A Question About Heavy Partials - and My Answer!

I've been getting tons of questions about my new training course on heavy partials - so here's the latest one - and my answer to it!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I hope this email finds you strong,
healthy and powering forward into
the New Year!

And speaking of powering forward -
one of our longtime Dinos - age 72 -
asked if he should try my new course
on heavy partials.

I should note, by the way, that he's
an experienced trainee. He started
training at age 12, and he's been
hitting the iron pretty much ever
since.

So, back to his question . . . should
he give heavy partials a try?

The short answer is YES - but as with
anything else, you need to use some
good old-fashioned common sense.

When you begin doing heavy partials:

1. Start light.

2. Learn the movements and the best
rack positions before you begin to pile
on the weight.

3. Train progressively - with small but
steady increases in weight on the bar.

4. Always warm-up thoroughly before
doing heavy partials.

5. If a particular movement hurts when
you do it - find a different exercise for
the same body part. You can always
find an alternative exercise that works
just as well or even better.

If you do heavy partials the right way,
as outlined above, they should work
fine for you at any age. In fact, many
older Dinos find that they work better
than anything else - and that it's much
easier to recover from your workouts.

And, of course, heavy partials do a
heck of a lot for bone strength and
bone mass - which is very important
for our age 50-plus Dinos.

Anyhow, I think our age-72 Dino
should try my heavy partials program -
but as noted above, I want him to be
smart about it - and use his brain, not
his ego, to dictate his poundages and
his workouts.

You can grab the program right here:

PDF edition

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

Kindle edition

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

Happy reading , and happy training -
and as always, keep me posted on
your results!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

A Training Program You've Never Seen Before!

Breaking news! There's something brand new for Dinos - and it features a super-effective workout that you've never seen before!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

John Wood has just released The John
Wood Report No. 5.

You can grab it right here:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport05.html

As always, it includes some great
articles - but one article in particular
stands out.

It's an update on John's unique Bone
Strength Training program - except
he's doing things a bit differently
than before.


In fact, he's doing something that
I've never seen before - or read
about before - and never tried.

And I seriously doubt if anyone else
in the world is doing it.

But it may be the very best thing
ever for building bone strength
and bone mass.

Which means it may be one of the
very best things ever for older Dinos.

Or Dinos of any age - because bone
strength and bone mass is important
at any age.

So grab a copy - it costs less than the
price of one of those mocha monkey
cappuccino latte drinks at the trendy
coffee shops - and read it through -
and see for yourself exactly what
I'm talking about - and then decide
if you want to try working it into
your own program.

And yes - I do plan on trying it -
and I bet a lot of you are going
to do the very same thing.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

Some Very Good Training Advice

Like many old-time champions, Sig Klein kept training for his entire life. Today's training tip gives you one of the reasons that so many of the old-timers were able to keep slinging the iron when they were in their 50's, 60's, 70's or beyond.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes and then we'll talk
training.

1. The Sept-Oct Dinosaur Files

Available in PDF format with immediate
electronic delivery - and fully printable,
so you can save it in your collection.

This issue covers training with a strong
man yoke - a new system for 20-rep
breathing squats - a unique dumbbell
training progression system - and
much more.

You can grab it here:

www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-sep-oct2018.html

2. My Heavy Partials Course

This little monster is available in your
choice of PDF or Kindle - and whichever
you prefer, it's a heck of a good course.

Heavy partials are excellent strength
and muscle builders - and they're great
for strengthening your tendons and
ligaments - as well as helping to build
bone strength.

They're also great for adding some
serious iron to your current PR's in
the squat, bench press, deadlift and
press.

As I mentioned last week, one of our
Dinos tried the Heavy Partials course
a few months ago when we released
the PDF version - and he set a new
PR in the bench press in just two
short weeks.

Go here to grab it:

Dinosaur Strength and Power -

Course No. 2 - Heavy Partials

Kindle edition

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

PDF edition

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurstrengthandpower-02.html

If you grab the Kindle edition, be
sure to post a review at the Kindle
page - the reviews really help us!

3. Some Very Good Training Advice!

I was looking at a copy of Hepburn's Law
the other day. It's an old training course
written by Doug Hepburn.

For those who don't know - which I assume
is few of my readers - Hepburn was one of
the biggest and strongest men in the world
back in the 1950's.

He set World records in the military press,
strict barbell curl, one-arm dumbbell press,
two-dumbbell press, bench press and squat.
He was the first man in history to break the
500 pound barrier in the bench press.

He won the World Weightlifting Champion-
ship in 1953 - and won the British Empire
(now the Commonwealth Games)
Championship in 1954.

Anyhow - back to the course.

There was a chapter about injuries and how
to prevent them.

In it, Doug Hepburn gave this advice:

"Don't do dangerous and foolish lifts."

A simple drawing on the opposite page shows
a trainee doing a heavy deadlift while standing
on a low platform or riser so the lift begins with
the bar almost touching the toes.

In other words, riser deadlifts.

Now, some people swear by riser deadlifts.

They used to be part of the Swedish Deadlifting
Program back in the late 60s and early 70s -
and they worked great for some people.

And long before that, John Grimek did heavy
stiff legged deadlifts while standing on a box
or bench so he could lower the bar all the way
down to his toes.

Today, riser snatch pulls and clean pulls
are popular among many Olympic
weightlifters.

So don't send me hate mail about riser dead-
lifts. That's not the point - although if you ever
DO try riser deadlifts, be sure you have the
flexibility and proportions to do them with a
flat back. They work for some people but
not for others.

Instead, focus on Hepburn's basic message.
Far too many trainees hurt themselves by
doing dangerous and foolish lifts. It's so
common now that it's a Facebook meme.

I often joke about it by referring to "squats
on roller skates."

But you really do see people doing squats
on stability balls - with a barbell on their
shoulders.

Which is something that looks impressive
(or perhaps insane), and thus, garners a
lot of traffic on social media.

But remember, all it takes is one slight
twist and you can blow out a knee or an
ankle - and that can make effective training
impossible for a very long time. Perhaps
forever.

So why do it?

Why even try it?

Why not knuckle down to some serious back
squats or front squats - performed in perfect
form - with a good series of progressively
heavier warm-up sets before your work set
or work sets?

It's not as cool looking as squats on a stability
ball, and it won't get you a million likes on
Facebook - but it will build strength and muscle
as fast, effectively and as safely as possible.

And remember this - if Doug Hepburn saw
you training your squats (or any other basic
exercise) that way, he'd give you a big
thumbs up!

And a thumbs up from Doug Hepburn is
worth a bajillion likes on Facebook.

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 covers
commonsense strength training and
muscle building for older Dinos - and
teaches you how to build your body as
safely and efficiently as possible.

Go here to grab a copy:

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

"Train for results, not for social
media."

-- 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

One More Reason

That's me doing partial push presses with 440 pounds - back in the original Dinosaur Dungeon, more than 20 years ago. Those heavy partials built tons of bone strength.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

In case you needed it, here's one more
reason to make Bone Strength Training
a priority in your workouts.

John Wood has mentioned it in several
recent emails that you may already have
seen - but it's very important for all of us,
so I want to follow up on it a bit.

Anyhow, here it is - one more reason to
do Bone Strength Training:

Increasing your bone mass may very
well increase your testosterone levels.

Let me repeat that.

If you do specialized training to increase
the density, strength and thickness of
your bones . . .

. . . which I refer to as Bone Strength
Training, using the term coined by John
Wood in his revolutionary Bone Strength
Project . . .

. . . then the increases in bone mass may
very well lead to increases in your body's
production of male hormones.

I use the term "may' because the research
is relatively new.

But so far, it looks like this:

1. Your bones contain a special "messenger"
protein that sends signals to other cells
and organs throughout your body.

2. In men, this includes the testes.

3. The signal from the messenger protein
is very simple: "Switch on!"

4. "Switch on!" means "Make more
testosterone!"

5. In other words, "Start flooding this man's
body with as much testosterone as possible!"

And that makes it look like increased bone
mass may lead to increased testosterone
production.

Which in turn leads to increased strength
and muscle mass.

As well as plenty of other good things -
especially for older Dinos.

It's not exactly the Fountain of Youth,
but it's pretty darn close.

How's that from a bonus from doing some
specialized work to build your bones?

So how do you do it?

Well, that's easy.

John and I have covered bone building
workouts in a number of our respective
books and courses - including these:

John Wood's Bone Strength Project

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

This is issue no. 2 of the Train Hard
Bulletin - available in PDF format -
and it details John's unique approach
to Bone Strength Training.

Dinosaur Strength and Power -
Course No. 2 - Heavy Partials

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurstrengthandpower-02.html

This is a no. 2 in a new series of special
training courses. It's available in PDF -
and the PDF is printable, so you can
print and save it if that's how you
like to do your reading.

Course No. 2 covers heavy partials in
detail - and includes an excellent
workout that will help build tons of
bone strength - as well as plenty
of tendon, ligament and muscle
strength.

Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of
Strength and Development

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

Every page of Dinosaur Training oozes
strength and power - and everything in
the book will help you build strong bones.
Chapters 10, 11, 16 and 17 are especially
good for Bone Strength Training.

Dinosaur Training is available in a hard-
copy edition only. Order it from my website,
using the above link. For the Kindle edition,
use the Kindle links at the end of this post.

The Dinosaur Strength Training
Archive, Vol. 1

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

The Dinosaur Strength Training Archive
is a collection of my articles from the
original Dinosaur Files newsletter, which
I launched in 1997.

Chapters 1 and 2 cover old-school training
methods that are very effective for Bone
Strength Training. In fact, the workout in
chapter 2 is kind of hard to beat.

This little monster is available in your choice
of hard-copy or Kindle edition. The above
photo shows the cover of the Kindle edition.

So there you have it - four great resources
for Bone Strength Training - with all of its
enormous benefits.

Of course, you could skip the Bone Strength
Training and stick to the light stuff - or the
muscle pumping stuff - or the endless hours
of cardio that so many people do - and just
forget all about strong bones.

Or you could give it a try and see how it
works.

My very strong recommendation is to give
it a try - because if it works (and I think it
will), then you've done something truly
important for your strength, health and
happiness.

And you've also learned a very important
key to lifelong strength and health.

And seriously - what do you have to lose?

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

Are We Hard-Wired to Train Crazy?

 

Sig Klein and some of his wonderful old-time barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells. Klein owned and operated one of the very best old0-school gyms in the entire world - and taught thousands of trainees how to train safely, productively and effectively. (Photo courtesy of John Wood at http://www.oldtimestrongman.com  - sprint over and check it the other great photos there.)

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We'll talk training in just a second - and cover
the question in the title of today's email - but
first let me cover some important updates.

1. Those Cool Shirts

John Wood has opened a t-shirt shop with all
kinds of terrific old-time strongman designs -
including shirts featuring John Grimek, the
Mighty Atom, Louis Cyr, old-time kettlebells
and kettlebell lifters, the Farmer Burns School
of Wrestling, the Great Gama, Eugene Sandow,
bareknuckle boxing, grippers, Bosco, Joe
Kinney's No. 4 gripper close, and much more.

He even has - get this - Dinosaur Training
shirts. (I gave him the okay to do it - so
they are licensed, authorized and approved.

They're also pretty neat looking - check
them out!)

It's called the Retro-Strength Shop - and
the name pretty much says it all.

Right now, there are over 100 designs -
t- shirts, coffee mugs, posters and more -
and John is adding more great swag all the
time.

So check it out - and bookmark it - and
check it again every couple of days. You
never know what you'll find there:

A Sig Klein coffee mug - that's something you don't see every day!

https://www.retrostrength.com/shop/

John has been bringing great products to
serious Iron Slingers for over ten years -
and the Retro-strength shop is another
home run.

2. The Dino Files

I'm finishing up the September-October
issue - and it's a good one - with some
terrific workouts and training tips.

In the meantime, if you missed the last
issue - or the previous issue - here they
are:

July-August Dino Files

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-julyaugust2018.html

May-June Dino Files

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-mayjune2018.html

3. Jowett's Progressive Barbell 
Training

I still have a few copies of my modern reprint
edition of George F. Jowett's classic course,
Progressive Barbell Training.

This is a great old-school course from way
back in the 1930's - with a complete training
program, and line drawings to illustrate the
correct performance of all of the different
exercises.

Good stuff - and very rare.

Shoot me an email if you'd like to grab one -
they're $20.00 plus shipping and handling.

4. Are We hard-Wired to Train on
Reckless and Crazy Workouts?

In yesterday's email I talked about The
First Rule - which is part of the Hippocratic
Oath that all doctors swear to follow.

The First Rule is "Do No Harm."

I noted that no similar rule applies to the
crazy exercise stuff that people post on
social media.

Instead, it seems people follow the
exact opposite rule on social media.

The more dangerous - the more reckless -
the greater the risk of a career-ending
(or even life-ending) injury, the better!

Meaning better for clicks and looks and
likes and shares and building a big army
of followers.

And many trainees - even the ones who
are old enough to know better - do a lot
of dangerous, reckless and risky stuff in
their workouts.

Finishing an overhead press in the outdoor lifting area here at Dino Headquarters. At age 61, I train hard but smart - because it's the only way to be able to keep on training.

Stuff that isn't even very productive or
effective - and that certainly isn't worth
the risk of injury.

Why do they do it?

Well, that's a good question.

I think the answer is that we're hard-wired
to do crazy and aggressive, high-adrenaline
activities. Especially men.

It's in our genes.

And there was a time when it was a good
thing for the survival of the human species.

It's what made a cave-man go charging up
against a giant cave-bear or a saber-tooth
tiger armed with nothing more than a
pointed stick.

And that was very good for the human
race.

Without it, we probably would have died
off long ago.

But that urge to charge right in, no matter
how dangerous the foe, isn't as helpful in
the modern world - and in particular, when
it comes to strength training.

Instead, it makes us fascinated with high-
risk exercises - and high-risk ways of
training.

John Grimek performing the alternate dumbbell press - one of his favorite exercises. It's a terrific exercise - hard, heavy, result-producing, and safe.

And all too often, that can have serious
consequences.

Now, I'm NOT saying to take it easy when
you train - or to stick to the soft and gentle
stuff - or to baby yourself.

But I am saying that you should consider
the risk-benefit ratio of anything you do
when you train - and let your brain, rather
than a primal drive for high-adrenaline
adventures - dictate what you do and
how you do it.

I know that's hard, especially when so
much social media is showing the high-
octane, high-adrenaline stuff.

But you can be smarter than that - and
being smarter means you can keep on
training for a long, long time.

If you need some specific training ideas
and some detailed workouts for safe,
fun, and effective training, grab a copy
of Gray Hair and Black Iron:

http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.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. Remember to check out the Retro-
Strength store - and be sure to grab the
two most recent issues of The Dinosaur
Files:

The Retro-Strength Shop

https://www.retrostrength.com/shop/

July-August Dino Files

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-julyaugust2018.html

May-June Dino Files

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-mayjune2018.html

P.S. 2. My other books and courses are
right here at Dino Headquarters - including
links to my PDF courses and my Kindle
books - including this little monster:

Hard-copy and PDF

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

Kindle

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:

"Training should be challenging and
demanding - but not dangerous. Never
dangerous."

- 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