Hail to the Dinosaurs!
We'll be launching the big pre-publication
special for Dinosaur Dumbbell Training in
just a few days -- next Tuesday, in fact --
and so it's not surprising that heavy
dumbbells are on my mind.
I was talking about dumbbell training
with my buddy John Wood, and he reminded
me of the famous contest between John
Grimek and Tommy Kono -- to see who
could do the most reps in the overhead
press with a 100 pound dumbbell in each
hand.
The story is told in Vol. 1 of The Dellinger
Files. I don't want to give away the ending
(or the ensuing debate), but I will say this:
each man made more than a dozen reps, and with
a pair of 100 pounders, that's pretty amazing.
In fact, between them the two men made well
over 30 reps. And that's even more amazing --
especially whgen you consider that Grimek was
in his 40's at the time -- and Kono probably
weighed around 170 to 180 pounds!
Of course, Grimek and Kono were both huge
fans of heavy dumbbell pressing -- and both
were super strong pressers in competition.
Grimek had set American records in the press
(and barely missed setting official World
records in the lift), and Kono set official
World recdords in the press.
So when they went mano a mano, the dumbbells
didn't stand a chance.
You can read the whole story -- and many more --
in The Dellinger Files -- which was written by
Jan Dellinger, who worked at the York Barbell
Company for something like 25 years and even
shared an office with John Grimek! So he's
got plenty of great stories and great memories
to share -- and tons of great training advice,
workouts, and exercises.
By the way, if you're a fan of old-school pro
wrestling, you'll be glad to know that there's
an entire chapter on Bruno Sammartino's long
out of print training course -- which is a
pretty good program for teenage beginners
(or beginners of any age).
Anyhow, it's a great story and a great book,
and you can find it here:
http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/products/dellinger-files-volume-i-0
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Keep your eye on the count-down clock for
Dinosaur Dumbbell Training -- when the clock hits
zero, hit the refresh button on your computer and
you'll see the special page for the book and the
link to reserve your copy:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the day: "Strong is good, and
stronger is even better." -- Brooks Kubik
