Strength is a basic capacity
A newspaper finally takes muscle loss seriously — good. But its frailty tests are table stakes, not a finish line. Strength isn't a specialty; it's a baseline for a life with agency.
Posts tagged training
Get a grip
Grip is the weakest link in most of your lifting — and one of the most trainable. Why it caps your strength, how the way you hold changes everything up the chain, and how to build it.
Cardio comes in all shapes and sizes
Your heart doesn't care whether you run. It cares how hard it works and for how long. A case for conditioning beyond the treadmill — sleds, airbikes and the humble jump rope.
Don't just brace, embrace the curve
Why we run both back-extension machines and add Jefferson curls. The spine is built to move, so we move it.
An ode to single leg squats
Single-leg work deserves centre stage, not accessory status. More depth, freer hips, and real symmetry.
How you get hurt even when you do everything right
A muscle protests before it fails. Tendons tear without warning. Creep fatigue, explained through my own rupture.
I tore my achilles tendon
It happened with a pogo jump over a hurdle. The same kind I have done thousands of times over the last 12 years. Here is how the repair and rehab went.
Why your knees and hips need to move
One in three over-50s dies within a year of a hip fracture. Train the joints through the range they were built for.
Does getting stronger make you a better person?
Lifting builds discipline, resilience, and trust in the process. But is it as transformative as the hype claims?
The spinning dumbbell
Machining a bearing-free rotating dumbbell to spare the wrist under heavy overhead load.
Statistically probable advice for most Indians
A blunt list of what most of us over- and underestimate about our eating, our training, and our health.
What’s happening to your muscles
As our understanding of how muscles work grows, fundamental questions and their nuanced answers can become the key to making sound coaching choices.
Kids and strength training
Kids need to play, run and climb. Some systematic training can enhance their ability to do the first three things.
Seven years of the t-bell
How our hand-built t-bell evolved from V1 to V2.2, and why it makes loading a deadlift so accessible.
Accidental hypertrophy
A transformation interview with a chimp. On figs, termites, throwing faeces for shoulder strength, and ten hours of sleep.
There is no natural movement
Training is a substitute for all the movement our environment used to demand of us, and no longer does.
Nine inch fails
A client's safe miss on the lever squat, and why a loaded barbell sits exactly nine inches off the floor.
Interview with Moo Jackman
A jacked bull explains myostatin, genetics and steroids, and why his muscle is far less useful than yours.
Don't want your kids to lift? Don't let them be astronauts
Astronauts lose bone mass in zero gravity. Kids need loading, not protecting from it, to build strong bones.
The recreational strength athlete
Not a bodybuilder, powerlifter or crossfitter. Just someone strong enough to make everyday life a little simpler.
A personal story
I move terribly and was never good at any sport. But I love solving the problem of getting stronger.
The necessary, unnecessary and counterproductive
You can judge your consumption of food and exercise on three simple parameters: the necessary, the unnecessary and the counterproductive.
Do you want to be healthy, fit or a sports whiz? Its not all the same.
Health, fitness and sports skill are three distinct capabilities. Be crystal clear about why you are undertaking a certain regimen.