Article recommendations week #36 2019

The most interesting and valuable articles of week #36 2019.

Strength Training Articles

Men’s Health outlined How to Use Gamification to Make Workouts Fun Again, why gamification can help, and different gamification options.

Jeff Nippard discussed should you train to failure and the importance of understanding the concept of Effective Reps: Why Training To Failure Matters For Muscle Growth (True Or False?) Science Explained. Check it out

Elite FTS shared

5 Repeated Effort Method Principles to Master, important considerations for the repeated effort, and how the repeated effort fits into the entire training puzzle.
What I’ve Learned From the Mistakes I’ve Made as A Trainer, always interesting to hear fellow coaches share their lessons learned.

Fitness Volt explained how to Take Your Physique And Strength Gains To Another Level With The Texas Method, what the Texas method is, and where it originates from, the basic sturcture of this training, and nutritional and recovery considerations to maximize the results.

Stack outlined

4 Unconventional Exercises for Insane Functional Strength, whilst the term functional is to date, not fully clear to me, the article outlines a few good multi-joint and multi-planar movements.
How Long Should I Rest Between Sets? The different rest periods based on the different training goals.
the pros and cons of Bench Pressing for throwing athletes in the article Should Baseball Pitchers Bench Press?
How to Make an Exercise Harder Without Adding More Weight, whilst it has to be mentioned, that harder doesn’t necessarily mean better, nor does it mean harder elicits any adaptation, this article shows a few variations how to progress exercises through adding instability, tempo and isometrics.

Breaking Muscle showed how to get your first (strict) Pull-up in the article Zero To Hero: How To Make That Strict Pull-Up.

The Strength House outlined a tip for

1-arm Dumbbell Row from Deadstop, the benefits of this DB Row variation for shoulder health. Check it out

Glute Ham Raise w/ Band Around Upper Back to activate the hamstring and glutes better. Check it out

Broscience released

The 4th parameter – Rate of perceived exertion (RPE), what RPE is, and how to use it.
George Hackenschmidt | Biography, stats, quotes, bench press & squat, an interesting peice on one of the strength training pioneers.

Squat University showed How to still Lift with a Bulging Disc, what a disc bulke is, and how to train with a bulging disc. Check it out

Science For Sports

explained how to use individual force-velocity profiling to optimize training in the article Using the force-velocity imbalance to individualise training.
contributor Matt Solomon discussed Fergus Connolly‘s book Game Changer. Check it out

T-Nation shared interesting study results in the article Tip: Do Sprint Snacks to Build Conditioning, comparing different sprint intervals for fat loss.

Personal Trainer Collective explained how to Improve Your Mobility with Dean Somerset, an interesting lecture on bone structures, mobility assessments, and exercise prescription. Check it out

Joe.co.uk discussed a few misconceptions about foam rolling, what it does, and what it not does in the article Foam Rolling After Training Doesn’t Relieve Soreness Or Aid Muscle Recovery.

Youth Strength Training Articles

Stack listed 5 Powerful Tips for Coaching Millennial Athletes, not sure whether millenials are youth athletes or not, but coaching millenials myself, I can vouch, that they need to be approached differently.

Nutrition Articles

The Bar Bend listed 5 Best Meal Replacement Shakes and outline the pros and cons of each meal replacement.

Broscience discussed

how to strategically plan Diet Breaks and How to Keep the Weight Off For Good, what diet breaks are, how to plan them, the difference between diet breaks and binge dieting, and how to change your habits for weight control.
an evergreen topic Slow vs Fast metabolism – Does it really matter? Outlining what makes up your metabolism, what it is influenced by, and practical applications for the different goals, weight gain vs weight loss.

Olympic Lifting Articles

Catalystathletics explained

Grip Training for Weightlifters and Beyond, the importance of the grip, and how to train it.
what you should do, if your bodyweight is Too Far Back to The Heels in the Snatch & Clean, a common problem, and how to fix it.

Check it out

Aleksey Torokhtiy released an interview with Mohamed Ehab, discussing his way into Olympic Weightlifting, why Olympic Weightlifting is famous in his country Egypt, and Mohamed’s future plans and aspirations.

Zack Telander discussed the importance of a full extension during the Snatch and Clean, and how to best training it. Check it out

Starting Strength explained why Deadlifts and Squats are Training for Olympic Weightlifting, a bit of a simplistic approach, which is not necessarily aligned with the vision of most weightlifting school’s of thought, however, the thought process is applicable to normal training people. Check it out

Squat Articles

T-Nation shared a Tip: Pause Squats for a Healthier Spine, what Pause Squats are and how to use them.

Broscience discussed the pros and cons of pistol squats in the article Are pistol squats bad for the knees? Uni lateral movements discussed.

The Bar Bend explained The Right Way to Do the 3 Step Squat Walkout, whilst this article is very specific to Powerlifting, and Powerlifting competition, having a consistent way to unrack the bar and walk out becomes more and more important, the higher the loads are, that you ift.

Elite FTS shared Dave Tate Coaching The Squat, some footage of Dave Tate teaching the squat, correcting breathing pattern, and posture. Check it out

Deadlift Articles

The Bar Bend explained

the importance of Pulling the Slack Out of the Bar Is Key for Strong Deadlifts, what pulling the slack out of the bar means, and how it can help you.
the benefits of Sumo Deadlifts to strengthen the conventional Deadlift and vice versa, and the best training tips for both variations. Check it out

Elite FTS listed

7 Supplemental Exercises to Build the Sumo Deadlift, different supplemental exercises to build a stronger Sumo Deadlift. Most of them would work for a conventional Deadlift as well.
3 Quick Fixes for a Stronger Deadlift, discussing the stance, the upper back, and the lock-out.

T-Nation shared Tip: The Best Deadlift for Glutes, comparing the different muscular activation of the conventional Deadlift vs the RDL (Romanian Deadlift).