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The Difference Between Barbell Strength Training And Powerlifting
They both use heavy barbells. So powerlifting and barbell strength training are the same thing, right? Well, not really. In this article, we explain how they’re different and why it matters. Read more →
My Doctor Told Me To Never Lift Anything Heavy
When I was 15, I was diagnosed with some imperfections in my lumbar spine. As a result, I had a series of back pain. Thankfully, through a series of fortunate encounters, I realised that the cure for my weak back is a strong back. Read more →
How To Find Your Press Grip
Is your overhead press stuck? Are you frustrated that progress has stalled? Or know that you should be able to press more, but somehow can’t? Before you even delve into the training program of your press, first start with how you’re pressing. To make sure that you’re pressing as efficiently as possible, pay attention to what happens even before you start to press the bar – that is, how you set your grip. Read more →
Happy 5th Anniversary, Hygieia! Our Annual Review and Plans for ’22
It seems like it was only yesterday that Hygieia opened its doors. In what feels like a blink of an eye, we’re now celebrating our 5th anniversary. First up, a very big thank you to everyone for your ongoing support. Thank you for your trust in us, and for referring us to your family and friends – we really appreciate it. Hygieia’s growth has been totally organic and we couldn’t have come this far without you. I’d like to share with you what we’ve been up to. Read more →
RPE – Rate Of Perceived Exertion Or Really Poor Excuses?
Discussion about RPE has been polarizing that it stirred many feelings of lifters around the world. Some deemed it unreliable or useless because it relied on the lifter's "feeling." Others defended the idea that it allows calibrated stress to the ever-changing performance condition. So, is RPE as simple as using your "feeling" to determine the intensity? Is RPE the answer to programming that allows for fluctuations in human performance? Let's dig in. Read more →
Barbell Plate Maths – What Plates Should You Load On The Bar To Get To The Weight You Need?
How do you decide what plates you need to put on the bar to get to the weight that you need? If you've been taking the weight that you need, deducting the weight of the bar and dividing the remainder by 2 to get how much weight to load on each side of the bar, stop doing that and read this article. Read more →
Being Skinny To Fat: Why Am I Losing My Six-Pack?!
For all you skinny guys out there - want to gain mass and become more muscular but worried about losing your six-pack? Here's why your six-pack doesn't matter and the practical reason why. Read more →
Strength Training For Osteoporosis – How Stressing Your Bones Actually Makes Them Stronger
“How can someone with osteoporosis lift heavy weights without getting compression fractures?" “Even if you’re trying to stay active, isn’t lifting weights too extreme? Especially since you’re older, shouldn’t you be doing something gentler like swimming or walking?” In this article, we address why lifting weights, when carefully supervised, is actually ideal for treating osteoporosis. Read more →
Curious How Much Do You Need To Bench Press In Order To Be Able To Do A Push-Up?
Ever wondered how much you need to bench press in order to be able to do a push up? Here's my attempt to find out. Read more →
Overthinking The Small Things? First, Get Your Priorities Right.
When's the best time of the day to train? When's the best time to have a protein shake? Does it even matter? Read more →
She’s 66 And A Powerlifting Record Holder
Singapore's national newspaper, The Straits Times, interviews Patricia about osteoporosis, her training and breaking national powerlifting records. Read more →
FRAGILE! Handle With Care
There's no easy way to start this article. I think putting a disclaimer will be a good idea. This article is not intended to diss the group of people I'm about to mention or vent out any frustration in working with them. This group of clients are the most incredible teachers for coaches like me. So this article serves as a guide to someone new to training and very terrified to begin their training can work effectively with their coach and a coach's reflection on how to best work with these people to achieve their goals. Read more →
Can You Be Too Strong? When Is Strength Too Much Of A Good Thing?
For the longest time, we’ve been going on about the virtues of strength training. So aiming for strength is great. It’s true that the stronger you are, the better. But is there such a thing as being too strong? Can one actually be too strong? Read more →
Hip Drive: The Most Misunderstood Piece of Starting Strength’s Squat Movement
Recently, I had a conversation with a guy at a commercial gym; we talked about barbell training. He heard about Starting Strength (SS) before, and as he knew that I coach people with the SS Method, he asked, "Why do you teach people to squat like a stripper?" This is probably the most commonly asked question with regards to hip drive in the squat. So here's why. Read more →
So You Wanna Be Jacked? Maybe You Should Get Strong First
You want to get jacked. What’s the difference between bodybuilding programs and strength training? And why should you choose one over the other? Bodybuilding and strength training are intertwined. Read on to find out why you must first get strong to gain muscle. Read more →
Iron Plates vs Bumper Plates: Why Does Iron Feel Heavier Even With The Same Weight?
Since you’ve started training, you’ve always used bumper plates. Maybe those were the plates you started using when you first started lifting and you've stuck to it out of habit. But one day, all the bumper plates in the gym were used up. No biggie – weight is weight, right? You load the bar for deadlifts with iron plates. As the weight got closer to your working weight, you noticed that it feels harder than usual. You double-check the weight to make sure it's correctly loaded. Yup, it's correct. Does it make a difference which plates are being used? Turns out it does and here's why. Read more →
The Tortoise And The Hare And Its Application To Your Fitness Goal
As a coach, I encounter clients who want to get strong fast, get their physique, body weight and body fat percentage goals ASAP on a regular basis. While there's nothing wrong with setting an optimistic goal, there are things that I wish I could have explained better to them to give them a better perspective of time and feasibility. Here's my attempt to do so, using the lessons learned from the familiar childhood bedtime story, The Tortoise and The Hare. Read more →
What I Learned From Constantly Failing My Diet
If you have been following Hygieia's social media pages for a while, you might remember me documenting my attempts to gain weight and failing. I felt that something was off, but didn't know what was wrong. It was after consulting with an experienced dietician that knows how to work with people that I realised how having the right professional in your corner can make a difference. Here's what I learned. Read more →
How Long Should I Rest Between Sets? Take The Time For Proper Recovery And Faster Progress
Do you regularly fail sets that aren’t too heavy? You’re probably not resting enough. To complete all the sets in a workout, you need to fully recover between sets. What’s the optimal amount of rest time between sets? Here’s how to find your sweet spot. Read more →
Why And How To Keep A Training Log – Serious lifters track their data for better progress
Training logs are a must-do for tracking your workout data. If you come to us with a training problem, having a training log can be extremely helpful. Because your log records your training history, an experienced coach can have a better idea of what's going on from your workout data to help diagnose the problem. Here’s why and how you should keep one. Read more →
Cheating Depth And A Lesson From Master Yoda
The population census conducted in hell revealed that the most prevalent "squat-sin" amongst the participants was cheating (depth) when they think that they might fail the next rep. Researcher and Starting Strength Coach, Joannes Marvin, shares his wisdom in preventing this embarrassing issue. Read more →
Getting Back To The Gym – How To Start Training After a Long Break
Right now, strength gyms in Singapore are being forced to close from 8th May until 13th June. No prizes for guessing why. So if you don’t lift barbells for a few weeks, what’s going to happen? Will you lose all your gains? Will you be a weak puddle of mush when you finally get back under the barbell? Here's how to get back to strength training after a break. Read more →
How To Never Mentally Give Up A Rep – Stop Being a Coward
The timer goes off, it's time to go for your PR. Palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. You're nervous, but on the surface you look calm and ready. The bar is loaded at a weight you've never done before. The last warm-up felt unusually heavy. Your mind unknowingly start to doubt yourself, "if the last warm-up already felt that heavy, can I really lift that weight on the bar"? Here are 5 ways to mentally prepare and push through a heavy lift. Read more →
The Patient’s Dilemma
Ever been told by a doctor that you should avoid lifting weights, running, *insert physical activity here* because of your back, neck, shoulder or knee pain? At the same time, that same doctor recommends that you should strengthen the muscles around the structure that's causing the pain as it'll help stabilise the joint. So what should you do? You're not alone in this dilemma – Coach Marvin had the same experience when he was diagnosed with a spine degenerative condition and was told to avoid his favourite sport. Here's why the advice given by the doctor isn't always sound. Read more →
How To Warm Up For Barbell Lifts – Improve Your Performance With The Optimal Warm-Up Routine
Most of us have a clear training routine. You know that you’ll walk into the gym, change into lifting clothes, put on lifting gear and head to the rack. You know that you’ll start your training with squats, and you know the exact numbers for your working weight, sets and reps. But what about your warm-up weights? And how many sets or reps? Actually, how much warm-ups do you even need to do? Read more →
Your Complete Guide To Lifting Belts
If you’ve been lifting for a while, you know that weightlifting shoes are essential. What about weightlifting belts? We usually hear a range of reactions from lifters, from “Nah, I’ll wait till I’m able to lift X kg before I start using a belt!” to “I see guys who wear a belt for their entire gym session, so do I need one too?” Belts are important if you’re serious about lifting. Here’s a guide to why you might need one, and what to look out for. Read more →
How To Get Strong And Ripped Training Once A Week And Eating(mostly) What You Want
Tired of spending hours upon hours in the gym training hard? Frustrated that you can't reward yourself with a nice meal after a gruelling training session for fear of getting fat? Here's how you can get strong and ripped training once a week and eating (mostly) what you want. Read more →
Training At Hygieia – What To Expect When You First Start Training
To our new clients, hello and welcome! This article will summarise what you'll be doing in the first few months of training with us, along with what you might experience during that process. If you're considering joining us, you'll find out more about our training methodology principles and what to expect when you join us. Read more →
An Interview With Shaun: The History Of Hygieia
Happy 4th anniversary to Hygieia Strength & Conditioning! This month marks the 4th year since Hygieia Strength and Conditioning opened its doors. Usually, we’d commemorate every anniversary with a BBQ outside the gym, to thank everyone for their support, to celebrate another year of being in business, and to look forward to the next. While COVID restrictions have prevented our traditional BBQ this year, one of our clients, Patricia, suggested having an article on the history of Hygieia mark the occasion. Read more →
Survival Reaction In the Squat – The Chesty Edition
A heavy bar is loaded on your back. You start descending, bending your knees and hips so that your hip crease dips below the top of your patella. You try to get back up, but darn, it's heavy! Here comes your natural instinct to survive - raising the chest up, in the hope that the bar will follow. Even worse, you might start looking up! Because you've got to look up to go up, right? Well, well. If this is you, please read this article to understand how your survival reaction is detrimental to the lift. Read more →
Latihan Barbel adalah Obat yang Ampuh
"[S]aat ini tidak ada bukti yang pasti bahwa latihan kekuatan – atau program latihan dan diet lain – akan memperpanjang masa hidup secara signifikan. Tapi dengan bukti ilmiah yang banyak, walau memiliki kelemahan, secara kuat menunjukkan bahwa kita bisa mengubah arah penurunan." [Bahasa Indonesia translation of Barbell Training is Big Medicine] Read more →
Why You Need Weightlifting Shoes And How To Buy Them
In barbell training, clothes don’t matter. But shoes do. Here's everything you need to know about weightlifting shoes, the essential gear for barbell training. We’ll tell you why you need a pair of weightlifting shoes, what to look out for, and how to buy them. Read more →
How To Set up Safely For The Barbell Lifts
Learning to squat, press, bench, and deadlift; there's no lack of tutorials showing you how to do each one of those correctly and safely. However, safety is not only dictated by your form or whether or not you are choosing the correct weight on the first day, but also knowing how to set up your equipment correctly. Here are some guidelines for your reference. Read more →
Kekuatan & Barbel – Fondasi Kebugaran
Jika saya mendapatkan satu dolar setiap kali seorang klien atau atlet bertanya mengapa mereka harus melakukan squat dan tidak bisakah mereka melakukan lunge saja, atau pertanyaan-pertanyaan serupa dengan variasi latihan berbeda, saya mungkin mendapatkan cukup uang untuk membuka gym yang telah idamkan. Jika saya menambahkannya sebanyak pertanyaan serupa di forum, saya bahkan mungkin bisa membayar sewanya. [Indonesian translation of Strength & Barbells by fellow Starting Strength Coach, Michael Wolf] Read more →
Why Some Lifters Pass Out After Deadlifts, And How To Avoid It
You’ve probably seen those viral videos: a lifter pulls a heavy deadlift and everything looks awesome. He puts the bar back down on the floor, stands back up, looks around like he’s confused, then suddenly, boom! He’s passed out flat on the floor. Why some lifters pass out after deadlifts, and how to avoid it. Read more →
How Strong is Strong Enough?
You've been training for a while, and you noticed how much you've progressed. Your numbers have indeed been going up, but are you strong enough? Before worrying about whether or not you're strong enough, take a moment and think about why you started strength training in the first place. Read more →
How To Rehab Muscle Strains Or Tears – Rehab, Not Rest, Will Speed Up Recovery
If you’ve strained or torn a muscle, most doctors will tell you to take some painkillers and rest the affected area. But extended rest and waiting for the injured muscle to heal on its own means that its recovery will be slowed down and the muscle fibres don't heal back properly. Find out what you should do to speed up your recovery and lower the chances of injuring the muscle again. Read more →
Daily Application of Markovnikov’s Rule
The more we accept that we are weak and trying to hide from the hard physical effort, the more vulnerable we get. The best way to break the vicious cycle of getting weak is to expose yourself to the challenging physical effort. Read more →
3 Tips to Speed Up Your Workout – How to Save Time in the Gym While Still Making Gains
It seems like there’s never enough time in our busy lives. Do you rush to the gym, then rush to complete your lifts while your mind is constantly thinking about how little time you have left before you've got to go back to work or to pick your kids? Within the time you have, how can you be more efficient while still maximising your strength gains? Here are 3 things that you can do to speed up your workout and still continue to make gains. Read more →
How To Organise Community Events In Times Of Lockdowns – My First Online Powerlifting Competition In My Lifetime
Usually, I use my Saturdays for writing an article.... Read more →
The Barbell, The Teacher (Part 4) – Ignoring Distraction to Achieve your Goals
Previously, we saw that acquiring Patience, Hard Work and Practice will improve your training as well as various aspects of your life. Now in Part 4, we get to the final lesson of Focus, which, when taken together with the other three, can transform who you are when applied. Read more →
The Five-Second Rule
Have you heard of the five-second rule? Have you noticed yourself or seen anyone giving up on their lifts, although it looked relatively easy until they gave up? If you are guilty of such a crime, don't worry! You are not alone! The majority of the lifters belongs to Team "Let it go!" Bro science tells us that there are only two kinds of lifters in this world – lifters that are strong and lifters who let it (the bar) go. Read more →
The Barbell, The Teacher (Part 3) – Committing to Consistency and Excellence
While barbells are the best way to get strong, the improved physical capabilities isn’t the only benefit. In Part 1 and Part 2, we saw how Patience and Hard Work can positively influence your life, by encouraging you to forgo short term gratification for long term benefit, and training up your ability to stick with doing hard things. Now in Part 3, we’ll look at the lesson of Practice and how it helps you get better in just about anything you want to do. Read more →
The Barbell, The Teacher (Part 2) – Becoming a Better Version of Yourself
The apparently simple process of barbell training will teach you life lessons that are useful both inside and outside the gym. In Part 1 of this article series, we learned the lesson of Patience — how you should use it to train consistently and get strong slowly, instead of looking for unrealistic shortcuts. Now in Part 2, we’ll look at the lesson of Hard Work, and how it helps you become a better version of yourself. Read more →
The Barbell, The Teacher (Part 1) – Lessons with the Power to Change your Life
The barbell – it’s simply a piece of machined steel, a useful tool to get you strong when used correctly. But if you immerse yourself and commit to training, you will find that it does more than just get you physically strong. The barbell and the process of training teaches you many lessons, and develops uncommon character traits that will positively affect your life outside the gym. Read more →
Foolproof Back Tweak Fix
Earlier this month, I had a bad back tweak from squatting. It was terrible. I was limping for almost a week. At one point, it was so painful to wake up from bed; I was shaking for a few minutes standing up. However, within 7 days of my back tweak, I was able to resume my normal daily activities. Here's a detailed story of how it happened, why it happened, and what I did to recover so that you'll know what to do to recover when you get a back tweak. Read more →
Stop Wasting Your Time In The Gym
If you’ve been training at a commercial gym for a while, pause, take a look around and observe the regulars. You’ll realise that most of them are performing or look exactly the same as they did a few months (or even years) ago. Now, take a moment and review your own training. Have you been making steady progress or have you been going around in circles? Read more →
The Unspoken Rules of Strength Gyms
You wouldn't want to piss the gym staff or potentially the other gym users, would you? Of course not. You are nice that way. So here it is, the UNSPOKEN RULES of the strength gyms. Read more →
Going To The Gym To Lose Weight? Why Training Only For Appearances Is a Bad Idea.
Exercising to lose weight? Instead, improve your strength to improve your health. Check out other great reasons for going to the gym and bigger goals to train for. Read more →
Kekuatan adalah Uang di Tabungan Anda
Massa otot di tubuh Anda seperti uang di tabungan. Keduanya dapat diraih dengan perencanaan yang matang, dan keduanya merupakan salah satu hal terpenting yang Anda bisa capai – jika Anda berpikir jangka panjang. Read more →
Why Do Old People Fall Down (and What You Can Do About It)
According to the Health Promotion Board, about one-third of elderly Singaporeans aged 60 and above have fallen at least once. We'll discuss why strength is important in maintaining balance and why "balance training" doesn't work. Read more →
Getting My Mom To Train
I love my parents, and I bet you do too. My goal to increase my parent's quality of life by being physically independent and enjoying whatever they want to do for the rest of their life, however long their life will be. Read more →
Embracing The Discomfort Of Training
Training isn’t meant to be comfortable – it never was, never is and never will be. If you’re serious about your training and want to make progress, you must shed the mindset of ‘working within your comfort zone’ and start getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Read more →
Gyms: Are They Necessary?
In this article, we’ll dive into the importance of gyms when it comes to training, not exercising, and how your mindset and outlook inevitably impact your view of gym culture... Read more →
Road To Becoming an SSC – Part 5
Hello, my name is Marvin, and I am a Starting Strength Coach (SSC) based in Singapore. I am proud to say that I am one of only five people in Asia with this credential… Read more →
Who’s Stronger? Absolute Strength Versus Relative Strength
Who’s Stronger? Lifter A, 50 kg bodyweight – Deadlifts 150 kg Lifter B, 80 kg bodyweight – Deadlifts 200 kg Read more →
Road to Becoming an SSC – Part 4
Hello, my name is Marvin, and I am a Starting Strength Coach (SSC) based in Singapore. I am proud to say that I am one of only five people in Asia with this credential… Read more →
Planning For Your Future
Just like there are questionnaires and tests to gauge if you’re on the path to be financially ready for retirement, there are a multitude of simple tests to find out if you have sufficient strength for your golden years. Read more →
Road to Becoming an SSC – Part 3
Hello, my name is Marvin, and I am a Starting Strength Coach (SSC) based in Singapore. I am proud to say that I am one of only five people in Asia with this credential… Read more →
Road to Becoming an SSC – Part 2
Hello, my name is Marvin and I am a Starting Strength Coach (SSC) based in Singapore. I am proud to say that I am one of only five people in Asia with this credential… Read more →
Squat Depth – How To Get It Just Right?
In the 19th century fairy tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, a little girl named Goldilocks tastes three different bowls of porridge and finds that the perfect bowl… Read more →
Start Small, Be Consistent, Keep Going
Remember the New Year’s resolutions you made a few months back? You had big plans to overhaul your life starting the moment the clock struck 12 on the 1st of January 2020… Read more →
Road to Becoming an SSC – Part 1
Hello, my name is Marvin and I am a Starting Strength Coach (SSC) based in Singapore. I am proud to say that I am one of only five people in Asia with this credential… Read more →
Strength and Older Adults
Strength is something that everyone loses as they age - this is an irrefutable fact and occurs whether you like it or not. One does not appreciate the role that strength plays in their life until they find themselves in a situation whereby they lack the strength to perform simple activities of daily living. Getting a weak older adult stronger is like handing the keys to their independence back to them. But how does an older adult with aches/pains/injuries and no training experience get stronger safely using barbell training? Here's a brief look at it's done. Read more →
Steps On Managing Training Around External Stress
There will be times in life whereby your training schedule gets disrupted by life stressors – it could be anything from having a new baby to work deadlines. Since life happens and disruptions can't be avoided, how can you best manage training around external stressors? Read more →
Hygieia Strength & Conditioning’s 2019 Year End Review
First of all, we at Hygieia Strength & Conditioning would like to thank you, our clients. Thank you for the opportunity to work with you, thank you for your continued… Read more →
Get Strong In The New Year
This new year, instead of the usual and popular New Year Resolutions of losing weight/fat or exercising more, have you considered getting stronger? Read more →
Consistency is Key
Oh boy, what a boring title! The content of this article could potentially be boring, as with the message that I’m trying to send across. What is said here is not a secret… Read more →
Strength Training and Sports Performance
Do a quick search for “sports specific training” or “sports performance training” online and you’ll find a plethora of websites marketing programs that... Read more →
Strength Training and Older Adults
According to Singapore’s Department of Statistics, 13.7% of the resident population in 2018 are aged 65 years and over (Wong, 2018, pp.14). Thanks to advancements in… Read more →
Losing Weight and Strength Training
Every once in a while, we get people walking into the gym and asking if strength training can help them if their goal is weight loss. Almost all of the time, they’re… Read more →
Training and Travelling
You’ve finalised your flights, booked your hotel and ready to go on your well-deserved holiday. Here's how to plan your training around your travelling schedule. Read more →
The Gloves Don’t Work, They Just Make It Worse
If you’re new to lifting weights and deadlifts are part of your training (as it should be), you’ll probably notice calluses forming on your palm just below the junction… Read more →
Patience in Strength Training
Over the past few years that I’ve been a strength coach, I’ve worked with with dozens of lifters and brought most of them through to the end of their Novice Linear Progression… Read more →
How to Start Squatting
If you’re able to squat to proper depth (hip crease below the top of your kneecap) with a barbell on your back, this article isn’t for you. If you’re able to do a bodyweight Read more →
Bar Placement In The Squat
An increasing number of people are realising the benefits of strength training and as a result, more people than ever are getting under barbells and squatting… Read more →
Articles
by Shaun Pang, SSC | Feb 1, 2019
