1. Getting to know Gentilcore - if you don’t know Tony, this is a great place to start.  An interview on Wannabebig, this covers the basics of Tony’s training philosophy, what he likes and what he doesn’t like, why he got into the industry in the first place, and what makes him tick.  So if you read this, hopefully you’ll know more about Tony than just the fact that he is one of the co-founders of Cressey Performance (the others being Eric Cressey and Pete Dupuis).
2. Interview with Tony the Tiger – Bret Conteras takes a lot of time to grill Tony here about almost everything you could possibly think of.  If you have the time to get into the detail, this is probably one of the best interviews you will read all year.  Bret and Tony come from very similar places, training-wise, so Bret is able to ask some pretty searching questions and get some very specific responses to issues like how women should train, how clients should be screened, and, most importantly, what exercises make your deadlift go up (you might be surprised!).
3. The Angry Trainer - and if you want to know what Tony thinks about training and the fitness industry, this is pretty much a summary of everything I’ve seen him write on the subject.  Tony takes on high-carb and low-carb diets, super-low calorie diets, abdominal machines, free weights versus machine weights and offers some great alternative movements to train various muscles.
4. The New Alphabet of Manliness – so now we’ve met Tony and read about his training philosophy, let’s take a look at Tony’s distinctive writing style.  The keyword here is entertainment.  If anyone ever took TC Luoma’s maxim seriously, that “people want to learn but they also want to be entertained”, Tony did.  In this great article, Tony works his way through the alphabet from Accomodating resistance to Zatsiorsky, covering all manner of strength and fitness topics along the way.
5. Deconstructing Computer Guy (parts one and two) – Tony explains why computers have created a whole new set of problems for those of us living and working in the modern age.  Like Eric Cressey’s Neanderthal No More series, this mini-series is a must read for anyone who works a desk job during the day and hits the iron at night.  Tony explains: “computer guy tends to have a very kyphotic posture (rounded upper back/protracted shoulders, internally rotated humerus), an excessive lordotic curve in his lower back (anterior pelvic tilt), and, as a result, has a history of lower back pain/stiffness.  He also exhibits a forward chin posture, shoulder pain from all that darn typing, and he feels very restricted when he has to bend over or sit down.”  Not good, right?  However, Tony gives some great exercises to sort yourself out.
6. Twelve tips for heavier pulls – Tony starts from the claim that “any healthy male under the age of 50 should be able to deadlift at least 400lbs within two years of proper training.”  Then, he gives a sample 3-month deadlift programme and moves on to his key points: (1) perfect your form, (2) pull regularly, (3) rotate your movements, (4) fix your weaknesses, (5) take your shoes off (does anyone really pull with shoes on anymore?), (6) don’t use straps, (7) train with strong people, (8) perform accessory work, (9) do single-leg work, (10) get the glutes firing, (11) don’t miss lifts, (12) do the kettlebell swing properly.  These are great tips and I use almost all of them to a degree in my training.
7. The rule of 90% - a good reason to go lift singles and pictures of Oleksander Kutscher’s back, what more do you want?  Well, Tony explains here why lifting heavier weights, at 90% of your 1RM, lends itself to strength, size and athletic improvements.  He also gives a selection of recommended, sort-of-recommended and contraindicted exercises to try it with.
8. Protein Power - don’t allow yourself to be fooled into thinking that Tony doesn’t know all about nutrition.  In this article, Tony takes on the issue of how much protein we should be eating.  I liked the way he makes it clear that there is a difference between how much protein you need and how much is optimal, depending on your goals.  I liked the way he drop-kicked the idea that eating too much protein is bad for your kidneys, saying “go to Pubmed or any variety of research journals and try to find one study that shows that diets high in protein cause damage to healthy kidneys.  I am more likely to make out with Natalie Portman than you are in finding such a study.”  You tell them, Tony.  I wasn’t convinced that Jake would competely approve of his maxim that “if it swims, flys or has four legs and is furry then it’s a great source of protein”, however…
9. The carbohydrate conundrum – more nutrition information from Tony here, and this time on that oft-demonised macronutrient, carbohydrates.  But, once again, Tony makes it clear at the outset that that there is a difference between how much carbohydrate you need and how much is optimal, depending on your goals: it all comes down to what you are trying to achieve.
10. Big Wheels – Tony takes the time to produce a programme to build you some big wheels.  But first, he goes through the reasons for using squats and deadlifts (what else?), debunks the idea that full-range-of-motion squats are bad for your knees, explains why you need to focus more on your hamstrings and glutes than anything else if you want to see results, and discusses the benefit of isometric holds and unilateral leg work.

I hope you enjoy these articles and, maybe, realise that there is more to Tony than just his highly-entertaining blog…

1. Applied Strength is one of dozens of blogs about getting stronger and fitter using kettlebells.  Brett Jones is an RKC and writes programmes with Gray Cook, one of the legends behind Perform Better.  I’m not currently into kettlebells, but I like Brett’s inquisitiveness.  I also appreciate the new exercises and techniques that he takes the time to post on his blog.
2. Chasing Strength is another kettlebell blog by Geoff Neupert.  Infrequently updated, the content is nevertheless excellent when it appears.  Like this pressing tutorial, which I have started thinking about combined with a “grease the groove” approach in some feeder workouts…
3. Adam T Glass is one of those genuinely unique and larger than life characters.  He also seems to be entirely in a class of his own.  Basically, if he can get his hands around it, he can bend it, lift it or tear it.  I really wouldn’t want to upset him…
4. Conditioning Research does exactly what it says on the tin.  Well, it started off that way but now it includes lots of cool videos of people doing strong stuff.
5. Extreme Human Performance is another descriptive blog that focuses on documenting the extraordinary feats of strength that people can achieve when they put their minds to it.  I was probably one of the few people who were disappointed by Mike T Nelson’s moving there as I was already following him beforehand and figured that whereas I used to follow two blogs, now there was only one.
6. Precision Nutrition is the place to go for the nuts and bolts of your nutrition information.  I couldn’t decide whether to put this in the website or the blogs list.  I came down on the blog side because that’s the part of the site I benefit from most.
7. The Science of Sport provides a fascinating analysis of the current sporting events, breaking down the barriers between the (generally) ignorant media and the curious public.
8. World’s Strongest Librarian defies description.  Josh Hanagarne is a remarkable human being.  Just go and have a look and see.  You won’t regret it.  Along with Carl Lanore of Superhuman Radio, Josh seems to be one of those people whose main activity in life is making other people feel better about living.
9. Tony Gentilcore at the Boston Herald.  Tony is light relief for when things strength and fitness related get too serious.  I just wish I could get Google reader to pick up an RSS feed for his blog at the Boston Herald…
10. Brian St Pierre is the resident nutrition guru at Cressey Performance and an all-round knowledgeable guy with regularly updated posts on foods that are good for you, bad for you and downright ugly for you.

So that’s my take on the best strength and fitness blogs out there at the moment.  If you know of any other great blogs, please let me know.  I can always fit another subscription into my Google Reader!