Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Yesterday I gave you eight tips for building
speed and power -- and promised to give
you another one today.
It's the most important one. And pay
attention, because this could help rocket
you to some big gains.
Here it is:
Practice moving heavy weights in perfect
form as fast as you can -- with ever
increasing speed from start to finish.
For example . . .
In the military press, you clean the bar
to your shoulders, pause, get set -- and
then drive the bar up as hard and as fast
as possible -- in perfect form.
Put all your strength and power behind
the press.
Give it 100% focus and total concentration.
Focus and concentration help link the mind
and the muscles -- and activate the nerve
impulses that tell the muscle fibers to
contract hard and fast.
Maintain that focus from start to finish.
When you hit the sticking point, drive
harder than ever before. Try to blast
right through it.
You may not move super fast at the sticking
point, but by trying to do so, you'll activate
an enormous number of muscle fibers.
You'll also strengthen the mind-muscle
link -- and your nervous system --
enormously.
And that's how you build speed and power.
Now, please note . . .
When you train this way, it is VERY
IMPORTANT to use perfect form.
If you train fast with sloppy form, you
don't do yourself much good and you
create a real risk of injury.
So let me be very clear.
You're NOT training fast and doing a
series of herky-jerky, "anything goes"
reps.
It's not a Texas Death Match between
you and the barbell.
You're not doing drop and bounce reps.
When you do presses, you do them strict.
No backbend -- because backbend takes
the pressure off the muscles, and you are
TRYING to train with as much pressure as
possible -- because that's what triggers
the involvement of more muscle fibers.
If you do bench press, you lower the
bar under control -- and then you blast
it back up. No arching. No cheating.
If you do squats or front squats, you
lower the bar under control -- and then
drive back up. And you fight to stay in
the groove the whole way down and
the whole way up.
If you do snatches, cleans or high pulls,
you start slow, accelerate throughout the
movement, and pop your hips to rocket
the bar upward.
This kind of lifting requires perfect form
and tremendous muscular control. It's as
fast as possible, but it's also as controlled
as possible. Speed and control are NOT, as
some believe, mutually exclusive.
For me, this kind of training is critical for
developing maximum speed and power.
Give it a try, and see how it works for YOU.
This is also a very important part of healthy
aging -- because you are developing the
strongest possible mind-muscle link -- and
that helps keep your brain functioning at
a high level as you grow older. (Which is
something will cover in greater detail in
future emails.)
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. For more old-school strength training
and muscle-building secrets, grab the book
that started the Dinosaur Training Revolution:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right
here at Dino Headquarters - including links
to our hard-copy books and courses, our
PDF courses, and our Kindle e-books:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "It's not just
sets and reps, it's how you perform your
reps that counts." -- Brooks Kubik
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