For Great Gains, Do This!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

If you're wondering whether Dino-style
abbreviated training works, consider
the case of Ralph Bristow. I spotted
this in an old magazine from the
1940's.

He was thin and sickly. At age 20,
tried a program of walking and
swimming. It made him a little
stronger, but he was still a bag
of bones.

Tried more swimming, canoeing and
free hand exercises. Got little or
no results.

Tried chest expanders. Built a
little bit of muscle.

Swam, canoed, joined a gym, used
chest expanders and did gymnastics
on the parallel bars and horizontal
bars. Built his arms all the way up
a mighty 12 1/2 inches.

Got his first barbell, found he was
able to press 92 pounds, and gradually
increased his press to 118 pounds.

Hit a sticking point and could not
gain at all for one year. His press
dropped to 110 pounds, although he
learned how to do the clean and jerk
and was able to handle 150 pounds.

(Here comes the important part -- pay
attention!)

He wrote:

"I went on program after program of
about a dozen exercises from three to
five times per week, using all the
weight I could handle for between 8
and 12 repetitions, but without any
results whatsoever."

After more than one year of no gains,
he went on the following program:

1. Press 3 x 5

2. Deep knee bend 3 x 5

3. Rowing exercise 3 x 5

4. Press on back 3 x 5

In just one month, he gained one inch on
each arm and three inches on his chest --
and his press went up to 135 pounds --
and his clean and jerk went up to 150
pounds. That's  again of 25 pounds on
his press and 50 pounds on his clean
and jerk -- in one month of abbreviated
training.

How about YOU?

Are you gaining -- or standing still --
or perhaps even going backward?

Maybe it's time to do what Ralph Bristow
did.

Maybe it's time to shorten your program,
cut back to the basics -- and GAIN!

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 cover abbreviated training in all of
my books and courses, including:

1. Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength
and Development

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html

2. Gray Hair and Black Iron

http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html

3. Chalk and Sweat

http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html

4. Dinosaur Dumbbell Training

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html

5. Strength, Muscle and Power

http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.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: "Stick to the basics,
but master them!" -- Brooks Kubik

Hold Onto the Magic!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I started training when I was 9 years
old.

I'm 56 now -- so that's a lot of years
of training.

And over the years, you tend to learn
a thing or two.

The best exercises, the best training
programs, the best sets and the best
reps.

The importance of concentration, focus,
visualization and all the other mental
aspects of the Iron Game.

But here's one that takes awhile to
figure out.

Keep it fresh. Keep it new. Keep
it fun. Keep it exciting. Hold onto
the magic.

Here's what I mean.

Do you remember the first time you saw
a barbell?

The first time you saw an Olympic
barbell with those enormous 45 pound
black iron plates on each end?

The first time you set foot in a school
weight room or a serious, old school,
heavy iron gym?

Your first power rack?

Your first lifting competition?

Those are important memories. They're
part of what got your started on the
road to might and muscle -- and they're
part of what keeps you at it, even if
it's (as in my case) nearly half a
century later.

Yes, you need to be serious when you
train.

Yes, you need to train hard.

Yes, you need to make it a regular part
of your life.

But most of all, you need to make it
fun -- and exciting -- and fresh -- and
new. You need to hold onto the magic.

You need to approach your workouts with
the same sense of wonder and the same
sense of awe you felt when you saw your
very first barbell.

Hold onto the magic.

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 one to help the older lifters
keep the magic -- and the muscle:

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: "Barbells are magic.
Grab one and see for yourself." -- Brooks Kubik

Why I'm Not Watching the 2016 Olympics

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

For much of my life, I lived in
the power rack.

But before that, I lived on the
wrestling mat.

I was a high school wrestler, and
a good one. I even won a state
championship in Greco-Roman
wrestling.

Wrestling is the oldest sport -- and
a great sport.

It builds men.

It's arguably the toughest and most
demanding of all sports.

It's also cheap to do. Even small
schools can field a great wrestling
team -- and small countries can field
great wrestlers in international
competition.

Which is why the decision of the IOC
(announced yesterday) to drop wrestling
from the Olympic Games is absolutely
ridiculous.

Apparently, the sport doesn't bring in
top television ratings -- so they're
dropping it-- and just like that, the
oldest sport in the Olympic Games is
gone.

I suppose they'll replace it with two-man
pogo stick races, popsicle tossing, or
synchronized basket weaving.

And that makes my decision an easy one. No
more Olympics. They can have them -- but
I'm not watching 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. My Dinosaur Training books and courses are
right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "It's not about
the audience, it's about the athletes -- or
should be." -- Brooks Kubik

The One Buck Challenge!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Someone asked me about my powerlifting
career and my law career -- as in, "Did
your powerlifting help or hurt your legal
career?"

The question came from a law student who's
also a powerlifter, so you can see that he
would have been interested in the answer.

So I had to tell him the truth.

I won five national championships in bench
press competitions -- and set a dozen
or so American, National Meet or even
World records in the bench press -- and
won a bunch of state and regional power-
lifting and bench press comps.

And none of that did anything to help my
legal career.

If I had played tennis -- look out.

Or gold -- look out.

Or even if I had run marathons -- or
swam -- or done tri-athalons -- look
out.

If I had won even ONE national championship
in basketball or football -- look out.

If I had been a five time national champion
in any "popular" sport, everyone in town
would have wanted me to do their legal
work.

But a five time national champion in the
bench press -- who cares?

That's what weightlifters and powerlifters
and strength athletes have faced from day
one -- and it's what they still face.

We get no respect -- no interest --
no Wheaties boxes -- no endorsement
contracts -- and no money.

So here's what I want you to do.

I want you to do.

I want you go to the nearest gym, and find
their bulletin board, and pin one dollar onto
the bulletin board.

Include a note that says:

"If you win a National championship in any
strength sport, this is yours."

We'll call it the One Buck Challenge.

Give it a year or two, and see what happens.

You may not have anyone who ever collects --
or you may have ONE LIFTER in the history of
lifting who makes a buck off of being number
one in the entire United States (or wherever
you live).

Not that I'm complaining. I never got rich --
and I never will -- but I have the Dinos --
and the Dinos are solid gold.

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. If you're wondering about how I
Trained to win those National Championships,
grab these books:

1. Dinosaur Training

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html

2. Strength, Muscle and Power

http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html

P.S. 2. My other books and courses -- and DVD's --
are right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Winning is something
you do for yourself, not for other people."
-- Brooks Kubik

Long Term Training for Real Results!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

In the modern internet world, we all
expect instant everything.

Instant messaging instant access and
instant results.

That's fine for the tech stuff -- but
it's not so fine for strength training.

You see, good results from strength
training take time.

Let me repeat that.

Good results from strength training take
time.

Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was
any strong man.

Forget about the 30 day transformations,
six weeks to massive muscles, or 90 day
make-overs.

Focus on putting in one solid year of
training and gaining.

After that, repeat the process.

Then repeat it again.

A few years of the right kind of training
will work wonders.

That's not very much time -- but it's not
a couple of days or a couple of weeks.

So go ahead and do the instant messaging --
but forget about the instant training. Focus
on long term training. Give it some time.
And when you do, you won't believe the
results.

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. My books and courses will teach you
how to train for long term gains -- and
they'll keep you motivated for many years
of hard work and heavy iron:

http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Squats build
everything, and they build character most
of all."  

The Most Important Word

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

The most important word in yesterday's
email was the one that many of you
missed.

It was: RATIONAL.

I wrote:

"Rational experimentation is the only way
to find what works best for you."

In response, many readers thought I was
saying that ANY program works if you just
work hard at it -- or that you should try
the latest and greatest from this month's
issue of Muscles for Morons and see how
it works.

Wrong, wrong, and double wrong.

Rational experimentation means you change
ONE thing that you are doing and you make
the change in the context of Dino-style,
abbreviated workouts.

It doesn't mean you go from 3 x 6 or 5 x 5
57 sets of 20,0000 reps just because some
idiot writing articles for the muscle comics
said that was how to build 37 inch upper
arms.

Here are some examples of RATIONAL
experimentation:

1. Instead of 5 x 5 with three work sets,
try 5 x 5 with two workout sets.

2. Instead of 5 x 5 with two work sets, try
5 x 5 with one work set.

3. Try a cycle of front squats instead of
back squats.

4. Try Trap Bar deadlifts instead of
regular deadlifts.

5. Dumbbell presses instead of military
presses.

6. A program of heavy rack work.

7. Cardio on day one, rest one day two,
weights on day three, and so one.

8. Two workouts per week instead of three.

9. Pull-ups instead of rowing -- or
vice-versa.

10. Rest-pause training.

11. Heavy singles.

12. Combining Dino-style barbell and
dumbbell workouts with Dino-style
bodyweight training.

I am NOT suggesting that you drop your
hard, heavy, serious, real world, no
nonsense training and jump into some
idiot program of bombing, blasting,
blitzing, pumping, shaping, toning,
repping, schlepping, volume, neuro-bio
pseudo-budo monkey-minkey let it hang
and hope for high water maximum paximum
super triple 90 80 60 40 say it in
triplicate make up a new name and make
it sound like the latest and greatest
and bestest and baddest workout ever
invented.

I'm saying to keep it real -- and
to keep your mind open to different
variations of RATIONAL strength
training.

End of sermon. Train hard and keep it
real.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. If you're an older lifter and you're
looking to keep it real, grab this one:

http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html

P.S. 2. My others books and courses are
right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Work hard, work
smart, get strong." -- Brooks Kubik

The "Will It Work?" Question

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I get a lot of questions asking whether
it's okay to try a particular exercise
or a particular set/rep scheme.

"Will it work?"

"Will it help increase my squat (or
whatever lift the writer is interested
in improving)?"

"Will I over-train?"

My answer is always the same.

"Try it and see."

Rational experimentation is the only way
to find what works best for you.

You have to try different things -- and
you have to watch and see what happens.
That's how you answer the "Will it work?"
question.

And to answer that question, you need to
keep an eye on your weights.

If you're adding five pounds to the squat
bar every week, things are good.

If you change things around, add more sets,
add some other exercises, or start squatting
more (or less) frequently and your gains STOP
or slow down, then you've answered your own
question.

That's the great thing about strength training.

You can tell what works by keeping careful
records and measuring your progress.

If you're making progress, keep on doing what
you're doing.

If you're not making progress, or if your
progress slows down, make some changes.

And that's the answer to the "Will it work?'
question.

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 cover plenty of plateau-busters in
Strength, Muscle and Power -- including rest
pause training and power rack workouts. Plenty
of good, solid ideas to try:

http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.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: "Do what works.
Discard the rest." -- Brooks Kubik

The Dinosaur Thought for the Day!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I always end my daily emails with a
thought for the day -- at the very
end of the email.

Be sure to read them. They're fun.

Anyhow, I get good feedback on them,
so i thought I'd give you a bunch of them
today:

1. Iron rusts, Dinos don't.

2. When Life gives you lemons, do squats.

3. Some people can walk past a gym without
even looking in the window, and others have
a compelling need to go inside and lift
something.

4. The best thing I ever bought was a barbell.
The next best thing was more plates.

5. It takes most guys twenty or thirty years
to figure out how to train -- mainly because
they start out by being brainwashed into
thinking it has to be be complicates.

6. The difference between what you lift today
and what you lift tomorrow is entirely up to
you.

7. If you can't add ten pounds to the bar,
add five pounds. If five pounds is too heavy,
add two pounds -- or one pound. The important
thing is to add weight.

8. Deadlifts.

9. Train serious, but have fun doing it.

10. The difference between success and failure
is a thin sliver of determination.

Food for thought, and I hope you enjoyed
it. Don't forget to see the Thought for
the Day at the end of the email. Yes,
there's one there today -- and every
day.

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. My books and courses -- and DVD's --
and t-shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts --
and the world famous Legacy of Iron
series -- are right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "No one ever
said it would be easy, and if they did say
it, they never did heavy squats."
-- Brooks Kubik

Heavy Squatting, Scottish Style!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

They say that where there's a will, there's
a way.

Kevin Halligan has proved it.

Kevin is one of our many Scottish Dinosaurs.

He couldn't find a gym with the right sort
of vibe -- an all-Dino vibe -- so he set
up shop at home.

Not in his basement.

Not in his garage.

In his backyard.

He has the basics. Barbell, plates and a
heavy0duty power rack.

And he trains outside all year round.

Even in the winter.

I got a note from Kevin earlier today.

He's planning to do one of my favorite
workouts -- Nothing But Squats.

You warm up, get loose, and get the blood
flowing.

Then you do a warm-up set of squats.

Any style. Back squats, front squats,
bottom position squats, whatever.

Add weight and gradually work up to
something heavy.

Sets and reps are up to you.

And that's your whole workout -- Nothing
But Squats.

The beauty is that it allows you to focus
on one thing, and work it into the ground.
And squats are a good thing to focus on.

Now that you know about the Nothing But
Squats workout, let's go back to Kevin.

He's standing outside next to his power
rack.

The bar is loaded for bottom position
squats.

And it's cold. There are gale force winds
in Scotland today. And it's snowing.

And there's our Dinosaur -- bundled up
in several layers -- squatting hard and
heavy in his backyard power rack.

I may have to change the name of the workout.

We'll call it the Nothing But Squats, Gale
Force Winds and a Scottish Winter Workout.

Anyhow, Kevin hit it Dino style -- hard and
heavy -- and he had a great one.

If you train today, do the very same thing.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. You can see other leg specialization
programs in Chalk and Sweat -- including John
Grimek's squat routine. Extra good for packing
on serious 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: "Focus on one
thing at a time and and do it perfectly."
-- Brooks Kubik