Hail to the Dinosaurs!
One quick note, and then we'll talk training.
1. The May-June Dinosaur Files.
The May-June issue of The Dinosaur Files
should be available on Kindle sometime
later today.
I'll send an email with a link when the
little monster is ready to go.
We'll put the PDF version up as fast as
we can.
Be looking for the email re: the Kindle
release - and when you see it, please
head on over to the Kindle site and take
a look - even if you plan on getting the
PDF version. The more traffic we have
on the Kindle site, the better we'll do.
2. "Can I Train Once Every Two Weeks?"
On the training front, here's an interesting
question about workout frequency.
I'm a big fan of abbreviated training and ultra-
abbreviated training, where you follow a divided
workout system and train each exercise once
a week.
Many Dinos have made enormous progress --
often the best gains of their lives -- by following
an abbreviated or ultra-abbreviated program.
For details, see Strength, Muscle and Power
or Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol. 1. I cover
abbreviated and ultra-abbreviated training
in detail in both of these books -- explain
how I began to follow an abbreviated
program -- detail the results -- and give
plenty of great workouts for you to use.
Some older Dinos have made great gains on
a once a week workout. I've covered these
in various issues of The Dinosaur Files
newsletter and the Dinosaur Files
Quarterly.
So the question becomes, would even more
rest between workouts be even better?
Here's an interesting email from a 44-year old
Dino who is wondering if training each exercise
once every two weeks might work for him:
"I'm a 44-year old trainer. I was reading an
article of yours about abbreviated training,
which I'm a big fan of.
I read another article by a guy who trains his
body parts every two weeks. Upper body one
week, then lower the next.
I usually do upper body one day per week, and
lower body another day per week.
But due to age, etc., I was thinking of trying
something like this:
1. Do Trap Bar deads, chins, neck and farmers
walks in week one.
2. Do military press, inclines and rows in week
two.
3. Do Romanian deadlift, heavy leg press, calves
and farmers walk in week three.
4. Do bench, dips and rows in week four.
I take a two-week break every couple of months
or so at the end of a cycle, and always come back
and crush it. So why couldn't I make progress
always having a two-week break between
body-parts?
What do you think?
Kenny"
Well, as you might expect, I have a number of
thoughts about this program.
1. You're not doing different body-parts every
two weeks -- you're doing upper body one week
and lower body the next, but with different
exercises.
a. That's a bit nit-picky, but if I don't mention it,
I'll be buried in emails from readers who point
this out.
2. From a strength and muscle perspective, this
should work fine for an advanced trainee who
is handling BIG weights and training with very
high intensity in each workout.
a. The extra rest days would probably be a
plus for such a trainee.
3. For a newbie or even an intermediate, you
would not be training often enough for good
progress.
a. Newbies need to train each exercise 3x per
week to learn the proper movement pattern.
b. They also need to make training a regular
habit. Once every week or more will not be
often enough to develop the training habit.
4. The program may work better if you do each
of the four workouts every four days -- or every
five days -- rather than once every seven days.
a. We set up our workout schedules using a
seven-day training week, but that's just
because we have a seven-day week in
the calendar.
5. The program would work better for basic
strength and muscle building exercises (which
you are doing), or for powerlifting, than for
Olympic weightlifting.
a. Weightlifting requires more frequent training
because you need to work so much on skill,
technique, flexibility and mobility.
b. That said, many Masters age weightlifters
program certain exercises -- such as pulls or
squats - much less often than snatches and
clean and jerks. In other words, they train
the movements that require greater technique
more frequently than they train the basic
strength movements.
c. For example, an older lifter might do
the deadlift and shrug or the Olympic style
deadlift once every two weeks. So that's
similar to what you are thinking about
doing.
6. I prefer more frequent workouts because
I use my training as a stress-reliever. Many
older Dinos feel the same way. So I prefer
3x per week on a divided workout schedule.
6a. Some older Dinos also train more often
because they train with a friend or family
member (often a son or daughter) who
does better on a more frequent program.
6b. And some older Dinos lift once a week
and do other things (such as martial arts
training or cardio work) on other days.
7. The bottom line is -- if it interests you, give
it a try and see what happens. If it works,
that's great -- and if not, you can always go
back to a program with more frequent
workouts.
As always, thanks for reading and have a
great day. If you train today, make it a good
one!
And don't forget - be looking for the email
with the link to the Kindle edition of the
May-June Dinosaur Files!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Go here to grab Strength, Muscle and
Power:
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
P.S. 2. Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol. 1 is
available in hard-copy, PDF or Kindle e-book:
Hard-copy:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_01.html
Kindle e-book
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaursecrets01_kindle.html
For the PDF version, go to our products page
and look for the section with our PDF products:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "It doesn't matter if
it's different or unusual. What matters is whether
it works." -- Brooks Kubik
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