Don’t miss these great links!

This is the first of what I hope will be many links posts in 2010.  Having said that, it’s been a fairly sparse couple of weeks, with most of my favourite blogs doing Christmas round-ups of their best articles and New Year’s resolutions.  But I have persevered and here are some of the jewels…

• I am starting to make it a matter of principle to find at least one Star Wars entry each week.  This contemplation on if Star Wars had Facebook is a brief moment of comedy genius.  And here is what the inside of R2D2 looks like.
• Dan John recently wrote an article on T-Nation about bulking and had this great response from his friend Robert Gummerson.  In short, eat lots of clean food and do the big lifts.  Gummerson favours the “one lift a day” and the 5 sets of 5 reps approach.
• As you know, I am struggling to get my bench moving upwards as it is stuck quite firmly at 95kg (210lbs).  I’ve been working with material from Elite FTS but this inspiration from The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban (where else?) has given me some confidence that focussing on my rows and overhead presses has been the right way to go.  In the light of this article, I may also go back to doing back-off sets for higher reps like I used to do.
• Rob at Kettlebell Sport is entering the Adlington Push and Pull on 23 January 2010.  The two events are overhead anyhow and deadlift.  Rob is planning to use the continental style of lifting.  Here he is doing some heavy belt pulls.  And here is an interesting article on The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban about continental lifting.
• This fascinating discussion of the origins of tendopathy (what you and I might call tendonitis) is worth a look if you’re in a technical frame of mind.  The article discusses the history of the treatment of tendopathy, as well as the various theoretical models of tendon pathology: mechanical, vascular, neural and integrated.
• Mike T Nelson has done a list of the top 15 things he has learned this year.  Highlights include great new music (no surprise there!) and articles on nerve flossing, fear and endurance training to benefit lifters.
• This tribute video to world number one ranked powerlifter Konstantin Konstantinovs could be just what you need to get fired up for that weekend workout.
• IronMind recently did an interview with Canadian National Highland Games Champion Greg Hadley about his off season training.  Not particularly in depth but the picture of Greg throwing the 56lb weight for height reminded me of Geoff Capes winning that event in the 1983 World’s Strongest Man in New Zealand.  That was the first year that Geoff won, if I remember correctly.
• The Science of Sport is a great blog written by Ross Tucker and Jonathan Dugas, which discusses various contemporary sporting events in a scientific way.  This great round-up showcases the various analyses that they have done in 2009, including coverage of Caster Semenya, super swimsuits, Oscar Pistorius and the Tour de France.
• Brian St.Pierre has a great little article on how to set up a home gym on a budget and the items he selects are well thought out.
• Take Jason Ferruggia’s quick quiz for a little light relief and check that you’re on the right track for the New Year.  You already know all the answers but it’ll make you chuckle.
• Jason has been particularly active online recently and this guest post on Elliott Hulse’s site about the importance of deadlifting is a welcome reminder that the deadlift is an important lift in its own right.  Often, people approach the deadlift as something that will improve as your squat and rows go up.  This article celebrates the importance of deadlifting for mass gains.
• As you’ve probably noticed, sometimes I just like to link to people who are more insane than I am.  And this attempt at the world record rally car jump easily surpasses any insanity I may have been guilty of.  If you want to know how it turns out, watch the video here.
• Matthieu Hertilus writes on Elite FTS about hating squats, detailing some of the most unpleasant, brutal and downright evil squat routines ever devised, including 20-rep breathing squats, Charles Poliquin’s German Volume Training programme and Vince Gironda’s 8 sets of 8 reps routine.
• Here is live Radio 5 coverage of the Rage Against the Machine “Killing in the Name” track, which reached the Christmas Number One in the charts in the UK this year after a concerted internet campaign to interrupt the reign of Simon Cowell’s X-Factor.  (If for some reason you have been living under a rock and haven’t heard of Rage Against The Machine, here is the original track).  On a lighter note, here is a Rage Against the Machine Christmas video to accompany London’s Christmas lights.

It’s not the longest list of links I’ve ever done but hopefully there are a few items in there that you will enjoy.  And don’t forget, there’ll be more next week!

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