Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Many years ago, I was training at a
local gym and a guy had a leather
lifting belt with his philosophy of
lifting carved into the leather in
big block letters.
It said:
"SHUT UP AND TRANE!"
And no, that's not a typo. He actually
spelled it that way. T - R - A - N - E.
But if you ignore the spelling error,
it was an interesting message. Harsh,
perhaps, but interesting. There's a
lot of truth in it.
So I thought I'd share some other
philosophical messages that would
work on the back of an old leather
lifting belt:
1. Gravity Loses!
2. Train Hard, Lift Heavy!
3. Live to Lift!
4. Squat, Push, Pull!
5. More Weight!
6. More Reps!
7. Lift to Live!
8. Bend the Bar!
9. Squat Fanatic
10. Dino Trainer
And here's a slightly longer one. It
won't fit on the back of an old leather
lifting belt, but it's MY philosophy of
lifting, and I wanted to share it with
you:
"Train for strength.
To train for strength, stand on your feet
and lift heavy stuff off the ground.
Lift heavy stuff over your head.
Carry heavy stuff.
Push heavy stuff.
Pull heavy stuff.
Go outside and throw heavy stuff.
As you grow stronger, go heavier.
The heavier the better.
Heavy stuff is your friend. It makes
you strong. And strong is good."
As I said, that won't fit on the back of
a lifting belt, but it's a pretty good
philosophy.
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 book that started the Dinosaur
Revolution:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
P.S. 2. And here's the book that teaches older
Dinos how to keep on hitting it hard and heavy:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 3. Lifting heavy dumbbells over your head
is one of the best ways to build old-school
strength and power:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "If you don't train,
start NOW. If you used to train, but stopped,
start training again -- NOW." -- Brooks Kubik
Protect and Preserve Your Knees!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
You know what they say. "The legs go
first."
That's how many athletes end their
careers. Their legs don't have it any
more -- or their knees can't take it
any more.
And the same is true of lifters. Which
is why you want to do everything you
can to protect and preserve your knees.
That means training them -- with the
right kind of exercises -- and it means
not over-training them (which causes
soreness and inflammation, which can
become chronic if you overdo it).
It also means wearing sensible shoes
when you train (and that means Olympic
lifting shoes if you do Olympic lifting,
front squats, overhead squats or Olympic
style back squats).
It also means keeping your knees warm when
you train. And there's a very easy way to
do that -- using something very simple that
was designed by a two-time Olympic gold
medal winner and six-time world champion.
It's something I use religiously -- meaning,
in every workout. And so do many other Dinos.
Especially older Dinos.
I'm talking about Tommy Kono's TK knee-
bands.
These are NOT powerlifting style knee
wraps that go on so tight you can barely
move. They're a neoprene sleeve that you
wear over your knees to keep the muscles,
tendons and ligaments as warm as possible.
Tight, yes. But not wrapped-up-like-a-mummy
tight. Not at all.
They don't reduce your mobility one bit. You
can perform full squats in them -- or deep
knee bends -- or squat snatches -- or split
style snatches -- or overhead squats -- or
any other exercise. If you want to, you
can wear them while you run -- or while
you bicycle.
The TK kneebands help you warm-up better and
faster. They keep your knees warm for your
entire workout.
And they really help your mobility. It's hard
to explain, but it actually feels as if you
oiled your knees before training -- I mean,
as if someone injected some sort of oil into
the knee joints.
These are great for trainees of any age, but
for older trainees, they're pretty darn close
to mandatory -- especially if you have any
history of knee trouble or if you experience
sore knees after training, like so many of us
in the over-40 group.
There was a time, several years ago, when I
would ice my knees after workouts. I don't do
that any more -- and I think the kneebands
have helped, along with a much improved diet
and plenty of fish oil.
Anyhow, we were talking about ways to improve
and maintain your mobility earlier, and I
I thought I should mention the TK kneebands.
They really help.
And one more thing. The TK kneebands come in
basic black. That means they look great when
they're covered with lifting chalk.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. You can read more about Tommy Kono knee
bands -- and grab a pair -- right here:
http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/products/tommy-kono-bands-0
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Take care of your knees,
and they'll take care of you." -- Brooks Kubik
You know what they say. "The legs go
first."
That's how many athletes end their
careers. Their legs don't have it any
more -- or their knees can't take it
any more.
And the same is true of lifters. Which
is why you want to do everything you
can to protect and preserve your knees.
That means training them -- with the
right kind of exercises -- and it means
not over-training them (which causes
soreness and inflammation, which can
become chronic if you overdo it).
It also means wearing sensible shoes
when you train (and that means Olympic
lifting shoes if you do Olympic lifting,
front squats, overhead squats or Olympic
style back squats).
It also means keeping your knees warm when
you train. And there's a very easy way to
do that -- using something very simple that
was designed by a two-time Olympic gold
medal winner and six-time world champion.
It's something I use religiously -- meaning,
in every workout. And so do many other Dinos.
Especially older Dinos.
I'm talking about Tommy Kono's TK knee-
bands.
These are NOT powerlifting style knee
wraps that go on so tight you can barely
move. They're a neoprene sleeve that you
wear over your knees to keep the muscles,
tendons and ligaments as warm as possible.
Tight, yes. But not wrapped-up-like-a-mummy
tight. Not at all.
They don't reduce your mobility one bit. You
can perform full squats in them -- or deep
knee bends -- or squat snatches -- or split
style snatches -- or overhead squats -- or
any other exercise. If you want to, you
can wear them while you run -- or while
you bicycle.
The TK kneebands help you warm-up better and
faster. They keep your knees warm for your
entire workout.
And they really help your mobility. It's hard
to explain, but it actually feels as if you
oiled your knees before training -- I mean,
as if someone injected some sort of oil into
the knee joints.
These are great for trainees of any age, but
for older trainees, they're pretty darn close
to mandatory -- especially if you have any
history of knee trouble or if you experience
sore knees after training, like so many of us
in the over-40 group.
There was a time, several years ago, when I
would ice my knees after workouts. I don't do
that any more -- and I think the kneebands
have helped, along with a much improved diet
and plenty of fish oil.
Anyhow, we were talking about ways to improve
and maintain your mobility earlier, and I
I thought I should mention the TK kneebands.
They really help.
And one more thing. The TK kneebands come in
basic black. That means they look great when
they're covered with lifting chalk.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. You can read more about Tommy Kono knee
bands -- and grab a pair -- right here:
http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/products/tommy-kono-bands-0
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Take care of your knees,
and they'll take care of you." -- Brooks Kubik
How to Move Like an Athlete!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Simon Buchanan sent in the following
email, which raises some important points
about older Dinos getting back into training
after a long lay-off -- and about sensible
training for older Dinos -- and indeed,
about sensible training for Dinos of any
age:
Hi Brooks,
I've noticed you refer to mobility training
in your more recent emails, and it seems to
me that this can not be overemphasized.
Mike, for example, at 54 and after a 7 year
layoff, will likely have regressed as much
in mobility as strength.
Often you hear of someone in their later
decades who can still dead lift an impressive
load, but then when you see them they're walking
around in the dead lift position. Function
dictating form, as Arthur Jones used to say.
And it is probably harder to reclaim mobility
than strength at a certain age, once the
fibrous, fascial-net has started to tighten
up.
It seems to me that mobility and flexibility
are at least as important as strength, and the
more decades go by, they become more important.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks,
Simon"
Hi Simon,
Thanks for your feedback and your comments. I
agree that Mike will need to work on his
mobility as well as his strength -- and that's
another reason why I wanted him to come back
slow and easy.
As I emphasize in GRAY HAIR AND BLACK IRON,
older trainees need to do plenty of warming
up. I like to do ten or fifteen minutes of
easy movement work, including some stretches,
at the beginning of every workout. I include
five minutes of Indian club work for my
shoulders and upper back.
After this, I move on the weight work. I begin
with a broomstick, and then move on to an
empty bar -- and gradually move up in weight
until I'm up to my working weights. The warm-up
sets serve as additional mobility work that
targets the same movement pattern and the
same joints and muscle groups that I use in
my lifting.
And here's an important thought. As I've grown
older, I do more and more Olympic weightlifting
in my workouts.
Why?
Because it's fun -- and it's a challenge -- but
most of all, because it builds strength, power
and MOBILITY!
I was a very good athlete in junior high and
high school. (I won a state championship in
Greco-Roman wrestling when I was in high
school.) One of my goals as an older trainee
is to maintain as much athleticism as
possible. I liked being an athlete when I
was 15, and I like being an athlete at age
55.
Of course, you don't have to do Olympic
lifting to build and maintain athletic
fitness. All the different training tools
and techniques in Dinosaur Training promote
FUNCTIONAL FITNESS -- meaning, they make you
stronger and more athletic.
That's because everything a Dinosaur does
is done to build strength and power (as
opposed to double bumping your pecs, to
borrow a line from John McCallum).
Dinosaur Training is ground-based training.
It's stand on your feet and lift heavy stuff
over your head. It's walk with heavy stuff,
carry heavy stuff, throw heavy stuff, drag
heavy stuff, and lift heavy stuff.
And when you add Dinosaur Bodyweight Training,
you add an extra dimension to your training.
Now you're moving your body rather than moving
a barbell, dumbbell or sand bag. It requires
exceptional body control and a heightened
awareness of how your body moves.
Ditto with Dinosaur Dumbbell Training. In
fact, one of the reasons why I write Dinosaur
Dumbbell Training was to give older Dinosaurs
a way of doing athletic-style exercises without
having to do Olympic weightlifting. So if you
don't have an Olympic barbell, bumper plates,
and a platform -- or if you don't know how to
do Olympic lifting -- you have a very accessible
option: Dino-style dumbbell training.
When he was in his 80's, George Hackenschmidt
could jump over a broomstick placed horizontally
at waist height. That's mobility for you --
and that's the sort of thing I want to be
able to do at age 80.
Anyhow, those were great points, Simon. Thanks
for raising them.
To everyone:
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. 2. These will keep you moving at any age:
1. GRAY HAIR AND BLACK IRON
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
2. DINOSAUR BODYWEIGHT TRAINING
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
3. DINOSAUR DUMBBELL TRAINING (BOOK)
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
4. DINOSAUR DUMBBELL TRAINING (DVD -- shot in 1999)
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dvds.html
5. GOING STRONG AT 54! (DVD -- shot in 2011)
http://brookskubik.com/goingstrong.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "If you want
to move like an athlete, you need to train
like an athlete." -- Brooks Kubik
Simon Buchanan sent in the following
email, which raises some important points
about older Dinos getting back into training
after a long lay-off -- and about sensible
training for older Dinos -- and indeed,
about sensible training for Dinos of any
age:
Hi Brooks,
I've noticed you refer to mobility training
in your more recent emails, and it seems to
me that this can not be overemphasized.
Mike, for example, at 54 and after a 7 year
layoff, will likely have regressed as much
in mobility as strength.
Often you hear of someone in their later
decades who can still dead lift an impressive
load, but then when you see them they're walking
around in the dead lift position. Function
dictating form, as Arthur Jones used to say.
And it is probably harder to reclaim mobility
than strength at a certain age, once the
fibrous, fascial-net has started to tighten
up.
It seems to me that mobility and flexibility
are at least as important as strength, and the
more decades go by, they become more important.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks,
Simon"
Hi Simon,
Thanks for your feedback and your comments. I
agree that Mike will need to work on his
mobility as well as his strength -- and that's
another reason why I wanted him to come back
slow and easy.
As I emphasize in GRAY HAIR AND BLACK IRON,
older trainees need to do plenty of warming
up. I like to do ten or fifteen minutes of
easy movement work, including some stretches,
at the beginning of every workout. I include
five minutes of Indian club work for my
shoulders and upper back.
After this, I move on the weight work. I begin
with a broomstick, and then move on to an
empty bar -- and gradually move up in weight
until I'm up to my working weights. The warm-up
sets serve as additional mobility work that
targets the same movement pattern and the
same joints and muscle groups that I use in
my lifting.
And here's an important thought. As I've grown
older, I do more and more Olympic weightlifting
in my workouts.
Why?
Because it's fun -- and it's a challenge -- but
most of all, because it builds strength, power
and MOBILITY!
I was a very good athlete in junior high and
high school. (I won a state championship in
Greco-Roman wrestling when I was in high
school.) One of my goals as an older trainee
is to maintain as much athleticism as
possible. I liked being an athlete when I
was 15, and I like being an athlete at age
55.
Of course, you don't have to do Olympic
lifting to build and maintain athletic
fitness. All the different training tools
and techniques in Dinosaur Training promote
FUNCTIONAL FITNESS -- meaning, they make you
stronger and more athletic.
That's because everything a Dinosaur does
is done to build strength and power (as
opposed to double bumping your pecs, to
borrow a line from John McCallum).
Dinosaur Training is ground-based training.
It's stand on your feet and lift heavy stuff
over your head. It's walk with heavy stuff,
carry heavy stuff, throw heavy stuff, drag
heavy stuff, and lift heavy stuff.
And when you add Dinosaur Bodyweight Training,
you add an extra dimension to your training.
Now you're moving your body rather than moving
a barbell, dumbbell or sand bag. It requires
exceptional body control and a heightened
awareness of how your body moves.
Ditto with Dinosaur Dumbbell Training. In
fact, one of the reasons why I write Dinosaur
Dumbbell Training was to give older Dinosaurs
a way of doing athletic-style exercises without
having to do Olympic weightlifting. So if you
don't have an Olympic barbell, bumper plates,
and a platform -- or if you don't know how to
do Olympic lifting -- you have a very accessible
option: Dino-style dumbbell training.
When he was in his 80's, George Hackenschmidt
could jump over a broomstick placed horizontally
at waist height. That's mobility for you --
and that's the sort of thing I want to be
able to do at age 80.
Anyhow, those were great points, Simon. Thanks
for raising them.
To everyone:
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. 2. These will keep you moving at any age:
1. GRAY HAIR AND BLACK IRON
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
2. DINOSAUR BODYWEIGHT TRAINING
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
3. DINOSAUR DUMBBELL TRAINING (BOOK)
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
4. DINOSAUR DUMBBELL TRAINING (DVD -- shot in 1999)
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dvds.html
5. GOING STRONG AT 54! (DVD -- shot in 2011)
http://brookskubik.com/goingstrong.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "If you want
to move like an athlete, you need to train
like an athlete." -- Brooks Kubik
A BEGINNER'S WORKOUT FOR SUPERHUMAN WOMEN
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Carl Lanore asked me to do a show on SuperHuman Radio covering sensible and effective training for his female listeners who want to get started on the road to life-long strength and health.
As luck would have it, I happened to be reading an old issue of Strength and Health magazine where Abbye "Pudgy" Stockton presented a pretty good workout for beginners.
Pudgy Stockton was world-famous back in the 1940's and 1950's. She started out as a cute but overweight young woman (hence the nickname, "Pudgy") who worked as a telephone operator -- one of the traditional "women's jobs" of the era.
Then she met Les Stockton, a gymnast, acrobat and bodybuilder who was a regular at California's fabled Muscle Beach.
Les and Pudgy hit it off and started dating -- and eventually married. And somewhere along the way, she asked him to give her a trainin g program.
He did -- and it worked so well that she became world-famous. She transformed her body into eye-popping proportions. They called her "the female John Grimek" -- and that was high praise, because Mr. America and Mr. Universe winner John Grimek was considered to be the best built man in the world.
Pudgy opened a bodybuilding studi and trained hundreds of girls and women in old-school physical culture. And she trained thousands more by mail and through her monthly articles in Strength and Health.
Here's the kind of simple program that Pudgy advocated for beginners, featuring a barbell and a pair of light dumbbells:
1. Alternate rowing with dumbbells 1 x 6
2. Deep knee bends 1 x 8
Note: You can do these with or without weight when you begin your training. If you use weight, you can hold a barbell on your upper back and shoulders, or you can hold a pair of dumbbells in your hands (with your arms hanging extended so the dumbbells are at your sides).
3. Barbell bent-over rowing 1 x 6
4. One-hand dumbbell rowing 1 x 6
5. Military press with barbell 1 x 6
6. Alternate dumbbell presses 1 x 6
7. Bent-legged deadlifts with barbell 1 x 8
8. Alternate-style leg raises 1 x 8
9. Standing calf raises 1 x 8
10. Crunch-style sit-ups 1 x 8
Beginners should start with very light weights, and perform one set of each exercise. The workouts should be fast, fun and easy. There's no need to strain and struggle.
Don't train every day. Train three times a week, with a day of rest between every workout. Mon/Wed/Fri works perfectly. So does Tues/Thurs/Sat.
To progress, add one rep every other workout to the exercises where you begin with 6 reps. When you reach 12 reps, add 2.5 pounds weight to your barbell or dumbbells, and drop back to 6 reps -- and repeat the rep by rep progression.
On the exercises where you begin with 8 reps, add two reps every other workout. When you reach 20 reps, add five pounds to your barbell or dumbbell and drop back to 8 reps -- and repeat the progression.
If possible, add some easy walking every morning before breakfast. Nothing too far or too fast, and nothing strenuous. Just get in the habit of getting out and moving. Your body needs to move. Life is movement. Staying active keeps you young and healthy.
IMPORTANT: Be sure you know how to perform the different exercises. A qualified coach, instructor or trainer can teach you the exercises very quickly because they are simple, basic and easy to perform.
After several "cycles" where you increase the reps, add weight and then drop back to the lower rep count and repeat the process, you will have established a good base for more advanced training. But don't rush things. Start out light and progress at a slow but steady pace. You'll do much better in the long run if you start out easy and work your way up slowly. I know that many people suggest using a much harder, much heavier program whern you begin your training, but remember, there's a reason why they call them "CRASH PROGRAMS." Everyone who does them crashes and burns. Slow and steady is safer, better and in the long run, much more productive.
Thanks to Pudgy Stockton for providing endless inspiration to generations of trainees -- and as always, thanks to everyone for reading this article. If you train today, make it a good one.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. 2. For more advanced workouts for beginners (men and women alike), see my book,
CHALK AND SWEAT:
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "If today is your first day of training, it's a red letter day in your life." -- Brooks Kubik
Carl Lanore asked me to do a show on SuperHuman Radio covering sensible and effective training for his female listeners who want to get started on the road to life-long strength and health.
As luck would have it, I happened to be reading an old issue of Strength and Health magazine where Abbye "Pudgy" Stockton presented a pretty good workout for beginners.
Pudgy Stockton was world-famous back in the 1940's and 1950's. She started out as a cute but overweight young woman (hence the nickname, "Pudgy") who worked as a telephone operator -- one of the traditional "women's jobs" of the era.
Then she met Les Stockton, a gymnast, acrobat and bodybuilder who was a regular at California's fabled Muscle Beach.
Les and Pudgy hit it off and started dating -- and eventually married. And somewhere along the way, she asked him to give her a trainin g program.
He did -- and it worked so well that she became world-famous. She transformed her body into eye-popping proportions. They called her "the female John Grimek" -- and that was high praise, because Mr. America and Mr. Universe winner John Grimek was considered to be the best built man in the world.
Pudgy opened a bodybuilding studi and trained hundreds of girls and women in old-school physical culture. And she trained thousands more by mail and through her monthly articles in Strength and Health.
Here's the kind of simple program that Pudgy advocated for beginners, featuring a barbell and a pair of light dumbbells:
1. Alternate rowing with dumbbells 1 x 6
2. Deep knee bends 1 x 8
Note: You can do these with or without weight when you begin your training. If you use weight, you can hold a barbell on your upper back and shoulders, or you can hold a pair of dumbbells in your hands (with your arms hanging extended so the dumbbells are at your sides).
3. Barbell bent-over rowing 1 x 6
4. One-hand dumbbell rowing 1 x 6
5. Military press with barbell 1 x 6
6. Alternate dumbbell presses 1 x 6
7. Bent-legged deadlifts with barbell 1 x 8
8. Alternate-style leg raises 1 x 8
9. Standing calf raises 1 x 8
10. Crunch-style sit-ups 1 x 8
Beginners should start with very light weights, and perform one set of each exercise. The workouts should be fast, fun and easy. There's no need to strain and struggle.
Don't train every day. Train three times a week, with a day of rest between every workout. Mon/Wed/Fri works perfectly. So does Tues/Thurs/Sat.
To progress, add one rep every other workout to the exercises where you begin with 6 reps. When you reach 12 reps, add 2.5 pounds weight to your barbell or dumbbells, and drop back to 6 reps -- and repeat the rep by rep progression.
On the exercises where you begin with 8 reps, add two reps every other workout. When you reach 20 reps, add five pounds to your barbell or dumbbell and drop back to 8 reps -- and repeat the progression.
If possible, add some easy walking every morning before breakfast. Nothing too far or too fast, and nothing strenuous. Just get in the habit of getting out and moving. Your body needs to move. Life is movement. Staying active keeps you young and healthy.
IMPORTANT: Be sure you know how to perform the different exercises. A qualified coach, instructor or trainer can teach you the exercises very quickly because they are simple, basic and easy to perform.
After several "cycles" where you increase the reps, add weight and then drop back to the lower rep count and repeat the process, you will have established a good base for more advanced training. But don't rush things. Start out light and progress at a slow but steady pace. You'll do much better in the long run if you start out easy and work your way up slowly. I know that many people suggest using a much harder, much heavier program whern you begin your training, but remember, there's a reason why they call them "CRASH PROGRAMS." Everyone who does them crashes and burns. Slow and steady is safer, better and in the long run, much more productive.
Thanks to Pudgy Stockton for providing endless inspiration to generations of trainees -- and as always, thanks to everyone for reading this article. If you train today, make it a good one.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. 2. For more advanced workouts for beginners (men and women alike), see my book,
CHALK AND SWEAT:
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "If today is your first day of training, it's a red letter day in your life." -- Brooks Kubik
How to Get Back into Shape -- FAST!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Sometimes someone asks you a question
and they probably know the answer. I
think this is one of those cases --
but it's a very common question, and
a very important one, so let's cover
it in today's email tip.
"Dear Brooks,
Thank you for your inspirational words
of encouragement. What kind of workout
would you recommend to a 54 year old ex-
Dino coming back from an extended multi-
year (7 year) lay off?
A beginners program of six to ten exercises
for one set each, or an abbreviated program
consisting of two to three exercises worked
into the ground?
Thank you.
Your partner in training,
Mike"
So that's the question. Here's my response.
Mike,
Thanks for your email, your training question
and your kind words.
First of all -- you are not an EX-Dino. Dino
is for life. Once a Dino, always a Dino. So
you're still (and always will be) a card-
carrying member of the Dinosaur Nation.
As for getting back to things after a long
lay-off, here are my thoughts.
You need to treat yourself as a beginner and
ease back into things. Your problem is that
you're not in condition for an abbreviated
program where you work two or three exercises
"into the ground" or do any other kind of
hard and heavy training.
So take things easy and start with a beginner's
program. Six to ten exercises for one set each,
and use light weights and buzz through it fast
and easy. Train three times a week. Use a simple
progression system where you add reps, and then
add weight, cut back on the reps and start over
again.
Any of the beginner's workouts in CHALK AND
SWEAT would work fine for you. Ditto for any
of the total body workouts in GRAY HAIR AND
BLACK IRON, but do only one set of each
exercise.
Do this for one month. And while you're doing
it get your diet under control if you've been
neglecting that end of things along with your
training.
In your second month, go to two sets of each
exercise. Continue the same progression --
add reps, and then add weight.
In your third month, use three sets of each
exercise. And again, continue the progression.
After three months, you'll be back into
pretty good shape. And at that point, you
can switch to a divided workout program,
abbreviated workouts, and harder and heavier
training.
Now, remember -- three months may seem like a
long time. But think about it. You had seven
years of no training, which means seven years
of de-conditioning. Taking three short months
to get back into shape is a pretty sweet deal.
By the way, the three month time-table is
exactly what was used in the old Strength and
Health magazine Annual Self-Improvement Contest.
And there were tons of readers of all ages
who made great gains during their three-month
program.
Which reminds me -- John Grimek wrote up a
great three-month Get Back in Shape Program
for Strength and Health readers to use when
they entered the Self-Improvement Contest.
I cover the whole program in my new John
Grimek training course. It's a great workout
for anyone trying to get into shape FAST --
or for anyone trying to get back into shape
after a long lay-off.
In closing, let me say this:
Mike -- I'm darn glad to hear that you're
getting back into training. It's the very
best thing you can do for yourself. Thanks
for making the decision, and the commitment,
and keep me posted on your training and your
progress.
To anyone else who's not been training, or
who is thinking about getting started --
follow Mike's example, make the decision,
make the commitment, and get started TODAY.
To everyone, 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. I mentioned three great resources in
today's email. You can find them right here:
1. CHALK AND SWEAT
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
2. GRAY HAIR AND BLACK IRON
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
3. THE JOHN GRIMEK TRAINING COURSE
http://brookskubik.com/johngrimek_course.html
P.S. 2. To order my other books and courses
(including my new book, DINOSAUR DUMBBELL TRAINING),
go here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "It's never too late
to get started, but it's already too late NOT to do
it." -- Brooks Kubik
Sometimes someone asks you a question
and they probably know the answer. I
think this is one of those cases --
but it's a very common question, and
a very important one, so let's cover
it in today's email tip.
"Dear Brooks,
Thank you for your inspirational words
of encouragement. What kind of workout
would you recommend to a 54 year old ex-
Dino coming back from an extended multi-
year (7 year) lay off?
A beginners program of six to ten exercises
for one set each, or an abbreviated program
consisting of two to three exercises worked
into the ground?
Thank you.
Your partner in training,
Mike"
So that's the question. Here's my response.
Mike,
Thanks for your email, your training question
and your kind words.
First of all -- you are not an EX-Dino. Dino
is for life. Once a Dino, always a Dino. So
you're still (and always will be) a card-
carrying member of the Dinosaur Nation.
As for getting back to things after a long
lay-off, here are my thoughts.
You need to treat yourself as a beginner and
ease back into things. Your problem is that
you're not in condition for an abbreviated
program where you work two or three exercises
"into the ground" or do any other kind of
hard and heavy training.
So take things easy and start with a beginner's
program. Six to ten exercises for one set each,
and use light weights and buzz through it fast
and easy. Train three times a week. Use a simple
progression system where you add reps, and then
add weight, cut back on the reps and start over
again.
Any of the beginner's workouts in CHALK AND
SWEAT would work fine for you. Ditto for any
of the total body workouts in GRAY HAIR AND
BLACK IRON, but do only one set of each
exercise.
Do this for one month. And while you're doing
it get your diet under control if you've been
neglecting that end of things along with your
training.
In your second month, go to two sets of each
exercise. Continue the same progression --
add reps, and then add weight.
In your third month, use three sets of each
exercise. And again, continue the progression.
After three months, you'll be back into
pretty good shape. And at that point, you
can switch to a divided workout program,
abbreviated workouts, and harder and heavier
training.
Now, remember -- three months may seem like a
long time. But think about it. You had seven
years of no training, which means seven years
of de-conditioning. Taking three short months
to get back into shape is a pretty sweet deal.
By the way, the three month time-table is
exactly what was used in the old Strength and
Health magazine Annual Self-Improvement Contest.
And there were tons of readers of all ages
who made great gains during their three-month
program.
Which reminds me -- John Grimek wrote up a
great three-month Get Back in Shape Program
for Strength and Health readers to use when
they entered the Self-Improvement Contest.
I cover the whole program in my new John
Grimek training course. It's a great workout
for anyone trying to get into shape FAST --
or for anyone trying to get back into shape
after a long lay-off.
In closing, let me say this:
Mike -- I'm darn glad to hear that you're
getting back into training. It's the very
best thing you can do for yourself. Thanks
for making the decision, and the commitment,
and keep me posted on your training and your
progress.
To anyone else who's not been training, or
who is thinking about getting started --
follow Mike's example, make the decision,
make the commitment, and get started TODAY.
To everyone, 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. I mentioned three great resources in
today's email. You can find them right here:
1. CHALK AND SWEAT
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
2. GRAY HAIR AND BLACK IRON
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
3. THE JOHN GRIMEK TRAINING COURSE
http://brookskubik.com/johngrimek_course.html
P.S. 2. To order my other books and courses
(including my new book, DINOSAUR DUMBBELL TRAINING),
go here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "It's never too late
to get started, but it's already too late NOT to do
it." -- Brooks Kubik
Have Fun When You Train!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
For today's Dinosaur Training tip, I'm going
to cover something that Paul Murray keeps
asking me to discuss.
Paul is a big believer in hard work and heavy
training. He's counting the days to age 60,
and he's been training since he was a high
school wrestler, so he's paid his dues. He's
spent many years in the Iron Mines, and he's
lifted many tons of iron and steel.
Paul still hits it hard and heavy in his
Dino Dungeon, a/k/a his barn -- but the
older he gets, the more he realizes that
training needs to be FUN!
And that's the point he always asks me
to cover -- reminding readers to make their
training FUN!
And he's absolutely right. One of the keys
to life-long training is to enjoy what
you do when you train. It makes it a heck
of a lot easier to stay with it. And it
makes your training more productive, too.
Dinosaurs seem to be pretty good at this.
They have all kinds of interesting ways
to keep the fun factor as high as possible.
There are many different ways to do that.
One way is to collect fun pieces of
equipment. Paul likes to go to junk yards
and find pieces of scrap metal that he can
fix up, paint, and use as weights.
Sometimes he finds old iron barbell plates
that someone threw away. He saves them, takes
them home, gets the rust off, and paints them.
It's a rescue operation -- and a way of making
everything more fun.
Another thing to mention is that for older
Dinos, having fun means doing the things you
like to do.
If you prefer bodyweight training, do body-
weight training.
If you prefer barbell work, do barbell work.
If you prefer kettlebells, use kettlebells.
If you prefer dumbbells, use dumbbells.
If you prefer sandbags, rocks or barrels,
use sandbags, rocks or barrels.
Of course, whatever you do, include plenty
of leg and back training -- and some stand
on your feet and lift heavy stuff over your
head training. And work hard but smart. You
know the mantra -- hard work, intelligently
applied.
Oops. My mistake. I meant to say:
Hard work, intelligently applied -- and lots
of fun.
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. Dinosaur Dumbbell Training is hard work --
but it's tons of fun. Reserve your copy today
during our big pre-publication special:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "I don't know who
invented the barbell, but he deserves a medal."
-- Brooks Kubik
For today's Dinosaur Training tip, I'm going
to cover something that Paul Murray keeps
asking me to discuss.
Paul is a big believer in hard work and heavy
training. He's counting the days to age 60,
and he's been training since he was a high
school wrestler, so he's paid his dues. He's
spent many years in the Iron Mines, and he's
lifted many tons of iron and steel.
Paul still hits it hard and heavy in his
Dino Dungeon, a/k/a his barn -- but the
older he gets, the more he realizes that
training needs to be FUN!
And that's the point he always asks me
to cover -- reminding readers to make their
training FUN!
And he's absolutely right. One of the keys
to life-long training is to enjoy what
you do when you train. It makes it a heck
of a lot easier to stay with it. And it
makes your training more productive, too.
Dinosaurs seem to be pretty good at this.
They have all kinds of interesting ways
to keep the fun factor as high as possible.
There are many different ways to do that.
One way is to collect fun pieces of
equipment. Paul likes to go to junk yards
and find pieces of scrap metal that he can
fix up, paint, and use as weights.
Sometimes he finds old iron barbell plates
that someone threw away. He saves them, takes
them home, gets the rust off, and paints them.
It's a rescue operation -- and a way of making
everything more fun.
Another thing to mention is that for older
Dinos, having fun means doing the things you
like to do.
If you prefer bodyweight training, do body-
weight training.
If you prefer barbell work, do barbell work.
If you prefer kettlebells, use kettlebells.
If you prefer dumbbells, use dumbbells.
If you prefer sandbags, rocks or barrels,
use sandbags, rocks or barrels.
Of course, whatever you do, include plenty
of leg and back training -- and some stand
on your feet and lift heavy stuff over your
head training. And work hard but smart. You
know the mantra -- hard work, intelligently
applied.
Oops. My mistake. I meant to say:
Hard work, intelligently applied -- and lots
of fun.
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. Dinosaur Dumbbell Training is hard work --
but it's tons of fun. Reserve your copy today
during our big pre-publication special:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "I don't know who
invented the barbell, but he deserves a medal."
-- Brooks Kubik
Dumbbell DVD Update
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Last week I sent an email letting you
know that I was shooting a new DVD on
Dinosaur Dumbbell Training -- to go
with my new book, Dinosaur Dumbbell
Training (which will be shipped in
early September).
Well, things don't always go as planned,
and this DVD was one of them. We ran
into a technical problem with the audio
and couldn't finish the DVD.
So I'm going to have to table the idea
of a new DVD for now. If I can, I'll try
to do it later in the Fall.
If you want to see what Dinosaur-style
Dumbbell Training looks like -- and you
want to see some heavy dumbbell training,
as in a one-hand dumbbell swing and a
one-hand dumbbell clean and jerk with
a 151 pound dumbbell, grab a copy of my
original dumbbell training DVD, The Lost
Art of Heavy Dumbbell Training. It doesn't
have all of the 100-plus exercises in the
new book, but it has some of the better
ones -- and I use them in an actual
workout and go for my max on every
exercise.
If you ordered the Dumbbell Training book,
we'll ship them together, so I'll refund
your shipping and handling for the DVD
order. Or, if you use PayPal, let me know
you want the DVD and I'll send you a PayPal
payment request for the cost of the DVD
only.
You can grab The Lost Art of Heavy Dumbbell
Training right here. It's the first of five
Dinosaur Training DVD's. You can order all
five and have the complete set, or you can
grab any of the individual DVD's:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dvds.html
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. Thought for the Day: "They say there's a
reason for everything, but what's the reason
for the pec dec?" -- Brooks Kubik
Last week I sent an email letting you
know that I was shooting a new DVD on
Dinosaur Dumbbell Training -- to go
with my new book, Dinosaur Dumbbell
Training (which will be shipped in
early September).
Well, things don't always go as planned,
and this DVD was one of them. We ran
into a technical problem with the audio
and couldn't finish the DVD.
So I'm going to have to table the idea
of a new DVD for now. If I can, I'll try
to do it later in the Fall.
If you want to see what Dinosaur-style
Dumbbell Training looks like -- and you
want to see some heavy dumbbell training,
as in a one-hand dumbbell swing and a
one-hand dumbbell clean and jerk with
a 151 pound dumbbell, grab a copy of my
original dumbbell training DVD, The Lost
Art of Heavy Dumbbell Training. It doesn't
have all of the 100-plus exercises in the
new book, but it has some of the better
ones -- and I use them in an actual
workout and go for my max on every
exercise.
If you ordered the Dumbbell Training book,
we'll ship them together, so I'll refund
your shipping and handling for the DVD
order. Or, if you use PayPal, let me know
you want the DVD and I'll send you a PayPal
payment request for the cost of the DVD
only.
You can grab The Lost Art of Heavy Dumbbell
Training right here. It's the first of five
Dinosaur Training DVD's. You can order all
five and have the complete set, or you can
grab any of the individual DVD's:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dvds.html
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. Thought for the Day: "They say there's a
reason for everything, but what's the reason
for the pec dec?" -- Brooks Kubik
THE DINOSAUR FILES
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
For the past two years, I've been doing a 20 page, monthly hard-copy, snail-mail newsletter called The Dinosaur Files. I just mailed the final issue for year two to all Dinosaur Files subscribers.
With everyone's issue, I included a note outlining some changes for year three of The Dinosaur Files.
Since some Dinos don't subscribe to The Dinosaur Files (and may not even know about it), I thought I'd post the letter here so everyone can read it.
As you can see, we're going to switch to a revised, bigger format -- more pages, more articles, more training information, more Iron Game history, more of everything that Dinos love -- and we're going to do it in a quarterly format. It will still be hard-copy, and I'll use snail-mail to get it to you. Hard copy is nice, because you can save each issue and build the complete collection over the years.
I'm also going to include some Dino-approved and Dino-appropriate advertising, including classified ads for folks who are looking to buy, sell or trade books, courses, magazines or equipment. So if you'd like to reach a bunch of hard core Dinos with an inexpensive ad, this is good opportunity to do it. If you're interested in placing an ad, send me email. Of course, I reserve the right to decline to run any particular ad or ads. As I noted, all advertising must be Dino-appropriate.
I'm always on the lookout for articles and leads for articles, so if you have any ideas, shoot me an email.
BTW, if you're interested in getting back issues of The Dinosaur Files newsletter, you can grab them here:
1. Back issues for year one (12 issues) (May 2010 to April 2011)
2. Back issues for year two (12 issues) (May 2011 to April 2012)
When the first quarterly issue is ready to go, I'll put up a sales page for it. Readers will have the option of grabbing a one year, four issue subscription, or grabbing single issues as they are published.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
LETTER TO DINOSAUR FILES SUBSCRIBERS
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
This issue of The
Dinosaur Files newsletter is issue no. 12 for the 2010 – 2011 subscription
year, and completes your current subscription. I apologize for the delay in
getting the issue out the door, but it’s a good issue and I hope you enjoy it.
In an effort to make The
Dinosaur Files bigger and better, I’m going to make some changes for year
three of The Dinosaur Files. My
current plan is to do this:
1. Switch to a quarterly format (Fall, Winter, Spring and
Summer).
2. Increase the page count to either 32 or 36 interior pages
per issue.
3. Include new
columns and features in each issue.
4. Accept a limited amount of Dino-approved and
Dino-appropriate advertising for products or services of interest to Dinos.
(Don’t worry, we’re not going to turn the Dino
Files into a supplement catalog.)
5. Include classified
ads for Dinos looking for used equipment, old books or magazines, etc.
6. Start a special program similar to the old American
Strength and Health League, which will give Dinos a chance to win award
certificates and be featured in The
Dinosaur Files.
7. Include a special bonus with each issue.
In other words, the new format will let me bring you
something that combines the best of Bob Hoffman’s Strength and Health, Peary Rader’s IronMan and Harry Paschall’s Strength
Notebook. I think it will be really good, and I’m very much looking forward
to the first quarterly issue.
We’re going to start with the Fall 2012 issue – and when
it’s ready, I’ll put up an order page at the Dinosaur Training website. Of
course, I’ll let you know more about it through my daily emails and posts on
the Dinosaur Training Blog. (If you’re not receiving my daily emails, please go
to www.brookskubik.com and sign up for
them.)
As always, thanks for reading, and have a great day – and
enjoy this issue of The Dinosaur Files!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
Less Is More -- Abbreviated Training for Strength and Muscle Mass!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I had a great workout last night. It
was the kind of workout I like best:
short, hard and heavy.
It consisted of two exercises:
1. Split style jerks from the rack
2. Front squats
The previous workout was also a good
one. It consisted of three exercises:
1. Power cleans
2. Clean grip high pulls
3. Clean grip deadlifts
And the workout before that -- another
good one -- also consisted of three
exercises:
1. Power snatches
2. Snatch grip high pulls
3. Snatch grip deadlifts
Are you starting to notice a pattern?
I call workouts like this "abbreviated
training." It's something I've been doing
for a long, long time, and I've always
found it to be the most effective way
for me to train. And based on feedback
from Dinos around the world, many other
trainees have found that abbreviated
training works best for them, as well.
Of course, you don't have to do Olympic
lifting. You can do squats, deadlifts or
Trap Bar deadlifts, military presses,
bench presses, bent-over rowing, etc.
You can use bodyweight exercises, you
can do an all-dumbbell program, you
can use sand-bags, you can use
kettlebells, you can lift logs,
rocks or barrels, you can use cables,
you can push cars or trucks -- or do
anything else you feel like doing.
The point is, whatever kind of equipment
you use, you don't need to do lots of
different exercises every time you train.
It works much better to stick to two
or three exercises and work them into
the ground.
Beginners are an exception to the rule.
Beginners should do six to ten exercises
for one set each. They should train three
times a week on a total body program. They
need to do that to develop a good foundation
for heavier training later on. And it's the
best way to learn how to perform the
different exercises.
But for intermediates and advanced trainees,
abbreviated training is your ticket to BIG
GAINS!
I always like to hear from you, and I'd love
some success stories from Dinos who have had
good luck with abbreviated and ultra-
abbreviated (one exercise per workout)
training.
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. You can learn more about abbreviated
and ultra-abbreviated training in my books
and courses, including these little monsters:
1. Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength
and Development
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
2. Strength, Muscle and Power
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
3. Gray Hair and Black Iron
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
4. Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
5. Dinosaur Dumbbell Training
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
6. Chalk and Sweat
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Less is more because you
can lift harder and heavier when you use abbreviated
and ultra-abbreviated training." -- Brooks Kubik
I had a great workout last night. It
was the kind of workout I like best:
short, hard and heavy.
It consisted of two exercises:
1. Split style jerks from the rack
2. Front squats
The previous workout was also a good
one. It consisted of three exercises:
1. Power cleans
2. Clean grip high pulls
3. Clean grip deadlifts
And the workout before that -- another
good one -- also consisted of three
exercises:
1. Power snatches
2. Snatch grip high pulls
3. Snatch grip deadlifts
Are you starting to notice a pattern?
I call workouts like this "abbreviated
training." It's something I've been doing
for a long, long time, and I've always
found it to be the most effective way
for me to train. And based on feedback
from Dinos around the world, many other
trainees have found that abbreviated
training works best for them, as well.
Of course, you don't have to do Olympic
lifting. You can do squats, deadlifts or
Trap Bar deadlifts, military presses,
bench presses, bent-over rowing, etc.
You can use bodyweight exercises, you
can do an all-dumbbell program, you
can use sand-bags, you can use
kettlebells, you can lift logs,
rocks or barrels, you can use cables,
you can push cars or trucks -- or do
anything else you feel like doing.
The point is, whatever kind of equipment
you use, you don't need to do lots of
different exercises every time you train.
It works much better to stick to two
or three exercises and work them into
the ground.
Beginners are an exception to the rule.
Beginners should do six to ten exercises
for one set each. They should train three
times a week on a total body program. They
need to do that to develop a good foundation
for heavier training later on. And it's the
best way to learn how to perform the
different exercises.
But for intermediates and advanced trainees,
abbreviated training is your ticket to BIG
GAINS!
I always like to hear from you, and I'd love
some success stories from Dinos who have had
good luck with abbreviated and ultra-
abbreviated (one exercise per workout)
training.
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. You can learn more about abbreviated
and ultra-abbreviated training in my books
and courses, including these little monsters:
1. Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength
and Development
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
2. Strength, Muscle and Power
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
3. Gray Hair and Black Iron
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
4. Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
5. Dinosaur Dumbbell Training
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
6. Chalk and Sweat
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Less is more because you
can lift harder and heavier when you use abbreviated
and ultra-abbreviated training." -- Brooks Kubik
"How Much Can I Gain?"
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
One of our UK Dinosaurs, Rob Richley, asked
me how much muscle a beginner could gain in
his first six months, and his first year, of
training.
He said he'd been trying to find the
answer on the internet, but everyone
disagreed with everyone else. (Gee,
imagine that -- people on the internet
disagreeing about something.)
Well, here's my take on it.
If we're talking about a beginner in
his teens, twenties or early to mid
thirties, here's what I think is both
possible and realistic -- IF, and that's
a very big IF -- he trains hard and
seriously and sensibly for the entire
time period and IF (another big IF) he
is fully committed to getting bigger
and stronger:
After six months of serious training --
ten to twenty pounds of muscle and at
least twice as strong as when he started.
After one year of serious training --
another ten to twenty pounds of muscle
and at least three times as strong as
when he started.
And that's without drugs and without any
food supplements or special diets -- and
without guzzling gallons of milk every day
or chugging the infamous Get Big Drink --
and without adding Lard Lumps just so you
weigh more.
Is this possible?
Absolutely. If you're a teenager and you
start training and hit a growth spurt,
you'll probably gain even faster. There
are countless reports of this over the
years.
When I was in my early teens, I started
training, and of course, I had no idea
what I was doing. I followed the super
duper programs in the muscle mags, and
I gained a big fat NOTHING.
Then I discovered Peary Rader's old
IronMan magazine and it's number one
writer, Bradley J. Steiner, and I
started to train the right way -- and
in about six months I had gained
twenty pounds.
At the end of the first year of sensible
training, I was thirty or forty pounds
heavier, and at the end of two years, I
was fifty pounds heavier than when I
started. And if I had known then what I
know now, I would have done even better.
I had another big gains period in my
late twenties and early thirties. That
was when I discovered abbreviated training
and used it to train for bench press and
powerlifting competition. I went from
180 pounds to 193 pounds in one year --
up to 202 the next year -- to 210 or so
the next year -- and then on up to 220
or 225 pounds. And that was long after
my beginner days. If I'd been a beginner
in my late twenties, I would have started
out at 150 or 160 pounds and probably gained
to 200 pounds or more in the first year --
IF I had trained the right way.
And that's always the problem. Most guys
get sucked into lousy training programs --
and they end up making little or no progress
at a time when they SHOULD be gaining more
strength and muscle mass than a herd of
charging elephants.
By the way, "back in the day" Strength and
Health always printed plenty of success
stories from readers -- and they even ran
a Success Stories section. If you go back
and read the Strength and Health issues from
the thirties and forties, you'll find that
for beginners, gains of twenty to forty
pounds of muscle in the first year of
training were not at all uncommon.
And this was back in the thirties and forties,
so there no drugs and no food supplements in
action. Heck, many of the guys who reported
gains like this trained at home with nothing
but a barbell and dumbbell set.
So if you're a beginner, get on the right
kind of program -- buckle down and work hard --
train progressively -- add weight to the bar
whenever possible -- push yourself -- and
get ready for some fast and furious gains
in might and muscle!
And if you're NOT a beginner, don't despair.
It's not too late. It's never too late. All
it takes is the right kind of training --
that, and a little bit of hard work,
intelligently applied.
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 are some great books and courses
with training programs that will help you
pack on some serious strength and muscle mass:
1. Chalk and Sweat
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
2. Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength
and Development
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
3. Strength, Muscle and Power
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
4. The Dinosaur Training Military Press and
Shoulder Power Course
http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_course.html
5. Dinosaur Arm Training
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_armtraining.html
6. Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
7. My Doug Hepburn and John Grimek training courses:
http://www.brookskubik.com/doug_hepburn.html
http://brookskubik.com/johngrimek_course.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Building strength and
muscle is hard work. If it were easy, everyone would
do it." -- Brooks Kubik
One of our UK Dinosaurs, Rob Richley, asked
me how much muscle a beginner could gain in
his first six months, and his first year, of
training.
He said he'd been trying to find the
answer on the internet, but everyone
disagreed with everyone else. (Gee,
imagine that -- people on the internet
disagreeing about something.)
Well, here's my take on it.
If we're talking about a beginner in
his teens, twenties or early to mid
thirties, here's what I think is both
possible and realistic -- IF, and that's
a very big IF -- he trains hard and
seriously and sensibly for the entire
time period and IF (another big IF) he
is fully committed to getting bigger
and stronger:
After six months of serious training --
ten to twenty pounds of muscle and at
least twice as strong as when he started.
After one year of serious training --
another ten to twenty pounds of muscle
and at least three times as strong as
when he started.
And that's without drugs and without any
food supplements or special diets -- and
without guzzling gallons of milk every day
or chugging the infamous Get Big Drink --
and without adding Lard Lumps just so you
weigh more.
Is this possible?
Absolutely. If you're a teenager and you
start training and hit a growth spurt,
you'll probably gain even faster. There
are countless reports of this over the
years.
When I was in my early teens, I started
training, and of course, I had no idea
what I was doing. I followed the super
duper programs in the muscle mags, and
I gained a big fat NOTHING.
Then I discovered Peary Rader's old
IronMan magazine and it's number one
writer, Bradley J. Steiner, and I
started to train the right way -- and
in about six months I had gained
twenty pounds.
At the end of the first year of sensible
training, I was thirty or forty pounds
heavier, and at the end of two years, I
was fifty pounds heavier than when I
started. And if I had known then what I
know now, I would have done even better.
I had another big gains period in my
late twenties and early thirties. That
was when I discovered abbreviated training
and used it to train for bench press and
powerlifting competition. I went from
180 pounds to 193 pounds in one year --
up to 202 the next year -- to 210 or so
the next year -- and then on up to 220
or 225 pounds. And that was long after
my beginner days. If I'd been a beginner
in my late twenties, I would have started
out at 150 or 160 pounds and probably gained
to 200 pounds or more in the first year --
IF I had trained the right way.
And that's always the problem. Most guys
get sucked into lousy training programs --
and they end up making little or no progress
at a time when they SHOULD be gaining more
strength and muscle mass than a herd of
charging elephants.
By the way, "back in the day" Strength and
Health always printed plenty of success
stories from readers -- and they even ran
a Success Stories section. If you go back
and read the Strength and Health issues from
the thirties and forties, you'll find that
for beginners, gains of twenty to forty
pounds of muscle in the first year of
training were not at all uncommon.
And this was back in the thirties and forties,
so there no drugs and no food supplements in
action. Heck, many of the guys who reported
gains like this trained at home with nothing
but a barbell and dumbbell set.
So if you're a beginner, get on the right
kind of program -- buckle down and work hard --
train progressively -- add weight to the bar
whenever possible -- push yourself -- and
get ready for some fast and furious gains
in might and muscle!
And if you're NOT a beginner, don't despair.
It's not too late. It's never too late. All
it takes is the right kind of training --
that, and a little bit of hard work,
intelligently applied.
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 are some great books and courses
with training programs that will help you
pack on some serious strength and muscle mass:
1. Chalk and Sweat
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
2. Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength
and Development
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
3. Strength, Muscle and Power
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
4. The Dinosaur Training Military Press and
Shoulder Power Course
http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_course.html
5. Dinosaur Arm Training
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_armtraining.html
6. Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
7. My Doug Hepburn and John Grimek training courses:
http://www.brookskubik.com/doug_hepburn.html
http://brookskubik.com/johngrimek_course.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Building strength and
muscle is hard work. If it were easy, everyone would
do it." -- Brooks Kubik
Seven Secrets of Training Success!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I have a ton of older readers, and I send
out plenty of emails with advice for them.
The older trainee is and always has been
the "forgotten man" in physical culture.
The magazines always cater to the younger
guys.
However, we also have plenty of younger
readers, and they need advice, too. So
this email is aimed at our younger Dinos.
Here are seven secrets of training success
for younger Dinos (meaning Dinos in their
teens, twenties or thirties):
1. Use abbreviated training programs. Just
because you're young and may be able to
recover from longer workouts doesn't mean
you should do them.
2. Focus on quality training. Stick to the
best, most productive exercises, and use
set/rep systems that have a proven track
record. Do NOT get sucked into volume
training, tonnage or marathon training
sessions. Less is more.
3. Train for strength. Even if your goal
is to look good -- or to gain muscle mass --
you need to train for strength. Strength
training means plenty of squats, deadlifts
and heavy pushing (pressing) exercises.
4. Arm training is fine, but focus on leg,
back and shoulder girdle training. For truly
Herculean development (as well as strength
and power), you need to focus on building
the muscles of the legs and hips, the back,
and the shoulder girdle.
5. Pay attention to diet and nutrition --
and by that, I mean plenty of good food.
Lots of fresh vegetables. Tons of high
quality protein. Get your carbs from
high quality sources like sweet potatoes,
squash and pumpkins. Stay away from junk
food -- there's a reason they call it
JUNK.
6. Get plenty of rest and sleep. Younger
trainees often seem to have have endless
energy, but if you're training hard and
heavy, you need rest and sleep. I know
it's fun to hang with your bro's, but
what's the point of busting your you
know what in the squat rack only to
sabotage your gains by staying up all
night?
7. Last but not least, make the most of
your younger years. This is the time when
you can make the best gains of your entire
life. Don't waste these years. Make every
workout count! More than that, make every
exercise -- every set -- and every rep --
count. Everything you do should lead to
greater and greater muscular development,
and ever-increasing gains in strength,
power and lifting ability.
7A. I get hundreds -- probably thousands --
of emails every month from trainees who tell
me how they wasted years and years of their
training by following the mass market silly
systems. It wasn't until they went back to
the basics that they started to make gains.
That's great, but what would be even better
would be if more people started training the
right way from day one!
So there you have it. Seven secrets of success
for younger Dinos. Read them study, them and
follow them -- and GROW!
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. For great gains at any age, grab a copy
of Chalk and Sweat. It features 50 complete
workouts that will take you from beginner
to advanced, and from advanced to the
ultimate in maximum muscle mass:
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right
here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Never waste a
workout. Always make it count." -- Brooks
Kubik
I have a ton of older readers, and I send
out plenty of emails with advice for them.
The older trainee is and always has been
the "forgotten man" in physical culture.
The magazines always cater to the younger
guys.
However, we also have plenty of younger
readers, and they need advice, too. So
this email is aimed at our younger Dinos.
Here are seven secrets of training success
for younger Dinos (meaning Dinos in their
teens, twenties or thirties):
1. Use abbreviated training programs. Just
because you're young and may be able to
recover from longer workouts doesn't mean
you should do them.
2. Focus on quality training. Stick to the
best, most productive exercises, and use
set/rep systems that have a proven track
record. Do NOT get sucked into volume
training, tonnage or marathon training
sessions. Less is more.
3. Train for strength. Even if your goal
is to look good -- or to gain muscle mass --
you need to train for strength. Strength
training means plenty of squats, deadlifts
and heavy pushing (pressing) exercises.
4. Arm training is fine, but focus on leg,
back and shoulder girdle training. For truly
Herculean development (as well as strength
and power), you need to focus on building
the muscles of the legs and hips, the back,
and the shoulder girdle.
5. Pay attention to diet and nutrition --
and by that, I mean plenty of good food.
Lots of fresh vegetables. Tons of high
quality protein. Get your carbs from
high quality sources like sweet potatoes,
squash and pumpkins. Stay away from junk
food -- there's a reason they call it
JUNK.
6. Get plenty of rest and sleep. Younger
trainees often seem to have have endless
energy, but if you're training hard and
heavy, you need rest and sleep. I know
it's fun to hang with your bro's, but
what's the point of busting your you
know what in the squat rack only to
sabotage your gains by staying up all
night?
7. Last but not least, make the most of
your younger years. This is the time when
you can make the best gains of your entire
life. Don't waste these years. Make every
workout count! More than that, make every
exercise -- every set -- and every rep --
count. Everything you do should lead to
greater and greater muscular development,
and ever-increasing gains in strength,
power and lifting ability.
7A. I get hundreds -- probably thousands --
of emails every month from trainees who tell
me how they wasted years and years of their
training by following the mass market silly
systems. It wasn't until they went back to
the basics that they started to make gains.
That's great, but what would be even better
would be if more people started training the
right way from day one!
So there you have it. Seven secrets of success
for younger Dinos. Read them study, them and
follow them -- and GROW!
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. For great gains at any age, grab a copy
of Chalk and Sweat. It features 50 complete
workouts that will take you from beginner
to advanced, and from advanced to the
ultimate in maximum muscle mass:
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right
here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Never waste a
workout. Always make it count." -- Brooks
Kubik
Bodyweight Training Q and A
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I rec'd an email from a reader asking a
ton of questions about Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training.
Does it have exercise progressions?
Can you combine bodyweight training and
weight training?
Will it build muscle mass?
Will it build strength?
How does it compare to other books and courses
on the market?
Now, every time one person asks a question, it
means a thousand people have the same question.
So I thought I'd answer his questions by sharing
an email I received last week from Steve Fink.
Steve ordered the Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
book along with a set of seven DVD's that cover
all the different exercises in the book.
Please note -- I don't have an order page for
the bodyweight DVD's yet -- but if you're
interested, shoot me an email and I'll tell
you more about them and how to grab them.
Anyhow, here is what Steve had to say:
"Hi Brooks-
I reviewed the DVD set along with the Bodyweight
Book.
This is easily the best bodyweight program I have
seen. I am 55 and have been training since my teens.
Because of older injuries, I no longer train with
heavy weights. I have since used bodyweight
routines almost exclusively over the last several
years. I am quite familiar with a great many sources
available. Most are quite predictable with the
same stale routines and exercises, including
jumping jacks and burpees, and emphasize reps
over strength.
Your program is a treatise on the topic -- it has
become my Strength Bible. There is a tremendous
foundation of knowledge. The text is concise and
easy to follow. The photos and references to the
strongmen of old is a great addition reflecting
your respect for the roots of the strength
culture.
The DVDS are well made and easy to follow. Your
"run through the wall" motivation is a welcome,
ever present feature throughout. It's obvious
you enjoy what you do.
The exercise progressions are the most numerous
and detailed I've seen. There are several
exercises I was not familiar with -- this makes
for a most refreshing change from the mundane
that is all too prevalent out there. I have
found several progressions harder than some
of the typical standards (even harder than
one arm pushups). There is enough here to
challenge the strongest athlete for an
entire career.
Besides the obvious emphasis on promoting
strength, you have included a holistic
segment which is as important (especially
for the older trainee). The neck and low
back routines are golden.
In all, this a stand-alone masterpiece.
Thank you for sharing your ideas.
Steve Fink"
Steve -- Thanks for your detailed review
and feedback. Writing a book as long and
detailed as Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
is hard work (and so were those seven DVD's).
Feedback like this makes it all worthwhile.
The whole idea is to write books and courses
that help people -- and it sounds like this
one is doing the job for you!
To everyone else -- If you had any questions
about Dinosaur Bodyweight Training, I hope
Steve has answered them! (The only one he
didn't cover was whether you can combine
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training with weight
training -- and the answer is, of course
you can. Combining weight work and body-
weight work is no different than combining
barbell training and dumbbell training.)
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. Go here to order your copy of Dinosaur
Bodyweight Training -- and remember, if you're
interested in the DVD's, shoot me an email:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
P.S. 2. My other Dinosaur Training books, courses
and DVD's are available here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Whether you train
with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, sandbags,
or bodyweight exercises, the keys to success are
always the same: hard work, concentration, focus
and progression." -- Brooks Kubik
I rec'd an email from a reader asking a
ton of questions about Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training.
Does it have exercise progressions?
Can you combine bodyweight training and
weight training?
Will it build muscle mass?
Will it build strength?
How does it compare to other books and courses
on the market?
Now, every time one person asks a question, it
means a thousand people have the same question.
So I thought I'd answer his questions by sharing
an email I received last week from Steve Fink.
Steve ordered the Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
book along with a set of seven DVD's that cover
all the different exercises in the book.
Please note -- I don't have an order page for
the bodyweight DVD's yet -- but if you're
interested, shoot me an email and I'll tell
you more about them and how to grab them.
Anyhow, here is what Steve had to say:
"Hi Brooks-
I reviewed the DVD set along with the Bodyweight
Book.
This is easily the best bodyweight program I have
seen. I am 55 and have been training since my teens.
Because of older injuries, I no longer train with
heavy weights. I have since used bodyweight
routines almost exclusively over the last several
years. I am quite familiar with a great many sources
available. Most are quite predictable with the
same stale routines and exercises, including
jumping jacks and burpees, and emphasize reps
over strength.
Your program is a treatise on the topic -- it has
become my Strength Bible. There is a tremendous
foundation of knowledge. The text is concise and
easy to follow. The photos and references to the
strongmen of old is a great addition reflecting
your respect for the roots of the strength
culture.
The DVDS are well made and easy to follow. Your
"run through the wall" motivation is a welcome,
ever present feature throughout. It's obvious
you enjoy what you do.
The exercise progressions are the most numerous
and detailed I've seen. There are several
exercises I was not familiar with -- this makes
for a most refreshing change from the mundane
that is all too prevalent out there. I have
found several progressions harder than some
of the typical standards (even harder than
one arm pushups). There is enough here to
challenge the strongest athlete for an
entire career.
Besides the obvious emphasis on promoting
strength, you have included a holistic
segment which is as important (especially
for the older trainee). The neck and low
back routines are golden.
In all, this a stand-alone masterpiece.
Thank you for sharing your ideas.
Steve Fink"
Steve -- Thanks for your detailed review
and feedback. Writing a book as long and
detailed as Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
is hard work (and so were those seven DVD's).
Feedback like this makes it all worthwhile.
The whole idea is to write books and courses
that help people -- and it sounds like this
one is doing the job for you!
To everyone else -- If you had any questions
about Dinosaur Bodyweight Training, I hope
Steve has answered them! (The only one he
didn't cover was whether you can combine
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training with weight
training -- and the answer is, of course
you can. Combining weight work and body-
weight work is no different than combining
barbell training and dumbbell training.)
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. Go here to order your copy of Dinosaur
Bodyweight Training -- and remember, if you're
interested in the DVD's, shoot me an email:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
P.S. 2. My other Dinosaur Training books, courses
and DVD's are available here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Whether you train
with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, sandbags,
or bodyweight exercises, the keys to success are
always the same: hard work, concentration, focus
and progression." -- Brooks Kubik
How to Build Serious Muscle Mass!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I've been getting a lot of questions
about building muscle mass -- as in,
how to pack on some serious slabs of
Dino-monguous muscle.
So let me offer a suggestion.
Cut back to three exercises:
1. Pull-ups
Not chin-ups, but pull-ups. Start with
the basic style, and work up to more
difficult variations. (See Dinosaur
Bodyweight Training for some killer
push-up variations.)
Start with three to five sets and
gradually work up to ten sets. Do low
reps (five or six reps per set). Make
the exercise progressive by either
adding weight or switching to a more
difficult kind of pull-up.
2. Push-ups or handstand pushups
Do any style of push-up -- or do hand-
stand pushups if you can do them. Start
with three or four sets and work up to
ten sets.
For handstand pushups, do five or six
reps per set.
For other kinds of push-ups, try to find
a variation that is hard enough that you
can only do ten or twenty reps per set.
(Refer to Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
for push-up variations.)
3. Squats or Deadlifts
Your third exercise will be squats or
deadlifts to work your legs, hips and
back and to trigger gains in strength
and muscle throuhgout your entire body.
It doesn't matter what you do. Squats
will build tons of muscle mass, and so
will deadlifts.
If you have a Trap Bar, Trap Bar deadlifts
are a great option.
If you prefer front squats to back squats,
that's fine.
If you want to use BOTH squats and deadlifts,
that's fine, too. In that case, train each
exercise once per week.
Do sets of five in the squat and the deadlift.
Start light and take four or five sets to get
up to your working weight. Do ONE work set in
the first session. Gradually work up to two
work sets -- and then to three. At that point,
add weight, drop back to one work set and
build back up.
Train three days per week. Divide your
workouts like this:
Workout A (on Mon and Fri)
1. Pull-ups
2. Push-ups
Note: You can do all of your pull-ups
and then do all of your push-ups, or
you can do supersets. Both work well
for this program.
Workout B (on Wed)
1. Squats or deadlifts
Get plenty of rest and sleep (8 hours per
night), and eat plenty of good, high quality
food. Be sure you get lots of protein (one
gram per pound of bodyweight). Stay away from
junk food. Save room for food that will build
muscle.
I know, I know -- sounds too simple to work.
But guess what? If you hit it hard and heavy,
that simple three exercise program will make
you look like King Kong's big brother minus
the fur.
So if you want some serious muscle mass,
give it a try!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. As noted, Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
has plenty of killer variations of pushups
and pull-ups:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
P.S. 2. I have 20 super-effective more mass
building workouts in Chalk and Sweat -- grab a
copy and check them out!
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "The secret is hard
work, intelligently applied." -- Brooks Kubik
I've been getting a lot of questions
about building muscle mass -- as in,
how to pack on some serious slabs of
Dino-monguous muscle.
So let me offer a suggestion.
Cut back to three exercises:
1. Pull-ups
Not chin-ups, but pull-ups. Start with
the basic style, and work up to more
difficult variations. (See Dinosaur
Bodyweight Training for some killer
push-up variations.)
Start with three to five sets and
gradually work up to ten sets. Do low
reps (five or six reps per set). Make
the exercise progressive by either
adding weight or switching to a more
difficult kind of pull-up.
2. Push-ups or handstand pushups
Do any style of push-up -- or do hand-
stand pushups if you can do them. Start
with three or four sets and work up to
ten sets.
For handstand pushups, do five or six
reps per set.
For other kinds of push-ups, try to find
a variation that is hard enough that you
can only do ten or twenty reps per set.
(Refer to Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
for push-up variations.)
3. Squats or Deadlifts
Your third exercise will be squats or
deadlifts to work your legs, hips and
back and to trigger gains in strength
and muscle throuhgout your entire body.
It doesn't matter what you do. Squats
will build tons of muscle mass, and so
will deadlifts.
If you have a Trap Bar, Trap Bar deadlifts
are a great option.
If you prefer front squats to back squats,
that's fine.
If you want to use BOTH squats and deadlifts,
that's fine, too. In that case, train each
exercise once per week.
Do sets of five in the squat and the deadlift.
Start light and take four or five sets to get
up to your working weight. Do ONE work set in
the first session. Gradually work up to two
work sets -- and then to three. At that point,
add weight, drop back to one work set and
build back up.
Train three days per week. Divide your
workouts like this:
Workout A (on Mon and Fri)
1. Pull-ups
2. Push-ups
Note: You can do all of your pull-ups
and then do all of your push-ups, or
you can do supersets. Both work well
for this program.
Workout B (on Wed)
1. Squats or deadlifts
Get plenty of rest and sleep (8 hours per
night), and eat plenty of good, high quality
food. Be sure you get lots of protein (one
gram per pound of bodyweight). Stay away from
junk food. Save room for food that will build
muscle.
I know, I know -- sounds too simple to work.
But guess what? If you hit it hard and heavy,
that simple three exercise program will make
you look like King Kong's big brother minus
the fur.
So if you want some serious muscle mass,
give it a try!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. As noted, Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
has plenty of killer variations of pushups
and pull-ups:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
P.S. 2. I have 20 super-effective more mass
building workouts in Chalk and Sweat -- grab a
copy and check them out!
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "The secret is hard
work, intelligently applied." -- Brooks Kubik
One Million Pounds of Food on Three Acres!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
On Facebook the other day, I shared a
link about a former professional
basketball player named Will Allen,
who now works as an urban gardener.
It was pretty popular, so for those
who missed it, let me tell you a bit
about Will Allen and his inner city
farming operation.
He has an incredible gardening system
where he uses food scraps, plant stalks,
coffee grounds, etc. to create an amazing
nutrient dense compost to grow vegetables.
He has worm bins, and the worms eat the
food scraps, and the worm castings are
added to the compost. It's a super
supplement for the soil.
He also has indoor fish tanks and growing
tanks for hydroponic vegetables (i.e.,
vegetables grown in water rather than in
the dirt).
He does it inside unheated greenhouses,
and he grows food all year round. And he
does it in inner city neighborhoods in
Milwaukee and in Chicago. The Chicago
"farm" is built right on top of an old
basketball court!
He practices container gardening, and
vertical gardening, and he does everything
possible to maximize the yield from every
square foot of land.
And get this -- he has produced one million
pounds of food on three acres of land in one
year.
You can read more about it here:
http://www.growingpower.org/
There are plenty of reasons why this is a
great thing to be doing. It creates local
jobs, it helps communities develop food
independence and food security, it helps
enormously with carbon capture (run the
numbers on three acres of ugly blacktop
compared to three acres of garden), and
it helps people get plenty of super
nutritious and affordable locally
grown food.
And since a healthy diet does so much to
put the smackdown on obesity, diabetes,
heart attacks, etc., a massive effort
to grow plenty of fresh, healthy, and
nutritious food in every neighborhood
in the country -- or indeed, in the
entire world -- might just be one of
the very best public health initiatives
ever undertaken.
The interesting thing is, this isn't all
that new. There was a time when virtually
all large cities had extensive urban
gardens.
In Paris, for example, there were Market
Gardens that used intensive gardening
methods to grow enough food to provide
fresh vegetables to everyone in the city,
and to have enough left over to export
to England!
All of this was done with what we would
now call organic farming methods. They
collected horse manure from the city
streets and stables, and mixed it with
stable straw, and composed the mixture.
It was an incredible growing medium.
And think about this -- at the same time
that the Market Gardens of Paris provided
an enormous amount of super nutritious
fresh produce for every citizen of the
city, some of the strongest men in the
world lived there -- and ate plenty of
those market garden veggies.
Coincidence?
I don't think so!
In any case, Dino Headquarters gives Will
Allen a big tip of the hat for a job well
done. One million pounds of food on three
acres is pretty darn impressive.
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. Eating right and training right is a
sure-fire key to success -- and I cover
the right kind of training in detail in
all of my books and courses. You can find
them right here at Dino Headquarters:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Training is
hard work, but without adequate nutrition
it becomes impossible work." -- Brooks Kubik
On Facebook the other day, I shared a
link about a former professional
basketball player named Will Allen,
who now works as an urban gardener.
It was pretty popular, so for those
who missed it, let me tell you a bit
about Will Allen and his inner city
farming operation.
He has an incredible gardening system
where he uses food scraps, plant stalks,
coffee grounds, etc. to create an amazing
nutrient dense compost to grow vegetables.
He has worm bins, and the worms eat the
food scraps, and the worm castings are
added to the compost. It's a super
supplement for the soil.
He also has indoor fish tanks and growing
tanks for hydroponic vegetables (i.e.,
vegetables grown in water rather than in
the dirt).
He does it inside unheated greenhouses,
and he grows food all year round. And he
does it in inner city neighborhoods in
Milwaukee and in Chicago. The Chicago
"farm" is built right on top of an old
basketball court!
He practices container gardening, and
vertical gardening, and he does everything
possible to maximize the yield from every
square foot of land.
And get this -- he has produced one million
pounds of food on three acres of land in one
year.
You can read more about it here:
http://www.growingpower.org/
There are plenty of reasons why this is a
great thing to be doing. It creates local
jobs, it helps communities develop food
independence and food security, it helps
enormously with carbon capture (run the
numbers on three acres of ugly blacktop
compared to three acres of garden), and
it helps people get plenty of super
nutritious and affordable locally
grown food.
And since a healthy diet does so much to
put the smackdown on obesity, diabetes,
heart attacks, etc., a massive effort
to grow plenty of fresh, healthy, and
nutritious food in every neighborhood
in the country -- or indeed, in the
entire world -- might just be one of
the very best public health initiatives
ever undertaken.
The interesting thing is, this isn't all
that new. There was a time when virtually
all large cities had extensive urban
gardens.
In Paris, for example, there were Market
Gardens that used intensive gardening
methods to grow enough food to provide
fresh vegetables to everyone in the city,
and to have enough left over to export
to England!
All of this was done with what we would
now call organic farming methods. They
collected horse manure from the city
streets and stables, and mixed it with
stable straw, and composed the mixture.
It was an incredible growing medium.
And think about this -- at the same time
that the Market Gardens of Paris provided
an enormous amount of super nutritious
fresh produce for every citizen of the
city, some of the strongest men in the
world lived there -- and ate plenty of
those market garden veggies.
Coincidence?
I don't think so!
In any case, Dino Headquarters gives Will
Allen a big tip of the hat for a job well
done. One million pounds of food on three
acres is pretty darn impressive.
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. Eating right and training right is a
sure-fire key to success -- and I cover
the right kind of training in detail in
all of my books and courses. You can find
them right here at Dino Headquarters:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Training is
hard work, but without adequate nutrition
it becomes impossible work." -- Brooks Kubik
The Home for Iron Slinging Octogenerians!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Earlier in the week I sent a link to
a YouTube video showing 83-year old
Gren Elmore setting an age-group World
Record in the deadlift -- with an
impressive 116 kilos (255 pounds).
I rec'd tons of great feedback from the
Dino Nation -- including the following
from Erik Andersen:
Hi Brooks
I just have to say WOW, how many at 83
years of age must struggle just to rise
from a chair?
Train hard,
Erik H. Andersen
Dinosaur and grip-expert from Denmark"
And that's exactly the point. And it's
something you need to keep in mind as
you grow older.
Too many older trainees drive themselves
crazy by trying to lift as much as they
lifted when they were in their twenties
or thirties. Or they get frustrated
because they can't lift as much as they
used to be able to handle when they
were younger.
You need to understand and accept that
as you grow older, you won't be able to
lift as much as you used to lift. That's
just a simple fact of life.
BUT -- and this is very important -- you
absolutely CAN stay far stronger than
others your age who don't train -- and
you CAN stay far stronger than you would
be if you stopped training. (Ahem -- as
if a Dinosaur would ever stop training.)
You also CAN maintain your strength and
health to the point where you look and
feel ten or twenty years younger than
your chronological age.
Harry Paschall once wrote that when he
was sixteen or so -- and the only kid
in town who had a barbell -- the other
guys started to call him "Muscles."
Forty years later, he was walking on
a beach in Florida and he heard some
kids shout -- "Look at Muscles over
there!"
He turned around, expecting to see John
Grimek or some other bodybuilding
champion -- but there was no one there.
It was then that Harry realized the boys
were talking about HIM!
It made him feel pretty darn good.
He was "Muscles" when he was sixteen --
and forty years later -- even though he
was not lifting as much as he lifted in
his twenties and thirties (or in his
forties) he was still "Muscles."
That's the sort of thing you want to be
shooting for. You want to GET strong and
you want to STAY strong -- and you want
to be so much stronger and fitter than
others your age that it's not even funny!
And thirty or forty years from now, I
want to hear reports from Dinos in their
seventies, eighties and nineties who are
still training and still pushing and
pulling the iron.
Heck, they may have to build a special
retirement home just for Dinos! With
barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells and
power racks in every room -- and more
of the same in the lobby -- and a full
size Dino style gym where we can all
train.
They can call it:
The Home for Iron Slinging Octogenerians!
And that would be pretty darn cool.
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. Gray Hair and Black Iron is the number
one resource for older trainees -- featuring
more than 50 different workouts and tons of
training info tailored for older Dinos:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. My other Dinosaur Training books and
courses are right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Keep on training,
because no one else can do it for you."
-- Brooks Kubik
Earlier in the week I sent a link to
a YouTube video showing 83-year old
Gren Elmore setting an age-group World
Record in the deadlift -- with an
impressive 116 kilos (255 pounds).
I rec'd tons of great feedback from the
Dino Nation -- including the following
from Erik Andersen:
Hi Brooks
I just have to say WOW, how many at 83
years of age must struggle just to rise
from a chair?
Train hard,
Erik H. Andersen
Dinosaur and grip-expert from Denmark"
And that's exactly the point. And it's
something you need to keep in mind as
you grow older.
Too many older trainees drive themselves
crazy by trying to lift as much as they
lifted when they were in their twenties
or thirties. Or they get frustrated
because they can't lift as much as they
used to be able to handle when they
were younger.
You need to understand and accept that
as you grow older, you won't be able to
lift as much as you used to lift. That's
just a simple fact of life.
BUT -- and this is very important -- you
absolutely CAN stay far stronger than
others your age who don't train -- and
you CAN stay far stronger than you would
be if you stopped training. (Ahem -- as
if a Dinosaur would ever stop training.)
You also CAN maintain your strength and
health to the point where you look and
feel ten or twenty years younger than
your chronological age.
Harry Paschall once wrote that when he
was sixteen or so -- and the only kid
in town who had a barbell -- the other
guys started to call him "Muscles."
Forty years later, he was walking on
a beach in Florida and he heard some
kids shout -- "Look at Muscles over
there!"
He turned around, expecting to see John
Grimek or some other bodybuilding
champion -- but there was no one there.
It was then that Harry realized the boys
were talking about HIM!
It made him feel pretty darn good.
He was "Muscles" when he was sixteen --
and forty years later -- even though he
was not lifting as much as he lifted in
his twenties and thirties (or in his
forties) he was still "Muscles."
That's the sort of thing you want to be
shooting for. You want to GET strong and
you want to STAY strong -- and you want
to be so much stronger and fitter than
others your age that it's not even funny!
And thirty or forty years from now, I
want to hear reports from Dinos in their
seventies, eighties and nineties who are
still training and still pushing and
pulling the iron.
Heck, they may have to build a special
retirement home just for Dinos! With
barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells and
power racks in every room -- and more
of the same in the lobby -- and a full
size Dino style gym where we can all
train.
They can call it:
The Home for Iron Slinging Octogenerians!
And that would be pretty darn cool.
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. Gray Hair and Black Iron is the number
one resource for older trainees -- featuring
more than 50 different workouts and tons of
training info tailored for older Dinos:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. My other Dinosaur Training books and
courses are right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Keep on training,
because no one else can do it for you."
-- Brooks Kubik
The Power Rack vs. The Sofa!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Let me cover two things today. First of
all, I wrote a nice article and posted
it on the Dinosaur Training Blog. You
can find it right here:
http://dinosaurtraining.blogspot.com/2012/08/more-training-goals-from-your-fellow.html
Second, I received an email yesterday
from a long-time lifter who's in his
forties and was having trouble staying
with it.
He had just about decided that he was
too old to train any more.
He has a great home gym -- it's in the
living room of his apartment, which is
pretty cool -- and he was thinking about
giving up, selling his equipment, and
doing nothing but cardio (treadmill)
for an hour or two every day.
He said he "wanted his living room
back" so he could put a nice new sofa
where the power rack is.
He actually thought about asking me how
to "de-Dino" -- as in, how to de-tox.
But then I sent out an email with a
link to a YouTube video showing 83-year
old Gren Elmore setting a Master's World
record in the deadlift with a huge pull
of 116 kilos (255 pounds).
And that cured our forty-something Dino.
He suddenly decided he was NOT too old
to train.
He decided to keep his equipment -- and
to keep on hitting it hard and heavy.
So Gren Elmore did more than merely set
a World Record in the deadlift. He also
inspired a man forty years younger to
keep on training.
And it's a darn good thing he did. If
our forty-something Dino had sent me
an email asking how to "de-Dino" I
would have had to drop a dumbbell on
his head.
And if he had sold his power rack to
make room for a new sofa, he would have
been making a big mistake.
A power rack builds strength and muscle.
A sofa builds lard lumps.
A power rack comes in basic black.
A sofa comes in a color like mauve or
sage (or elderberry) -- or in some sort
of pastel stripes or a ridiculous floral
print.
A power rack lasts forever.
A sofa lasts for one spill, and then it's
no good any more.
And besides, you can hang clothes to dry
on your power rack when you're not
training.
You can't do that with a sofa.
So thanks to Gren Elmore for helping our
Dino stay on track -- and thanks to all
the Dinos around the world who are hitting
it hard and providing inspiration and
motivation to far more people than they
will ever know!
If you haven't seen it, here's my Blog
post with the link to Gren Elmore's
amazing deadlift:
http://dinosaurtraining.blogspot.com/2012/08/watch-this-amazing-83-year-old-lifter.html
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. Older lifters can do amazing things if
they train the right way -- which is why I
cover productive and effective training for
older lifters in Gray Hair and Black Iron:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. Many older trainees like to combine
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training with their weight
work.It makes a heck of a combination:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Keep the power
rack. Forget about the sofa." -- Brooks Kubik
Let me cover two things today. First of
all, I wrote a nice article and posted
it on the Dinosaur Training Blog. You
can find it right here:
http://dinosaurtraining.blogspot.com/2012/08/more-training-goals-from-your-fellow.html
Second, I received an email yesterday
from a long-time lifter who's in his
forties and was having trouble staying
with it.
He had just about decided that he was
too old to train any more.
He has a great home gym -- it's in the
living room of his apartment, which is
pretty cool -- and he was thinking about
giving up, selling his equipment, and
doing nothing but cardio (treadmill)
for an hour or two every day.
He said he "wanted his living room
back" so he could put a nice new sofa
where the power rack is.
He actually thought about asking me how
to "de-Dino" -- as in, how to de-tox.
But then I sent out an email with a
link to a YouTube video showing 83-year
old Gren Elmore setting a Master's World
record in the deadlift with a huge pull
of 116 kilos (255 pounds).
And that cured our forty-something Dino.
He suddenly decided he was NOT too old
to train.
He decided to keep his equipment -- and
to keep on hitting it hard and heavy.
So Gren Elmore did more than merely set
a World Record in the deadlift. He also
inspired a man forty years younger to
keep on training.
And it's a darn good thing he did. If
our forty-something Dino had sent me
an email asking how to "de-Dino" I
would have had to drop a dumbbell on
his head.
And if he had sold his power rack to
make room for a new sofa, he would have
been making a big mistake.
A power rack builds strength and muscle.
A sofa builds lard lumps.
A power rack comes in basic black.
A sofa comes in a color like mauve or
sage (or elderberry) -- or in some sort
of pastel stripes or a ridiculous floral
print.
A power rack lasts forever.
A sofa lasts for one spill, and then it's
no good any more.
And besides, you can hang clothes to dry
on your power rack when you're not
training.
You can't do that with a sofa.
So thanks to Gren Elmore for helping our
Dino stay on track -- and thanks to all
the Dinos around the world who are hitting
it hard and providing inspiration and
motivation to far more people than they
will ever know!
If you haven't seen it, here's my Blog
post with the link to Gren Elmore's
amazing deadlift:
http://dinosaurtraining.blogspot.com/2012/08/watch-this-amazing-83-year-old-lifter.html
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. Older lifters can do amazing things if
they train the right way -- which is why I
cover productive and effective training for
older lifters in Gray Hair and Black Iron:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. Many older trainees like to combine
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training with their weight
work.It makes a heck of a combination:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Keep the power
rack. Forget about the sofa." -- Brooks Kubik
More Training Goals from Your Fellow Dinosaurs!
Hail
to the Dinosaurs!
We’re
getting tons of great feedback from the Dinos about their current training
goals. These are pretty interesting – as well as inspiring and impressive. Your
fellows Dinos have been kicking you know what and taking names – and making
some great gains.
I’ll
post some of the responses today – and post more tomorrow. Enjoy them – and
remember, when you run with the Dinos, you run with some seriously impressive,
hard-training strength and muscle monsters!
1.
GREAT PROGRESS AND MUCH MORE TO COME!
“G'Day
Brooks,
I'm a 41 year old 90 kg (198 pounds) Dinosaur with a dicky back. I've only been training for about 7-8 years, and before I found and read Dinosaur Training I was a 70 kg (154 pound) fool with no idea of how to train.
I was:
I'm a 41 year old 90 kg (198 pounds) Dinosaur with a dicky back. I've only been training for about 7-8 years, and before I found and read Dinosaur Training I was a 70 kg (154 pound) fool with no idea of how to train.
I was:
1. Unable
to bench press 50 kg (110 pounds)
2. Unable to shoulder press a curtain rod
3. Unable to curl a can of beer, and
4. Unable to deadlift.
But thanks to you, things are different. I've now got my goals set out and they are above the fridge where I see them every day:
1. 1 set x 20 reps x 115 kg (252 pounds) bench with a 75 mm bar
2. 1 set x 20 reps x 160 kg (352 pounds) Trap Bar deadlift
3. 1 set x 20 reps x 100 kg (220 pounds) shoulder press with a 75 mm bar
4. 1 set x 20 reps x 90 kg (198 pounds) curls using a 75 mm bar
5. Staying around the 90 to 95 kg (198 to 209 pounds) bodyweight mark.
Am not there yet but getting closer and am hoping my age and late start to
training doesn't beat me before I get there.
Keep up the good work.
M. F.
Australian
Dino”
2. A
SIMPLE AND LONG TERM TRAINING GOAL!
“My
goals are fairly simple and long term: to keep working with as heavy a
weight as I can for as long as I can. I've been a gym rat for 14 years and
have no plan of stopping unless health interferes. At a quite fit
and healthy 36-years-old (nobody believes I'm that old. – ha, ha!) and
working out Dino-style 3 days a week now, I have to think of what I want to
look like at 40 . . . 45 . . . .50
. . . and 50-plus. That’s enough to keep me going strong. I
couldn't see living any other way. Weightlifting changed my life and
hopefully will continue to do so.
H.D.”
3. HE BECAME A STRONG MAN COMPETITOR!
“Since
I began reading Dinosaur Training and training Dino style in January 2011, I have
gotten stronger and bigger than ever before. I had always had a fascination
with the world's strongest man competitions, but thought I couldn't do it. But,
since I have been Dino training, I wanted to enter a competition and I competed
in my first competition on July 28th! I placed 4th in my weight class. I didn't
win, but I did compete! Next goal is to place 1st! Thanks for the tools and
motivation to get there!
D. J.”
D. J.”
4.
CHASING A WORLD RECORD!
“One
of my goals is to set a world record someday!
Thanks to your research, I have the opportunity to set an open class world record with the IAWA/USAWA in the left handed snatch with a dumbbell!
Another goal is to push press a 160-pound dumbbell, using an adjustable DB bar with a 2" thick, rotating handle. I have recently hit a PB of 141.5 pounds!
Thanks to your research, I have the opportunity to set an open class world record with the IAWA/USAWA in the left handed snatch with a dumbbell!
Another goal is to push press a 160-pound dumbbell, using an adjustable DB bar with a 2" thick, rotating handle. I have recently hit a PB of 141.5 pounds!
J.B.”
5.
BODYWEIGHT X 100 REPS!
“My
current short-term goal is lifting my bodyweight (80 kg – 176 pounds) for 100
reps in one set at stiff-legged deadlift, with a rounded-back style, to condition
my entire back for better performance at wrestling.
I have been working on it for a month now and I am progressing very well. Last week did 45 kg for 100 reps under 5 minutes. Can't wait to hit 50 kg this week.
I have been working on it for a month now and I am progressing very well. Last week did 45 kg for 100 reps under 5 minutes. Can't wait to hit 50 kg this week.
Wrestling
Dino”
6.
ITALIAN DINO CHASES SOME HEAVY IRON!
“My
goals are:
1. 150
kg (330 pounds) in bench press
2. 180 kg (396 pounds) in full squat
3. 250 kg (550 pounds) in deadlift
4. 130 kg (286 pounds) in overhead press
5. 60 kg (132 pounds) in one arm dumbbell clean and push press
6. 60 kg (132 pounds) in dumbbell swings
That's all, thanks Brooks!
Italian
Dino”
7.
AUSTRALIAN DINO PACKS ON SOME MAJOR MUSCLE MASS – AND WANTS MORE!
This
year’s goals, for 2012, is to reach 250 pounds, with 18" arms. I am within
reach of both goals, at 248 pounds and 17 3/4". As always, progressive workouts on
a simple, basics focused routine will get me where I want to go. After all, it's got
me this far over the years.
reach of both goals, at 248 pounds and 17 3/4". As always, progressive workouts on
a simple, basics focused routine will get me where I want to go. After all, it's got
me this far over the years.
Australian
Dino”
8. A
HEAVY DUMBBELL GOAL!
My
lifting goal is:
100 lb. dumbbell clean and press 5 x 5 each arm by Dec 31 2012.
I'm currently at 67.5 lbs so the timeline is pretty ambitious given the progression I'm using. I may make the deadline, or I may not -- but I *will* make the lift. I'm having a lot of fun working toward it.
D.D.”
100 lb. dumbbell clean and press 5 x 5 each arm by Dec 31 2012.
I'm currently at 67.5 lbs so the timeline is pretty ambitious given the progression I'm using. I may make the deadline, or I may not -- but I *will* make the lift. I'm having a lot of fun working toward it.
D.D.”
Those
are all great goals – and they show us several very important things:
1.
Dinosaur Training works.
2.
Dinosaur Training is fun.
3.
Setting a challenging and demanding goal makes you work harder and heaver – and
makes your workouts a heck of a lot more fun!
4. Dinos are mentally tough. When they set goals, they don’t
kid around. They CHALLENGE themselves.
5. Dinos nail
themselves to their goals with grim determination – and they keep on working
until they achieve them!
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. You can find Dinosaur
Training: Lost Secrets of Strength and Development and my other books and
courses – and DVD’s – right here at Dino Headquarters:
P.S. 2. This one is new – we’re still in the middle of our
big pre-publication special, but the little monster is going to be GREAT:
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: “One of the secrets is to
challenge yourself. Set high goals – and work to achieve them!” – Brooks Kubik
Wish Me Luck!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Wish me luck! I'll tell you why in a
minute, but first, before I forget,
today is Jim Schmitz's birthday. So
please join me in wishing Happy
Birthday to one of the top weight-
lifting coaches of all time!
Jim is also one of the nicest men
in the Iron Game. He lives in San
Francisco, and if you ever get out
there, look him up and train at his
gym!
Now, about the wish me luck thing.
As you probably know, we're in the
middle of a pre-publication special
for my new book, Dinosaur Dumbbell
Training. If all goes well, the little
monster will be printed and ready to
ship right around the end of August
or in early September. So if you
reserved a copy, it won't be much
longer.
In the meantime, I've had tons of
Dinos ask for a DVD to go with the
book. So I decided to do one -- and
filming begins today.
There are over 100 dumbbell exercises
in the new book, and I plan to cover
all or most of them in the DVD. So
that's going to be a lot of work.
In addition, I thought you'd enjoy
seeing some heavy lifting -- so after
I finish demonstrating the different
exercises, I'm going to load things
up and do some heavy stuff for you.
I'll actually try to beat one or
two IAWA World Records in some of
my favorite dumbbell lifts -- and
if I do, you'll be able to see it
on the DVD. (And yes, I think that
will give you a great big dose of
Dino-riffic motivation and
inspiration -- enough to set a
ton or two of PR's!)
Next week, we'll put a sales page up
for the DVD, so you can add it to your
order for the book. That way, we can
ship them together and there won't be
any additional shipping charge.
So it's going to be a busy couple of
days here at Dino HQ -- with plenty of
chalk, sweat and heavy iron. Wish me
luck!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik,
P.S. Go here to reserve your copy of
Dinosaur Dumbbell Training -- and be
watching for more info about the DVD:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "If there
was no such thing as weightlifting, we'd
have to invent it." -- Brooks Kubik
Wish me luck! I'll tell you why in a
minute, but first, before I forget,
today is Jim Schmitz's birthday. So
please join me in wishing Happy
Birthday to one of the top weight-
lifting coaches of all time!
Jim is also one of the nicest men
in the Iron Game. He lives in San
Francisco, and if you ever get out
there, look him up and train at his
gym!
Now, about the wish me luck thing.
As you probably know, we're in the
middle of a pre-publication special
for my new book, Dinosaur Dumbbell
Training. If all goes well, the little
monster will be printed and ready to
ship right around the end of August
or in early September. So if you
reserved a copy, it won't be much
longer.
In the meantime, I've had tons of
Dinos ask for a DVD to go with the
book. So I decided to do one -- and
filming begins today.
There are over 100 dumbbell exercises
in the new book, and I plan to cover
all or most of them in the DVD. So
that's going to be a lot of work.
In addition, I thought you'd enjoy
seeing some heavy lifting -- so after
I finish demonstrating the different
exercises, I'm going to load things
up and do some heavy stuff for you.
I'll actually try to beat one or
two IAWA World Records in some of
my favorite dumbbell lifts -- and
if I do, you'll be able to see it
on the DVD. (And yes, I think that
will give you a great big dose of
Dino-riffic motivation and
inspiration -- enough to set a
ton or two of PR's!)
Next week, we'll put a sales page up
for the DVD, so you can add it to your
order for the book. That way, we can
ship them together and there won't be
any additional shipping charge.
So it's going to be a busy couple of
days here at Dino HQ -- with plenty of
chalk, sweat and heavy iron. Wish me
luck!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik,
P.S. Go here to reserve your copy of
Dinosaur Dumbbell Training -- and be
watching for more info about the DVD:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "If there
was no such thing as weightlifting, we'd
have to invent it." -- Brooks Kubik
Some Serious Training Goals!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I've rec'd a ton of responses from Dinos
who are sharing their personal training
and lifting goals -- and we have some
great ones.
For example, check these out:
Hi Brooks,
Goal setting is indeed important -
without goals motivation rarely
seems to be high enough for staying
in the game for very long.
Currently, I'm on my way to accomplishing
these long term goals:
1. One arm pullup on gymnastic rings
2. One arm pushup on gymnastic rings
3. Performing 20 reps on the Trap Bar
deadlift with 350 pounds.
4. Keeping my bodyweight at a lean and
muscular 210 lbs.
Stay safe and keep up the great work,
Mystery Dino
From Parts Unknown"
Now, those are pretty good goals. A one
arm pullup by a 210 pound man is pretty
darn good -- and ditto for the one arm
pushup on rings -- if he can do 20 reps
in the Trap Bar deadlift with 350, it
means he's not all upper body and no
legs, so that makes it all the more
impressive.
Plus, the goal of performing a one arm
pullup ties in perfectly with the goal
of maintaining a lean, hard 210 pound
bodyweight -- because you don't want to
weigh a ton and a half if you're going
to try one arm pullups.
BTW, this particular Dino is a small-boned
hardgainer. He struggled long and hard to
make progress, and tried a lot of different
things. He finally settled on a combination
of Trap Bar deadlifts, Dino-style dumbbell
training, kettlebells and Dino-style
bodyweight training -- and he made great
gains! He suggests that any other hardgainers
try a similar program.
More to come -- be looking for it!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Go here to reserve your copy of my new
book, Dinosaur Dumbbell training, during our
big pre-publication special:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 2. You can find Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
P.S. 3. Go here to find my other Dinosaur
Training books and courses (and DVD's):
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "A man's reach
should exceed his grasp, or what's a workout
for?" -- Brooks Kubik (with apologies to
Robert Browning)
I've rec'd a ton of responses from Dinos
who are sharing their personal training
and lifting goals -- and we have some
great ones.
For example, check these out:
Hi Brooks,
Goal setting is indeed important -
without goals motivation rarely
seems to be high enough for staying
in the game for very long.
Currently, I'm on my way to accomplishing
these long term goals:
1. One arm pullup on gymnastic rings
2. One arm pushup on gymnastic rings
3. Performing 20 reps on the Trap Bar
deadlift with 350 pounds.
4. Keeping my bodyweight at a lean and
muscular 210 lbs.
Stay safe and keep up the great work,
Mystery Dino
From Parts Unknown"
Now, those are pretty good goals. A one
arm pullup by a 210 pound man is pretty
darn good -- and ditto for the one arm
pushup on rings -- if he can do 20 reps
in the Trap Bar deadlift with 350, it
means he's not all upper body and no
legs, so that makes it all the more
impressive.
Plus, the goal of performing a one arm
pullup ties in perfectly with the goal
of maintaining a lean, hard 210 pound
bodyweight -- because you don't want to
weigh a ton and a half if you're going
to try one arm pullups.
BTW, this particular Dino is a small-boned
hardgainer. He struggled long and hard to
make progress, and tried a lot of different
things. He finally settled on a combination
of Trap Bar deadlifts, Dino-style dumbbell
training, kettlebells and Dino-style
bodyweight training -- and he made great
gains! He suggests that any other hardgainers
try a similar program.
More to come -- be looking for it!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Go here to reserve your copy of my new
book, Dinosaur Dumbbell training, during our
big pre-publication special:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 2. You can find Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
P.S. 3. Go here to find my other Dinosaur
Training books and courses (and DVD's):
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "A man's reach
should exceed his grasp, or what's a workout
for?" -- Brooks Kubik (with apologies to
Robert Browning)
Dinosaur Mindpower -- Goal Setting!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Training goals are what keep you going.
They're what make strength training so
much fun.
You set a goal, and you work diligently
to achieve it. And if you train the right
way -- the Dino way -- you'll make steady
progress toward your goal.
It works best to set very specific goals,
and to make them performance specific so
that you can measure your progress over
time.
For example, a goal of "I want to get
stronger" is too general. What does it
mean? How do you know when you've
achieved your goal?
It's much better to set a goal that
involves weight or reps.
For example:
1. Hitting 300/400/500 -- meaning a 300
pound bench press, 400 pound squat, and
500 pound deadlift.
2. Clean and pressing your own bodyweight.
3. Lifting 250 pounds overhead.
4. Performing 10 reps in the squat with
300 pounds -- or performing 20 reps in the
squat with 300 pounds.
5. Lifting a 200 pound sandbag or barrel
overhead.
And so on.
Of course, once you achieve your goal, you
set another one. That's how it works. You
always keep tackling new challenges. They're
good for you. They motivate you. They make
you train harder. They make you GROW!
Other goals can be related to doing things,
entering contests, winning championships or
setting records.
For example:
1. I want to enter a weightlifting contest.
2. I want to lift in the state powerlifting
championships.
3. I want to win the state powerlifting
championships.
4. I want to compete in a strongman contest.
5. I want to set a state record in the
deadlift.
Take it from someone who's been there --
these kinds of goals can send your training
intensity through the roof.
There's nothing like knowing you're going
to be putting it on the line for the entire
world to see to make you train harder than
ever before.
So keep setting your goals. Set them high.
Not impossibly high -- you don't want pie
in the sky silliness, you want something
that is realistic -- but make them high
enough to challenge you. The challenge
is what unleashes your inner warrior.
Shoot me an email and let me know what
your goals are -- and I'll share them
in a follow-up email later in the week.
I won't post names -- just the goals
themselves.
Remember -- keep your goals short, clear
and specific.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. I once set a goal of winning a National
championship in the bench press -- in the
submaster's weight class -- in drug-free
powerlifting competition. And guess what? I
made it -- not once, but five times. You
can learn how I did it in Dinosaur Training
and Strength, Muscle and Power:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses are at
the usual place:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Go here to reserve your copy of my
new book, Dinosaur Dumbbell Training, during our
big pre-publication special:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "The simple act
of setting a challenging goal makes you train
harder. Goals make you stronger." -- Brooks
Kubik
Training goals are what keep you going.
They're what make strength training so
much fun.
You set a goal, and you work diligently
to achieve it. And if you train the right
way -- the Dino way -- you'll make steady
progress toward your goal.
It works best to set very specific goals,
and to make them performance specific so
that you can measure your progress over
time.
For example, a goal of "I want to get
stronger" is too general. What does it
mean? How do you know when you've
achieved your goal?
It's much better to set a goal that
involves weight or reps.
For example:
1. Hitting 300/400/500 -- meaning a 300
pound bench press, 400 pound squat, and
500 pound deadlift.
2. Clean and pressing your own bodyweight.
3. Lifting 250 pounds overhead.
4. Performing 10 reps in the squat with
300 pounds -- or performing 20 reps in the
squat with 300 pounds.
5. Lifting a 200 pound sandbag or barrel
overhead.
And so on.
Of course, once you achieve your goal, you
set another one. That's how it works. You
always keep tackling new challenges. They're
good for you. They motivate you. They make
you train harder. They make you GROW!
Other goals can be related to doing things,
entering contests, winning championships or
setting records.
For example:
1. I want to enter a weightlifting contest.
2. I want to lift in the state powerlifting
championships.
3. I want to win the state powerlifting
championships.
4. I want to compete in a strongman contest.
5. I want to set a state record in the
deadlift.
Take it from someone who's been there --
these kinds of goals can send your training
intensity through the roof.
There's nothing like knowing you're going
to be putting it on the line for the entire
world to see to make you train harder than
ever before.
So keep setting your goals. Set them high.
Not impossibly high -- you don't want pie
in the sky silliness, you want something
that is realistic -- but make them high
enough to challenge you. The challenge
is what unleashes your inner warrior.
Shoot me an email and let me know what
your goals are -- and I'll share them
in a follow-up email later in the week.
I won't post names -- just the goals
themselves.
Remember -- keep your goals short, clear
and specific.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. I once set a goal of winning a National
championship in the bench press -- in the
submaster's weight class -- in drug-free
powerlifting competition. And guess what? I
made it -- not once, but five times. You
can learn how I did it in Dinosaur Training
and Strength, Muscle and Power:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses are at
the usual place:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Go here to reserve your copy of my
new book, Dinosaur Dumbbell Training, during our
big pre-publication special:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "The simple act
of setting a challenging goal makes you train
harder. Goals make you stronger." -- Brooks
Kubik
Watch this Amazing 83-Year Old Lifter!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
It's time for a little bit of
motivation and inspiration!
The following link comes to you
courtesy of a hard-charging, hard-
training Dino named Tony Szajer.
It shows Gren Elmore setting an
age-group World Record in Master's
powerlifting - at 83 years of age!
Gren pulls a 116 kilo deadlift. For
those who prefer pounds, that's 255
of them.
And no, that's not a typo. Gren is
eighty-three!
Take a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kghhyTrg_2M
A world record at 83 -- kinda sounds
like NO EXCUSES TIME, doesn't it?
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. With the right kind of training,
you can stay strong for a long, long
time -- but it has to be the right kind
of training. I cover this in detail in
Gray Hair and Black Iron. if you're an
older lifter, or you plan to be one
someday, grab a copy:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the day: "Whatever
your age, keep on training!"-- Brooks Kubik
It's time for a little bit of
motivation and inspiration!
The following link comes to you
courtesy of a hard-charging, hard-
training Dino named Tony Szajer.
It shows Gren Elmore setting an
age-group World Record in Master's
powerlifting - at 83 years of age!
Gren pulls a 116 kilo deadlift. For
those who prefer pounds, that's 255
of them.
And no, that's not a typo. Gren is
eighty-three!
Take a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kghhyTrg_2M
A world record at 83 -- kinda sounds
like NO EXCUSES TIME, doesn't it?
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. With the right kind of training,
you can stay strong for a long, long
time -- but it has to be the right kind
of training. I cover this in detail in
Gray Hair and Black Iron. if you're an
older lifter, or you plan to be one
someday, grab a copy:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the day: "Whatever
your age, keep on training!"-- Brooks Kubik
Another Way to Smash Through a Sticking Point!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Yesterday we talked about several
ways to break through a sticking
point. One of them was to change
your sets and reps.
Another approach is to change your
exercises.
But once again -- do NOT change
from a basic, compound exercise
to a bunny pumper isolation
exercise. Switching from squats
to leg extensions or from presses
to lateral raises is a great way
go nowhere fast!
But changing from one GOOD exercise
to a different GOOD exercise can be
a very effective way to break through
a sticking point.
For example:
1. Switch from back squats to front
squats.
2. Switch from deadlifts to Trap Bar
deadlifts.
3. Switch from power cleans to clean
grip high pulls.
4. Switch from barbell shrugs to the
Hise shrug -- or to dumbbell shrugs --
or to one-hand dumbbell shrugs.
5. Switch from military presses to
alternate dumbbell presses.
6. Switch from the barbell clean and
press to the two-hand dumbbell clean
and press.
7. Barbell bent-over rowing to inverted
rows, pull-ups or one-hand dumbbell
rowing.
8. Power snatches with a barbell to
one-hand dumbbell swings -- or to the
two-hand dumbbell clean with a pair of
dumbbells.
9. Barbell curls to dumbbell curls or
sandbag curls.
10. Grip work with grippers to pinch
grip lifting, thick bar overhand
deadlifts, or the farmer's walk.
11. Regular pull-ups to the super
demanding pull-up variations in
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training, such
as towel or rope pull-ups.
12. Bench presses to dumbbell bench
presses, bottom position bench
presses in the power rack, incline
presses, incline dumbbell presses or
the advanced pushup variations in
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training.
I could keep going for a long time.
There are plenty of great exercises
out there, and sometimes, making some
intelligent changes in your exercise
selection is the very best thing you
can do.
By the way, that's one of the reasons
I wrote Dinosaur Bodyweight Training,
and one of the reasons why I wrote
Dinosaur Dumbbell Training. Exercises
are tools for building strength and
muscle. You want to be sure you have
all the tools you need to do the job.
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. Go here to grab Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
P.S. 2. We're in the middle of our big
pre-publication special for my new book,
Dinosaur Dumbbell Training. Go here to
reserve your copy of the book and the
pre-publication bonus:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 3. My other books and courses are
right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "Change is
good, but only if you keep things real."
-- Brooks Kubik
Yesterday we talked about several
ways to break through a sticking
point. One of them was to change
your sets and reps.
Another approach is to change your
exercises.
But once again -- do NOT change
from a basic, compound exercise
to a bunny pumper isolation
exercise. Switching from squats
to leg extensions or from presses
to lateral raises is a great way
go nowhere fast!
But changing from one GOOD exercise
to a different GOOD exercise can be
a very effective way to break through
a sticking point.
For example:
1. Switch from back squats to front
squats.
2. Switch from deadlifts to Trap Bar
deadlifts.
3. Switch from power cleans to clean
grip high pulls.
4. Switch from barbell shrugs to the
Hise shrug -- or to dumbbell shrugs --
or to one-hand dumbbell shrugs.
5. Switch from military presses to
alternate dumbbell presses.
6. Switch from the barbell clean and
press to the two-hand dumbbell clean
and press.
7. Barbell bent-over rowing to inverted
rows, pull-ups or one-hand dumbbell
rowing.
8. Power snatches with a barbell to
one-hand dumbbell swings -- or to the
two-hand dumbbell clean with a pair of
dumbbells.
9. Barbell curls to dumbbell curls or
sandbag curls.
10. Grip work with grippers to pinch
grip lifting, thick bar overhand
deadlifts, or the farmer's walk.
11. Regular pull-ups to the super
demanding pull-up variations in
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training, such
as towel or rope pull-ups.
12. Bench presses to dumbbell bench
presses, bottom position bench
presses in the power rack, incline
presses, incline dumbbell presses or
the advanced pushup variations in
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training.
I could keep going for a long time.
There are plenty of great exercises
out there, and sometimes, making some
intelligent changes in your exercise
selection is the very best thing you
can do.
By the way, that's one of the reasons
I wrote Dinosaur Bodyweight Training,
and one of the reasons why I wrote
Dinosaur Dumbbell Training. Exercises
are tools for building strength and
muscle. You want to be sure you have
all the tools you need to do the job.
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. Go here to grab Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
P.S. 2. We're in the middle of our big
pre-publication special for my new book,
Dinosaur Dumbbell Training. Go here to
reserve your copy of the book and the
pre-publication bonus:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 3. My other books and courses are
right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "Change is
good, but only if you keep things real."
-- Brooks Kubik
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