes
• Bending
• Kettlebells
• Resistance Bands
• Sandbags
• Sledgehammers
• Suspension Training

And yes, they're all free.