You might not know him personally, but we can almost guarantee you've seen his work. In the past two years, Preston Smith has become one of the most prolific go-to photographers for competitive fitness, ... Continue Reading
These 2 Cooking Tips Will Perk Up Your Food Prep
We all know you can’t out train a bad diet. Whether you’re a high level athlete or a desk to deadlift fitness rat who, in the words of Give 'Em Cold Steel athlete and Australian Olympic weightlifting ... Continue Reading
Here’s What You Don’t Know About Announcing Fitness Competitions
(Coach and MC James Quigley takes us inside his quest to enter the world of fitness announcing in this exclusive series for BarBend.) As the lights came on and the main stage lit up, you could feel the ... Continue Reading
The Shirtless Chef’s Kitchen: Healthier Chicken Alfredo
Shirtless Chef and CrossFit Union Square coach Andre Crews makes a few simple swaps to give chicken alfredo more protein and flavor than we've ever seen before. Don't fear the fat. [For more from ... Continue Reading
Josh Bridges Gets Penalized, Responds with Insane 16.5 Performance
After significant controversy surrounding Josh Bridges' world's-best score on CrossFit Open workout 16.4 (which gave Josh his seventh overall Open victory over the last few years), CrossFit HQ ... Continue Reading
Here Are the Must-Know Dates for Olympic Weightlifting in 2016
Are these the ONLY important dates in weightlifting this year? Depending on who you ask, probably not, as many of us will be competing in or watching local, regional, or other smaller competitions ... Continue Reading
This Video of Scot Mendelson’s 715 Bench Is Why We Started Lifting Weights
Back in the mid-2000s, feats of strength were mostly static for fans. Most were stills from powerlifting or bodybuilding magazines, and internet image search was in its infancy. And video? Forget about it. ... Continue Reading
4 Badass Powerlifters You Aren’t Following on Instagram (But Should Be)
There are Instagram powerlifters, and then there are Instagram powerlifters worth following. The four athletes below have impressed us time and time again with their social media updates (and not always ... Continue Reading
Lauren Fisher Jerks 268 lbs, and Now We NEED a Max Overhead Event at Regionals
Now this is just getting silly. Yesterday, Lauren Fisher became yet another CrossFit Games athlete to put an improbably large amount of their weight on her shoulders, bend her legs a little bit, extend her ... Continue Reading
Julie Abilgaard Wins Open Workout 16.4, Is Probably Still Going Team
After a bit of mystery and some delay on video verification, Danish athlete Julie Abildgaard has emerged victorious on Open workout 16.4 with 318 reps. Check out Abildgaard's performance below, which ... Continue Reading
What the Arnold Championships Mean to American Weightlifting
I am no one in the sport of weightlifting. I am not a coach, and I do not want to sell you any personal training, or a t-shirt or a supplement. For an American athlete, I had some success; but what is ... Continue Reading
Josh Bridges Wins 16.4, Ties Briggs at Seven Open Victories
Josh Bridges is incredibly fit. But the multi-time CrossFit Games competitor (and 2011's Second Fittest Man) has shocked once again with an absolutely mind-boggling 330 reps on CrossFit Open workout. While ... Continue Reading
Mash, McCauley, Wilkes Discuss the End of MuscleDriver USA
First, there was a pause in social media activity. Then came murmurings in small circles. And on February 29th at 9:30am EST, MuscleDriver USA officially announced a company shutdown through a quote from ... Continue Reading
Watch Weightlifting Prodigy Harrison Maurus Make Mindblowing Progress
Harrison Maurus is part of an exciting crop of young, talented, and rapidly improving American weightlifters under 17. Along with CJ Cummings, the 15 year old Maurus turns heads on social media and the ... Continue Reading
Bianco, Kitts, and Phillips Medal for USA at IWF Russian President’s Cup
It was a small competition, to be sure, but that doesn't make the performances any less impressive. American lifters put up three podium finishes at the IWF Russian President's Cup in Kazan over the ... Continue Reading
Hafthor Bjornsson Wins Arnold Classic Australia Strongman
Think the strongman fun was over for March? Think again. Just two weeks after the Arnold Classic competition in Columbus, Ohio, the world's biggest (and tallest) strength athletes headed down under for the ... Continue Reading
Romanian Teenager Aims for the Games, Reduces Our Excuses to Rubble
The CrossFit Games site has a great write-up and interview with 18 year old Barni Böjte, a Romanian teenager with his sites set on the Reebok CrossFit Games. Like a lot of teenagers bitten by the fitness ... Continue Reading
Kendrick Farris Squats 550 lbs for 10 Reps, Makes Us Winded Just Watching
Kendrick Farris is a two-time Olympian and a bit of a social media celebrity in the sport of weightlifting, so if you haven't seen the video below just yet, it's time to catch ... Continue Reading
The Ultimate Guide to Weightlifting at the 2016 Rio Olympics
Olympic weightlifting has skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years. And while it's easy to get caught up in debating exactly why the spike in interest has occurred - social media exposure, ... Continue Reading
Here’s How Top Strongman Athletes Stack Up in Height
Of all the strength sports, strongman gives athletes perhaps the biggest advantage for being tall. Strongman events like the stone lift and weight over bar benefit bigger, taller athletes who can move ... Continue Reading
Nick Urankar and Rx Smart Gear Fight the Sleep WOD’ing Epidemic
Nick Urankar and Rx Smart Gear are teaming up to put a fitness epidemic to bed. Or rather, they're fighting to bring awareness to one that's already in bed...or something. Just watch the video below to see ... Continue Reading
This Australian Rugby Player Is Giving Us Hamstring Envy
Rugby players don't always get a lot of credit in the United States for their athletic feats off the field. But with the 2016 Olympics fast approaching and Rugby Sevens on the roster as a new sport for the ... Continue Reading
Caine Wilkes Is the Best Troll in American Weightlifting
Caine Wilkes may be America's best weightlifting troll, and we mean that in the best possible way. The reigning 105+ National Champion and World Team Member moves more weight than any other American ... Continue Reading
At 475 lbs, This Is the Biggest Football Power Clean We’ve Ever Seen
Football weight room power cleans could be a sport in their own right: Straps on, lift out of the rack, get some good pre-oscillation going in that bar, toss up, starfish legs, and rest the bar on your ... Continue Reading