Hail to the Dinosaurs!
A quick note, and then we'll talk iron.
I'll be cohosting Physical Culture Radio with
Carl Lanore at 12:00 EST today. Catch the
show live or listen to it later on at your
convenience:
http://superhumanradio.com/
Carl has been on vacation, so we haven't
done a show for about two weeks. This
should be a good one.I'm looking forward
to it.
On the training front, let's cover what may
very well be the most dangerous exercise.
Amazingly, it's a very common exercise.
You've probably even seen people do it --
and perhaps YOU do it -- or are thinking
about doing it.
So pull up your chair and pay close
attention.
THE MOST DANGEROUS EXERCISE
Readers often ask about bench pressing
with a thumbless grip.
Does it help?
Can you use more weight?
Should you do it?
In response, I tell them about something
I saw at a powerlifting contest many years
ago.
It was a National Championship meet for
submasters and masters. So it had plenty
of very good, and very experienced lifters.
I remember watching one lifter who was
a National bench press champion and
American record holder in the bench
press. Which obviously means he was
very strong and had been lifting hard
and heavy for a very long time.
On his third attempt, he tried for a new
American record.
He used a thumbless grip.
He lowered the bar slowly and under
control -- paused at the chest -- got the
"Press!" command -- and started to drive
the bar upward.
As he hit the mid-point and started to
pull the bar back toward his head, his
elbows rotated up and his wrists went
back a little -- and the bar rolled right
out of his hands.
There were two experienced spotters, one
on either side of the lifter.
But it happened so fast, they didn't catch
the bar.
It smashed into his chest before anyone
could do anything.
Luckily, he got up and walked away from
it. As far as I could tell, nothing was broken.
But it could have been a very serious
accident.
And if he had been training alone, without
a spotter and without safety racks or a power
rack with bottom pins set to catch the bar
at the bottom, it could have been very
bad. The bar might have ended up on his
throat.
Or on his face.
And neither throat nor face are good places
for a barbell to land.
Nor do you make good progress if you
try training with a broken rib -- or a
severely bruised sternum.
And that's why I suggest that you skip the
thumbless bench press thing. Wrap your
thumbs around the bar, hold onto it, and
control it.
By the way, if you were a member of the
Iron League, you would have known the
answer -- because I cover it in a special
bench press course that I wrote as an
Iron League exclusive.
I did that because I think the Iron League
is a great idea -- and a great value for its
members -- and I'm trying to support it
by providing some exclusive content.
Kim Wood, Dennis Rogers and others are
doing the same thing.
The Iron League also features plenty of
great vintage material that you won't
find anywhere else -- making it (in the
words of one of our fellow Dinosaurs,
"the Library of Congress of strength").
Go here to take a look at what's available:
http://www.ironleague.com/
But to get back to the thumbless grip on
the bench press -- it's a bad idea.
There's a reason why we have thumbs.
It's called "holding onto things."
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. Readers have been asking for the
complete list of all of my Dinosaur Training
e-books on Kindle. Here it is:
http://dinosaurtraining.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-complete-list-as-of-july-13-2015.html
P.S. 2. My hard copy books and courses
(and Dinosaur Training DVDs) are available
at Dinosaur Headquarters:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3 Thought for the Day: "Train hard and
train heavy -- but always train safe."
-- Brooks Kubik
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