And here we go again for another batch of great links:

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• This week’s Star Wars links are a rather bizarre recruitment poster for the Empire and the news that the actor who played R2D2 has died.
• Another great study showing the benefits of resistance training for aerobic athletes: this is a study of the effect of heavy strength training on the muscle mass and physical performance of elite cross country skiers.  The supplemental strength training was found to increase the VO2-max of the skiers.
• Another study, this one showing the correlation of decreased muscle strength and functional impairments in older people.  Basically, getting doddery as you age is a function of being weaker.  Stay strong and don’t get doddery.
• On the same subject, this great article by Bob Whelan takes some case studies of people who are using resistance training to improve their quality of life as they get older.
• Mike Boyle, that legend in the strength and conditioning community, is getting older but he’s still amazingly efficient.  Find out how in this post about his daily routine.
• This week’s first creature feature is this startling montage of photos of a family of cheetahs making friends with an impala.
• And the second item of animal magic is this remarkable video of a 3-legged bear walking upright.  When you see it for the first time in the trees, it is tempting to assume that it’s a man in a bear costume.  But when it comes out into the open it’s more difficult to call it a fake…
• John Barban puts Arnold next to Eugen Sandow for a comparison of bodybuilders over time.  He makes the obvious connection that Sandow died long before the onset of steroids but I wonder what Sandow would look like next to today’s top drug-free athletes?  I suspect he would come out quite well…
• Read Josh’s book review of The Mighty Atom, the story of how a weak, sickly child became one of the strongest men in the world.  As Josh says, it’s a great pity the book is still out of print.
• Over at Samson Strength and Conditioning they are doing a series about why they include strongman exercises in their programmes.  This first installment is about loading Atlas stones.  The second is about tire flips.
• And where would we be without a trip down memory lane with The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban?  This article by Randall Strossen about the importance of the unconscious limits that we all place on ourselves is a fascinating study.  Think about the 4minute mile and Roger Bannister, Bob Beamon and the long jump, Paul Anderson and the squat…
• Rob Russell is entering Sugden’s Strongest Man on March 6th this year.  There’s going to be a deadlift, overhead medley, monster medley (mainly walks), fire engine rope pull and Atlas stones.  You can read all about it on his blog.
• Seth Godin has a gift for making perceptive observations.  I think this one is particularly relevant to the fitness industry.  Strange thing is, I absolutely hate being told what to do…
• I thought that this fake advert for Coca-Cola, made as if it were illegal for them to lie, was worth a chuckle. 
• Six things you can learn from Olympic athletes.  None of them ground breaking but if you do them all consistently you will find that they make quite a lot of difference.
• And if you are still reading at this point, hoping to get fired up for a workout, check out Zydrunas deadlifting 903lbs (410kg) for a double (!) and 947lbs (430kg) for a single.  Watch out for the little details on the single, like the fact that the bar isn’t long enough to fit all of the weights on so the clip comes off the left-hand side on the way up and one of the small plates falls off the right-hand side on the way down again…

Well that’s it for this week’s links.  I hope you enjoy them.