Article recommendations week #1 2020

The most interesting and valuable articles of week #1 2020.

Strength Training Articles

Breaking Muscle listed 7 Fitness Hacks For 2020, if you get these things right, more than half the battle is won.

Jeff Nippard discussed the effectiveness of a 5x Per Week Full Body: Why High Frequency Training Is So Effective, looking at the science behind high-frequency training, how to distribute the training intensity, and an example plan.

Fitness Volt explained

• the 6 Reasons Why You Aren’t Gaining Muscle Mass, simple and straight-forward advice. Whilst advice number 2 might actually not be true for most people.
• How to Sculpt an Adonis Belt, what an adonis belt is (basically the mid-section), the importance of nutrition in creating your mid-section, and the best exercises.
• 25 EMOM Workouts That Will Challange You, what EMOM’s are, the benefits, and EMOM workouts for different levels and training goals

Box Rox outlined Common Imbalances That Could Be Causing Your Lower Back Pain, and how to fix them.

The Bar Bend shared

• How Exercise Variation Impacts Strength, Motivation, and Body Composition, another nail in the coffin for the principle of exercise variation and ‘muscle confusion’.
• How Much Training Is Enough to Increase Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift 1-RM Strength? A study on the concept of the minimum effective dose for the big lifts.

T-Nation shared Lift Like This, Not Like That, advice and cues for better chest development, deltoid development, and glute development.

Complementary Training discussed Review and Retrospective – Part 3, a bit of a philosophical approach to managing and prescribing training loads. Also check out part 1 and part 2.

Stack explained

• The Mathematic Equation to Find Your Training ‘Sweet Spot’, what load is, and how to manage load for different sports and training goals.
• How Dangerous Is Lifting Weights, Really? The evergreen concern of the danger of lifting weights, and what the statistic says.
• Why I Break the Rule of Symmetrical Training, what is symmetry and asymmetry, and how symmetrical the human body actually is.
• Should I Train With Weighted Baseballs? Whilst the article is about weighted baseballs, the principle behind this article could be applied to any other sport. When should you start engaging in special strength training methods.
• How an Unusual Training Tool Called the ‘Viking Attachment’ Changed My Workouts, an attachment for the landmine, and how it can improve the execution of some of the landmine exercises.

Calisthenicmovement listed 5 Things Every Calisthenics Beginner Should Know! The importance of realistic expectations, how to progress and regress exercises, and appropriate planning. Check it out

Elite FTS shared

• Should You Load a Stable Joint? The joint-by-joint approach revisited.
• Is Programming More Important Than Technique? A detailled look at the relative importance of technique, and the relative importance of programming, and how they interact.

Nutrition Articles

Fitness & Power listed 7 Simple Things You Can Do to Make Fat Loss Easier, simple and straight-forward advice.

The Bar Bend discussed

• 7 Ways Athletes Can Slash Their Grocery Bills in 2020, how to buy more cost-efficiently.
• The Truth About Changing Your Metabolism with Dr. Mike T. Nelson, the role of the metabolisms, its’ ‘changeables’ and ‘non-changeables’, and the application for athletes. Listen in
  

Bodybuilding.com explained Why You Should Be Fasting, outlining a few pros of fasting. Check it out

Elite FTS discussed the role of Caffeine for Strength Athletes, the pros and cons of caffeine, how it can help strength athletes, and how to use the suppplement.

Olympic Lifting Articles

Shrugged Collective released Triple Extension – Fixing Your Second Pull – Snatch Technique 3 Pulls + Snatch, an exercise combination for a better triple extension during the Snatch. Check it out

Squat Articles

Fitness Volt asked How Deep Should You Squat? A detailled piece on the variables that go into deciding the right squat depth for you.

Squat University explained How to Get Your First Pistol Squat a Step-by-Step Progression, including the necessary mobility pre-requisites for a Pistol Squat. Check it out

T-Nation shared

• a Tip: How to Do a Real Box Squat, a few key points how to execute the Box Squat. Whilst there are different ways to execute a Box Squat, this article outlines one variation.
• 3 Reasons Your Squat Sucks, common mobility and movement deficiencies, that lead to a crappy Squat.

The Bar Bend compared Hip Thrust Vs Back Squat | How to Use Each for Your Goals, looking at the science comparing the two exercises, the muscular activation and when to use which variation. Check it out