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| John Grimek shows his form in the military press. Grimek set official American records in the military press and on several occasions set unofficial World records in the lift. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
When I was in sixth grade, some of the
guys started to get hold of those 110-
pound barbell sets they used to sell.
In fact, most of us had one.
Some of us got them as birthday or
Christmas presents.
Others saved their money from cutting
people's grass in the summer and raking
leaves in the fall -- or from their newspaper
route -- or their weekly allowance.
One guy collected green stamps for an
entire year, and finally had enough of
them to get a barbell set.
And many of us got a free barbell from
an older brother who no longer used the
thing. In fact, that was probably the most
common way to get one. There were an
amazing number of older brothers who
started barbell training -- and then
stopped soon after and left the barbell
gathering dust somewhere.
Anyhow, there we were. all of 10 or
11 years old, and we all had access
to a barbell set somewhere or other.
So the question of the day became:
"How much can you press?"
Sometimes the question was "How
much can you lift?" -- but it was the
same thing, because the curl and the
press were the only exercises we knew,
and somehow we realized that you had
to lift the barbell over your head in
order for it to count as a lift.
I'd been training for awhile, and I could
only press 40 pounds.
I felt bad because all of my buddies could
lift more.
I never saw them do it, but I KNEW they
could all press 60 pounds.
We were talking about it at recess, and
one guy asked, "What can you press?"
"Sixty!" said one of the other guys.
The guy who asked the question turned
to the next kid in the group and asked
him the same question.
He thought about it for a second or two,
and then gave his answer.
"Sixty!" he said.
The first guy asked another guy. This time,
there was no hesitation at all.
"Me, too," he said. "Sixty!"
And that was what all the kids said.
"Me, too -- sixty!"
Years later, I realized that they were all
fibbing. Maybe one or two of them could
have pressed 60 pounds. The others
were more like me -- 40 pound pressers.
Maybe even less.
But that was okay.
Because I thought the other guys were so
much stronger, I actually trained with my
barbell set -- and they didn't.
Not long after, I was able to press 60 pounds
for real.
The other guys -- only in their dreams.
Barbells are funny that way. It doesn't matter
what you say -- what matters is what you do!
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. Years later I worked up to 275 pounds
in the military press, and 320 pounds in
the push press. This course tells how I
did it:
The Dinosaur Training Military Press and
Shoulder Power Course
Hard copy edition:
http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_course.html
Kindle e-book edition:
http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_kindle.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses are
right here at Dino Headquarters:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Rusty pipes are
bad, but a rusty barbell is worse." -- Brooks
Kubik
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