The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) updated their Sanctioned Athlete list on Friday, January 12th, and several athletes who failed reanalysis drug testing from the London and/or Beijing ... Continue Reading
Why the Belt Squat Could Be Your Secret to Strength Gains
There’s a certain simplicity in a lot of basic barbell movements. Squatting is a natural human movement, so rack some weight on your back and make the muscles that perform the squat get stronger. Picking ... Continue Reading
Op-Ed: Why Gym Memes Make Me Cringe
Editor's note: This article is an op-ed. The views expressed herein and in the video are the authors and don’t necessarily reflect the views of BarBend. Claims, assertions, opinions, and quotes have been ... Continue Reading
Fernando Reis and Alyssa Ritchey Win 2018 Wodapalooza Weightlifting Face Off
The annual Wodapalooza festival is currently underway in Miami, Florida. It kicked off on January 11th and goes through January 14th. This festival brings thousands of athletes from multiple countries ... Continue Reading
Registration for the 2018 CrossFit Open Is Live
We're already two weeks into 2018, which means we're a little over a month out from the 2018 CrossFit Open. Every year, the Open acts as the proving grounds for new athletes pushing for Regionals and the ... Continue Reading
Nike Romaleos 3s Vs. Adidas AdiPower
Nike versus Adidas, a common battle you hear when it comes to shoes worn on a day-to-day basis, and on the platform. Both companies have been making weightlifting shoes for quite some time, and both ... Continue Reading
4 Benefits of Jumping Pull-Ups
In this article we will discuss the jumping pull-up, a bodyweight exercise we discussed in a previous article that went over everything you needed (and wanted) to learn about the the movement. In the below ... Continue Reading
Blaine Sumner’s 1,025-Pound Bench Press Is His Best Training Lift Ever
Relatively few people have deadlifted 500 pounds. Even fewer people have bench pressed 500 pounds. So when someone bench presses over a thousand pounds (453.6kg), we have a little trouble processing ... Continue Reading
Harrison Maurus Hits a Very Strong 185kg Clean Triple for a New PR
Fresh off his podium finish from last year's IWF World Championships, Harrison Maurus is already back to moving big weight. And in case you missed Maurus' performance at Worlds, he ended up earning a ... Continue Reading
Jumping Pull-Up – Muscles Worked, Benefits, and Exercise Demo
In this article we will discuss the jumping pull-up, a total body bodyweight movement that can be used for metabolic conditioning and/or pull-up progression purposes. In the below sections we will discuss ... Continue Reading
The 10 Commandments of Deadlift Day
Few athletes know this, but Broses, aka the founder of the "10 Commandments of Leg Day," also built a comprehensive list of commandments for the deadlift in his tenure as an ancient strength ... Continue Reading
Check Out Kianoush Rostami Taking His Workout to the Desert
While some weightlifters are worrying about whether or not their platforms should rest on rubber or plywood, Iran’s Kianoush Rostami is dragging a shard of rubber into the desert to do snatches. The ... Continue Reading
Australian Powerlifting Union Is Australia’s Brand New IPF Member
After months of uncertainty, the International Powerlifting Federation has announced the formation of a new federation for Australian lifters: The Australian Powerlifting Union (APU). The IPF made the ... Continue Reading
How Early Strength Pioneers Built Insane Strength with Hand Balancing
Every sport has its old-school heroes: the greats of a time gone by, forgotten in the shadows of ESPN and Instagram. It’s hard to even imagine Wilt Chamberlain dropping 100 points in a single game in the ... Continue Reading
Jim Schmitz Talks Modern Weightlifting, Competition, and His All-Time Favorite Lifters
Jim Schmitz is a pillar of American weightlifting. He's competed since the 1960s and coached Team USA at the 1980, 1988, and 1992 Olympics. He's a man who helped the United States win multiple Olympic ... Continue Reading
Hafthor Bjornsson Hits His Heaviest Axle Clean & Press Double to Date
Icelandic professional strongman Hafthor Bjornsson is making solid progress on other lifts outside of his squat and deadlift. In the last couple months, Bjornsson has been making some serious gains on his ... Continue Reading
Hanging Knee Raises vs Leg Raises
In this article we will compare and contrast the hanging knee raise vs the leg raise. Both of the movements offer core development and foundational skill sets for more advanced gymnastics and bodyweight ... Continue Reading
Jonnie Candito Explains How the 3-Second Pause Bench Can Be Beneficial
Powerlifter and coach Jonnie Candito recently posted a video on his YouTube channel, CanditoTrainingHQ, breaking down benefits of the 3-second pause bench. In this video, he briefly discusses why this ... Continue Reading
Sohrab Moradi Just Cleaned and Almost Jerked 9 Kilos Over His World Record
Stop the presses. It’s not super uncommon to see the world’s most elite athletes breaking their world records in training. For whatever reason, the stars may not be perfectly aligned on competition day, ... Continue Reading
USPA Texas and Pioneer Team Up to Host $150,000 Cash Prize Meet
The United State Powerlifting Association (USPA) Texas and Pioneer Belts appear to be teaming up to host a very high payout powerlifting meet. In a recent Facebook post within the USPA's group, Bobby ... Continue Reading
Small Changes, Big Gains: Why Program Hopping Can Be Your Worst Enemy
This is the year you’re finally going to break through that bench plateau you’ve been struggling with for the past 18 months. You’re going to gain 15 pounds of muscle, easy. You’re going to be smashing PRs ... Continue Reading
8 Hanging Knee Raise Alternatives
In a previous article we discussed the hanging knee raise and why it is responsible for abdominal development, gymnastics and bodyweight skills and movement, and enhancing core strength and ... Continue Reading
Dmitry Klokov Bench Presses a 231kg (508 lb) PR….Underwater
When you think of the name Dmitry Klokov, what comes to mind? At BarBend, there's two things, a very strong elite weightlifter and someone who loves to push the boundaries of strength, while having ... Continue Reading
Dennis Cornelius’ 412.5kg Squat Is His Heaviest of All Time
We’ve seen a lot of incredible, earth-shaking squats from Dennis Cornelius, but this is the big kahuna — this is the heaviest squat the man has ever completed. At the LA Fit Expo this weekend Cornelius, ... Continue Reading