Buried in Hate Mail - And You Won't Believe Why!

I'm a big fan of old-time bodybuilders like John  Grimek - but everyone who sent me hate mail the other day seems to have forgotten that.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

One quick note, and then we'll
talk training.

1. The John Wood Report
No. 3

Issue no. 3 of The John Wood
Report is now available.

It's a PDF so you can grab it
and download it - and read it
immediately.

It's printable, so you can read it
and save it.

And if you move fast, you can save
50 percent off the regular price.

Here's how to do it.

Go here to grab your copy of The
John Wood Report:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport03.html

When you get to the checkout, enter
this special code - to take five clams
off the purchase price:

5182018

That's a full 50% savings for those
who take immediate action.

But act now - because the Early Bird
Special ends at 5:00 PM EST on
Friday, May 18, 2008.

2. Buried In Hate Mail

I sent out a very good email the other
day.

It listed some things I wish I had done
back in high school, when I was training
for high school wrestling.

In the email, I noted that one of the
things I wish I had done was NOT
READ the muscle magazines of the
era - because they didn't have very
good advice.

In response, I got buried in hate
mail.

One guy even unsubscribed from my
email list because (he said) I was
"unfair to bodybuilders."

He also said, "we're all in the health
and fitness business together."

So let's talk about that a little bit.

First of all, I have no problem with
old-school bodybuilders and old-
school bodybuilding.

After all, I wrote a complete course
about John Grimek - and I talk about
Reg Park quite a bit - and I've written
articles and emails about Bill Pearl
and Clarence Ross - and about
Tommy Kono's four Mr. Universe
titles.

And I've written plenty of articles
about how to build a better physique -
many of which are reprinted in my book,
Strength, Muscle and Power  - and
I've written Dinosaur Arm Training,
which teaches readers how to build
bigger, stronger and more muscular
arms - which sounds an awful lot like
bodybuilding.

And in Gray Hair and Black Iron I list
a number of bodybuilding workouts for
older Dinos - and I expressly note that
many older Dinos may do better on
bodybuilding workouts that are easier
on their joints than the heavier work-
outs that many younger Dinos do.

We also have a number of readers who
were competitive body-builders, or who
trained with competitive bodybuilders -
including one reader (Ian Duckett) who
used Dino-style workouts to win the
Master's World Championship in drug-
free bodybuilding.

So I'm not opposed to bodybuilding per
se.

But I am opposed to modern body-
building - because drugs have taken
it over.

And I'm not going to support, condone,
glorify or publicize any kind of drug use.

I'm also very opposed to modern body-
building supplements. Many of them are
dangerous. But modern body-building
exists primarily as a way to sell modern
supplements.

In addition - modern bodybuilding is
NOT in any way shape, or form focused
on health and fitness.

The drug use, supplements, and extreme
diets make that impossible.

Remember, we've had elite bodybuilders
DIE at big contests.

And we've had many top bodybuilders
from the modern era encounter severe
health problems - or die young - which
is kind of crazy given the fact that old-
school champions often lived very long
and healthy lives.

So I don't talk about modern body-
building.

I just can't do it.

If that's a problem for anyone, I'm
sorry.

But that's the way it is - and the way
it's going to continue to be.

I should also note this - my comment
about muscle magazines not being
helpful was in the context of a teen-
ager training for wrestling.

It had nothing to do with bodybuilding.
The comment was a simple observation
about an undeniable fact:

The muscle magazines of the 1970s
didn't offer very much in the way of
training for sports.

The Weider magazines pretty much
ignored the topic in the 1970s.

Weider launched one sports-oriented
magazine but it only lasted for a couple
of issues - and that seemed to sour his
writers and editors on writing articles
about weight training for sports.

There was a little bit in the York
magazines (Strength and Health
and Muscular Development) - and
a very tiny bit in Peary Rader's Iron
Man - but it wasn't very good or
very complete.

For example, I don't recall any article
that covered the points I made in
yesterday's email - or an article that
covered even two or three of them
in the context of training for sports.

It would have been wonderful if the
magazines of the 1970s had included
regular articles by and about the top
amateur wrestlers (and other athletes)
of the era and how they trained - but
they didn't.

After all, this was the era of Dan Gable
(google him if you don't know), and
amateur wrestling was on the up-tick
in the USA - and articles on strength
training and conditioning for wrestlers
would have been well received.

But the magazines pretty much (not
entirely, but pretty much) ignored
the topic of effective sports training
and conditioning.

That's a shame, but that's the way it
was.

That was the point I was making - and
I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers -
but apparently I did.

Hence the hate mail.

Quite a bit of it.

None of which I'm going to answer
individually - but I thought I should
address it here.

Anyhow, I've got a big project to work
on, and I'm going to get back to it.

As always, thanks for reading and have
a great day. If you train today, make it
a good one.

Oh - and don't forget to grab issue no.
3 of The John Wood Report. It's a
good one:

ttps://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport03.html

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Here are two books that have
plenty of great exercises for
athletes:

Dinosaur Dumbbell Training

Tons of old-school dumbbell exercises -
and over 50 complete workouts.

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html

Dinosaur Bodyweight Training

A complete course in old-school body-
weight training - with plenty of killer
exercises - and more than 50 workouts.

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html

2.  My other books and courses are
right here at Dino Headquarters:

Hard-copy and PDF

http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html

Kindle

http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: 

"If you have time to send me hate
mail, you have time to train - and
seriously, training is a much better
use of your time."

-- Brooks Kubik

BEFORE YOU LEAVE . . .

We have more than 25 Dinosaur Training books and courses in the Kindle bookstore - here are several of them - head on over and take a look at the others:

http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html

http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html

From Weightlifter to Mr. America!

 

Strength training is a life-long journey - and you can (and should) try many different things and have many different adventures along the way. 

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

One of the very best things about the
Iron Game is that it's a never-ending
journey - and you never have to end
up at one destination and stay there
for the rest of your life.

Case in point - Clarence Bass, a/k/a
Mr. Ripped.

Most people don't know it, but Clarence
started out as an Olympic weightlifter.

He was a good one, too.

He was one of the youngest lifters
of his generation to clean and jerk
300 pounds in official competition.

His best lifts were a military press
of 275 lbs., a snatch of 245 lbs.,
and a clean and jerk of 325 lbs.

He won city, state and regional
championships, and placed second
in the Teenage Nationals, the Junior
Nationals and the YMCA Nationals.

But by his mid-thirties, Clarence
found that his progress in Olympic
weightlifting hasd stopped. So he
decided to look for a new challenge.

He became a bodybuilder.

And he went on to win his class
in the Past 40 Mr. America contest
not once, but twice - and also to
win the title of Most Muscular Man
at the Mr. USA Past 40 contest.

He developed incredible muscularity
with a unique diet that flew in the
face of the conventional wisdom of
the era.

At the time, bodybuilders followed a
strict meat and salad diet (essentially,
a zero carb diet) to get "cut" for
contests.

Clarence ate almost no meat. He got
his protein from milk and eggs. And he
ate plenty of whole grains, beans, and
fresh vegetables. It was close to being
a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet.

It worked pretty well for him.

He ended up being one of the most
muscular men in the world - and
today, 40 years later, he's still in
terrific shape.

He also - get this - went back to
his first love - Olympic weightlifting -
when he was 60!

Clarence Bass is a great example
of how the Iron Game can be - and
should be - a lifelong journey - and
how it can take you to many different
places and bring you many different
adventures throughout your entire
life.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Clarence Bass has written a number
of terrific training books that cover his
Iron Game journey - and his diet and
nutrition plan - as well as his training
program and workouts.

I have seven of them that I need to sell
as part of our big book and magazine
sale here at Dino Headquarters. They're
used copies, but in good condition.

If you're interested in the seven-book
set, shoot me an email. You can have
all seven for $100.00 plus s&h.

I have just one set, so it's first come,
first served.

P.S. 2. If you're looking to change
up your training, all-dumbbell and
all-bodyweight workouts are a
terrific change of pace - or you can
combine them for some really great
workouts:

I specialized in heavy dumbbell training in my early 40's because I wanted to try new and different ways to train - and to tackle new challenges.

Dinosaur Dumbbell Training

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html

Bodyweight training is a great way to change things up. You can follow an all-bodyweight program, or combine bodyweight training with weight training.

Dinosaur Bodyweight Training

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html

P.S. 3. My other books and courses -
and links to all of my e-books on Kindle
- are right here at Dino Headquarters:

Hard-copy and PDF

http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html

Kindle

http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html

P.S. 4. Thought for the Day:

"Change can keep you young - and
keep you training."

- Brooks Kubik

BEFORE YOU LEAVE . . .

We have more than 25 Dinosaur Training books and courses in the Kindle bookstore - here are several of them - head on over and take a look at the others:

http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html

http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html

Amazingly Effective for Strength and Muscle Mass!

 

Staggered grip double rope pull-ups - one of my favorite upper body exercises in Dinosaur Bodyweight Training.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Last week a reader asked me about bodyweight
training, and whether you could use it to build
strength and muscle mass.

My answer probably surprised him.

"Bodyweight training is amazingly effective for
building strength and muscle mass."

And yes, those were my exact words -- and I
don't use "amazingly" very often. When I do,
I mean it.

But -- and this is important -- it has to be the
right kind of bodyweight training.

Here's an example -- and it's something I found
in the yellowed pages of a very old magazine,
buried far at the back, where it was easy to
miss.

A reader asked John Grimek about handstand
pushups.

Grimek told him they were pretty good -- and
noted that at one period of his life, when he was
travelling and working as an artists's model, he
found it very difficult to do any weight training
for about two years.

What did he do instead?

Handstand pushups and tiger bends.

Freestanding. Not balanced with the feet against
the wall.

For many, many sets.

A total of 200 reps per day of each exercise.

Grimek didn't mention any pull-ups, but I bet
he was doing plenty of pull-ups at the same
time. Remember, this was the man with the
original baseball biceps.

And quite likely, he  some deep knee bends to
work his legs. Grimek liked leg work, and it's
hard to imagine him not doing something to
work his lower body.

Grimek's experience is hardly unusual. Back in
the day, quite a few bodybuilding and lifting
champions got started with handbalancing,
gymnastics, and bodyweight training. And
many of them continued to include their
favorite bodyweight exercises -- such as
pushups, pull-ups, handstand pushups or
tiger bends -- for their entire career.

I've done it myself, and I know it works.

I had a stretch of about four years where I
did nothing but bodyweight training. Lots
of advanced pushup variations -- lots of
advanced pull-up variations -- and tons
of handstand pushups.

Plus various types of deep knee bends and
hyperextensions -- and bridging and gut
work.

How did it work?

Pretty darn well.

In my late 40's, I was bigger, thicker and more
muscular than I was when I was doing heavy
powerlifting in my 30's.

Of course, you don't have to use bodyweight
training exclusively. You can combine it with
barbell and dumbbell training, and have the
best of both worlds.

And it's easy to learn how to do it -- and how
to put it all together into effective, result-
producing workouts.

I offer a complete course in old-school body-
weight training -- along with 50 different
workouts -- in Dinosaur Bodyweight Training.

And I'll also include a  special bulletin that
tells you how to combine bodyweight
training with barbell and dumbbell work.

It's good stuff.

In fact, it's amazingly good stuff.

And remember -- I don't use that word very
often.

Go here to grab a copy:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html

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. Here's the link again:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html

P.S. 2. My other books and courses -- including
links to my PDF courses and Kindle e-books --
are right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:

"Simple and effective beats
complicated and useless."

-- Brooks Kubik

BEFORE YOU LEAVE . . .

We have more than 25 Dinosaur Training books and courses in the Kindle bookstore - here are several of them - head on over and take a look at the others:

http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html

http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html

John Grimek's 10 Exercise Bodybuilding System

John Grimek edited Muscular Development magazine for many years - and always offered plenty of old-school bodybuilding advice to his readers.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

When I was a kid, John Grimek edited
Muscular Development magazine.

He had an editorial in every issue - and
a couple of regular columns, including a
question and answer column which I
read religiously - along with everyone
else who subscribed to the magazine.

Over the years, I noticed Grimek give
the same two pieces of advice to his
readers over and over again.

I'm going to share them, but before I
do, let me note that this was advice for
guys who were interested in bodybuilding.

So don't take it as strength training
advice. Grimek had different advice
for strength and power training - and
I'll share that with you another time.

Anyhow, the first piece of bodybuilding
advice was this:

Don't overtrain. Do only enough work for
any particular muscle or muscle grioup to
pump it up - and then do one more set
for good measure - and then move on
to a different muscle or a different
bodypart.

The second piece of bodybuilding advice
was:

It is better to do one set of 10 different
exercises than to do 10 sets of one
exercise.

In other words, instead of doing 10 x 10
in one particular curling exercise, do 10
different curling exercises for one set
each.

I never tried that, in part because I was
doing Reg Park's 5 x 5 system - and in
part because I was more interested in
training for sports than for bodybuilding.

And also, because I couldn't think of
10 good exercises for each muscle
group.

And to tell the truth, I didn't think it
would work. (Note that this was 11-year
old Brooks discounting advice from John
Grimek - but hey, we were all young
once, and when we were, we thought
we knew everything!)

Anyhow, it's 50 years later, and I still
have never given it a try.

So here's my question to the Dino
Nation:

Did YOU ever read this advice and give
it a try?

And if you did, how did it work?

Shoot me an email and let me know -
and I'll pass it along to your fellow
Dinosaurs.

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. We're not out of stock yet, but we
are starting to get low on Strength,
Muscle and Power - and I'm not going
to reprint the little monster.

So if you want a copy, grab it now:

http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html

P.S. 2. My other books and courses are
right here at Dino Headquarters:

Hard-copy and PDF

http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html

Kindle

http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: 

"Read, study, experiment, and learn."

-- Brooks Kubik

BEFORE YOU LEAVE . . .

We have more than 25 Dinosaur Training books and courses in the Kindle bookstore - here are several of them - head on over and take a look at the others:

http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html

http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html

The Pump Guy

England's Reg Park built the best physique of his generation with old-school, low rep strength and power training - not with muscle pumping. He also wore a full sweat suit when he trained, and covered up the mirrors in the gym so he could concentrate better.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

The Pump Guy walked into the gym wearing a neon-colored
shirt that said "Bury Me Big!"in bright turquoise letters.

He wore a baseball cap that was turned backwards. It said
"Dianabol - Breakfast of Champions."

He wore a pair of enormous sun-glasses to keep from blinding
himself when he repped out super-fast on the pec dec.

His gym bag brimmed and bulged with muscle mags, super
supplements, and extra muscle shirts (just in case he busted
out of his shirt during his workout).

He carefully mixed his pre-workout drink, and chugged it
down.

It was double chocolate with raspberry, and was fortified
with 73 herbs, 97 amino acids, and 17 kinds of seaweed.

You needed serious fuel for serious training.

He always laughed at anyone who tried to train without a
pre-workout drink.

He even had a special name for them:

"Losers!"

He put in his ear buds, fired up his MP3, and started to
train.

He did double insanity pec pumps for two hours, super-
setted with ultra-mega lat busters and triple drop set
lateral raises.

He followed these with three hours of maxi-mega, retro-
gravity peak contraction, eccentric uni-lateral, six dimensional
German Arm Blasters and 97 sets of Himmalayan Hyper Curls
at 6/10 rep speed.

All the Champions did lots and lots of German Arm Blasters.
He read about it in the magazines and the bodybuilding forums.

He had a special name for people who didn't do them:

"Losers!"

In between sets he chugged more pre-workout drinks.

"Gotta get my aminos!" he said to himself.

His favorite Champion just won the Mr. Gargantua Contest.

He got lots of aminos.

The Pump Guy had a special name for people who didn't
get enough aminos:

"Losers!"

When he was finished, he poured some water on his head to
make it look like he had broken a sweat, and then swaggered
back to the locker room.

On the way, he walked by the squat rack.

"What's that?" he asked.

"A towel rack," said the gym owner.

"Right!" said the Pump Guy. "I knew that!"

MORAL OF THE STORY

Don't be the Pump Guy.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Here's the book that launched the Dinosaur Revolution - and it's
helped keep thousands of trainees from being the Pump Guy:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html

If you already have a copy of Dinosaur Training and you're looking for even
MORE real-world, no-nonsense training tips, grab Strength, Muscle and Power:

http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html

 And if you prefer to do your reading on Kindle, grab these great books and courses:

We have more than 25 Dinosaur Training books and courses in the Kindle bookstore - here are a couple of them - head on over and take a look at the others:

http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html