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Welcome to The BarBend Newsletter! Here’s what we have for you today:

• Deadlifts vs. Romanian deadlifts: Which is the right choice for you?

• Use the Superman workout for heroic muscle

• Learn when to increase your barbell weight

Exercise Selection

The Great Pull Debate

If you're going to be a strength athlete — even a weekend warrior — sooner or later, you're going to have to pull. The Romanian deadlift and the conventional deadlift are often top contenders for the big barbell-pulling spot in strength programs. But which one is right for you?

While it can perhaps be called the American deadlift owing to its popularity in the States, or the Icelandic Deadlift in deference to the world record holder, the vanilla deadlift is an amazing lift… but not as amazing at building muscle as its reputation presents. 

The RDL might make up for any deficiencies present in its more famous cousin, but get this: If you need to switch to it for a while, you still get to deadlift. See if this switch might be just the one you need by reading all about Romanian deadlifts.

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Workouts

Up, Up, and Away!

Krypton’s favorite son might be a super nice guy who holds doors open and helps old ladies carry groceries across busy parking lots, but chances are, he’s a lot more well-known for his impressively tapered silhouette.

Using this Superman-inspired workout won’t earn you any Boy Scout badges, but it might help you fill out some spandex the next time you get the hankering to live an “underwear on the outside” kind of lifestyle.

Helpfully designed with waist-up mirrors in mind and with no judgments made about navel-gazing under a yellow sun, this program is aimed at smoking your upper body with a variety of different techniques.

The whole thing is broken down into three separate workouts: Strength, speed, and one for crafting the Man of Steel's iconic V-taper. You'll also find a scintillating blend of bodybuilder-approved machine work and functional bodyweight moves, resulting in a well-rounded workout plan, whether you're a DC truther or a Marvel zombie.

Training

Enough, but Not Too Much

Adding weight to a barbell is a cornerstone of one of the most famous practices in fitness: “periodization.”

Periodization helps us stimulate muscles to fool them into getting continuously larger. You can add weight on a schedule (weekly, monthly, etc.) or get a little more intricate and use rate of perceived exertion (RPE) to help you dictate your daily loading parameters.

Using this Rate of Perceived Exertion lets you go a little harder on days when you’ve got the good stuff or pull back if your body is fighting your logbook a little more than usual. Offering the Zone 2-esque gem of advice that “80% of your reps should look 80% good,” this guide will help walk you through a system to help you autoregulate your training weight to meet your day-to-day needs.

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Quick Hits

🚶‍♂️ Walk Tall: We all know that counting your steps is a great way to keep track of your fitness. According to Harvard Health, you might also want to keep tabs on your average heart rate in order to get the full picture.

💪 Row This: The dumbbell row and its many variations are among the elite strength and muscle builders in any gym. But do them wrong, and they’re as useless as you trying to crank a busted lawn mower in between your sixth and seventh Natty Ice. Let a CPT save you from that fate with tips on appropriate rowing technique.

🏠 Store This: Exercise equipment can take up tens of thousands of square feet in a state-of-the-art training facility, or it can easily tuck behind your bed/couch/kitchen table combo dominating the living space in your fourth-floor studio. If this sounds like something you can relate to, these pieces of compact training equipment are dead perfect.

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