A Smith machine is a barbell fixed between two steel guide rails, so the bar can only move along a set path, usually vertical or angled by about 5 to 12 degrees. Rotating catch hooks let you rack the bar at any height, which makes it a popular choice for training alone in a home or garage gym. It is not a replacement for a power rack, but a different tool with its own strengths....

For years, fitness was split into two camps. Lifters built muscle and strength, and runners built endurance, with little crossover between them. Hybrid training challenges that divide. It combines strength work and endurance work in a single programme, so you become stronger, fitter and more resilient at the same time.  Hybrid training has grown rapidly in popularity, partly because of events that reward both qualities, such as fitness racing competitions, obstacle races and military-style tests. But you do not need to enter an event to benefit...

The clean is an Olympic weightlifting movement in which the barbell is lifted from the floor to the shoulders in one continuous motion. It is typically paired with the jerk, which presses the bar overhead, but the clean alone is a complete exercise for developing explosive strength.