Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I've been talking about abbreviated and ultra-
abbreviated workouts for the past week, and
several readers have asked what I do in my
own training.
So here's what I've been doing lately. As you
might imagine, it's basic and simple -- but it
does the job.
Remember that I'm almost 60, so this is a
program for an older trainee. Also, as you
will see, it's a specialized weightlifting
program.
I train three times a week. I usually train on
Tues, Thurs and Sun. There's no magic to
those days. I started training on Tues and
Thurs way back in high school because most
guys trained on Mon, Wed and Fri, so the
weight room was pretty much empty on
the other days, and you didn't have to
wait for the power rack or your favorite
bench.
Later, when I started training at a regular
gym in my 20s, I stuck to the same schedule
for the same reason. Now I train in my
garage, so it doesn't matter, but I stick to
Tues, Thurs, Sun out of habit.
I've tried twice a week programs, but I prefer
three times a week. I'm not as flexible when
I train twice a week.
I'm concentrating on Olympic weightlifting
now, so I do weightlifting workouts. I don't
do anything else because I put all of my
energy into the weightlifting workouts.
And remember, at my age, recovery and
recuperation is critical. There's only so
much you can do before you start to
exceed your recovery ability.
I'm working on the squat style snatch and
the squat style clean and split jerk, and it
takes lots of work to get the timing and
the technique down. So I spend most of
my time on these two movements.
I've switched back and forth between squat
style and split style. Squat style requires much
more flexibility, and it's tough for an older
Dino, but I really enjoy it -- so I'm making
one last effort to get the squat technique
down while I still can.
I do two different workouts: Workout A
and Workout B.
Workout A is a snatch workout.
Workout B is a clean and jerk workout.
Sometimes I train both lifts in the same
workout, but usually I do them separately.
I do lots and lots of single reps. I stick to
singles so I can do every rep in perfect
form. I'm a fanatic about good form --
which may be due to all of the drilling I
did as a high school wrestler -- or to the
fact that I learned Olympic lifting later
in life, and form, technique and flexibility
have always been challenges for me.
I don't have many regrets about lifting and
training, but I do wish I had learned Olympic
weightlifting when I was in high school. It
would have been much easier than starting
in my mid-40s. But that, as they say, is
water under the bridge.
I film my workouts, and after each lift, I
play it back so I can check my form. This
lets me see what I can do better on the
next set.
I start every workout with 10 to 20 mins
of stretching and loosening up.
I begin with the empty bar, and do 3 to 5
singles -- and then add 5 kilo plates and do
another 3 to 5 singles -- and work up from
there. Starting light is part of the warm-up
process, and gets me ready for the heavier
stuff.
I do a total of 15 to 20 singles over the course
of a workout. I often do three to five snatches
with my top weight for the day, and two or
three clean and jerks with my top weight for
the day.
If time and energy permit, I do snatch pulls
or clean pulls for 3 x 3 or 3 x 2, followed by
front squats for 5 x 1 or 5 x 2.
When I do pulls, I focus on full extension and
high elbows at the finish. I use a fast, explosive
movement. I use my top snatch weight or my
top clean weight for the day, or a little bit more.
If I go too heavy, my form breaks down and
there's little carry-over to the actual lift.
I do low reps on front squats because it is
easier on my knees and back. It's hard to
recover from higher volume. And because
I do full squat snatches and squat cleans,
I'm already doing lots of squats in every
workout.
I am working on flexibility with flexibility
and mobility work on off days. We'll see
how that works over the coming year. It
seems to be a good addition to the
program.
If you're interested in more details, let me
know. If enough readers are interested, I'll
do a course on weightlifting for garage
gorillas and older Dinos.
In the meantime, here's a DVD that covers
my current style of training -- we filmed it a
few years ago on my birthday:
http://brookskubik.com/goingstrong.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. Gray Hair and Black Iron covers training
for older Dinos. Go here to grab it:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. My other books, courses and DVDs --
and links to my e-books on Kindle -- are
right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "As you grow
older, train smarter. Smarter is the only way
to keep on training." -- Brooks Kubik
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