Promotion/Analysis of my Blog

I have spent a great deal of time writing about introductory topics in my blog. However, I feel that it is important to have a strong foundation of knowledge before getting serious about resistance strength training. I have had less than one hundred and twenty visitors in the last couple of months. But I know that continuing to write informative posts with insightful information will soon attract readers. A couple of my strongest and best posts are “Why Strength Train’ and “Introduction to Strength Training”. The first post addresses some of the great benefits to strength training. The second post, or “Introduction to Strength Training”, gives many great tips for beginners who are interested in becoming as strong as possible as quickly as possible.

              My next posts will continue to build readers’ knowledge through product recommendations, more workout tips, sample workout plans, and other helpful information. Moreover, as time goes on, the information will slowly shift from beginner oriented information to expert knowledge. In this way, my readers can grow with my blog to become stronger and expand their appreciation and knowledge regarding weight training. I don’t currently use any other means of connecting to my readers such as social media, however, I will consider it in the future. For the time being, my readers can leave comments and send me emails that I will respond to in timely fashion. The design of my blog is very minimalist, which is intentional because that is how I am. I believe in a no-nonsense approach to resistance training that does not follow the newest fad or workout that is not based on science. Also, like fellow blogger Ross Enamait, I only write about topics that I know and have experience with. That way my readers can be sure that the information is sound.  

Another great resource for weightlifting information can be found at: Powerlifting University

The Sound Of Barbell - A Link Post

The Sound Of Barbell Blog has good information in regards to power lifting. Harley, the creator, writes posts that include tips and advice on how to become as strong as possible. I want to highlight one of his posts that gives advice about the bench press, and also add a few points of my own. The post is titled “The Sound Advice – Part 2: Bench Press”, and it can be found at:    http://www.thesoundofbarbell.com/sound-advice-part-2-bench-press/

The three pieces of advice he gives in this post include:

1.      His first piece of advice is to grip the bar outside of shoulder, and to try different grips to find the best one. This is a good tip but I want to add that people should vary their grip with a spotter. This is because different muscles are activated depending on your grip, and even a weight that is normally in your comfort zone can overwhelm you or lead to injury because your body is not accustomed to lifting this way.

2.      His second piece of advice is to bench with a slight arch in the back. I agree that this a good technique, however, this is for moderate to advanced lifters. I typically only recommend doing this when you reach a plateau in your bench press. I also in a way view this as cheating because it shortens the range of motion.

3.      His third piece of advice is to be careful and watch your form. He makes the argument that your form should be 100% intact throughout your lift. I agree to an extent. For heavy and low rep workouts where serious injury is possible, you should maintain proper form throughout the lift. However, for high rep and low weight workouts there is a benefit to forgoing form for a few extra reps.

In addition to his tips I want to add a couple of my own:

1.      Track your bench and add weight incrementally by five pounds every two weeks. This will help you to not hit a plateau.

2.      Every three weeks, end your chest day by doing an overloaded set with the help of spotters or a machine. Simply put, bench using a weight that is 110% of your max bench. This is done by having spotters hold on to the bar as you lower the weight down to your chest as slowly as possible before exploding up. This type of lift helps develop power and get you past a plateau.   

To read more blog posts by Harley, please visit: The Sound of Barbell

An analysis of Ross Enamait's Blog

RossTraining.com is one of the top blogs that deals with resistance strength training. The blog is written by Ross Enamait and he primarily talks about strength building and high performance conditioning. Enamait’s blog had 31,169 unique visitors in January of 2016, and thus it is very successful. His posts are aimed at experienced lifters, and he encourages his readers to post comments and questions which he personally answers. However, most of his reader’s comments are located in his forums. In fact, his largest topic and forum deals with strength and conditioning and it has over 290,000 posts/comments. One of his top blog posts is called “The Lack of Time Excuse”, and it deals with the fact that there is always time in the day to do a workout. He goes on to say that not having enough time is not a valid excuse for missing workouts. His readers seem to like posts such as these that address their real world issues in regards to muscle building. He also only writes about topics that he has experience with, and he stays away from topics that are overly complicated. His readers seem to appreciate the fact that he only writes and discusses subjects that he knows intimately. His readers also seem to appreciate the conversational tone that his writing takes.

              The design of Enamait’s blog looks professional and he includes images that are visually appealing and relevant to his posts. He also offers many different ways of connecting and sharing his blog. There is a newsletter signup that is a pop-up when you first come to his site, and he also includes a signup near the bottom of his front-page. Enamait also uses a variety of social networking sites to connect with his users. He uses Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Google to promote his blog and connect with his readers.To read more posts by Ross Enamait, please visit his blog at: RossTraining.com