Hail to the Dinosaurs!
One of our older (age 60-plus) Dinos
replied to yesterday's email by saying
(and I paraphrase):
1. I used to do split style lifting all the
time. (Meaning the split style snatch and
split style clean.)
2. I really enjoyed it.
3. But at age 60 or so, I started to lose
my speed -- so I stopped doing the split
lifts.
4. Question: You're close to age 60. Are
you losing your speed?
While, that's an interesting question, isn't
it?
You know, when I was younger, I was a state
wrestling champion in Greco-Roman wrestling.
I won the title by throwing two guys so hard
and so fast I knocked them out.
Each throw took something like half a second
or less.
We locked up -- I pushed into them -- they pushed
back -- and WHAM, I threw them.
Threw them hard, too.
Another time, I won a wrestling match with a
pin in exactly six seconds.
That's six seconds from ref says go to ref
slaps the mat and calls the pin.
And that's about as fast as you can win a
wrestling match.
So I was pretty darn fast when I was younger.
Twenty years later, I was judging a powerlifting
meet. (This was about 23 years ago.)
A 242 pound lifter opened with 550 in the squat.
He made the lift, but as he stood up, something
happened.
From the referee's chair in front of the lifting
platform I saw his eyes roll back -- and I knew
he was about to pass out.
The problem was, the two spotters were on
either side -- and they didn't see his eyes --
and they didn't know that 242 pounds of
lifter and 550 pounds of iron were about to
come crashing down.
I was seated in a chair, 10 or 12 feet away.
I dove forward, racing towards him.
I remember seeing his knees buckle and his
body start to crumple and drop forward.
I remember thinking, "What do I do?"
I remember stepping in front of him, and
hitting him hard and fast with a forearm
shiver across the chest.
I wanted to push him back and stand him up.
I did.
He rolled back to upright-- and then he started
to crumple again, his knees bending and the
heavy bar forcing him down.
I stepped forward, caught him in a bear hug,
and held him up -- and the barbell, too.
And after a second or two -- a very long second
or two -- the spotters realized what was up and
grabbed the bar.
And it's a good thing they did -- because I was
holding 242 pounds of semi-conscious lifter and
550 pounds of iron.
Later, when I thought about it, I realized that it
was NOT possible to move that fast -- to go
from a seated position 10 or 12 feet away to
the forearm shiver to reversing position and
catching the lifter and the bar before he fell.
And all before anyone else knew what was
happening.
But I did it.
So I was FAST when I was younger.
Am I fast now?
I don't know.
I sort of wish that I had timed myself very
carefully back in the day on different lifts --
so I could compare them to where I am
now speed-wise.
I'm sure I was faster then -- but I'm not too
bad now, at close to age 60.
There's a reason for that.
Or rather, a couple of them.
And we'll cover them tomorrow -- so be sure to
be looking for tomorrow's email. In the meantime,
grab this little monster if you're interested in
sensible and effective training for older Dinos:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
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 new "How Strong Are You?" course is
number one in its category at Amazon's Kindle
store. In fact, we currently have three books
in Amazon's top 10:
1. Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol. 1.
"Exercises, Workouts and Training
Programs"
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaursecrets01_kindle.html
2. Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol. 2,
"How Strong Are You?"
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets2_kindle.html
3. The Training Secrets of John Grimek
http://www.brookskubik.com/grimektraining_kindle.html
4. The Dinosaur Military Press and Shoulder
Power Course
http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_kindle.html
P.S. 2. If you prefer hard-copy, all four courses
are available right here at Dino Headquarters:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Strong is good,
and fast is good." -- Brooks Kubik
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