Hail to the Dinosaurs!
When I was a kid, all the coaches
used cardio training as a form of
punishment.
They called it "running laps." When
a coach was mad at you, you ran laps.
If he was real mad, you ran many
laps.
The freshman football coach was
the worst. If the team lost a
game, he made all the players
honorary members of the Thousand
Yard Club.
The Thousand Yard Club was twenty
50 yard sprints in full football
gear, with hardly any rest between
sprints. It was brutal. They needed
to keep plenty of puke buckets handy
on the day we did it.
If you lost another game, the coach
added two additional 50 yard sprints.
The freshman team was TERRIBLE my
year. We lost 8 games and tied one.
By the end of the season the Thousand
Yard Club had morphed into the 1800
Yard Club.
The whole thing was self-defeating,
because that many sprints just wore
legs out, and we were stiff and sore
and tired and slow on game day. It
would have been a lot better to have
made us run some sprints, and then
stopped and called it a day. Our
recovery would have been better,
and we would have played better.
And that's the problem with cardio
training for Iron Heads. You need
to do enough cardio -- but not too
much. And you need to do the right
kind of cardio.
So here are some ideas:
1. Dumbbell swings, cleans and
snatches, as described in Dinosaur
Dumbbell Training. Sets of five will
get your heart and lungs working big
time.
2. Lugging and loading drills, as
described in Gray Hair and Black
Iron. These are great -- they're
lots of fun, and they involve
lugging, lifting, loading and
carrying heavy stuff -- which
is PERFECT for Dinos. Kudos to
Dr. Ken for this idea.
3. Finishers, as described in
Strength, Muscle and Power. These
are like number two, but you go
harder and heavier.
4. PHA training, where you combine
five or six different exercises for
different parts of the body and
perform one set of each back to
back with no rest. Let's you use
basic barbell and dumbbell (or
kettlebell or sandbag) exercises
for a great cardio workout. See
Gray Hair and Black Iron for
details and for routines.
5. Bodyweight training where you
do medium to high reps and focus
on conditioning. Or -- one of my
personal favorites -- supersetting
two advanced bodyweight exercises
for low to medium reps and doing
five to ten sets of each. Builds
strength, builds muscle and gives
you a great cardio workout all in
one.
6. Death sets, as described in
Dinosaur Training. Those 20 rep
sets of squats and deadlifts will
work your heart and lungs like
you won't believe.
As with anything else, you start
easy and build up gradually and
more progressively to harder
training. Do NOT go out and jump
into full bore cardio training.
(That's especially important for
older trainees and for heavier
trainees.)
Or -- you could go run laps or sign
up for the Thousand Yard Club. But
trust me, that's not nearly as much
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. You can find the various books
mentioned in this email right here
at Dino Headquarters:
1. Dinosaur Dumbbell Training (currently
at the printer, and out very soon):
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
2. Gray Hair and Black Iron
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
3. Strength, Muscle and Power
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
4. Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "The air we breathe
is life itself, and so is the iron we lift."
-- Brooks Kubik
