Mike Dewar's 10 Favorite Fitness Posts of the Month
It seems like we are constantly bombarded with YouTube videos, articles, and Instagram posts on weightlifting, fitness, CrossFit, and sports training. As a social media junkie (if you will), writer, and coach, I spend A LOT of time online.
Lucky for you, that means I typically can sift through more content, separate the junk from the gems, and share my favorites to fitness-minded friends like you.
Here’s my 10 favorite fitness (weightlifting, CrossFit, strength sports, nutrition, and fitness humor) posts that I came across over last 30 days...enjoy!
- Mike
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1. A Day of Eating with Noah Olsen - Carb-Focused Video by CrossFit Games Athlete
Not only is it helpful to see what some of the world's fittest men eat on a daily basis, I love how Noah Olsen doesn’t demonize carbs (quite the contrary) in his wheat-filled eating day. Needless to say, I have had it with all this carb-bashing!
2. Olympic Weightlifting Programming - A Beginner Coach’s Guide
I felt compelled to write this Olympic weightlifting programming guide for TrainHeroic, a website that I have teamed up with. As an Olympic weightlifting club coach, Advanced Sport Coach (Level 1 and 2), and soon to be National Club Coach (fingers crossed in 1-2 years), I wanted to share my advice for new coaches and/or club owners looking to build something special. While this doesn’t necessarily hit on how to make all the magic happen, it does help you develop a truly effective Olympic weightlifting training program for beginner and intermediate athletes.
3. Muscle Beach- What the Fit with James Corden and Kevin Hart
James and Kevin go back to one of the most OG places on earth for muscle building, Venice Beach. This video is nothing short of hilarious.
4. The Most Effective Strength Training Splits
Many people head to the gym without any actual plan. Trust me, I see this alot (well, not as much as in the past, which has to be a good sign)! While I didn’t invent these three workout split ideas, I did write an article laying them all out with the intent to help you (coaches, athletes, fitness lovers) choose the best program for your goals and abilities. Even better news, is some of you won't have to decide which hypertrophy cycle you need to do to build serious muscle and strength, because I already made one for you!
5. “The Artist & The Olympian” - A Short Film featuring Donny Shankle
I love Olympic weightlifting. This short video captures the frustrations, beauty, and insanity that weightlifting training and competition entails. If you are a weightlifter (or someone who lifts for a purpose), I guarantee this will be worth your time.
6. Quick and Sometimes Grueling Daily EMOMs Workouts
This has single-handedly made my workouts more fun, challenging, and a little more exotic. Every few weeks I will sit down and make twenty fast, effective, and simple EMOMs workouts that can be done in nearly any gym. They are all of 12-20 minutes and focus on strength, hypertrophy, and simple fun-filled fitness. My instagram followers and EMOMs workout-app members have loved the workouts too, so I figured I would share them here too.
7. “Anatomy of a Weightlifter: Ukraine’s 94kg Lifter Dmytro Chumak” - The Olympic Channel
Being a sport science nerd, weightlifting coach, and semi-decent lifter, I thought this was a pretty cool video demonstrating many of the tests I have studied and used in sports performance (such as max effort Wingate testing, Bod Pods, and force plates). Additionally, this video shows that Olympic weightlifters aren’t just large men and women who carry muscle and body fat (because somehow people still think this is the case, but rather super lean, dense, and explosive athletes. I also found it pretty comical to watch the immense amount of pain on Dmytro Chumak’s face during the Wingate test, especially since I have done this same test and it is, horrific.
8. Building a Stronger, Healthier Weightlifting Squat
My relationship with squats is truly a love/hate. They are the source my accolades as a lifter, athlete, and physical specimen (haha…). They are also responsible for enormous amounts of anxiety before heavy squat day, leg pain, and thigh cramps anytime I fly. That said, these six (6) exercises have really helped (and are still helping) me build better squat form, save me knees, and even “move more kilos’ (that’s “weightlifter” for, squat more weight).
9. “The Sport Scientists - Episode 3 - Maya Camille Winters”
Not only does my good friend crack jokes and drop knowledge bombs, the sport scientists (Dr. Mike Israetel, Dr. James Hoffman, and Dr. of Muscle, Marcos Rodriguez) sit down with elite strong-woman competitor, Maya Camille Winters to discuss her journey to become a successful strongwoman. Very inspiring, informational, and funny.
10. Against All Odds: A Story of Columbia's Gold Medalist, Oscar Figueroa
This is an oldie but goodie, documenting the struggles and obstacles Oscar Figueroa had to overcome along his way to securing a gold medal in the 62kg Men's Weightlifting class at the 2016 Rio Olympics. This is a truly an amazing story of perseverance and unwavering determination.