Hail to the Dinosaurs! The Small One went to the gym and trained for many hours. He bombed, blasted, and blitzed. He did all the exercises he read about in the muscle magazines. He used all the machines -- some of them twice! He did high reps, peak contraction and burns. Pumped everything to the max. Double pumped his pecs. Triple bumped his arms. He finished with three hours of Maxi-Mega Super Ultra Hypertrophy Training for his bi's and tri's. After his workout, he went to see the Big Man. The Big Man was training, too. He was doing a strange exercise with many plates on the bar. The Small One watched him curiously. When the Big Man had finished his set, the Small One walked over to him. "What are you doing, Big Man?" he asked. "Squats," said the Big Man. "What are squats?" asked the Small One. "Squats are zen," said the Big Man. "I did 20 sets of Himalayan curls," said the Small One. "Are they zen?" "They're probably not even Himalayan," said the Big Man as he loaded more plates onto the squat bar. "But why are squats zen?" asked the Small One. "Do squats today and tomorrow your legs will give you the answer," said the Big Man. He taught the Small One how to do squats. The Small One did five sets of five reps. The next day, the Small One's legs were so sore he could barely walk. That was a huge surprise. He wasn't sore anywhere else. He trained for hours and hours every day and never got sore. It was something totally new. "My legs are trying to tell me something," he said. "I wonder what!" The Small One went to ask the Big Man. "My legs are terribly sore," said the Small One. "What does it mean?" "It means that squats are zen," said the Big Man. Moral of the Story: 1. Strength training is zen. 2. 5 x 5 and similar sensible set/rep systems are zen. 3. Hard work on basic exercises is zen. 4. Concentration, focus and intensity are zen. 5. Muscle magazine silliness is not zen. 6. Himalayan curls are not zen -- even if you do 20 sets of them. 7. Squats are zen. 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. Dinosaur Training is zen -- and you can grab a copy right here: http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right here -- including links to all of my Kindle e-books: http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html P.S. 3. Thought for the day: "Training works better if you keep it zen." -- Brooks Kubik