💪 11 best BarBend stories of 2023

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Here’s everything we have today:

• The BarBend staff’s favorite stories from 2023

• Rep schemes for bulking and cutting

• A guide to the sumo deadlift

Retrospective

The Year’s Best

We here at BarBend will soon be burrowing into our ice baths and snuggling up against some sharp-knurled barbells while on winter break, but before that, we got together and chose some of our favorite articles of 2023.

Having an entire year’s worth of writing to peruse may seem like a chaotic and Herculean effort, but it’s all worth it for the sweet, sweet listicle below. With a mix of topics and styles all related to fitness culture, we humbly offer you the chance to catch up on any of these gems you may have missed. 

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Exercise Science

The Great Rep Debate

You can spend a lifetime on Google trying to find the answer to your burning fitness questions, or you can go straight to an expert. And that’s what we’ve got for you today as Dr. Mike Israetel of Renaissance Periodization, harborer of an encyclopedic knowledge of hypertrophy, lays down some knowledge about a sensitive subject: the use of appropriate rep ranges for the different phases of bulking and cutting.

Is it true that heavy weights with low reps is the only path to muscle growth? Dr. Israetel doesn’t mince any words in this video: “Sets of five to 30 repetitions, and even a little bit outside those ranges, have been shown in almost every study…to just not be reliably differentiable in muscle growth.” 

While he wishes the mythos surrounding rep ranges would vanish, he does see some psychological benefit to changing your rep schemes based on your goals. See what the good doctor prescribes for maximal muscle mass in the article below.

Exercise Tips

Sumo Time!

The sumo deadlift is a divisive topic among the gym-going public — but make no mistake, it’s one of the best glute and hamstring developers you can perform. And that’s exactly why you’ve gotta learn the proper form. Lucky for you, we’ve got the whole rundown below.

What makes a sumo deadlift different from the traditional version is the wide stance you take when approaching the bar. But there’s a bit more to it than just that. So limber up and get ready to feel a burning sensation from your butt to your calves as you lever, squeeze, and execute the sumo deadlift.

Everything Else

Hanging With Mitchell Hooper

• World’s Strongest Man and Arnold Classic champion Mitchell Hooper continues his diversification campaign, adding Olympic weightlifting to his list of physical abilities. Watch him go.

• The cable crunch is a quick way to take a knee and power up your abs without having to take PTO and rearrange the entire gym. Here’s how to do it.

• Cold therapy is the hot thing in the world of fitness, but does it enhance outcomes related to fat loss? See if that cold shower can help you with those love handles.