How to Build Herculean Super Strength

 

World and Olympic champion John Davis built plenty of strength and power with old-school, Dino-style training methods.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes and then we'll talk
training.

1. Strength and Health magazines
for Sale

Trudi and I want to move to the
Pacific Northwest next year, and
that means I need to clear out
all of my duplicate strength books
and magazines.

I'm starting with old issues of Bob
Hoffman's Strength and Health -
over 400 of them - at great prices
in special year by year sets.

Go here for the complete list:

Strength and Health mags

https://dinosaurtraining.blogspot.com/2018/12/brooks-kubiks-iron-game-collection-list.html

I'll be listing other items later
today and for the next week or
so - as you might imagine, I have
a ton of them - and I want to find
good homes for them - meaning,
I want them to go to Dinos.

2. The Dinosaur Files

Go here to grab the Sept-Oct and
Nov issues of The Dinosaur Files
strength training newsletter:

Nov 2018 Dino Files

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-nov2018.html

Sept-Oct Dino Files

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

Meanwhile, I'm working away as
fast as Possible on the Dec issue -
and yes, it's going to be another
good one.

3. How to Build Herculean
Super Strength

45 years ago, Bradley J. Steiner wrote
a great little book with one of the best
titles in the history of the world:

"Powerlifting and the Development of
Herculean Super-Strength."

Good title, huh?

In the book, Steiner focused on building
four key areas:

1. Your legs and hips

2. Your back

3. Your shoulder girdle

and

4. Your chest

The theory was, if you built plenty of
strength and muscle mass in those four
key areas, you'd end up with plenty of
strength and muscle mass from head
to toe.

And it's a valid theory. It works. By
focusing on these four critical areas,
you build maximum strength and
muscle throughout your entire body.

And here's another tip. Or rather, three
of them. These come from me, but I
think Steiner would approve of them:

1. Power rack training

2. Rest-pause training

3. Heavy singles

Why do these help build Herculean
super-strength?

Because they let you train with HEAVY
WEIGHTS.

And make no mistake about it -- heavy
weights are what it takes to build
Herculean super-strength.

That was true 45 years ago - and it's
still true today.

And it will always be true.

Today, tomorrow, and forever.

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. My new training course on heavy
partials will help you build plenty of
strength and power:

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

P.S. 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: 

"You build strength, muscle and
power rep by rep, set by set, pound
by pound and workout by workout."

-- 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

My Favorite System of Single Rep Progression

Heavy singles can build some serious strength - especially when you combine them with power rack training. That's 440 pounds going for a ride back in the original Dinosaur Dungeon.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. The Dino Files

We've been getting great feedback on the
March and April issues of The Dinosaur Files.

If you don't have them, grab them now:

March

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

April

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

And as always, shoot me an email and let
me know how you like The Dino Files.

By the way, I'm already working on the
May issue - and it's going to be another
good one!

2. The John Wood Report

I've been hearing great things about
issue no. 2 of The John Wood Report.

It's a monster-sized, 19 page issue, in PDF
format so you can get it instantly - and yes,
it's printable, so you can print it and save it
(just like The Dinosaur Files).

It has some great articles and training tips.

Tips on building pressing power, some fun
push-up challenges, cool workouts, a primer
on the reverse curl, some ab flattening tips,
special gut exercises and - get this - the
Hammer Man's Challenge to the World.

Go here to grab the the little monster:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport-02.html

Also, if you missed issue no. 1, it's right
here:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport-01.html

I wonder what John has in mind for
issue no. 3!

3. My Favorite System of Single Rep
Progression

I've had a lot of questions about progression
systems for single rep training, so I thought
I'd briefly review my favorite way of doing it.

As always, it's very simple - but very
effective.

Start by working up to ONE heavy single. Not
your maximum single, but a heavy one.

The next time you train that exercise, do
TWO heavy singles with the same weight
you used in your first workout.

In the next session where you train that
exercise, do THREE heavy singles with
that weight.

Continue until you are doing FIVE heavy
singles with that particular weight - and
then add five pounds, drop back to ONE
heavy single, and repeat the entire process.

Thus (after warm-ups):

Workout 1 - 1 top single

Workout 2 - 2 top singles

Workout 3 - 3 top singles

Workout 4 - 4 top singles

Workout 5 - 5 top singles

That's how to do it using single progression.

You also can do it using double progression.

For double progression, you stay at the
same number of singles for two workouts -
and then add the additional single.

Double progression is slower, but it's a
very good way of doing things. It helps
build a strong foundation and prevents
burning out.

In other words (after warm-ups):

Workout 1 - 1 top single

Workout 2 - 1 top single

Workout 3 - 2 top singles

Workout 4 - 2 top singles

Workout 5 - 3 top singles

Etc.

As I said, it's very simple - but very effective.

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. For more about single rep progression,
read my Doug Hepburn training course. He
loved heavy singles - and had some great
training programs to use with them:

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

My Hepburn course is also available in PDF
and Kindle editions. See the links in the PDF
and Kindle sections at our products page:

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

"Think it through, make a plan, chalk
up, and train."

-- 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

Look What I Found at Play It Again Sports!

I walked into Play It Again Sports the other day and spotted this little monster - and ended up taking it home!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Trudi wanted to get some kettlebells to use
in our apartment, so we headed over to the
local Play It Again Sports store to see if we
could find any for her.

We walked into the store, and the first thing
we saw were some power racks.

Most of them were modern racks, which I
don't like very much.

I prefer old school racks made from heavy
iron - the kind that can hold a ton without
complaining.

And, of course, I like them to be black iron.

Somehow, a rack doesn't have the same
look when it's painted fire engine red
or tangerine orange.

But the main thing you want is a very, very
strong rack - very solid - as in, more or
less bomb-proof.

Now, I have done plenty of rack training in
my life.

I used to train at a local gym that had a very
solid, super strong rack made by a retired iron
worker named Carl. That was my kind of rack.

And yes, it was black iron.

I more or less lived in it when I trained there.

Later, I set up a home gym in my basement,
and bought a rack from Jan Dellinger at the York
Barbell Company.

It was one of the last six they had in stock -
old school, solid, and strong.

And black iron, of course.

Giving 435 or 440 pounds a ride on my old York power rack.

I used that rack for a long time - but when we
sold our house in 2015, I sold the rack to a
young guy named Bobby. He's strong as heck
(he has closed the No. 3 gripper), and he puts
it to good use, which is what any good rack
deserves.

Meanwhile, I was doing a lot of Olympic lifting,
and didn't need a rack for it, and all was well.

But, as they say, things changed.

Last summer, I listened to John Wood give a
killer presentation on The Bone Strength
Project - and I decided to try it - but you
need a power rack to do it.

So I started to look for a used rack at a not
too steep price.

Of course, I wanted an old school rack.

Solid and strong.

And black iron.

Time passed, and I couldn't find what I
wanted.

But that changed yesterday - because one of
the used racks at Play It Again Sports was
EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Old school. Strong as heck. Solid and heavy.

And black iron.

And the little monster was listed at only $250.00.


Anyhow, I grabbed the rack. It's here at Dino
Headquarters now, and it's going to be getting
a lot of use.

Oh, about the kettlebells. We couldn't find any.

But that was okay. The trip was well worth it -
and, of course, Trudi deserves all the credit for
suggesting that we head over there.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. I cover power rack training in detail in
Strength, Muscle and Power:

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

And if you're interested in learning about John
Wood's unique and very effective Bone Strength
Project, grab this:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/bone-strength-projectPDF.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. 2. Thought for the Day:

"Old school iron - in basic black - is pretty much
impossible to beat.

- 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

Sets and Reps - What Works Best?

 

Like all old-time champions, John Grimek used a variety of set/rep systems - but over time, he found what worked best for him on any given exercise.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

For some reason, I've been getting a
lot of questions about sets and reps.

Here are some of the most common
questions -- and my answers to them.

Q. How do I build up to doing heavy
singles?

A. Do 5 x 5 for three months, and then
do 5/4/3/2/1 for three months.

Or do 5 x 5 for three months, followed
by three months of 5 x 5, 1 x 3 and
1 x 1.

Q. You always talk about 5 x 5 -- but
what if I need to do more warm-up
sets?

A. Go ahead and do them. If it turns
out to be 6 x 5 or 7 x 5, that's fine.

Q. Does 5 x 5 mean you do five sets
with your heaviest possible weight?

A. No, it means you do a series of
progressively heavier warm-up sets
followed by 3 working sets with your
top weight -- or 2 working sets -- or
one working set.

Some related points:

Over the course of a training cycle,
you can move from 3 x 5 working
sets to 1 x 5. (This can be very
effective, especially for advanced
Dinos.)

You can do 3 x 5 in light weeks, 2 x 5
in medium weeks, and 1 x 5 in heavy
weeks. (In other words, vary the
number of work sets depending on
whether you are in a light week, a
medium week or a heavy week.)

The stronger you are, and the heavier
you train, the fewer work sets you
need (or can stand).

Older trainees usually do better on
one working set in any exercise.

Squats and deadlifts usually work
best with one working set.

Working sets are heavy sets but
not necessarily maximum effort
sets.

Q. Do heavy singles work well for
all exercises?

A. They work best for squats, front
squats, deadlifts, Trap Bar deadlifts,
bottom position bench press, bottom
position squats, push presses, military
presses, cleans, snatches and the
clean and press or the clean and
jerk.

Curls, shrugs, and lat exercises
usually work better with sets of
five or six reps.

Gut work and neck work is best if
you do sets of 8 to 15 reps. Ditto
for calf work.

Grip work varies depending on what
you do.

Q. When you do heavy singles, do
you lift your maximum possible weight
in your top set?

A. No, you do a series of progressively
heavier sets and work up to a weight
that is heavy, demanding and makes
you focus and work -- but it's not
your absolute max.

Q. Can I skip the warm-up sets to
save time?

A. No, warm-up sets are important.

If you don't have time to do warm-up
sets, you don't have time to train.

Q. What's the best system of sets
and reps?

A. There isn't one. The best system
of sets and reps for YOU will depend
on a variety of factors, and it will
change over time. It also will vary
from exercise to exercise.

Don't agonize over finding "the best"
way to train. Find a GOOD way, and
work it hard. You'll do just fine.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. For more details on effective
strength training and muscle building
workouts, grab these:

a. Strength, Muscle and Power

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

b. Chalk and Sweat

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

c. The Dinosaur Training Military
Press and Shoulder Power Course

http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_course.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: 

"If you sweat more planning
your workouts than when you
train, there's a problem."

-- 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