Birmingham Barbell

All Things Strength

Too Little Sleep Breaks up Your Muscles

April 10, 2012 in: All things STRENGTH

A shortage of sleep leads to overweight and a decline in condition. It also makes you less attractive and reduces men’s testosterone levels. Bad news all round, so we thought we’d pile on the misery and add the results of this animal study done at the University of Sao Paulo. According to the Brazilian researchers [...]

Best Sets and Reps to Increase Your Front Squat

March 25, 2012 in: All things STRENGTH

What are the best sets and reps to increase the front squat? The following are set-rep protocols recommended by weightlifting coaches of multiple Olympic medalists. (To avoid confusion, recognize that sets always come before reps, so that 2 x 5 means 2 sets of 5 reps, not 5 sets of 2 reps.) Wave-Like Pattern 1 [...]

Having a Hard Time Getting ALL Your Workouts In? Break ‘Em Up! One Hour Body Part Workouts

February 15, 2012 in: All things STRENGTH

If you do have access the gym but not for long enough time to get your entire workout done, then try this system for a high intensity, yet short and frequent option to those 2 hour workouts! One Hour Body Part Workouts: Workout One – Chest – Reverse Grip Bench – 6×7-5-3 (80%-85%-90%-81%-85%-91%) – Incline [...]

Russian Squat / Deadlift Assault

January 2, 2012 in: All things STRENGTH

Birmingham Barbell Q&A-If You Could Only Do ONE Strongman Type Exercise With an Athlete, What Would It Be and Why?

December 1, 2011 in: All things STRENGTH, Birmingham Barbell Q&A

I would do heavy med balls or Atlas Stones personally , because I like them and they work for me. The grappling work and control is priceless. Yet for 99% of the athletes I train though, it is definitely the Farmers Walk, either unilaterally and bilaterally, and I’ll tell you why. The Farmers Walk builds [...]

Bench Press Poll!

October 25, 2011 in: All things STRENGTH

Online Surveys – Zoomerang.com

The Importance of Glutamine

September 4, 2011 in: All things STRENGTH

Glutamine is a neutral, genetically coded Amino Acid and is the most common naturally occurring amino acid found in muscle tissue. Over 61% of skeletal muscle tissue is Glutamine. Glutamine is not an essential amino acid as it is a derivative of Glutamic acid which can be synthesized from the amino acids arginine, ornithine and [...]

Daily tip

March 25, 2012 in: Daily Tip

Why Dumbbells Shrugs are Superior to Barbell Shrugs


The key advantage to dumbbells and these two specialty bars is that they enable the exercise to be performed with the arms at the side of the body and with the hands in a neutral position, thus providing a greater range of motion and a more vertical line of resistance than a straight bar. This technique helps correct the excessively internally rotated shoulder and arm posture commonly associated with individuals who have bench pressed excessively for years.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Power Nutrition

Magnesium Supplement Helps you Perform to the Max Despite Lack of Sleep

April 10, 2012 in: Power Nutrition

A modest-dose magnesium supplement can reduce the negative effects of lack of sleep on performance capacity, according to a human study published in 1998 in Japanese Circulation Journal. The researchers got 16 male students, average age 21, to sleep 60 percent less than they needed. Half of the students drank a zero-calorie sports drink containing [...]

Whey Boosts Nitric Oxide? Hmmm…

January 26, 2011 in: Power Nutrition

I found this article and couldn’t believe the lengths they went to make this OVER Reach. The last sentence gives them away. Whey is great as a protein source for a myriad of reasons, but it is clear the researchers missed the class that covered Nitric Oxide. “Whey protein doesn’t just help build muscle, it [...]

The Perpetual Protein Drink

August 29, 2010 in: Power Nutrition

As my life has been exponentially catapulted into the realm of “busy beyond belief”, I am always looking for any way I can ,make my life a little less hectic and complicated. Making all my food for each day the night before (it’s the ONLY way that’s gonna happen – as I see the business [...]

Daily Tip: Chocolate Milk and Recovery

August 2, 2010 in: Daily Tip, Power Nutrition

Chocolate milk for recovery! After a fatiguing bout of exercise lasting nearly 2 h and finishing with intervals, 10 trained cyclists (5 M and 5 F) recovered for 4 h while drinking chocolate milk or an isocaloric carbohydrate drink in a crossover fashion before a 40-km time trial, which they performed an astonishing 8.4% faster [...]

Nutrition Tip:Keeping All That Hard Earned Muscle..

March 10, 2010 in: Power Nutrition

Try a combination of reishi, licorice extract and phosphoytidylserine for a anti-catabolic cocktail. Phosphoytidylserine dosage is 300 mg twice daily, Reishi dosage is 3-6 caps three times a day after meals, and licorice extract is 5-15 grams daily spread throughout the day. This a great way to add to your ability to preserve muscle mass.

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