The biggest drawback to resistance bands is after a certain point, they will not get you stronger. They only come so thick and stretch so far before they snap. Ever had a band break and smack you? Not ... Continue Reading
Why Pulling Is An Underrated Cue for the Bench Press
If you're a strength training regular and love the bench press, then there's a good chance you've heard the cue "pull the bar apart" at least one time or another. This cue is thrown around a lot in ... Continue Reading
How to Work Around a Rotator Cuff Injury
The shoulder is a shallow ball and socket joint that has the handy ability to move in multiple directions. This allows you to lift humongous weights, throw baseballs and footballs really hard, or throw ... Continue Reading
Squats and Deadlifts Are Not Enough to Build a Strong, Defined Core
How many times have you heard the phrase or the idea that squats and deadlifts are enough to build a strong core? More than likely you've heard this phrase at least once in your lifting career — and it's ... Continue Reading
The Untold History of Women in Strength Sports
Immersed in a cultural moment in which it may seem that strong women are more celebrated than ever, are women in fitness in fact bursting into weight rooms, packing on plates, cranking out sets, feeling ... Continue Reading
4 Tips for When You Love Lifting But You Live With Depression
(Editor’s note: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it shouldn’t take the place of advice and/or supervision from a medical professional. The opinions and articles on this site ... Continue Reading
What Every Athlete Should Know About CBD (Cannabidiol)
Cannabidiol (CBD), a natural substance derived from cannabis, is legal. As of 2018, it’s no longer on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list. A new company creating CBD-infused products seems to ... Continue Reading
Why Pushing Is An Underrated Cue for the Deadlift
In the world of strength sports, some of the most beloved and frequently used coaching cues include the word pulling. On the bench press we have, pull the bar apart and pull the scapula back, and for the ... Continue Reading
How Many Times Should You Squat and Deadlift Per Week?
The question of workout frequency tends to be a hot topic for general lifters. How much is enough and how often should you be performing a particular lift? More and more, research is suggesting that ... Continue Reading
The Best Natural Ways to Increase Your Testosterone
There’s actually not much evidence exercise increases testosterone. That may sound like heresy, but of all the topics out there in the world of fitness and supplementation, increasing testosterone may ... Continue Reading
Never Stop Growing: How to Win Your Off Days From the Gym
It’s an off day from the gym for me today, and on off days, I get a little stir-crazy. You can probably tell from some of the other articles I’ve written about how to get stronger away from the gym! I ... Continue Reading
Dead Bug Benefits and Three Core Blasting Variations
There’s no need for fancy core training. You don’t need to twist yourself up into knots or hold your front planks for far too long. All core training really needs to do is to be is effective and have carry ... Continue Reading
Got Post-Training Anxiety? Here Are a Few Methods That Could Help
Editor’s note: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. The opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis, ... Continue Reading
Why RPE-Based Programs May Be Better for Women
Editor’s note: This article is an op-ed. The views expressed herein and in the video are the author’s and don’t necessarily reflect the views of BarBend. Claims, assertions, opinions, and quotes have been ... Continue Reading
Two Rules Every Powerlifter Should Follow With Accessory Exercises
One of the biggest mistakes I see in the gym: powerlifters focusing way, way, way too much on their assistance work. If you are a powerlifter, then the vast majority of your training needs to involve the ... Continue Reading
3 Shoulder Prehab Exercises That Will Improve All of Your Lifts
As a pretty seasoned lifter, I’ve had my fair share of injuries — it’s just the nature of the sport. In fact, I get more questions about injury rehab than any other topic. That said, though, I can rarely ... Continue Reading
3 Tips to Help Coaches Be More Body Positive With Their Clients
When you step into a gym, what are your goals? Where did you get those goals? Did someone tell you you’d look better in that shirt, that dress, if you just would do x or y? Did someone — more frequently, ... Continue Reading
The Untold History of the First Weightlifting Competition
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, eight categories for Olympic Weightlifting existed for men and seven for women. In both cases the categories boasted roughly a dozen competitors or more. For those with a ... Continue Reading
5 Super Simple Rules to Get Your Weightlifting Competition Prep on Track
Everyone’s got that ideal version of themselves created inside their mind. Some days, we fully live who this person is and the “perfect” lifestyle they lead, other times, we completely fall off the wagon. ... Continue Reading
10 Incredibly Useful Powerlifting Tips
I’ve been lifting for a long time. I began competing in powerlifting in 2012, but I’ve been a gym rat since high school. I’m 31 now, so you can do the math! When I started lifting, there wasn’t nearly as ... Continue Reading
3 Beginner Friendly Animal Flow Moves to Improve Mobility
In the fitness world, many of us become so preoccupied with performance and achieving goals that we tend to neglect recovery and joint health. This neglect can accumulate over time, which can put us at a ... Continue Reading
Should An Elephant Bar Deadlift Record Count?
Rogue Fitness announced that they are putting up $50,000 to any competitors who can deadlift 500.5kg or more at the upcoming Arnold Strongman Classic. This is a clear aim at Eddie Hall’s July 9th, 2016 ... Continue Reading
3 Exercises to Help Strengthen and Improve Posture
Editor’s note: This article is an op-ed. The views expressed herein and in the video are the author’s and don’t necessarily reflect the views of BarBend. Claims, assertions, opinions, and quotes have been ... Continue Reading
The Beginner’s Guide to Getting Started In Powerlifting (Part 1)
Editor’s note: This article is an op-ed. The views expressed herein and in the video are the author’s and don’t necessarily reflect the views of BarBend. Claims, assertions, opinions, and quotes have been ... Continue Reading