Hail to the Dinosaurs!
We're off to a late start with today's
email message because we were off to an
EARLY start with a podcast interview.
The interview was with a longtime Dino.
He has one of the hand-numbered,
autographed copies from the very first
printing of Dinosaur Training when it
came out in 1996, and he's been in
contact with me and reading my "stuff"
ever since.
So it was a really fun interview where
we covered power rack training and the
mental side of heavy lifting and some
Iron Game history and all sorts of good
stuff.
I'll give you more details and a link
to the podcast next week. Consider it
a PSA from me to you -- and to Dinos
around the world.
On the training front, I wanted to cover
something about progression in your
workouts.
When you're starting out and coming up
the ladder, you can make progress in
every exercise in almost every workout.
Later, as you get closer to the top of
the mountain, things slow down.
So let's say you're a long-time trainee,
and you're doing two different workouts,
which we'll call Workout A and Workout B.
You do three exercises in each workout,
and you train three times per week,
alternating from workout to workout.
I like to run two different set/rep
schemes for each exercise. For example,
you might do 5 x 5 in squats, or you
might do 5 x 3 or 5 x 2 or 5/3/1/ or
5/4/3/2/1.
Everything about the workouts is the
same, except the sets and reps.
So you do Workout A, which includes
squats, and you you do 5 x 5.
In your next workout, Workout B, you
do deadlifts or Trap Bar deadlifts for
5 x 5.
In the next workout, you do squats
again -- but you do (let's say) 5/3/1
for your working sets.
And in the session after that, you do
deadlifts again -- for 5/3/1 working
sets.
Now you're back to the squat workout
for 5 x 5 -- and you try to see if you
can do better than the last time you
did squats for 5 x 5.
Next session -- back to 5 x 5 on
deadlifts, and you try to do better
on your deadlifts for 5 x 5.
After that, it's back to squats --
but this time, you're doing 5/3/1
working sets, and trying to do better
than the last time you did 5/3/1.
Then it's deadlifts again -- for
5/3/1 working sets -- and you try to
beat the last time you did deadlifts
for 5/3/1.
And you're doing this on all of your
different exercises.
This is a great way to make manageable
and measurable progress from workout to
workout without burning out or going
stale. The different set/rep schemes
give you plenty of variety, and they
help keep you fresh. They remove those
mental barriers that sometimes arise
when you grind away at the same thing
over and over again.
I do this in my own training all the
time. It makes every workout something
to really look forward to, because the
odds of beating your last session are
way better when you use the alternating
set/rep scheme that I just outlined.
And that's the tip of the time. I hope
it gives you food for thought -- and
some good ideas for your training.
As always, have a great day and a great
weekend. If you train today, make it a
good one.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. I have tons of other great training
tips in all of my books and courses --
including these:
a. Strength, Muscle and Power
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
b. Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength
and Development
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
c. Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
d. Dinosaur Dumbbell Training
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
e. The Dinosaur Training Military Press
and Shoulder Power Course
http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_course.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: "Mix it up,
but keep it real." -- Brooks Kubik
