Fringe Sport Hybrid Bar Review

The Hybrid Bar is a great all-around barbell that could easily take the place of multiple higher priced barbells. Unless you’re a high level athlete, this bar could very likely be the only one you need. Seriously.

Rogue Hi Temp Bumper Plates Review

Rogue Fitness Hi Temp bumper plates can be used and abused in the most demanding home fitness settings and will likely outlast your will to use them.

CFF Keystone Bar Review

The CFF Keystone barbell offers Olympic lifting features and performance normally found at a much higher price point. The spin is incredible, the whip is great, and the soft knurl makes this bar easy on the hands for high-rep sessions.

How to Hang Gymnastic Rings

A while back I went through a bodyweight training phase and during that time I decided to buy a pair of gymnastic rings. I initially hung the rings from a doorway-mounted pull up bar but wasn’t satisfied with that setup because it didn’t offer enough height. I decided to mount the rings from my ceiling instead, using some wood and hardware from Home Depot.

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Vulcan Black Bumper Plates Review

As any long term Fitness Test Lab reader knows, I train regularly with kettlebells and I like them a lot. However, for reasons I’ve covered separately I’ve decided to add barbell training to the mix to keep things interesting.  My home gym has been upgraded with the addition of a set of Vulcan Strength black bumper plates, a Vulcan Strength Absolute Powerlifting bar, and a pair of squat stands. What follows is a review of the Vulcan black bumper plates. Read More…

Level Up Your Strength by Combining Kettlebells and Barbells

There’s a lot of information available online these days on the topic of strength training. The sheer amount of information can be overwhelming, especially for someone new to the topic. It really doesn’t need to be complicated. Learn to push and learn to pull. Move often. Eat right. Everything else will fall into place.

Okay, so it isn’t quite  that simple. But almost. A strength training routine doesn’t need to be fancy, especially if you’re not focusing on bodybuilding or muscle hypertrophy. I don’t focus on either of those. I just want to stay mobile, age gracefully, and leave a good looking corpse.

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