Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Here's an interesting question:
Hi Brooks,
I have read your books and I have
a question for you.
What method gave you the best
strength gains: doing 5 singles,
10 singles, or 20 singles after
warming up?
Phil
The answer is NONE OF THEM!
My very best gains came from
doing a series of progressively
heavier singles, working up to
ONE heavy single.
For example, starting at 135 in
the bottom position bench press,
and doing 135 x 1, 225 x 1, 315
x 1, 365 x 1, and 405 x 1.
Or starting at 125 in the barbell
clean and press and working up to
a top single with 270 or 275 for 1 -
making 20 pound jumps to get there.
125 x 1, 145 x 1, 165 x 1, 185 x 1,
205 x 1, 225 x 1, 245 x 1, 260 x 1
and 270 or 275 x 1.
I've done workouts where I did 5
heavy singles, or 10 heavy singles,
or 20 heavy singles, and they all
worked well - but the BEST program
I ever used was to work up to ONE
heavy single, and then stop.
I cover my exact workouts during this
period in Strength, Muscle and Power.
For details, grab a copy a copy:
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
Looking back, I think I would have
done even better if I had tried a
program where I ran two programs in
different weeks - doing 5 heavy singles
one week, and one heavy single the next
week, and alternating from week to week.
Or where I used a program where I worked
up to one heavy single, and over time,
gradually worked up to five heavy singles.
But that, as they say, is another story -
and something we'll cover in another email.
If you're interested, see Dinosaur Training
Secrets, Vol. 3 - my course covering old
school progression methods:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_03.html
It's also available in PDF and Kindle - see the
PDF and Kindle links at our products page:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
The big takeaway is this: less is often (or
usually) (or almost always) better.
It takes much less training than you think
to make great gains.
And if you can get the job done with LESS
training, why do MORE?
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. Be sure to grab the August-September
issue of The Dinosaur Files in your choice of
PDF or Kindle edition:
Kindle edition
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_augustseptember2016-kindle.html
PDF edition
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_augustseptember2016.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: "It takes hard
work, intelligently applied, over a reasonable
period of time - but it doesn't mean you have
to live in the gym all day." - Brooks Kubik
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