Strength and Conditioning Research Review

I am an amateur at all this.  My day job is nothing to do with this stuff, but | remain fascinated by science, physical fitness and human performance.  I read all around the subject and daily scan the latest research, often posting abstracts here that interest me.  But my expertise is limited.  I look to others with a deeper background to really dissect the research and explain it to me.  There are a few people on the internet that do this regularly and helpfully and it is fantastic that two of them have teamed up to launch Strength and Conditioning Research.

A new monthly review

Chris Beardsley and Bret Contreras have just launched this  monthly, 50-page publication summarising the latest  research in strength and conditioning, biomechanics, physical therapy, and physiology.  Now both of those names should make you interested.  Chris has a really good blog where he dissects research studies explaining their implications and Bret while known primarily for his work on the glutes (he is the Glute Guy) regularly analyses new exercise science and interprets it for the layman, so you can apply it to your training.  Together they are offering something very valuable.

Each month they will sift through the journals, pick out the good stuff, analyse the research and summarise it.  I  have read the first issue and was taken aback by the sheer amount of work that these two guys have put into it.  I know from writing Hillfit just how hard it is to pull ideas together and present them simply and accurately.  This is not just cutting and pasting an abstract - they are translating the research and thinking about the application to your training.  Such work takes effort, time, experience and expertise and the result is very valuable but it is coming in at only $10 a month.

What do you get?

In the first issue they present analysis of almost 50 studies.  In each case they structure their material as Background, So what did the researchers do?,  So what happened?, So what were the conclusions? and Practical Implications.   For each study you get a real objective analysis and importantly that take away application.  There is a free extract here to give you an idea of what is on offer.

Here is Bret talking about the review:




How much does it cost?

If you sign up now, you can get the first edition for $1!  After that, they’re going to be $10 each, which is still a real bargain, given the amount of time and work that they must have put into the writing of each  article.  

I'd agree with Chris and Bret that you  won’t find this quality of information anywhere else  in this easily accessible format. I am looking forward to reading future issues and learning from them in my own training.

I have no hesitation in recommending that you subscribe to this thing.  At least order the first one - for $1 you cannot go wrong.

Disclosure - I do not get anything for this review, but I did receive a free copy of the first issue to read through.