At BarBend, we’re big believers in getting a grip, both literally and figuratively. Your forearm muscles are essential for holding onto heavy objects — how else would you perform a deadlift otherwise? — ... Continue Reading
The Best Powerlifting Workouts for Beginners to Break Into the Sport
The squat, bench, and deadlift are staples in the strength training realm no matter your sport. But when you put these three lifts together, you get the sport of powerlifting. If you’re a fan of the ... Continue Reading
Can Meal Replacement Shakes Help Me Lose Weight?
Nutrition is a huge piece of the strength training puzzle. The more effectively you fuel your workouts, the stronger you’re bound to get. But not everyone savors making meals in the kitchen like they love ... Continue Reading
12 Best Exercises for Abs, From a CPT
We’ve got a bone to pick with ab exercises: They’re usually boring. Unfortunately, exercising your abs is a bit like eating your vegetables. It’s tedious, but necessary — this goes for both appearances and ... Continue Reading
5 Benefits of Vitamin D for Strength Athletes
If the sun is shining where you are, you can get a free supplement just by heading outside. Although the sun is a direct source of vitamin D, nicknamed the sunshine vitamin, most people don’t get enough of ... Continue Reading
What Is Isotonic Exercise (and Why Does It Matter?)
Resistance training has undergone plenty of evolution over the years; modern-day gyms carry far more than treadmills and punching bags. That said, when it comes to improving your fitness, all roads lead to ... Continue Reading
Try This Biceps Workout With Dumbbells for Superior Muscle Growth
There are more arm workouts out there than you could possibly know what to do with. Workouts that swear up and down that you’ll move up a shirt size before you know it, or that you’ll soon have biceps that ... Continue Reading
The CrossFit Grace Workout Explained and Scaled for Every Skill Level
Sometimes, even the most dedicated CrossFitters want to get in and out of the gym as quickly as humanly possible. Enter a benchmark workout truly designed for speed: Grace. The CrossFit Grace workout is ... Continue Reading
How to Do the Cable Biceps Curl for the Best Arm Pump You’ve Ever Had
Think back to your very first days in the weight room. Unless you somehow found yourself wandering over to the squat rack, you probably bee-lined to the dumbbells and started banging out some ... Continue Reading
These Are the 10 Best Carbs to Eat for Bodybuilding
Protein, carbohydrates, and fat all chip in along the way to massive muscle gain. While protein often occupies the spotlight (and for good reason, as it is literally the building blocks of muscle), ... Continue Reading
How to Do the Single-Arm Overhead Triceps Extension for Optimal Arm Gains
You can build big muscles with small movements. That’s a fact. While large, compound lifts should be your bread and butter as a bodybuilder, carving out the finest details of your physique requires ... Continue Reading
Can You Take Creatine and Caffeine Together? Experts Weigh In
If you take supplements before or after you train, you probably have a very clear goal in mind — make your workouts as effective as possible. Whether you're opting for the best creatine supplements alone ... Continue Reading
The Ultimate Push-Pull-Legs Workout Split for Every Experience Level
The success of your training often depends on time management. You’ll need to target a tremendous amount of muscle mass in a well-balanced program. Because you’ve got a lot of ground to cover, finding the ... Continue Reading
These Are 7 of the Best Exercises for Tall People
According to scientific data published in journals like The Lancet, the average height for adult men and women in the United States is 5'8" and 5'3", respectively. However, Hadi Choopan, the 2022 Mr. ... Continue Reading
How to Do the Barbell Bulgarian Split Squat — Technique Tips, Variations, & More
Single-leg training is the embodiment of the “no pain, no gain” philosophy. Not only do unilateral exercises help reinforce good posture and improve your balance, they’re also devilishly effective at ... Continue Reading
The CrossFit Cindy Workout Explained and Scaled for Every Skill Level
Every time you gear up to perform a CrossFit WOD (workout of the day), the game is part physical and part mental. Sometimes, you get yourself ready to face down heavy weights for an impossible-sounding ... Continue Reading
What Is Unilateral Training and Does it Really Fix Imbalances?
The last time you fought through a heavy bench press, you might have noticed one side of your body fighting harder than the other to lock out. That precarious tilt of the barbell is a prime indicator of a ... Continue Reading
This Is Layne Norton’s PHAT Training, Explained
The absolute best way to grow muscle, get strong, or become more powerful is routinely up for debate within fitness circles worldwide. Everyone seems to have their preferred method. Between personal ... Continue Reading
What Are Workout Splits? Top 3 Most Effective Routines
When you walk into a gym, do you have an idea of what you’re going to do, or do you find the first empty station and start pumping out reps? It should probably be the former. Whether your goal is to build ... Continue Reading
14 Foods with Creatine to Fuel Your Next Workout
You may know creatine as that powder your gym buddies scoop into their pre-workout. It’s an amino acid that naturally exists in your body and is key in producing energy for short bursts of intense ... Continue Reading
Cardio for Strongmen and Strongwomen to Supercharge Your Conditioning
The sport of strongman — which includes strongwomen — is known for spotlighting absurdly heavy lifts of incredibly awkward objects. But it’s not just about picking up weights and putting them back down. ... Continue Reading
How to Do the Single-Arm Chest Flye for Proportional Pec Gains
All the best chest exercises involve both arms: the barbell bench press, the incline dumbbell press, the dumbbell flye, the cable flye, and even the humble — but underrated — push-up. On the other hand, ... Continue Reading
The 8 Best Barbell Hip Thrust Alternatives to Try on Your Next Leg Day
Nowadays, everyone seems to be hammering the hip thrust — and with good reason. A pair of well-developed glutes are something of a status symbol in the gym. Strong, powerful gluteal muscles can help you ... Continue Reading
How to Do the Hollow Hold Position for Six-Pack Abs and Stronger Lifts
They say that a rising tide lifts all boats. When it comes to your performance in the weight room, your core is the tide and your squats, pulls, presses, rows, and carries (the list goes on) are the ships. ... Continue Reading