Hail to the Dinosaurs!
You've heard the phrase "think outside
the box."
Well, what about resting outside the box?
Here's a great email from Captain
Jeffrey Alton of the Greensboro, NC
Fire Department. He headed it "Resting
Outside the Box."
Captain Alton began by telling me a bit about
his training career. He's 54 now. He started
training at age 14, doing the typical muscle
pumper nonsense. he built some strength and
muscle, but not as much as he wanted, and in
his twenties he hurt his shoulder. The injury
bothered him for decades.
And then, two years ago, a friend gave him a
copy of GRAY HAIR AND BLACK IRON. It totally
changed his training.
He dropped the muscle pumping and started to
train Dino style -- hard and heavy on the
basics.
Currently, he's doing squats, deadlifts, snatches
and clean and jerks -- and his shoulder no longer
hurts! (Which shows you what those booby-building
workouts can do to your body.)
Anyhow, the purpose of Captain Alton's letter was
to share something that's given him great success.
He thought (and I agree) that other Dinos might
benefit from his ideas about rest between workouts.
Here's what he wrote:
"Being a firefighter I work an odd schedule. I work
24 hours on duty and then 48 hours off duty. I only
workout at the fire station. I run a paint business
on my off days which makes me so tired I don't want
to workout at the end of the day.
This workout schedule gives me two days rest between
each workout.
I lift on Mon, Thurs, Sun, Wed, Sat, Tues and Fri and
then repeat the schedule because the next work day is
Mon. I do four different workouts on a rotating
schedule. Which means I repeat each workout every
12 days.
Most serious lifters follow a routine which fits into a
seven day week, perhaps lifting on Mon, Wed and Fri or
something similar. But extending the workouts over a
longer period works better for me, not only because it
fits my schedule but because it fits my body and gives
me more rest between workouts.
I hope this information is beneficial to other Dinos.
Thanks for your time and commitment to lifters like
me.
Your friend at the Iron Bar,
Captain Jeffrey Alton"
So there you have it -- and now you know what I mean
when I talk about resting outside the box!
I've said this before, but it bears repeating. To make
good gains, you need to train the right way -- but you
also need to get enough rest to allow your body to
recover from your workouts.
Many Dinos have made great gains on three workouts per
week, using a divided workout program.
Others have made their best gains on TWO workouts per
week -- or on three workouts every 10 days -- or (as
Captain Alton has found) four workouts every 12 days.
The bottom line is, REST IS IMPORTANT! Make sure you
schedule your training so you get enough rest between
workouts.
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 over the age of 35, you NEED Gray
Hair and Black Iron. Go here to grab a copy:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.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: "You need training days
and you need rest days. One won't work without the
other." -- Brooks Kubik
