Dinosaur Q and A Time!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I had an email from a Dino named Jonas,
who asked a training question -- and I
thought I'd share it with you --- along
with my answer.

Here's the question:

"Brooks,

What you think of this workout?

Mon

1. Military press
2. Deadlift
3. Dips
4. Pull up
5. Barbell curls

Wed

1. Squat
2. Barbell row
3. Skull crusher
4. Farmers walk

Fri

1. Front squat
2. Bench press
3. Gut work
4. Neck work
5. Grip work

I do 5x5 for Monday and Wednesday and do 3x8 for
Friday. I sprinkle in cardio work 2 times a week.
I am wondering if this works?

I used do only 2 days a week using the Mon and Wed
workouts on Sun and Thurs, but I decided more work
might lead to better gains. I am turning 31 this
July and have seen good gains on working out 2
days a week but plateaued for the last month or
so.

Thanks for the emails, they are very inspiring.
Keep up the good work. By the way, do you sell
t-shirts?

Jonas"

Hi Jonas,

Thanks for your email and your kind words about
the daily emails. To answer your last question
first, yes, we sell t-shirts. See the link below.

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

As far as your workout goes, it may be a bit much
for you, depending on how heavy you go and how
much/how hard you hit the cardio on your "off"
days. Also, the kind of cardio you do makes a
difference. If you're doing something that works
your legs hard, such as cycling, stair-stepping
or running/jogging, then that will definitely
detract from your squats and deadlifts.

I cover cardio training for Iron Heads in Gray
Hair and Black Iron -- check it out. It will give
you some good ideas on your cardio training.

Gray Hair and Black Iron will also cover some
exercises I don't like -- such as dips and skull
crushers. Dips put enormous pressure on your
shoulders, and many guys who do them (even if
they do them in excellent form) hurt themselves
on them sooner or later. And skull-crushers are
murder on the elbows. I'd use close grip benches
and drop both the dips and the skull-crushers.

But back to the key issue -- that you made good
gains on 2x per week, switched to 3x per week
plus 2 days of cardio, did good for awhile but
then hit a plateau.

Try this -- keep the 3 workouts as they are but
lift 2x per week, and do cardio 2x per week.

Do workouts 1 and 2 in week 1, workouts 3 and 1 in
week 2, and workouts 2 and 3 in week 3. Start over
again in week 1.

This ought to get you gaining again. Give it a
try and report back in 6 - 8 weeks.

To everyone -- 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 grab Gray Hair and Black Iron
right here:

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

P.S. 2 Don't forget those Dino t-shirts!

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

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Think first, then act.
You need to do both." -- Brooks Kubik