Another Way to Measure Progress as You Grow Older

John Grimek was healthy and strong for pretty much his entire life - and he lived a very long life. We have much to learn from the old-timers about healthy and successful aging.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I changed doctors seven years ago,
and when I did, I collected a full set
of medical records from my first doc.

I'd been seeing him since I was 28 or
29 - and I changed docs at age 54 -
so there were a ton of records.

Anyhow, the other day Trudi had an
idea:

"You should go through all your old
medical records - and then get new
labs and blood work done - and com-
pare where you are now - at age 60 -
to where you were at age 30, 40 and
50. That would be good information."

"You could share it with the Dinos,"
she added. "They'd like to see it."

That's a good idea, so I'm going to
go ahead and do it.

My birthday is in September - I'll be
turning 61 - so I may wait until then
to get the labs and blood work.

That way I can compare age 29, 30
and so on to age 61 - a full 32 years
later.

In the meantime, I'm following a very
healthy diet - and training hard - doing
a lot of new things, that I'll be sharing
with you in the future - and working on
being as strong, healthy, fit and well-
conditioned as possible as I head into
my 60s.

I don't compete against other people
any more. I compete against myself.

My goal is to be stronger, leaner, fitter,
healthier and better conditioned at age
61 than I was at age 30 - or age 40 -
or age 50.

In fact, I plan to kick the you know what
out of the younger version of Brooks.

Not that the younger version was a bad
guy - or in bad shape - but the goal is
to always keep on improving - and the
more ways to measure improvement,
the better.

If you're  a younger Dino, get some
labs and blood work - and save the
results - and compare them to where
you are in 10, 20, 30 or 40 years.

The docs used to say that weight
training would kill us. Let's all work
together to prove them wrong!

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. Gray Hair and Black Iron has
tons of workouts and training tips
for trainees. If you don't already
have a copy, do yourself a big favor
and grab it today:

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

"Stay strong, stay young."

 -- Brooks Kubik

Another Important Tip for Beginners!

 

Everyone starts at the beginning - including a World and Olympic champion like John Davis.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Here's another very important tip for
beginners.

It also applies to anyone who's getting
back into training after a long lay-off.

And for anyone who decides to start a
new diet.

It's very common for an out of shape
individual to get super-motivated and
suddenly jump into an intense diet and
exercise program.

This is the approach in "The Biggest
Loser" reality tv show - and in most
or all of the overnight miracle programs -
meaning the ones that promise enormous
improvements in muscular development
and/or fat loss in just 10, 14, 28, or 30
days.

You go from zero to 200 miles an hour in
your training - and you simultaneously do
the very same for your diet.

Now, that's not a good way to begin your
strength training - or to get back into your
training after  along lay-off.

It's better to start light and easy - and go
slow and steady, making regular and
steady progress as you grow stronger and
better conditioned.

Going from no training to super hard, super
intense training is a shock to your body -
and it almost always does more harm than
good.

It's also better to separate a new diet from
a new training program.

That's because a new diet is a shock to your
body.

If you combine the two shocks - the new
training program and the new diet - you're
much more likely to run into problems.

It's too much change - too quickly.

It's better to change your diet and train
relatively light and easy for a month - so
your body can adjust to the new diet.

Then, after you're used to the new way of
eating, gradually ramp up your workouts,
making them harder and heavier and more
challenging.

That may sound like it takes too long - but
consider this - almost everyone who tries
the "new and super intense workout com-
bined with new and super strict diet" ends
up quitting.

And when you quit, you end up right back
where you started.

In other words, you get nowhere.

So do it the smart way - the sensible way -
the slow and steady way.

Give the process the time your body needs
to adjust to a new diet - and then begin a
new training program - or ramp up your
existing program.

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. The beginner programs in Dinosaur
Bodyweight Training are perfect for new
trainees - and for anyone getting back
into it after a long lay-off:

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

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

Hard-copy and PDF

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

Kindle

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:

"Rome wasn't the result of a 14 day
blitz program."

-- 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

Do It Yourself Health Care

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

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
DVD's

I have ONE set of all seven of my
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
DVD's.

It would normally run $150 plus
shipping and handling, but since
today is Black Friday I'm letting it
go for $120.00 plus s&h. But if no
one grabs it, the price goes back
up tomorrow.

If you're interested, shoot me an
email. First come, first served.

2. The Dinosaur Files

The October and November issues
of The Dinosaur Files newsletter are
getting great reviews. You can grab
them in PDF format with immediate
electronic delivery:

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

The Dinosaur Files is printable, so if you
want a hard copy, get the PDF edition
and print it out.

if you don't have a printer or if you want
a one year (12 issue) subscription, shoot
me an email and we'll see what we can
do for you.

3. Do It Yourself Health Care

Everyone worries about health care -
and about the ever-increasing cost of
health care.

The politicians debate it backwards and
forwards, upside down, inside out, and
every other way.

Everyone has a proposed solution - most
of which just won't work.

But no one asked me.

And that's a shame, because I have a
couple of ideas that might help the
situation.

Actually, there not MY ideas - they're
just common sense physical culture
and physical fitness ideas that have
been around for the past 100 years
or more.

Here they are:

1. Walkable cities. The more people
walk, the leaner and healthier they
are.

a. Bike friendly cities are also
important.

2. Parks and playgrounds for kids.
Start 'em young, and keep 'em
moving.

a. With monkey bars, even. (Those
were my favorite when I was a kid.)

b. And outdoor workout areas for
the older kids and the adults.

3. Community gardens. They should
be everywhere - with people using
them - and growing plenty of healthy
and delicious food.

a. This also would help make real food
much more affordable.

b. And gardening is good for you - it
gets you outside, and it provides some
light exercise - at a level that almost
anyone can do.

4. A gym on every corner. Meaning an
old-school gym with barbells, dumbbells,
kettlebells and similar basics. A neighbor-
hood gym that anyone and everyone can
use.

a. This actually used to be pretty much
the case in many big cities back in the
day.

5. Real food in the grocery stores - and
in restaurants.

a. But no more deep fried, super greasy,
high fat, high sugar, high calorie fast
food.

6. A gym in every house (or apartment).

a. Just the basics - for the entire family
to use.

b. This was one of Bob Hoffman's life-
long dreams.

7. A national effort - similar to the effort
the USA made in World War 2 or to get a
man on the moon - to teach people to
build their health with the right kind of
diet and exercise.

Those are the ideas that come to mind
immediately.

Do you have any others? If you do, send
them on it!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Dinosaur Bodyweight Training is
great for home-gym workouts - or for
outdoor training.

Go here to grab the little monster:

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

And remember, if you want the DVD
set - the last one I have - shoot me
an email right now.

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:

"Think how wonderful the world
would be if everyone followed the
strength and health lifestyle!"

- 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

An Update on the 30 Day Challenge

A delicious stir-fry with garlic and red pepper sauce - it made a terrific dinner, and we used the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Back in August, Trudi decided she
wanted to try as many new and
different recipes and meals as
possible.

So she challenged me to a 30
Day program of nothing but
vegetarian meals.

Being a Dinosaur, I had to accept
the challenge - so we began the
30 day program at the very next
meal.

I even helped by looking up a
recipe for dinner - and then
helping out with the prep and
the cooking - and I even did
the dinner dishes (all of which
was probably part of Trudi's
plan).

We followed a vegetarian diet for
several days - meaning that we
included eggs, butter and cheese.

No milk - I haven't used milk for
35 years. Around age 25 or so I
found that I couldn't digest it.

But I was curious to see how I
would do on a 100 percent plant
based diet, so I dropped the
eggs, butter and cheese.

Meanwhile, we started to explore
all sorts of fun meals:

Mexican dishes. (We're even
making our own tortillas, which
is lots of fun.)

Yellow corn polenta topped with black beans, salsa, sliced tomatoes and sliced avocado.

Thick soups and vegetable stews,
using recipes from around the
world - and my own homemade
veggie broth.

Roasted and oven-baked veggies.
Middle eastern dishes.


Lots of fun pasta dishes.

Pasta with broccoli and mushrooms sauted with garlic and onions.

Buddha bowls (meaning a
big bowl of all sorts of
good stuff).

Power plates (a Buddha
bowl on a plate).

A power plate consisting of raw celery; sauted onions, peppers and mushrooms; raw carrots; steamed chard; kimchi; brown rice, and baked tofu.

Homemade panini sandwiches
with veggies, black beans,
hummus, and much goodness.
(I flatten them with one of
Trudi's dumbbells or kettle-
bells.)

Oatmeal with cinnamon, nuts,
sunflower seeds, pumpkin
seeds, cherries and sliced
banana.

It worked great, and we had lots
of terrific meals - so after 30 days,
we continued to do it.

We went to Dayton one day and
had lunch with my brother, who
took us to a great little Korean
restaurant - which we loved -
so we decided to add Korean
food to the menu.

That led us to a local Asian
store - where we got all kinds
of fun ingredients for new and
different meals - including some
awesome garlic and red pepper
sauce and some killer kimchi.

Broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper, onion, garlic, kimchi, and tofu in garlic and red pepper sauce.

I even found a recipe for easy
no-knead whole wheat bread -
and baked some bread one
day.

We're about 90 days into the
new diet, and I feel great - and
I plan to continue with it - and
see what happens.

It would be fun to be stronger at
age 61 (my age next year) than I
was at age 50 - and to do it on a
plant-based diet. So we'll see what
happens over the coming year.

I've been posting photos of our
meals on Facebook and Insta-
gram - go check them out and
see some of the fun:

https://www.instagram.com/brooks_kubik/?hl=en

Some of you have less than
zero interest in the new diet,
and that's fine - but others are
VERY interested in it. So I'll
go ahead and write up a more
detailed report, including
some of our favorite recipes.

Anyhow, that's the update for
now. If you have comments or
questions, send them in.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. We're starting to get near
the end of our current printing
of Strength, Muscle and Power -
and I'm not going to reprint it
for awhile - 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: 

"Train for strength, eat for
health, be strong and live
long."

-- 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