We have your feet covered with our range of weightlifting shoes, but what about the rest of your body? MAXbarbell is working hard to bring you a full range of training gear and to that end we have recently partnered with a fellow Connecticut apparel company. Earn The Hurt is developing a full line of quality MMA and strength training wear. This is top quality, long lasting stuff and all 100% made in the USA. For example, the t-shirts are 100% microdenier polyester, moisture wicking, anti microbial, anti-static fabric and tagless for comfort. These are shirts you are going to want to wear when training.

The philosophy behind Earn The Hurt is that anything in life worth obtaining will require sacrifice and some level of emotional and physical pain. To reach your goals and be your best, you have to the “Earn the Hurt”. This is workout gear that will remind you of why you are training. Check it out in our new Apparel category.

Our latest shipment of weightlifting shoes are on their way.  They will be here around mid December, 2010.  Here is another sneak peek at one of our new models.   We call this shoe "Badass".   The shoe speaks for itself.   Lift your personal best in these and get noticed doing it.

The heel height on these babies is 0.75 inches, which seems to be height preferred by most lifters.  (Note that this is height of the middle sole, or the difference between the height under the ball of the foot and the height under the heel).  

These shoes are expected to be available on MAXbarbell.com around mid December 2010.  If you want to be notified as soon as these shoes are in, use our contact page to send us a quick note. 

We will be previewing our other three new models over the coming weeks.   Be sure to check back here regularly or subscribe to this blog or follow us on Twitter.

This shot from Casino Royale shows Craig's character, James Bond, emerging from the sea sporting swimming trunks.  This one image has led to Daniel Craig topping many sexiest male celebrity polls.   Apparently Craig's workout for the movie involved a circuit routine using the clean and jerk, squat, bench press, pull ups, dips, barbell curls, and dumbbell lateral raises.   He also followed a pretty strict diet.   If this all seems like a lot of work to you, there is an alternative.  Check out this video from Australia's "The Chasers War on Everything".  Very funny! 

BombShell - Coming Soon...

 

These shoes are expected to be available on MAXbarbell.com around mid December 2010.  If you want to be notified as soon as these shoes are in, use our contact page to send us a quick note. 

We will be previewing our other three new models over the coming weeks.   Be sure to check back here regularly or subscribe to this blog or follow us on Twitter.

Our mission at MAXbarbell is to help you improve your maximum effort with whatever strength or fitness goal you may have, be that your 1-Rep-Max on the squat, your Crossfit Total, or your time on the next 5k race.   On that theme, here is a great article from Diesel Crew which describes what a max effort is and how to achieve it:  http://www.dieselcrew.com/preparing-for-max-effort-attempts 

Photo by ramsey everydaypants

In prehistoric times when man looked up, saw an overhanging tree, and thought 'I could climb that tree if I could pull myself up on that branch' the pull-up was born. It's not new, but over the past 5 years or so, there seems to have been a resurgence in the pull-up’s popularity.   It is almost impossible to go to a big box store and not see some kind doorway mounted pull-up bar displayed. Turn on the TV and you may see Tony Horton promising you the body of your dreams in 90 days if you purchase his DVD and pull-up set.    Crossfit has also played a big role in bringing the pull-up back--who among us was not impressed when he/she first saw the kip performed?

There is no doubt about it; the pull-up is an awesome exercise.   It is probably one of the most taxing, and it can take a lot of practice for a novice to build the strength to string a few reps together.   Because of its difficulty, it has the potential to build magnificent upper-back strength and should not be left out of any training regime.  

 MAXbarbell sells a freestanding portable pull bar unit built by Trapeze Rigging.   The goal of this post is to give some advice about when it would make sense to use a freestanding portable pull up bar instead of some of the other types of bars available on the market. 

 6 Reasons to buy a Free Standing Portable Pull Up Bar  

1.      It is appealing to have the ability to pack and reassemble your pull-up bar anywhere you work out.   With the pull-up unit you can take it to the park, beach, office or swimming pool.   The portable pull-up bar can be packed in a bag and only weighs 22lbs; this means you can even take it on a plane. 

2.      If you rent an apartment or house, you usually are not allowed to drill holes in the wall or framing.   You may not want to risk damaging a doorway.   In either case, a freestanding unit can be set up anywhere and when you move, it moves with you.

3.      Some of the doorway models have pretty low weight limits.   And even though some may say they can take 300lbs, do you really want to apply that much weight to your door frame?   The Trapeze Rigging model can take up to 350lbs without a problem.

4.      With most pull-up bars you are limited to a fixed height.  That is, either the height of your doorway, or the height of your stud drill holes.   Our freestanding model allows adjustment to three different heights: 84”, 80” or 76”.   These heights can pretty much accommodate anyone.  It can also be used at height of 3.5 feet for dips, or inclined push ups.   Doing inclined pull ups at this height, by the way, is a great way to build up the strength for a full pull-up if you are not able to do them.    

5.      Our free standing pull-up bar can be used for dips and push ups.    You can only do pull-ups with most door way units. 

6.      When you need something you can put away and reassemble in under a minute, our pull-up bar is perfect.   Also (sad but true), many pieces of home exercise equipment get used a few times, collect dust, then get thrown to the curb. We truly hope that nothing you buy from MAXbarbell.com suffers this fate. In any case, the Trapeze Rigging freestanding portable pullup bar makes a great coat hanger.  

So if you are considering a pull up bar we hope this post has given you something to consider.  As always, if you have any questions do not hesitate to use our contact page to ask us.

In recent years there has been a growing awareness in the strength training community that regular footwear just doesn't cut it in the gym. Sneakers, the shoes that most people wear when they squat, deadlift, press or olympic lift, may be hampering their efforts and can be detrimental to learning and maintaining good technique. Why do sneakers make inadequate lifting shoes? The primary reason is the same reason sneakers are great for walking and running: their compressible sole. Nearly all sneakers and running shoes are designed to absorb impact when the shoe strikes the ground; however, this is exactly what you don't want when weightlifting. A spongy sole that can move under pressure or impact, while reducing stress on the knees and back when running, will hinder your lifting in a number of ways. This article describes some of those ways and how proper weightlifting shoes solve these problems.