Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Very quickly -- THANK YOU to everyone
who has reserved a copy of my new book,
Dinosaur Dumbbell Training. For everyone
else, here's the link:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
On the training front, let's talk
about what really works -- as in, what
sort of strength training builds an
Olympic champion.
Yesterday I posted a gold medal workout
from Olympic wrestling champion Henry
Wittenberg.
Here's another gold medal workout.
This one was used by Mal Whitfield,
who won the 800 meter race at the
1948 Olympic Games -- and again, at
the 1952 Games.
At the 1948 Olympics, Whitfield won
three medals -- the gold at 800
meters, the bronze at 400 meters,
and a second gold medal as a member
of the 4 x 400 meter relay team.
The track and field world was
astounded.
What was his secret?
His secret was weight training.
Whitfield began weight training in 1944.
After his amazing performance in 1948,
he said that the four years of weight
training had made all the difference.
And Whitfield didn't just train with
weights -- he trained with HEAVY weights.
At a bodyweight of 170 pounds, he would
work up to 270 pounds in the deep knee
bend for three sets of five reps in his
working sets.
Sometimes he would go even heavier and
do five sets of three reps for his
working sets.
He also did lots of one-legged squats
while holding dumbbells in his hands.
And he did these the hard way -- not
with the dumbbells at his sides, but
(get this) holding them at his
shoulders! He worked up to dumbbells
in the 25 to 40 pound range, which is
a lot of weight for a one-legged squat.
Whitfield did lots of bench pressing,
and worked up to sets and reps with 250
pounds.
He did lots of dumbbell exercises to
strengthen his upper body. One of his
favorites was a special running exercise
where he held a dumbbell in each hand
and moved his arms up and down as though
he were running. This gave added power
to his stride.
He did plenty of heavy barbell pullovers,
and was able to handle 270 pounds in the
exercise.
And, of course, he did the clean and press.
Lots of overhead pressing.
He believed that abdominal strength was
very important for a runner, and so he
performed plenty of sit-ups with a
25 pound dumbbell or 25 pound barbell
plate behind his head. Often he performed
twisting sit-ups. He would do these on an
inclined sit-up board.
Whitfield was one of the first athletes to
demonstrate that weight training didn't s
make you slow, as many believed up until
that point in time (and as many still
believe today). And he was one of the
very first track stars to follow a heavy
weight, low rep strength training program.
But note something important. Whitfield
didn't do a lot of different exercises.
He focused on the ones he believed would
do him the most good, given the demands
of his chosen sport. Once again, just
like Henry Wittenberg, he was following
a program that sounds a heck of a lot
like Dino-style abbreviated training.
Mal Whitfield -- more proof that short,
hard, heavy and basic is the way to go!
As always, thanks for reading and have a
great day. If you train today, make it a
good one!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Here's the sales page for Dinosaur Dumbbell
Training:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 2. Save on shipping charges by ordering
two or more books, courses or other Dinosaur
Training products. You can find them here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the day: "The more effective
and efficient your strength training program, the
more time you have for skill training." -- Brooks
Kubik
