The World Record Workout

Setting any kind of record - from a personal record to a World record - requires hard work, hard training and a mountain of determination. And, of course, it also requires the right kind of training - which is what we're going to cover today.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Yesterday I mentioned a famous old-timer
who went on a special training program to
increase his deadlift.

He trained once every six days.

That was it.

Nothing else.

Did it work?

Yeah, you could say that.

He gained 20 pounds of muscle and built
so much strength that he ended up setting
a World Record in the deadlift!

You can find the World Record program right
here in Chalk and Sweat - it's program
no. 49 - and it's pretty darn effective:

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

Brooks Kubik's Kindle Books

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

We have over 25 books and courses in the Kindle store - including these:

 
For even more Kindle books by Brooks Kubik, visit:

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

I Thought My Fingers Would Explode!

It's been over 20 years since I published the first edition of Dinosaur Training - and the little monster has been going strong ever since.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Earlier today, John Wood shared a photo
of copy no. 14 of Dinosaur Training -
signed by yours truly.

We know it's copy number 14, because I
signed and numbered every single copy of
Dinosaur Training back in 1996 when I
first released the little monster.

There were supposed to be 3,000 copies
in the first printing, but the printer ran
over - so we ended up with 3300 or so.

As I said, I signed and numbered every
single one of them - and yes, I thought
my fingers were going to explode.

I still sign books - but you have to ask
for a signature when you place your
order.

Let me know who you want me to sign
the book to - James or Jim - Will, William
or Bill - or whatever.

Of course, if it's a gift for someone else,
and you'd like me to sign it, let me know
the lucky recipient's name.

There's no charge for a signature. It's an
honor to be asked for one.

I'll sign any of my hard-copy books for
you - including these little monsters:

Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of
Strength and Power

The little blue book they call "The Bible
of Strength Training."

Tons of great training ideas - thick bars,
sandbags, heavy awkward objects, death
sets, single rep training, abbreviated work-
outs, power rack training, and some very
important chapters on the all-important
mental aspects of strength training.

Includes some of my favorite workouts.

A best-seller since 1996.

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

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

Strength, Muscle and Power

Power rack training, isometronics, rest
pause training, mind power, finishers,
grip work, sandbags, barrels, one hand
deadlifts, tendon and ligament strength,
home gym training, specialization, some
of my favorite abbreviated and ultra-
abbreviated workouts - and much more!

Includes so many workouts I can't count
them all.

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

Gray Hair and Black Iron

Devoted to the special needs of older
trainees - with a systematic, detailed
approach to training in middle age and
beyond - and over 50 great workouts.

A game-changer for anyone who wants
to keep on going no matter how many
candles are on the birthday cake!

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

Chalk and Sweat

50 Dinosaur workouts - 10 for beginners,
10 for intermediates, 10 for advanced
trainees, and 20 leg and back programs
to build maximum strength and muscle
mass.

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

And, of course, there are even more
than that - go here to check them
out:

Dinosaur Training Books and Courses

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

Friday Q and A for Dinos

It's Friday, it's sunny, and I'm looking forward to a great workout in the outdoor training area here at Dino Headquarters!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I've been getting a ton of questions from
Dinos around the world, and thought I'd
share some of them with you -- along
with my answers.

1. You're a former bench press champion
and record holder. Why don't you write a
course about bench pressing?

A. I just wrote a long course on the bench
press. But I don't sell it. It's only available
at The Iron League, which is a wonderful
member's only strength training archive
developed by my good friend, John Wood.

I've also allowed John to upload five of my
original Dinosaur Training DVD's, as well 
as all seven of my Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training DVD's. They're not all available
yet, but several are. And in the meantime,
there's a ton of other great stuff at The
Iron League:

http://www.ironleague.com/

2. When you outline a program where the
trainee does 5 x 5 with one heavy set, what
weight do you use on the warm-up sets? If
the top set is 100%, what are the percentages
for the warm-up sets?

A. Try 60/70/80/90/100 percent. If you are
doing an exercise like squats or deadlifts where
you need to start lighter and do more warm-up
sets, then try 30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100
percent. I know that's 8 x 5, but the extra
warm-up sets are just that - warm-up sets -
and they won't tire you out or cut into your
recovery.

3. I dropped off your email list. What happened?

A. I don't know. People sometimes drop off the
list and we don't know why. It's either something
to do with our email service or its something at
your end. One reader changed mobile devices
recently, and doesn't get the emails any more.

I send emails every day other than Sunday, so
if you miss an email, there's a glitch somewhere.

Go to my website and sign back up -- and check
your junk mail settings, because they change
sometimes and you may need to put us on
your white list.

As a back-up, I post every email I send at the
Dinosaur Training Blog. If you miss an email, go
to the Blog to catch up. You can access the Blog
from my website. Email me if you can't find the
link.

I'm also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at
"Brooks Kubik." I share links to my blog posts
on Facebook and Twitter, so those are great
ways to stay in contact. Look for #brookskubik
or #dinosaurtraining.

Also . . .  join the new Strength Secrets Face-
book group - I post links to my Blog posts and
daily emails there:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/strengthsecrets/

4. I'm a young woman. How should I get started
in strength training?

A. Women can and should train exactly the same
as men. See Chalk and Sweat, and Dinosaur
Training Secrets, Vols. 1 and 3 for training
programs for beginners.

5. Which is better for upper body muscle mass --
the bench press or the push press?

A. The bench press will build more mass, but
the push press will build more power and is a
better movement for athletes in most sports.

That said, don't do one or the other. Do BOTH!
6. I recall that Trudi challenged you to try a
vegetarian diet for 30 days - back in August
of last year. How did that go?

It worked very well. We learned to cook and
prepare tons of delicious new (to us) dishes.

So we stayed on the new diet.

We both lost weight - and we both feel great.

In fact, my goal for 2018 is to be stronger
at age 61 than I was in my early 50's - while
weighing less - and doing it on a whole food,
plant-based diet - just to prove that I can do
it.

For me, eye health is a priority because I
have glaucoma - and after as few months
on the diet, I had an eye exam and got the
best results in the past 15 or so years. One
of my primary tests came back as essentially
normal - which is a huge improvement. And
I think the new diet was responsible.

I'll be doing a more detailed report on the
experiment. I know many of you are very
interested in seeing what happened and
how we have been doing things.

In the meantime, check out my Facebook
and Instagram pages for photos of my
meals.

You'll see tons of delicious vegetarian
dishes.

7. Do you like body rows with rings?

A. Yes, and I cover them in Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training -- along with tons of other great exercises
with rings (and with ropes, as well). Many Dinos
like body rows better than any other rowing
exercise.

There have been about a zillion other questions
this week, but we'll have to leave it at seven for
now.

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.  Go here to grab Chalk and Sweat, Dinosaur
Bodyweight Training, Knife Fork Muscle and my
new Dinosaur Training Secrets courses:

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

P.S. 2. Remember to check out The Iron
League -- it's really good:

http://www.ironleague.com/

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: 

"There's never one RIGHT way to do
something -- but there are plenty
of WRONG ways."

- 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 World Record Workout

World and Olympic champion John Davis shows great form in an old-school, split style snatch. Like all old-time champions, Davis trained hard, heavy and smart.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Yesterday I mentioned a famous old-timer
who went on a special training program to
increase his deadlift.

He trained once every six days.

That was it.

Nothing else.

Did it work?

Yeah, you could say that.

He gained 20 pounds of muscle and built
so much strength that he ended up setting
a World Record in the deadlift!

You can find the World Record program right
here in Chalk and Sweat - it's program
no. 49 - and it's pretty darn effective:

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

The Top Training Program of 1969

I've been training since the 1960's, and I've probably forgotten more than most trainees ever learn. But I still remember the top training program of 1969!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!


Back in 1969, I devised what was probably the
best training program of the year.

That was pretty good, considering that I was
barely 12 years old, and had NO IDEA what I
was doing.

Here's the exact program I was following. It
was designed to build strength and endurance
for wrestling, and to increase my weight. I
think I weighed around 101 or 102 pounds
back then.

By this point in time, I had been reading the
muscle comics for more than a year, so I was
pretty much of an expert when it came to
training. I knew all about supersets, tri-sets,
burns, pumping, bombing, blasting, and
blitzing -- as well as cheating, forced reps,
muscle priority, muscle confusion and a
bunch of other stuff that I (thankfully)
forgot about long ago. So prepare to be
super-impressed with my "state of the art"
workout.

I started weight training in part because I wanted to be a wrestler - so many of my exercises were from books and courses by and about wrestlers.

Daily Training

Jog 1/4 mile three times per day. Increase to
1/2 to 1 mile.

(Not sure when I was going to do all this jogging,
and whether I actually did it.)

Leg raises 2 x 12

Chin-ups 1 x 6

Pull-ups 1 x 6

1 arm side pushups 1 x 3 per side, with feet elevated

(I learned these from an old book about training
for wrestling. They were tough.)

I wrote down my 1969 workout in the back pages of this little training course that came with my first barbell - and I still have it today!

3x per Week Weight Training Workout

1. Squats 3 x 15/15/8 (add 25 lbs before the third set)

(Not sure why I added so much weight for the final set.
I was probably using 50 or 60 pounds for the first two
sets, so it was a big jump.)

2. Military press 1 x 8

(I must not have been a military press fan if I only
did one set. Not sure why.)

3. Bench press 3 x 6/4/6 with burns after each set

(The guys at Muscle Beach all did burns, so I knew
they were good. Not sure why I didn't do them on
everything.)

4. Barbell curls 2 x 6

(Can't believe I only did two sets. Most beginners do
20 or 30 sets of curls.)

5. Flat arm dumbbell curls (like a preacher bench dumbbell
curl, but with the arm on a flat bench) -- 2 x 6 per arm

(I learned these from a muscular pro-wrestler named
Mr. Kleen -- who looked like the character who sold
Mr. Clean dish detergent. He wrestled in the old
Chicago AWA territory for awhile and demonstrated
exercises for us on television. He said these were
the best for big arms. Duly noted.)

6. Upright rowing 2 x 6 -- holding the bar for a count
of two at the top of each rep.

(These came right out of the Bruno Sammartino
Bodybuilding Course. I was a huge Bruno fan,
so of course I did these.)

7. Single arm triceps extensions or triceps kick-backs
with dumbbell -- 2 x 6

(On the triceps kickbacks, I would hold the lockout
position for a count of two on each rep. This was the
Weider Peak Contraction principle. It was almost as
good as burns. All the "champs" did them.)

8. Leg extensions 3 x 9

(I was going to do these after I got a pair of Iron Boots.
When I finally did, I found that they kept falling off my
feet, so I don't think I did many leg extensions. And
why I did 3 x 9 is anybody's guess.)

9. Leg curls 3 x 6

(Again, I was waiting on the Iron Boots.)

10. Bridging 3 x 10 with 5 lbs. on my chest

(For some reason, I erased this exercise after writing it
into the program. I probably discovered that bridging
doesn't work very well if you train in a room with a
linoleum tile floor.)

11. Dumbbell wrist curls 3 x 10 each arm

(Not sure why I didn't do barbell wrist curls. Someone
in the muscle mags must have said to use dumbbells.)

12. Mr. Kleen Dips (a/k/a handstand pushups) 2 x 6

(Again, I learned about these when Mr. Kleen
demonstrated them on the AWA wrestling show.)

Now, there were some good parts of that workout,
but there were some dumb parts, as well -- and I
doubt if it worked very well for me. But it was the
best program I could concoct based on the info
that was available to me.

In that regard, I was like most young guys. I was
desperate to build strength and muscles -- and had
no idea how to do it. All I knew was what the muscle
magazines said to do -- and that didn't do the job.

Eventually, I learned how to train the right way. But
I still remember what it was like to be a clueless
newbie who was DESPERATE to build strength
and muscle.

That's why I wrote Chalk and Sweat. It has programs
for trainees of all levels -- from beginner, to intermediate,
to advanced (along with some leg and back programs
to build maximum strength and muscle mass.) It's a
great way to get started in the Iron Game.

So if you're a newbie -- or you know a newbie -- that's
a pretty good place to get started:

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

Dinosaur Bodyweight Training is another good place
to start your training. Yes, it has lots of exercises and
workouts for advanced trainees, but it also has plenty
of important advice for beginners -- as well as exercises
and workouts for beginners:

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

And, of course, if you are an older trainee, Gray Hair and
Black Iron has what you need, whether you're a beginner
or someone who has been training for many years:

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

So that's the top program from 1969 -- and some good
ideas about effective training programs for beginners
and where to find them.

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. I also made TONS of mistakes when it came to diet
and nutrition "back in the day" -- which is not uncommon --
and which is why I wrote Knife, Fork, Muscle:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_nutrition.html

P.S. 2. 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. 3. Thought for the Day:

"You're not going to get everything right when
you start training, but if you do your homework
you don't have to get everything WRONG!"

-- 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

12 Keys to Strength and Muscle Mass! (Part 3)

Bernie Baron shows what old-school, drug-free strength and muscle looks like in this classic photo from the early 1940's.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes, and then we'll talk
training.

1. Dinosaur File Subscriptions

If you'd like a one year, 12-issue subscription
to the new monthly Dinosaur Files, shoot me
an email.

You can purchase a subscription for PDF or (if
you are in the USA) hard-copy.

If you prefer to grab each issue as it comes
out, that's fine, too. Go here to grab the Oct
and Nov issues:

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

I'm finishing up the Dec issue, and it will be
ready soon.

2. The Bone Strength Project

We've been getting off the chart reviews
for John Wood's Bone Strength Project.

You can find the complete program right
here in issue no. 4 of The Train Hard
Journal:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/bone-strength-projectPDF.html

This is a very unique and very effective
program - as John proved with a series
of DEXA scans over a period of several
years while he was on the program.

3. Twelve Keys to Strength and
Muscle Mass (Part 3)

Here's part 3 in what has turned into a
mini-course on building strength and
muscle mass. This is tip no. 5. If you
missed parts 1 and 2, you can find
them right here at the Dinosaur
Training Blog:

http://dinosaurtraining.blogspot.com/

By the way, I post every email on the
Blog - so if you ever miss an email, go
to the Blog to find it. You can access
the Blog from the drop-down/menu
bar on the landing page of my web-
site.

5. Special advice for beginners.

If you're a beginner, you should expect
to make rapid progress in strength and
muscle building.

That's because your body has so much
untapped potential.

You can easily gain 20 to 40 pounds of
solid muscle in your first year of training -
along with enormous increases in strength.

You may very likely double, triple or even
quadruple your over-all strength compared
to where you are when you begin training.

And here's the important thing.

You don't have to train super hard, super
long or super anything to get good results
as a beginner.

You don't need over the top insanity training.

You don't need monster mass mega muscle
madness.

You don't need Bulgarian training (or Russian,
Chinese, Mongolian, Himalayan, Hawaiian,
or any other kind of super training).

Heck, you don't even need the super-duper,
multi-angular, maxi-rep, muscle confusion,
bomb, blast, and blitz program touted by
the guys doing the funky exercises on all
the social media channels.

You also don't need supplements. (With
just a few exceptions, they're an utter
and complete waste of money).

You don't need a special diet, and you
don't need to guzzle milk by the gallon -
or eat six meals a day - or set your alarm
clock so you wake up and scarf more
food at 3:00 in the morning.

And you sure as heck don't need
roidskies.

You just need to train.

You need to start light and easy, learn how
to do the exercises, develop a good sense
of the rhythm of a workout, and then very
slowly and gradually start to add weight to
the bar and inch your way up the ladder of
success.

You don't need any special equipment. You
can do it with bodyweight training, or with
basic barbell and dumbbell training.

For the former, all you need is a place to
train and something to use to do pull-ups.

For the latter, all you need is a barbell. If
you have squat stands, that's great - and
if you have a pair of adjustable dumbbells,
that's even better. And a power rack (NOT a
Smith machine) is an absolute gift from the
Iron Gods.

By the way, you can get all the equipment
you need from Craig's List or any local
source of second-hand stuff. People are
always selling old weight equipment.

For details on your workouts as a beginner,
grab Chalk and Sweat - or, if you prefer body-
weight training, grab Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training:

Chalk and Sweat

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

Dinosaur Bodyweight Training

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

Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vols. 1, 2
and 3 are also very good for beginners.

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

You can grab them in hard-copy, PDF or
Kindle. See the links on my website. We
even have it set-up to grab all 3 with one
order if you opt for PDF or Kindle.

Remember, start light and easy - and
don't try to rush things. You don't have
to FORCE growth as a beginner - you
just COAX it.

It comes naturally - and faster than you
would imagine.

More to follow  . . .

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. 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. 2. Thought for the Day:

"Start light and easy, learn how to
train, and gradually train harder and
heavier. You'll be amazed at how well
it works for you."

- 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