Hail to the Dinosaurs!
What we do at Dinosaur Training has
a direct link to Arthur Saxon - and
I'll tell you why.
Roughly 100 years ago, Arthur Saxon
brought his world famous strongman
act to the United States, touring the
country as part of a traveling
circus.
The circus did a show in Cleveland.
A farm boy from north central Ohio
went to see the show.
He saw the elephants - and the lions -
and the tigers - and the giraffes.
He saw the tumblers, the clowns and
the acrobats.
He saw the trapeze artists twist and
turn as they sailed effortlessly thru
the air.
He saw beautiful women in sequined
nothings that sent his adolescent
heart into overdrive.
Al of that was great (especially the
women) - but then he saw something
that changed his entire life.
He saw Arthur Saxon perform his
strongman act.
Saxon, as you know, held the world
record in the bent press - and in
the two hands anyhow. (And amazingly,
he still holds both records - making
them the longest0standing records in
the history of the Iron Game.)
The young man went home, saved his
pennies for a year - and ordered a
barbell from the Milo Barbell Company
in Philadelphia.
It arrived, he started to train, using
the official Milo Barbell Courses -
and before you knew it, he gained 25
pounds of muscle and tons of strength.
He was hooked.
He became a life-long barbell man.
His name was Harry Paschall. He went on
to become one of the most popular writers
in the history of physical culture.
Harry knew the champs. He trained with Sig
Klein, John Grimek and Steve Stanko.
So he knew what really worked - and he
shared that information in his books and
courses, and in his monthly "Behind the
Scenes" column in Strength and Health.
Harry hated the silly stuff - the booby
building, the pumping, the posing, the
preening and the train all day and forget
about a job and a life nonsense that so
many others espoused.
He kept things in the real world. He
advocated three times per week workouts -
hard work on the big exercises - sensible
sets and reps - and workouts that fit into
a normal lifestyle.
Fast forward to the 1960's.
A skinny kid from Brooklyn starts lifting
weights - and starts reading Harry Paschall's
books, courses and articles.
He gets great results, and before you know
it, he starts writing his own articles - and
later, his own books and courses.
His name was Bradley J. Steiner. And he was
widely viewed as one of the very best -
perhaps THE very beast - advocates of sane,
sensible training back in the 60's, 70's
and 80's.
I was born a little too late to grow up
reading Harry Paschall's articles. (Harry
died shortly after I was born.)
But I DID read Bradley J. Steiner's articles -
as well as his courses and his books - and
that's how I learned to train the right way.
Later, I discovered Harry Paschall's work -
and studied the heck out of it.
And eventually, I began writing articles of
my own - and then books of my own. They've
helped tens of thousands of people build
strength and muscle. They've probably helped
you.
So here we are, 100 years after Harry Paschall
saw the amazing Arthur Saxon, and we're hitting
the iron and spreading the word and continuing
the grand tradition.
And that's a pretty cool thing.
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 Arthur Saxon
and other incredible strongmen of the past -
and how they trained - in DINOSAUR TRAINING:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.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: "Look to the
past for guidance and to the future for great
results. But lift in the present." -- Brooks
Kubik
