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Welcome to The BarBend Newsletter! Here’s what’s in today’s edition.

• How to maintain your gains

• Sick finishers to end your workouts with

• CrossFit legend decides to hang it up

• Plus: Learn more about the new BarBend forum!

Exercise

Keep More of What’s Yours

The great philosopher Ricky Bobby opined, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” Similar thought processes can be applied to muscle development, with the thought that if you’re not actively building muscle, you must be losing it.

Well, that’s not entirely true. One of the most important aspects of your gym-going lifestyle is the practice of maintaining your current gains. And today, we’re bringing you the definitive guide to keeping the muscle you have.

There’s no need to live in fear of wasting away, but you do need to manage your muscle retention in much the same way you did with the construction of it. Continuing to train and eat properly is no less important for preserving mass than they are for gaining, so don’t flip that mental switch off when you decide to enter a maintenance mode. 

In addition to some nutrition hacks, we’re detailing maintenance-friendly workouts and reps/sets schemes that focus on keeping your physique status quo. Check out our full guide below:

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Workouts

Burn, Baby, Burn

Instead of fumbling around with some controls in a vain attempt to make something really cool and horribly violent happen on an arcade screen, think about using a finisher to heighten the intensity of your workouts without adding significantly more time to them.

Finishers, as the name suggests, go at the end of your workout and serve as a means of closing out your session with a bang. They can be used to absolutely smoke your cardio system, like with a kettlebell or battle rope finisher, or engorge the muscle you have been working more completely. 

You need to pick smart, low-risk movements to make sure you don’t put undue stress on yourself in a compromised position (think sled pushes over heavy squats), but by creating a safe environment, you can absolutely light yourself up. Start finishing strong with these simple techniques.

CrossFit

G.O.A.T at the End of the Road

The most dominant athlete in the sport of CrossFit, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, announced that her appearance at the Torian Pro in May will be a “goodbye to this chapter.” 

The seven-time CrossFit Games champion announced her decision on Wednesday in a YouTube video, seemingly signaling the end of her CrossFit career. But, frustratingly, Toomey-Orr did not go so far as to officially announce her retirement from competitive CrossFit altogether, leaving the door open for a possible Games run later this summer.

“In May, I’m taking the floor at Torian Pro, but this time, it’s different. This time, it’s my moment to say goodbye to this chapter. This sport has given me everything, every challenge, every triumph, and, most importantly, the incredible community that surrounds it,” Toomey-Orr said in the video.

News

Sign Up for the BarBend Forum!

We’re excited to announce the launch of the new BarBend forum! This is a community geared toward fitness fanatics of all types — whether you’ve got a question about training, need advice on breaking through a stubborn plateau, or just want to brag about your latest PR.

You’ll also find subsections on our favorite strength sports like strongman, bodybuilding, and powerlifting. Got a pick for this year’s World’s Strongest Man contest? We want to hear about it. Still steaming about the results of the 1980 Mr. Olympia? By all means, let us know about it.

Sign up today and connect with a growing community that includes BarBend’s own writers and editors. Remember — we’re all stronger together.

The Results Are In

In the April 18 edition of The BarBend Newsletter, we asked whether you used free weights or machines more. Overwhelmingly, you all favored free weights, which wasn’t a huge surprise.

If you’re looking to step up your free-weight workouts, here are some of our favorite articles:

• 5 Full-Body Dumbbell Workouts for All Lifters

• The 15 Best Barbell Exercises for Mass, Strength, and Power

• 4 Barbell Complexes to Improve Grip Strength and Lifting Stamina

Quick Hits

🥩 Eat This: CookUnity is a flexible meal delivery service that caters to a number of nutritional needs, from vegan to keto. Read our review to see if it hits the mark.

🤚 Grip This: The bulldog grip isn’t quite as well-known as other ways to hold onto a barbell during a bench press, but it offers unique advantages that traditional thumbs-around and thumbless grips each lack.

🏋️ Lift This: Business Insider, admittedly an odd source of strongman content, delivers a spot-on video on the difficulties humanity faces in its quest to deadlift 505kg.

Sign Up