What Builds the Most Strength?

"How do I build the most strength as fast as possible? he asked. So I thought I'd answer the question in today's Blog post.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We'll talk training in just a second - but
first, here's an important reminder - and
a call to action.

1. The Sept-Oct Dinosaur Files

The Sept-Oct 2018 issue of The Dinosaur
Files strength training newsletter has
been getting great reviews - and that's
no surprise.

It's another big issue - 12 pages - with
tons of training tips, exercises and great
workouts - including a very challenging
program featuring exercises with a heavy
duty strongman yoke.

There's also a great article on a new and
different progression system for 20 rep
breathing squats - and one Dino's true
story of how old-school strength training
saved his life one day.

You can grab the Sept-Oct Dino Files
right here:

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

Be sure to join your fellow Dinos by
grabbing this issue. It's a good one -
and you don't want to miss it.

2. What Builds the Most Strength?

Yesterday I answered a question from
a reader who wanted to know how
various sandbag and barrel lifts
compared to similar barbell lifts.

So I shared some numbers from my
own workouts 20 plus years ago -
comparing my top barbell clean
and press to my top sandbag or
barrel clean and press, and so
on.

That was part one of his question.

He also wanted to know what built
the most strength.

In other words, which is better -

1. Training with barbells and dumb-
bells,

or

2. Training with sandbags, barrels
and similar types of heavy awkward
objects?

So here's my answer.

They're both good - and they both
work.

But it's hard to say that one is better
than the other - or that one is more
effective than the other.

Instead, think of them as different
ways to do the same job.

That said, remember this:

1. If you plan to do powerlifting comps,
you need to train for powerlifting.

2. If you plan to do strongman comps,
you need to do a combination of basic
lifting (squats, deadlifts, presses or
push presses, etc.) along with training
for the events that you'll contest.

If your goal is to build all-around
strength and power, then you can
do whatever you enjoy the most,
be it barbell and dumbbell work or
heavy awkward objects.

Or . . . what I like the best . . . 
you can combine different training
tools.

In other words, use barbells, dumb-
bells, sandbags, barrels and other
fun training tools.

I cover workouts that do exactly this
in many of my books and courses,
including:

Chalk and Sweat

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

Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets
of Strength and Development

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

Dinosaur Training Secrets,
Vol. 1

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_01.html

Gray Hair and Black Iron

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

And, of course, we cover these kinds
of workouts in the Dinosaur Files.
(As I noted before, the latest issue
includes a unique workout using a
strongman yoke as your primary
piece of equipment.)

Sept-Oct Dino Files

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

So don't limit yourself. Life's too short.

Have fun when you train. Use a variety
of different training tools and different
exercises - and use them to build tons
and tons of strength, muscle and
power!

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

Before You Leave - Check These Out! 

 

Brooks Kubik's Kindle Books

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

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

 
For even more Kindle books by Brooks Kubik, visit:

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

Who's Stronger?

An old photo from 20 or 22 years ago - hitting a one-hand swing in the original Dinosaur  Dungeon with 151 pounds. I made the lifts I describe in today's Blog post at about the same time as this photo.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes and then we'll talk
iron - as well as sandbags and barrels.

1. The Sept-Oct Dinosaur Files

The Sept-Oct 2018 issue of The Dinosaur
Files strength training newsletter has
been getting great reviews - and that's
no surprise.

It's another big issue - 12 pages - with
tons of training tips, exercises and workouts -
including a very challenging program that
uses a special combination of exercises
performed with a strongman yoke.

You can grab the Sept-Oct Dino Files right
here in a downloadable and printable PDF -
with immediate electronic delivery:

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

2. The Complete Physique Course
John Wood just released vol. 3 of the
excellent but very hard to find Complete
Physique Course.

This volume includes Lessons 5 and 6
of the Course - covering hand-balancing
and strand pulling (a/k/a cable training).

It's available right here at the Kindle
bookstore - and it's highly recommended!

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/complete-physique-03.html

3. Who's Stronger?

One of our Dinos posted the following
question for the The Dinosaur Training
Facebook Group. (BTW, if you're not a
member, go ahead and apply to join -
and include a note saying you read
about it here.)

Who's Stronger?

Need an opinion here. Who's stronger?

The man who can heave a 300 pound
barrel to his shoulder and squat with it
for reps - or the man who can squat
500 pounds for reps?

The man who can press 225 pounds for
reps or the man who can press a 150
pound sandbag for reps?

At a crossroads here. Please weigh in.

Jim

As you might expect, there were a ton
of responses - so I thought I'd cover it
in today's email and Blog post.

And I thought I'd cover it by giving you
the best numbers I hit in these lifts -
which should give you a good basis for
comparing the relative merits of the
various lifts Jim asked about.

Back around age 40, at a bodyweight of
220 to 225 pounds, I did the following
for one rep each after training on the
various lifts for a reasonable period of
time to develop the necessary skill to
perform them well:

1. Two dumbbell clean and press with a
pair of 121 pound dumbbells.

2. Two dumbbell clean and push press
with a pair of 126 pound dumbbells.

c. Note the total weight here - 242
pounds and 252 pounds respectively.

3. Clean and press with a 165 pound
anvil wrapped with 55 pounds of log
chain - total weight 220 pounds.

a. Working from memory here - it
may have been 60 pounds of log
chain for a total weight of 225
pounds.

b. I may have been able to do more,
but that was all the chain I had.

4. Clean and press with a 220 or 225
pound beer keg.

a. I also could shoulder this beer keg,
of course - and I think I worked up
to 250 in shouldering it.

5. Clean and press with a wooden
lifting log with handles in the center
and plates and chains on the ends -
250 pounds total weight.

6. Sandbag clean and press - 250
pounds.

a. I also could shoulder this sandbag.

7. Barbell clean and press - 275
pounds.

8. Bottom position squat - starting
with the tops of the thighs just below
parallel - no wraps or lifting suit -
500 pounds.

a. For me, a 500 pound bottom position
squat was the equivalent of a 600 pound
regular squat.

So my best barbell clean and press was
275 pounds - my best sandbag clean and
press was 250 pounds - and my best squat
(bottom position style) was 500 pounds.

This suggests that shouldering a 300
pound barrel is tougher than squatting
500 pounds.

Perhaps it's more like a 600 pound
squat (with no gear other than a belt).

Or perhaps more like 700 pounds.

It also suggests that if you clean and
press 225 with a barbell, you should be
able to handle about 180 to 200 pounds
in a sandbag clean and press.

Or vice-versa.

As for which type of equipment builds
the most strength - or builds strength
fastest - that's a different question -
and one that I'll answer tomorrow.

Anyhow, that's my answer. Hope it
helps!

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 book that started the
Dinosaur Revolution - and brought
heavy awkward objects, sandbags
and barrels into the mainstream:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.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. 2. Thought for the Day:

"Barbells work. Dumbbells work. So
do sandbags and barrels. It all works
if YOU work."

-- 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

Last Chance for Dad's Day!

 

We're down to the last box of Strength, Muscle and Power, and I'm not doing another printing any time soon - perhaps not ever - so if you want a copy, grab it now.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We're down to the last box of Strength,
Muscle and Power, and I'm not going to
do another printing for awhile - perhaps
not ever.

That means that this is the last time the
little monster will be available for Father's
Day - because they won't be around this
time next year.

Heck, they probably won't be around
much longer, period.

Anyhow, if you want a copy, grab it
now:

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

It's a great book that gives you tons of
hard-hitting workouts - including the
exact program I used when I won five
National championships in the bench
press.

It also covers:

power rack training

home gym training

heavy, awkward objects

thick bars

grip training

rest-pause training

specialization programs

building tendon and ligament
strength

abbreviated training

ultra-abbreviated training

and lots more!

Go here to grab the little monster -
and if you want me to autograph it
for you, be sure to ask when you
place your order.

Here's the link again:

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

The 400 Pound Waltz

Weightlifters are amazingly strong athletes - but how many weightlifters can do a 400 Pound Waltz?

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Three quick notes, and then we'll talk iron -
as in, the amazing 400 pound waltz!

1. Dino Training in OZY

The popular on-line magazine, OZY, just did
a great review of Dinosaur Training.

Go here to see it - and please help us spread
the word by sharing the article - and by posting
a comment in the comments section after the
article.

https://www.ozy.com/good-sht/this-old-school-workout-program-puts-the-hard-in-hard-core/85137

This is a great opportunity to help bring
Dinosaur Training to folks who would not
otherwise hear about it - so let's make the
most of it!

2. The Dinosaur Files

If you missed any of the recent issues of The
Dinosaur Files strength training newsletter,
go here to grab them:

April issue

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-april2018.html

March issue

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur-files-march2018pdf.html

Feb issue

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur-files-february2018pdf.html

Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan issues

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_files.html

And yes, I'm working away on the May issue!

3. Pruning the Email List!

We need to prune our email list, so I'm going to
be deleting inactive accounts. We have a lot of
accounts going back more than 10 years that
don't appear to be opening and reading the
daily emails - so I have to assume they are
no longer active accounts.

If I make a mistake and delete you - please
go to my website and sign back up.

I'll try to delete only inactive accounts, but
I may make a mistake - so if your emails
stop, sign back up pronto.

4. The 400 Pound Waltz

Here's one I spotted yesterday - in an old
issue of Peary Rader's IronMan magazine.

Have you ever heard of Charles Rigoulet?

He was a French weightlifting champion from
back in the 1920's.

He was pretty good, too.

He won the 82.5 kilo class at the 1924 Olympic
Games.

Between 1923 and 1926 he set 8 official World
Records.

In 1924 he became the first man in history to
clean and jerk 400 pounds - using a special
old-fashioned globe barbell with an extra-
long bar. (I think it was 9 or 10 feet long -
which means it was super springy. Wow -
what a great bar that must have been.)

In 1930 he became the first man to clean
and jerk the famous Apollon Wheels. (The
only other men to ever do so were John
Davis and Norb Schemansky, many years
later.)

After his weightlifting career ended, Rigoulet
became a professional wrestler - and had
some memorable matches with men like
Strangler Lewis, Henri DeGlane and Milo
Steinborn.

He also was a race car driver at Le Mans.

All in all, quite a well-rounded athlete - a
man of many talents.

He also was the World's Strongest Dancer.

That's because he could do a 400 Pound
Waltz.

Picture this.

After World War Two, when he was in his
mid-40's, Rigoulet had a strongman act.

It featured some beautiful chrome-plated
barbells - one of which weighed 400 pounds.

Rigoulet would deadlift the 400 pound bar-
bell - and then perform a waltz with it.

Imagine that - one, two, three - one, two,
three - one, two, three four . . . . with 400
pounds of iron in his hands!

Step, step, turn . . . step, step, turn - with
400 pounds!

That must have been something to see.

Anyhow, if you're looking for a fun new
challenge there it is - the 400 Pound
Waltz.

But don't start with 400 pounds.

Start with a much lighter weight - and
work up from there!

And use a barbell - not a Trap Bar - a
barbell is much safer for this one.

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. If you're getting my emails, I assume
you already have a copy of Dinosaur
Training and Strength, Muscle and
Power.

If not, go here to grab them:

Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of
Strength and Development

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

Strength, Muscle and Power

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

"Set high goals for yourself - and work
relentlessly to achieve them."

-- 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