Hail to the Dinosaurs!
For some reason, the most common question
on Internet strength training forums is this:
"If you could do just ONE exercise, what would
it be, and why?"
The most common answers are:
1. Squats -- because "they're the best exercise
for all-around strength and muscle mass."
2. Deadlifts -- because "they're even better than
squats and you can do them even if you don't
have squat stands or a power rack."
3. Trap Bar deadlifts -- because "they're a cross
between a deadlift and a squat."
4. The pec deck -- because -- sorry, just kidding,
no one actually says this.
a. Thank goodness.
b. Although some people probably think it.
5. The clean and press -- because "it works all
of the muscles."
Those are all good answers (other than no. 4).
But what would John Grimek have said?
We actually KNOW what he would have said
because he once wrote an article about it.
Grimek was hands down a fan of the clean and
press.
In Grimek's opinion, if you could only do one
exercise, you should do the clean and press.
He believed the clean and press would give
you a great total body workout.
Grimek followed his usual pattern of suggesting
that you start light, add weight from set to set,
and drop the reps as you added weight.
Thus, you might do something like this:
50 x 10 (light warm-up)
100 x 10
120 x 8
130 x 8
140 x 7
150 x 6
160 x 5
170 x 3
180 x 2
190 x 1
200 x 1 (if you're feeling strong that day)
If you want to focus more on strength and
power do lower reps -- something like
5/4/3/2/1 or 5 x 3 or 8 x 2 -- or singles.
Anyhow, that was John Grimek's answer --
and I tend to agree with him!
What do YOU think? Shoot me an email and
let me know.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. I cover the military press in The Dinosaur
Training Military Press and Shoulder Power
Course:
Hard copy
http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_course.html
Kindle e-book
http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_kindle.html
P.S. You'll also enjoy the Training Secrets of
John Grimek:
Hard copy
http://www.brookskubik.com/johngrimek_course.html
Kindle e-book
http://www.brookskubik.com/grimektraining_kindle.html
P.S. Thought for the Day: "Load the bar, lift the bar, and
repeat. It's not rocket science." -- Brooks Kubik
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