Monday, October 30, 2017

How Often Should You Train Your Abs?

Is Dmitry Nasonov’s 440kg Deadlift at 82kg a New World Record?

This weekend saw a lot of incredible world records coming out of the World Raw Powerlifting Federation’s 2017 World Championships in Moscow. We already covered Yury Belkin’s mammoth 440-kilogram deadlift, but we had to talk about Dmitry Nasonov’s new all-time world record deadlift: 400 kilograms, or 882 pounds at 82 kilograms bodyweight. That’s 4.88 times his bodyweight, and it’s a raw lift.

It’s worth pointing out that the WRPF allows five attempts at some lifts, so certain people may not count this as a world record. (The IPF, for instance, only allows three attempts per lift.)

And sure, this wasn’t made on a stiff deadlifting bar so the range of motion wasn’t huge. And the plates are pretty wide, which might generate extra bar whip and reduce the distance a lifter has to move the full load.

[The WRPF Championships also saw Stuart Jamieson break Lamar Gant’s 36-year-old deadlift world record. Check it out!]

Whether or not Nasonov deserves to be an all-time world record isn’t really up to us, but we do think that in any case, Dmitry Nasonov is one strong dude. The last time we wrote about him he was hitting another maybe-world-record at the WRPF’s Europe Championships this June: a deadlift of 380 kilograms (837.8 pounds) at 80.3 kilograms (177 pounds) bodyweight.

This was a deadlift-only event, and he made the lift on his fifth attempt, so it’s also questionable as to whether this one should go down in the annals of powerlifting records. But again: there’s no doubt that Nasonov is a strong dude.

[Ever wonder how champion deadlifters warm up? Here are five different warmups from some of the best.]

In 2015, he was also spotted making a deadlift of 345 kilograms (760.6 pounds) at 75kg bodyweight, a lift that PowerliftingWatch does list as the actual current world record in the 165-pound weight class.

We’re pretty sure that’s Ed Coan shaking his hand at the end of the clip, which seems appropriate. We’re looking forward to the next record.

Featured image via infinity8oleg on YouTube.

The post Is Dmitry Nasonov’s 440kg Deadlift at 82kg a New World Record? appeared first on BarBend.

Stuart Jamieson Deadlifts 286kg at 60kg, Breaking Lamar Gant’s Record from 1981

At the World Raw Powerlifting Federation (WRPF) 2017 World Championships this weekend, one of powerlifting’s longest standing records finally fell. Scottish strength coach and entrepreneur Stuart Jamieson descended on Moscow to compete in the -60kg class and deadlifted 630 pounds, or 285.8 kilograms for a new all-time world record.

This broke Lamar Gant’s raw world record by two pounds, which he set all the way back in 1981. Gant is considered one of powerlifting’s all-time greats, as he was the first human being to deadlift five times his bodyweight. In 1980, he pulled 634 pounds at 123 pounds bodyweight, though that one was an equipped lift.

[Check out the video of Lamar Gant’s insane deadlift in our breakdown here!]

Stuart Jamieson had been working on breaking Gant’s record for some time. When he was officially invited to the WRPF championships in July, he wrote on his Instagram,

This time, the only thing that will stop me from pulling that f**king record is if it kills me!! Moscow, let’s go!

He reached Gant’s record back in 2015 with a 628-pound raw lift.

His new world record is all the more remarkable when you consider that he wasn’t expected to see his third birthday: he was born with spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spinal cord fails to develop properly, and half a ribcage. (Interestingly, Lamar Gant also had scoliosis.) As he aged, Jamieson was diagnosed with scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and diastematomyelia, a split in the spinal column.

In a 2014 article, he said

You don’t have to be held down by what you have been given in your life, it all depends on how you label yourself. I’ve experienced the best and worst that life has to offer, but I’ve not allowed my disability to define my quality of life.

Having taken home multiple Scottish titles and a Commonwealth world record pull in addition to this new world record lift, Jamieson certainly seems to be living his life to the fullest.

Featured image via Power Mafia on YouTube.

The post Stuart Jamieson Deadlifts 286kg at 60kg, Breaking Lamar Gant’s Record from 1981 appeared first on BarBend.

USA Weightlifting Announces Final 20 Athletes for World Championships Team

Evlution Nutriton’s Engn Shred Pre-Workout Review — Boost Fat Loss?

Deficit Deadlifts vs Rack Pulls

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

GAT Nitraflex Review — Highest Caffeine Content?

Chinese Whistleblower Claims Over 10,000 Athletes Were Doped in 80s and 90s

A former doctor for the Chinese Olympic team during the 1980s and 1990s has turned whistleblower. Xue Yinxian, now 79 years old, claims that during her tenure, over 10,000 Chinese athletes, including weightlifters, swimmers, and gymnasts, were involved in doping.

On a recent German documentary, she asserted that doping was compulsory and athletes not willing to participate had to leave the team. The doping began as young as age 11 for some athletes, she says, and recalls boys aged around 13 growing breasts. China won sixty Olympic medals during the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, including four weightlifting gold medals in 1984.

Medals were tainted by doping – gold, silver and bronze. There must have been more than 10,000 people involved. People believed only in doping, anyone who took doping substances was seen to be defending the country. All international medals [won by Chinese athletes in that time] should be taken back.

There’s likely little chance of this happening, since the statute of limitations has long since passed.

She was allegedly dismissed from her role as an Olympic doctor at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 after refusing to provide a banned substance to a gymnast, but stayed working in Chinese sports at lower levels. During the 1990s and 2000s she says she was repeatedly visited by government officials, particularly during high profile sporting events, and warned against speaking out about her experiences. Xue fled China for Germany in 2012, saying she no longer felt safe in Beijing.

“Anyone against doping damaged the country and anyone who endangered the country now sits in prison,” she told ARD. “They warned me against talking about doping substances. They urged me to back down. I said I couldn’t do that. They wanted to silence me… both of my sons lost their jobs.”

This isn’t the first time China’s Olympic athletes have been accused of doping — in February, athletes trained by Chinese track coach Ma Junren said that they had been forced to take performance-enhancing drugs. Earlier this week, China’s one-year suspension from international weightlifting began as a result of retests from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. But the accusations have never reached this scale.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has released a statement that says although it was only formed in 1999, it “has asked its independent Intelligence and Investigations team to initiate an investigative process in order to collect and analyze available information in coordination with external partners.”

Featured image via Frank Rothwell on YouTube.

The post Chinese Whistleblower Claims Over 10,000 Athletes Were Doped in 80s and 90s appeared first on BarBend.

10 Elite Powerlifters Share Why They Started Lifting

Watch 4x World’s Strongest Man Brian Shaw Try On Lululemon Clothes

Have you ever worn trendy athletic apparel before? If so, then you can probably sympathize with the fact that while some companies make their clothes out of quality material, they don’t always make their line fit for, let’s say, “larger” individuals. Granted, the word “larger” may be misleading when describing the 4x World’s Strongest Man Brian Shaw, because he’s massive.

Tall for most is around 6′, and sometimes slightly taller, but Shaw stands at a whopping 6′ 8″ and weighs between 410-430 lbs depending on the time in his strongman season. And as you can imagine, most clothing companies probably don’t make clothes designed for individuals who are quite literally in Shaw’s case, super human.

Mark Bell at Super Training Gym recently shared a video on their YouTube channel that highlights the hilariousness that ensues when trying to outfit Shaw with some of Lululemon’s trendiest workout gear (which, Shaw says, his wife loves). If we had to describe the video in three words: It’s a stretch.

The video starts with a Lululemon employee describing the brand, and their goals in the industry. Soon after, they begin searching for gear to equip Shaw with, and start with a backpack before moving into shirts and shorts.

[Check out Shaw’s insane 12,000 calorie diet, could you eat this on a daily basis?]

As they search one Lululemon employee says, “Tops, pants, bottoms, you name it, we’ll get you into something comfortable.” This of course is followed by a laugh from Shaw, then, “Why don’t we start with a shirt?” Keep in mind, Shaw typically wears a 4-5x size shirt (as stated by the video).

“You don’t have a big & tall section?”

After the shirt, Shaw continues to try on a tank top, and some shorts, but we’ll let you watch the full video to see that for yourself. Even though the clothes didn’t fit him particularly well, Shaw wrapped up the video by saying, “I gained an understanding of why my wife loves wearing their clothes.” 

This isn’t the first time we’ve written on the struggles Shaw has on a regular basis being the size he is. It’s always fun trying to comprehend just how big Shaw is and how he has to navigate life slightly different than most.

Feature image screenshot from Supertraining06 YouTube channel. 

The post Watch 4x World’s Strongest Man Brian Shaw Try On Lululemon Clothes appeared first on BarBend.

Are Pistol Squats Bad for Your Knees?

Monday, October 23, 2017

Vlad Alhazov Deadlifts 442.5 kg (975.5 lb) After a Knee Replacement

Brad Schoenfeld’s 3 Evidence Based Guidelines of Hypertrophy Training

Eddie Hall Breaks the Partial Deadlift World Record With 536 Kilograms

He may have said he was retiring from World’s Strongest Man, but it looks like Eddie Hall hasn’t retired from smashing world records. The British behemoth recently made a partial deadlift of 536 kilograms (1,181.7 pounds) with wrist straps, breaking the previous record by one kilogram. The bar was 18 inches above the ground, almost twice the height of a bar in your standard gym.

The lift was performed to publicize the release of Hall’s autobiography Strongman, which is now available for purchase.

One interesting aspect of the video is that Hall is given the go ahead to lift after the 2.30 mark, and you get to watch Hall “get psyched” for a minute as he huffs, snarls, and primes his posterior chain with small, explosive thrusts.

After the lift, World’s Strongest Man’s head referee Colin Bryce seemed pretty concerned that Hall should see a medic but after a shaky recovery, Hall quipped, “I’m not bleeding out of my face, am I?” This was a reference to his world record 500kg deadlift, during which blood spurted out of his nose.

[Ever wondered why heavy lifting causes some people to bleed? We’ve got the answer here!]

During the post-lift interview, Hall said,

That was… that was hard. It’s… I mean… Get in a gym and put 500 kilos on a bar and just try and pick it up and people will be shocked. Because to have half a ton in the hands is… there’s no feeling like it. Honestly. I feel like I’m gonna pass out right now. It’s not nice. It’s not nice.

The 18-inch deadlift was originally known as the silver dollar deadlift, because old-timey strongmen used to perform the lift with barrels full of silver dollars. The previous record stood for an astonishing thirty-four years; Canadian athlete Tom Magee deadlifted 535 kilograms (1180 pounds) at the 1983 World’s Strongest Man competition. Straps were allowed then, too.

While some purists may not view the partial deadlift with quite as much reverence as the standard kind, Hall’s new record is thirty-six kilograms (almost 80 pounds) heavier than his 500kg PR, the heaviest deadlift ever made. Hall now has the record for the heaviest strongman deadlift (which allows wrist straps and a specialized deadlift suit), long bar strongman deadlift, and partial deadlift. Time to update our heaviest deadlifts article!

Featured image via International Strong Man on YouTube.

The post Eddie Hall Breaks the Partial Deadlift World Record With 536 Kilograms appeared first on BarBend.

Suspension Starts for Nine IWF Member Federations

Onnit Total Strength + Performance Review — Caffeine-Free Pre-Workout?

Pistol Squat Progression For Beginners – 7 Exercises

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

BSN N.O.-Xplode Pre-Workout Igniter Review — Longest Ingredients List?

Hafthor Bjornsson Squats 925 lbs, Another Step Closer to 1,000+

When (and Why) You Should Slow Down the Olympic Lifts

Floor Press – Muscles Worked, Exercise Demo, and Benefits

Naim Süleymanoğlu Receives Successful Liver Transplant

Larry “Wheels” Williams Makes a 840lb Deadlift PR Look Like a Walk In the Park

CJ Cummings Clean & Squat Jerks 180kg; Could He Be Making the Switch?

IWF Expects “Record Number of Anti-Doping Tests” at 2017 Worlds

Monday, October 16, 2017

Powerbuilding Workout Programs: Everything You Need to Know

Jerry Pritchett Wins the 2017 America’s Strongest Man

Professional Strongman Brian Shaw Lifts an Investor On Dragons’ Den

Professional strongman Brian Shaw recently made an appearance on Dragons’ Den, and to no surprise, he wowed the judges with his size and strength. If you’re new to Dragons’ Den, it’s similar to the hit show “Shark Tank” and is based off the Japanese series that began airing in the mid 2000’s. Entrepreneurs enter the Den with their idea, business, or product and pitch the six weathered investors.

Canada’s Dragons’ Den season premiere featured Pete Czerwinski (Furious Pete), Robert Charleton, and Dr. Anil Makkar. These three founded New Age Performance, which is a company that designs mouthpieces to support strength athlete’s teeth health and performance. The investors looked skeptical at first at their relatively simple idea, but watch how fast the guys and Brian Shaw sway them all over.

[Check out the time Stan Efferding deadlifted 600 lbs on Shark Tank, then made a deal with Daymond John.]

Entering the Den, New Age Performance was asking for $100,000 for a 10% stake in their company. They began their pitch with a balance and resistance exercise with Joe Mimran (Canadian fashion designer & entrepreneur). After peaking their attention with this exercise, they brought out 2016 World’s Strongest Man Brian Shaw. Of course, judges were in complete shock at how massive Shaw really is, and even had to feel his arm to attest that “it’s real.”

[Want more videos of Brian Shaw? Check out his massive 12,000 calorie diet!]

What really got the judge’s attentions was Shaw easily picking up Michele Romano, pressing a Cyr-Dumbbell for multiple reps, and then providing his thoughts into why the mouth piece is so effective. Shaw explains that the mouth piece is essential for him because it not only protects his mouth health during maximal weight, but helps displace pressure in the body.

Intrigued, the judges began all throwing offers at New Age Performance, which you can watch to see all of the offers that were thrown at them. In the end, they had a decision to make with two final offers, but ended up going with a deal that entailed $100,000 for a 5% royalty for seven years.

Feature image screenshot from Furious Pete Vlogs YouTube Channel. 

The post Professional Strongman Brian Shaw Lifts an Investor On Dragons’ Den appeared first on BarBend.

Bonica Lough Benches 333lbs, Squats 600+lbs, and Wins Raw Nationals

Friday, October 13, 2017

The 5 Heaviest Barbell Push Presses We’ve Ever Seen

This CrossFit Themed Marriage Proposal Will Give You All the Feels

Maybe it’s the tiny sliver of hopeless romantic in me, but I really enjoy watching marriage proposals. Everything about them is awesome. The surprised looks, the overly happy cries of joy, and the quick thought that true love might still exist. Then, factor in something like working out and fitness, and you have yourself a killer video that ties in some of the best things in life.

Earlier this October, at 229 CrossFit in Albany, Georgia, Chaz Zenga found himself with a rare opportunity. Him and his soon to be fiancee Dana Kirkland found themselves working out their box like any other day, but today would be slightly different.

Their coach Zach Hood began the workout like normal, and used Zenga and Kirkland as “warm-up” examples. This entailed them matching their feet together in a lunge, while Kirkland performed lunges looking up with a plate overhead. As she did so, Hood subtly passed an engagement ring to Zenga, and you could probably guess the rest. Check out the viral proposal video below.

What started as a sneaky way for two strength athletes to tie the knot has now grown into a massively viral video. The video has accumulated over 14 million views and 14k shares on Facebook alone.

And if you liked this video, then you’re in luck. Marriage proposals in the gym are becoming increasingly more common, at least they seem to be from all the videos out there. If you’re not a fan of corny proposal videos, then viewer be warned.

But if you are, I’ve included two of our (my) favorite gym-themed marriage proposals.

Shakas and Snatches Wedding Proposal

Furious Pete Workout Proposal

Yes, some of these videos are a little over the top, but that’s kind of the point. And whether you love these types of videos, or they make you cringe, there’s no denying that someone else’s pure happiness can bring a little joy to your day.

Hats off and best wishes to Chaz Zenga and Dana Kirkland in their new engagement.

Feature image screenshot from Dana Kirkland Facebook page. 

The post This CrossFit Themed Marriage Proposal Will Give You All the Feels appeared first on BarBend.

83kg Powerlifter Yangsu Ren Deadlifts 340k (15kg Over Current World Record)

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

MusclePharm Assault Pre-Workout Review — What’s Up With the Dosages?

Mattie Rogers Unofficially Broke the American Clean & Jerk Record

Is Lifting Weights Hurting Your Teeth?

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pre-Workout Review

Pyrros Dimas Power Snatches With Rogue’s New Experimental Barbell

Sarah Brenner Squats 500 lbs In Lead Up to USAPL Raw Nationals

SEEU Weight Lifting Gloves Review

Dumbbell Rear Lateral Raise: Muscles Worked, Exercise Demo, and Benefits

Monday, October 9, 2017

CJ Cummings Makes a 170kg Squat Jerk Look Easy

Reebok CrossFit Nano 2.0 Revived and Back On Market

Using Strongman to Build Mass: A 4-Week Hypertrophy Program

A love of the iron is often accompanied by a desire to increase the muscle mass on one’s frame. Ask most new trainees and eye popping muscles are one of the things that attracts them to the weight room. While weight gain is heavily reliant on eating a calorie surplus, exercise selection is just as important for big muscles. Too many beginners spend far too much time lifting light weights and isolating muscle groups. Strongman training focuses on using the entire body together, requiring a coordinated effort of will and muscle to tax the body. This in turn stimulates massive muscle growth uniformly over the body as an adaptive response to the extreme stimulation of full body, odd object training. Use the following suggestions to get started on bodybuilding the strongman way!

Exercises

Deadlifts 

No, strongmen don’t “own” this exercise but it is used in daily training. Everything we lift is heavy and starts on the ground making it a deadlift. Many bodybuilders never deadlift, because it uses the entire posterior chain and doesn’t work so well with tradition bodypart splits. There is no better way to build massive erectors and traps then by doing deadlifts and you have a wide variety of styles to choose from:

  • Rack pulls
  • Traditional
  • Side handle
  • Car deadlift (lever pulling)

By incorporating pulls of some sort into your program every week, you are commanding the body to grow. Do most of your sets without straps to get the extra benefit of forearm work.

The Log Clean and Press

While most bodybuilders do overhead pressing with a bar or dumbbells they tend to do them seated and neglect to clean the bar. If they were to start with the bar on the ground for each rep, they would receive the additional benefit of bringing the bar to rack position and add some real kick to the exercise. The log clean is much easier to master, natural for most athletes and adds work to hamstrings (picking it up is similar to an RDL) and the lower back. The biceps and grip are also worked due to the curl like motion. In the rack, the lats become engaged and so do the front deltoids.

Additionally, the handles are in the neutral grip position and that is a much more natural position for the shoulders. To get the most out of the exercise you should train it like competitors do; lock it out and hold it for a second. We can’t put it down until we get a signal so we must have a perfect isometric contraction for at least a half second.  That lockout will help every single tendon and ligament  in your body get stronger and better able to handle stress over time.

Arm Over Arm Pulls

The best way to develop massive arms and back muscle is this exercise. Use a thick rope and drag any object toward you with an arm over arm motion. Despite not really getting a negative connotation of movement involved, you get a wicked pump from doing these. If you do them standing you get the quads and glutes involved as well.

How to Train

Say goodbye to having the traditional chest day, back day, leg day, etc. With strongman training, everything gets used on a daily basis. To recover for the next day we simply do a more intense and dramatically lower volume program. You still get in your 15 sets for squats, but you see them over a few days, not all at once. Since some isolation work can be beneficial (for growth recovery and joint health), we simply add them in as needed. To help you form a training program with new and exciting exercises, I put together a four week sample program that you can run through multiple times just by swapping out a few exercises as desired.

All in all you will welcome the change in exercises and new found mass you will gain from this style of training. Strongman training reaches all the muscles that give the body the pop that most guys desire. You get bigger, become stronger and increase your capacity to add size in the future. Get get lifting old school for new gains!

Editors 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 sourced exclusively by the author.

The post Using Strongman to Build Mass: A 4-Week Hypertrophy Program appeared first on BarBend.

USAPL Raw Nats: How to Watch, USA’s Strength Improvement, and Lifters to Follow

Check Out Julius Maddox’s Insane 688-Pound Raw Bench

Full Teams Named for 2017 Reebok CrossFit Invitational

Compex Wireless Review

Front Lateral Raises: Muscles Worked, Exercise Demo, and Benefits

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Steely Sports Pro Wrist Wrap Glove Review

How Kerry Chapman Became New York’s Strongest Female Arm Wrestler

In July 2017, Kerry Chapman became the strongest female arm wrestler in New York.

Chapman, a 45-year-old caterer from Long Island, unseated the reigning champion — and her longtime training partner — Joyce Boone in a match that had spent five years training for.

It wasn’t a goal she grew up with, but she was always strong. Her day job involves a lot of carrying and lifting and she always put in time lifting weights at the gym. But when Gene Camp, her boyfriend’s uncle and the president of the New York Arm Wrestling Association, asked her to fill in as a receptionist at a few of his matches, she caught the bug.

Even though it’s the go-to method for drunk guys trying to impress each other, and even though it’s the subject of the greatest strength sports movie ever made (Sylvester Stallone’s Over the Top, of course), arm wrestling remains a niche sport. That’s why BarBend sat down with Kerry Chapman to learn more about the hows and whys of women’s arm wrestling.

Image via New York Arm Wrestling Association on Facebook.

BarBend: How do you train to become New York’s best arm wrestler?

Kerry Chapman: I’m constantly lifting all day long when I’m not driving. I also go to the gym, I do a lot of cardio to improve my stamina, which is really important. I also do a lot of push-ups, that keeps everything in check. I try to do 25 nose-to-floor push-ups per set, and I try to change my position so I don’t just keep my hands far out, I’ll do diamond push-ups and other kinds. I really like to do push-ups. I also do seated rows and lat pulldowns to keep my back strong.

Do you do a lot of grip exercises, too?

I have a gripper, but I don’t use it very often. When I visit some competitors, they have so many contraptions for grip strength, stuff that looks like Freddy Krueger’s hand. I’m not really into things like that.

Chapman engaging in an epic, 4-minute long match in 2011.

What’s the most important exercise for arm wrestling in particular?

I use a resistance band that I wrap around a pole to mimic the pulling motion of an arm wrestling match. I do high reps with lighter weight.

But a lot of it is simply practicing arm wrestling, I pull for a couple of hours almost every week. All of that pulling for so many years changed the whole definition of my forearms, my upper arms, my shoulders, my lats, everything.

What are the most important components of form?

There’s all different ways you can do it. As long as one foot’s on the floor, it’s fine. Some people lift one foot, some wrap their leg around the bar or table, some push off against it. I like to have one foot in front of the other: right foot forward, left foot back. I’ve seen people get their arms broken when they get too creative with form, I try to be more traditional. I just move my hand around to try and bring them down.

Image via New York Arm Wrestling Association on Facebook.

Do you only ever wrestle with the same arm?

No, I use both. It annoys me when people are so strong with one arm but they can’t do anything with their left. People like that often won’t even sign up for arm wrestling contests, because you have a much better chance of winning if you can challenge someone with either arm.

I’m predominantly strong on my left side, so I did a lot better against women who are predominantly right handed. I’m right handed, but my left hand has unbelievable strength. When I started training, I decided I didn’t want to have a Popeye arm, with one big arm and one frail one, so right from the beginning I’ve been going back and forth between the two. I’m stronger on my left, but even if I lose against a right handed opponent, it’ll make me a better puller in the long run. That’s my strategy. Losing makes me better.

Featured image via New York Arm Wrestling Association on Facebook.

The post How Kerry Chapman Became New York’s Strongest Female Arm Wrestler appeared first on BarBend.

Watch Wes Kitts Snatch 180kg (5kg Over His American Record)

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Hafthor Bjornsson Projects a 455kg (1,003lb) Squat In His Future

Why Visualizing Success Is So Important for Powerlifting

Strongman Pushes a Car That Was Deliberately Blocking His Driveway

If you’re going to purposely block someone’s driveway, make sure they don’t have a strongman on speed dial.

Abi Mustafa lives in Luton, a town about 30 miles north of London, and she had a problem. According to The Daily Mail, she lives on a public road and had been parking her car in front of her neighbor’s house. Her neighbors don’t have a driveway so she thought it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but it turned into a month-long feud that culminated in her neighbors parking their car over Mustafa’s driveway, purposely blocking the entrance.

That’s when she called her nephew, Hakan Acar, better known in local strongman circles as The Tulk. That’s short for “The Turkish Hulk.”

Acar turned up and was unable to resolve the dispute. Then he had an idea. He later said, “I’ve pulled eight and a half tonne trucks before so a one-tonne Corsa wasn’t going to be a problem.”

You can guess what happened next.

Note that he quickly realized that Crocs aren’t great footwear for pushing cars. (Climbing shoes are a more common choice.)

Acar was quoted as saying,

I was worried that the hand brake might have been on – and I was trying to work out whether it was front or rear wheel drive. Then it just started moving.”

I’m quite a calm person – I’m not an angry person at all but hearing the way he spoke to my auntie just upset me a bit.

To be honest I didn’t go over with the intention of actually pushing the car in the first place. I just wanted to see how heavy it was but then I realised I could move it.

Unfortunately for Acar, local police have confirmed that he’s being investigated for criminal damage to their vehicle. He called this “a shame,” saying that,

I know the car is not damaged. I moved it out of the way but it is fine, so this just feels childish.

At least he got in a good workout.

Featured image via Caters Clips on YouTube.

The post Strongman Pushes a Car That Was Deliberately Blocking His Driveway appeared first on BarBend.

Ricky Garard Responds to Failed Banned Substance Test

Harbinger BioForm™ Wristwrap Gloves Review

Plyometric Push-Ups vs Regular – Which Is Best for Power, Strength, and Overall Fitness?

4 Quick Tips to Improve Your Deadlift Lockout

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Ricky Garard Stripped of CrossFit Games Medal After Banned Substance Test

Check Out Denis Ulanov’s 225kg Clean & Jerk In Training

Best Reviewed BCAA Supplements 2017

Once a niche athletic supplement, branched chain amino acids (BCAA) have exploded in popularity as a means to improve muscle retention, fat loss, endurance, and focus during workouts. Today there are hundreds of different BCAAs on the market many of which include stimulants, adaptogens, micronutrients, and extracts to make them stand out from the crowd. It can be hard to know which is the best BCAA.

That’s why we did the work for you. Of course, there are a lot of different criteria by which people judge the best anything. So we tried dozens and dozens of them, from the biggest brands to the up and comers, to land on our favorites in the following nine categories.

Keep reading for some more detailed breakdowns of our top choices per category.

What Are the Benefits of BCAAs?

You might have heard that amino acids are the building blocks of protein, but they’re not all alike. The three proteinogenic branched chain amino acids, meaning BCAAs that are incorporated into proteins during translation, are leucine, isoleucine, and valine.

Some evidence suggests that supplementing with pure BCAAs can have a positive effect on workouts. They may promote muscle protein synthesis, increase muscle growth over time, and by preventing a serum decline in BCAAs (which occurs during exercise), they can help prevent fatigue. They’ve even been linked to increased fat loss and quicker reaction times.

They’re not necessary if you have a sufficient protein intake, but they’re often used as supplements to boost muscle protein synthesis between meals or to enhance performance and retain muscle when exercising on an empty stomach.

It’s not uncommon to see BCAAs packaged with other supplements like caffeine, glutamine, taurine, beta alanine, citrulline malate, and other ingredients that may also benefit workout performance. In this article, we’ve taken the BCAAs, the extra ingredients, the price, and the taste into account when deciding the best brand depending on your goal.

Best BCAA Powder

Scivation Xtend was our favorite all-around BCAA supplement. At 11 cents per gram of BCAA it’s one of the most inexpensive BCAAs you can find, but it also delivers lots of Vitamin B6 (which may help with muscle retention), electrolytes, glutamine, and citrulline malate, which might help you crank out a few more reps. It’s also available in over a dozen different flavors and if you don’t like artificial sweeteners, there’s even a “natural” option. Bonus: it has no caffeine or stimulants, so it can be taken any time of day.

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard BCAA was our second favorite overall. It has a dose of Vitamin C, which may reduce cellular damage caused by exercise, and a decent serving of magnesium, sodium, and potassium. The real highlight is the rhodiola extract, an adaptogenic root that can reduce stress and improve alertness and focus, but there’s also baker’s yeast, which is strongly linked to improved immunity.

KAGED MUSCLE IN-KAGED Intra-Workout Fuel was our third favorite. This is especially great as a workout supplement since it contains a hit of serious hit of caffeine and l-tyrosine along with some taurine, which may reduce jitteriness associated with caffeine. But at 24 cents per gram of BCAAs, it’s about twice as expensive as Scivation and some other popular brands.

Best BCAA for Men

Betancourt Plus Series BCAA came out on top as the best BCAA for men. This is actually a great all-rounder as far as BCAAs go, but we found it particularly useful to men because it contains a very high amount of zinc. One serving contains almost 150 percent of your daily intake, and adequate zinc intake has been linked to optimal testosterone production. It also has a large amount of Vitamin B6 and B12, too.

BSN Amino X was our second choice for men. One of the first things we liked about it is that it’s rather high in sodium, which is an important nutrient to replace when you’ve been training hard. But the best feature for men is that one . scoop contains 125 percent of the RDI of Vitamin D, which is linked to healthy testosterone levels.

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard BCAA is also a potentially great BCAA for men. We already liked it because of the stress-busing rhodiola and the immunity-boosting baker’s yeast, but it’s especially good for men because it has more magnesium than any other branched chain amino acid supplement we tried. In addition to improving recovery and sleep, and magnesium is linked to healthy testosterone levels.

Best BCAA for Women

Ideallean BCAAs for Women came in first. Ideallean is the only BCAA we’ve seen that’s aimed squarely at female athletes. According to their website, the big draw the product has for women is its focus on fat loss, and indeed it contains a wide variety of ingredients, from evodiamine extract to green tea catechins, that have been linked to fat loss in some studies. It’s also very high in certain B-vitamins that are important for women, particularly during childbearing years.

Allmax Aminocore was our second favorite for this category. While not quite as potent in this regard as Ideallean, Aminocore is remarkably high in B-vitamins and contains  over 100 percent of the recommended daily intake of Vitamins B3, B6, B9, and B12 in each scoop. Also of note, it has a nice, large serving size of over 8 grams of BCAAs, but it’s just 5 calories per scoop.

Ghost Amino is another good pick for women. Ghost has a lot of unusual ingredients, perhaps more than any of the other branched chain amino acid supplements we reviewed and while it’s free from B-vitamins, it was the highest in calcium of all the BCAAs we looked at. Calcium is a mineral that’s especially important for women as they have a greater risk of bone loss later in life.

Best BCAA for Keto

Cellucor Alpha Amino is our top choice for people on a ketogenic diet. It has no calories so there’s little risk of it kicking you out of ketosis, and it’s also pretty high in magnesium, sodium, and potassium, minerals that are usually recommended as important supplements for people following the high fat diet.

Optimum Nutrition Pro BCAA was our second pick for ketogenic diets, even though it has 1 gram of carbs per serving. This is because with 100 milligrams per serving, it’s quite high in sodium. Since the body excretes sodium and water when on a low carb diet, it may be smart to supplement. Pro BCAA also has a considerable 5 grams of glutamine, which could help glucose production.

Ghost Amino is another good pick for keto folks. It does have two grams of carbohydrate per serving but it’s pretty high in sodium and potassium, plus it has one gram of taurine per scoop. Taurine may amplify the effect of insulin, so it’s sometimes recommended on low carb diets.

Best BCAA for CrossFit®-Style Training

KAGED MUSCLE IN-KAGED Intra-Workout Fuel was our favorite for functional fitness style workouts (such as CrossFit workouts). This is because it has a good hit of caffeine, plus there’s taurine and tyrosine to help with jitteriness and improve cognition and focus. There’s also beta alanine and l-citrulline, which have been linked to endurance.

MusclePharm 3:1:2 is another good pick for lengthy, intense workouts. This is because unlike most BCAA supplements it contains a relatively high amount of valine, which is the branched chain amino acid most closely linked with endurance and focus.

Evlution Nutrition’s BCAA Energy is also a good pre-workout BCAA. It has plenty of caffeine, taurine, and beta alanine (though less than IN-KAGED does) and it has some extra Vitamin C, which may reduce cellular damage associated with exercise.

Best BCAA for Weight Loss

Ideallean BCAAs for Women had the most dedicated weight loss ingredients. This includes evodiamine, a berry extract that’s been linked to fat loss in rodent studies; green tea extract; and CLA, a type of fat that may help with weight management. Note that these ingredients are present in relatively small amounts, but there may be some effect.

Ghost Amino was another good pick. It contains a few unusual ingredients that may help with weight loss like Alpha-GPC, which is linked to healthy production of growth hormone, and 5-HTP, which may affect appetite control.

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard BCAA was our third favorite for weight loss. We picked it because it contains beta glucans from baker’s yeast, which are strongly linked to improved immunity. Avoiding sickness is an extremely underrated component of effective fat loss and one that doesn’t get enough attention.

Best BCAA Powder for the Money

Allmax Aminocore was our choice for the best value branched chain amino acid supplement. It’s about 8.8 cents per gram of BCAAs, plus it delivers a lot of B-vitamins and it has nice, big serving size of 8 grams of BCAAs per scoop.

MRM BCAA+G Reload is another inexpensive, high quality option. It’s 9.6 cents per gram of BCAAs and it has a hefty dose of Vitamin B6, beta alanine, and glutamine. It’s also naturally sweetened with stevia and monkfruit — which means it doesn’t taste as good as some of its competitors but it’s free from a lot of chemicals.

Scivation Xtend is our third favorite for the money. Roughly 11 cents per gram of BCAA makes this on par with a lot of popular BCAAs but with extra glutamine, citrulline malate, and Vitamin B6, it’s our favorite in that price range.

Best BCAA for Muscle Growth

Betancourt Plus Series BCAA was our favorite for stimulating muscle growth. This isn’t just because it contains a lot of zinc, which is linked to healthy testosterone production. It also contains not one, but two kinds of leucine, the amino acid that’s most closely linked with muscle protein synthesis.

KAGED MUSCLE IN-KAGED is another one of our favorites for gaining muscle. This is because out of all the BCAAs we tried, IN-KAGED has the most citrulline malate (3 grams), which has been linked to hypertrophy. (Probably because it may improve endurance, thereby helping you complete more reps.)

Reign BCAA Elite+ was our third choice for muscle growth. It has the second highest amount of citrulline malate of all the BCAAs we tried and it also contains betaine anhydrous, which may improve power output. We also liked that it contained black pepper extract, which can improve the absorption of the nutrients.

Best BCAA Pills

Dymatize Nutrition BCAA Complex 2200 were our favorite branched chain amino acid pills. At 13 cents per gram of BCAA they’re not that cheap, but they come with a dose of Vitamin C, which can reduce cellular damage during exercise, and Vitamin B6, which can help with muscle retention. There’s also a host of ingredients, like crospovidone and croscarmellose, that help with product to absorb as efficiently as possible.

MyProtein BCAA 4:1:1 was our second favorite pill. These deliver about 1.5 grams of branched chain amino acids per pill and while there aren’t a lot of extra ingredients to improve your workout, there’s still 70 percent of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin B6 per serving. This product also costs 9.1 cents per gram of BCAA, so it’s cheaper than Dymatize.

Optimum Nutrition 1000 BCAA Capsules was our third favorite BCAA pill. It’s the cheapest of these three options at just 7.8 cents per gram of BCAA — the cheapest of any source of BCAAs that we’ve tried — but it pretty much only contains the three branched chain amino acids themselves. Note that it’s also packaged in gelatin caplets made from beef and pork, so avoid these if you keep kosher, halal, vegan, etc.

Final Word

We tried dozens of branched chain amino acid supplements to land on this list, weighing price, taste, ingredients, and effectiveness. Plenty of people have different ideas as to what constitutes a “quality” supplement, but we think we’ve put together the best darn guide to picking a BCAA on the internet. For more information on each of the products, just make sure to click through to the full review. Enjoy!

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How to Make Strongman Your Day Job

Nearly everyone who has been bitten by the weightlifting bug has had the dream of making a living from it. Strongman athletes are no different. The desire to wake up and train, eat right and train some more is almost too good to be true. The reality is that while it is a difficult path, it can happen and there is more than one way to skin that cat. If you love the iron, and want to get a paycheck for your efforts, you may find your next career in this article.

Personal Trainer and Strongman Coach

You may already work in the industry but not directly with strongman athletes. Many commercial gyms lack the equipment you may need to perform the movements, but you can change that. A sandbag is under $100 and allows you to do loads and carries. Tires are free in most places, and I put together a guide for low cost training equipment here

Explain to the owner or manager of the facility that you can open up strongman to a whole new class of people and add value to their gym by offering something unique. I personally believe that when conducted properly, Strongman training will be the most effective workout for your members.

Open Your Own Gym

It is expensive, you may never get rich, and it requires long hours, but in the long run I believe it is worth it. I’ve owned five fitness centers and two of them had sections exclusively for strongman. My last venture was almost exclusively strongman and by far my favorite club to run. Hit Matt Mills or Scott Brengal if you have questions. I’m certain they can give you some help (offer to pay them a consulting fee) because they are both successful owners. If you have no experience running a gym you should seek a business advisor to help you but here are some key points:

  • Rent will kill your business. Find warehouse space near high visibility areas you can save 50% or more every month. See if you can start out small and expand into more areas if needed. You can most likely start with 2,000 square feet.
  • Learn how to market via social media and understand the power of referral business. Keep your costs low but keep bringing in members.
  • Love being there. You will need to spend 10 or more hours a day there to oversee everything. You may not be able to afford any employees, but you are the face of the place and the heart and soul.
  • Hire an accountant. You want to live and teach strongman not manage numbers. Let a pro keep you on track.

Get a Job At a High School or University

Small schools will usually give you plenty of autonomy to run your weight room. While machines were all the rage for a while, they just can’t match the diversity of a great free weight program. Borrowing from the idea above you can bring in some low cost equipment for your students (but many schools will have an equipment improvement budget in place).

Become a Promoter

Though usually a part time gig, it’s a nice compliment to owning a gym or being a strongman coach. Lynn Morehouse has moved from doing local shows to running this year’s Masters, Women’s, and 105KG World’s Strongest Man contest. If you live in a populated area and there are many festivals and street fairs, you may actually get paid to put on the contest to provide entertainment for the attendees. Develop a system and a reputation for quality run events and the sky’s the limit.

Go Pro

The hardest and least likely path to getting a regular check is to be the best in the game. A talented few like Big Z and Brian Shaw can live well off prize money and sponsorships. Guys Like Oberst and Thor also get a check from TV and Movies to help them get by. If you are consistently able to compete at the top level you can do seminars, podcasts, and print advertisements.

Making a living in a way that makes you happy is the true meaning of success. All you need is a plan, work ethic and a little bit of luck. Set up your process to make it happen and enjoy working your plan as you would your training protocol. A more rewarding lifestyle can be in the gym.

Editors 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 sourced exclusively by the author.

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