Happy Birthday to Someone Very Special!

 

I need to wish someone very special a very Happy Birthday today!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Today is a very special day.

It's Trudi's birthday.

Many of you know Trudi from emails
and the occasional phone call as she
helps get your orders ready to pack
and ship. She's been helping me with
the Dino business ever since we got
married in 2003, and she's mailed
books, courses, DVD's, t-shirts,
sweatshirts, hoodies, CD's and
the Dinosaur Files newsletter to
Dinos around the world.

That's a pretty big job, and that
alone makes her special.

But there's much more to her than
that.

One thing is this: Trudi has a knack
for being in the right place at the
right time - and on several occasions,
this has helped save someone's life.

Case in point:

Trudi was working a new job and saw
a house close to where she worked
that she really liked.

"I'd love to live there," she thought.

One day, on the way home, she decided
to stop by and ask if it was for sale - or
if the owner might consider selling it.

Mind you, there was no For Sale sign
in the yard - and no reason to think
the house was for sale.

It just popped into her head that it
MIGHT be for sale - and that she
ought to stop and see.

She knocked on the door.

After a minute, she heard footsteps
from inside the house.

Faint, slow, shuffling footsteps.

The door opened.

An elderly woman stood in the door-
way, clutching her side, her face
ashen and distorted in pain.

She could barely speak.

Something was wrong.

Seriously wrong.

Mind you, Trudi has been working as
a Physical Therapy Assistant for 35
years.

She knows an emergency when she
sees it.

A next door neighbor was working
in her yard.

Trudi shouted for help.

"Call 911! Your neighbor is having a
medical emergency. She needs to go
to the hospital right away."

Long story short, the elderly woman
had an abdominal aortic aneurysm
and needed immediate surgery.

If Trudi had not knocked on her door
right then, literally at that moment,
the woman would have died.

And that's only one of several times
that something like this has happened.

I've seen it happen at least three
times.

And I've seen it happen in smaller
ways. Not saving a life - but being
right there, just when she needed
to be there - and making the world
a much better, much happier place
for someone.

I think Trudi has an angel on her
shoulder.

It protects her - and it protects
others.

All of which makes Trudi a very
special person - a person I am
honored and humbled to call
my wife.

Anyhow, as I said, it's Trudi's
birthday today. Please join me
in wishing her a Happy Birthday!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Because it's Trudi's birthday, I'm
filling all of our orders today. That
includes our new Strength Training
Q and A, Vol. 2, which you can find
here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool-qanda.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:

"Being in the right place at the
right time is a rare gift."

- 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 Man at the Typewriter

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

A massive, thickly muscled man sat alone
in his office, pounding the keys of an
old-fashioned manual typewriter.

His thick fingers hit the keyboard so
hard it jumped and bounced.

He paused, collected his thoughts, and
continued.

A minute or two later, he nodded, pulled
the paper out of the machine, and gave
it a quick once over.

He stopped, shook his head, and reached
for a stubby no. 2 pencil. The point was
broken. He sharpened it with a small
pocketknife, turned back to the sheet
of paper, and made some rapid
corrections.

He signed his name with old cartridge
pen and threw the letter into a large
stack of other letters.

And that's how John Grimek -- the best
built man of his generation (and perhaps
of all time) spent many of his days.

Sitting in his office in the Strength and
Health building at 51 North Broad Street
in York, Pa. -- answering letters.

I've seen some of Grimek's letters, and
I'm struck by two things. One, he typed
them himself. No secretary. No dictation.
Just Grimek at the keyboard, pounding
away. You can tell because there are
typos everywhere. (Remember, there was
no spell check or correcting function
on those old-fashioned manual
typewriters.)

Second, he took the time to correct
them with pen or pencil.

Now, think about that for a minute.

John Grimek may have received more
letters than any other bodybuilding
or weightlifting champion in history.
He answered tens of thousands of them.
Maybe hundreds of thousands.

And yet, he always took the time to
read and correct his letters -- and
often, to add an extra hand-written
note or two.

That tells you something about John
Grimek -- and about what it takes to
be a true champion.

You always remember your roots. You
always go out of your way to help
others -- especially the beginners,
because beginners always need help.
You always give 100 percent. And when
you do something, you do it right --
even if that means taking a couple of
minutes to read and correct a type-
written letter.

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. You can learn more about John Grimek
and his training in this great course:

http://brookskubik.com/johngrimek_course.html

P.S. 2. John Grimek and the other York
champions are featured in my Legacy of
Iron books. They're the closest thing
to a Time Machine that will take you
back to the Golden Age of Muscle and
Might:

1. Legacy of Iron

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


2. Clouds of War

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


3. The 1000 Pound Total

http://www.brookskubik.com/1000pound_total.html


4. York Goes to War!

http://www.brookskubik.com/legacy_of_iron4.html

5. Barbells in the Pacific

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Old-school iron
builds old-school character." -- Brooks Kubik

Get Strong, Stay Strong, Live Strong!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Well, it happened again.

Back in December, Trudi caught an
elderly woman who suddenly lost her
balance and went crashing face-first
toward a concrete floor covered with
marble tile.

If Trudi had not been there -- and if
she had not caught the woman -- it
would not have been good.

And if Trudi didn't work out regularly
and if she hadn't been strong enough to
catch and hold the woman, it would not
have been good. So it's a good thing that
Trudi works out -- and that she's been
working out for pretty much her entire
adult life.

A month ago, Trudi and I were in the
park with our granddaughters, and I
caught a little girl who fell off a
piece of playground equipment. If I
hadn't caught her, it would have been
a five foot drop onto some hard-packed
dirt covered with gravel. Not good
for a 3 year old.

This morning, I helped lift an elderly
man with Parkinson's Disease off the
floor of his home and back into a
special recliner he uses.

He wasn't able to get up on his own, and
because he was a large man, his family
members weren't able to do it. They
probably would have had to call EMS
or the Fire department to help lift
him. Instead they asked me, and of
course I went over and helped out.

Catching the little girl as she fell
was easy -- she weighed a lot less
than anything I lift. And lifting the
elderly man was easy, too -- even though
he was a whole lot heavier.

The point is, Life throws these sort of
things in your path -- and you have to
be ready for them. Working out makes you
ready. Being strong makes you ready. And
staying strong keeps you ready.

So do the Dino thing. Get strong. Be strong.
Stay strong. And live strong.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. My Dinosaur Training books and courses
will teach you how to build real-world, fully
functional strength -- and how to do it fast
and efficiently:

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

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Strong people
make good neighbors." -- Brooks Kubik

Carry an Angel on Your Shoulder!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes, and then let's talk about
training.

1. My new John Grimek course ships on Monday.
Today is the last day to grab the pre-
publication bonuses -- so if you want the
course and bonuses, act now:

http://brookskubik.com/johngrimek_course.html

2. The March issue of the Dinosaur Files
newsletter will be mailed to subscribers on
Friday or early next week. It's a great issue,
with some killer articles, including a workout
of the month featuring heavy partials for
old-school strength and power. Good stuff!

On the training front . . .

Yesterday, I shared a story about Sig Klein
rescuing a woman from a burning building.

It's a dramatic story -- but in some respects,
it's not unique. Because somehow -- and I have
no idea how -- after you've built a fair amount
of strength and power, things happen to you.

The universe moves, and life flows forward --
and suddenly, unexpectedly, you need to use that
strength and power to help someone who needs help.

It happened to John Davis one day. The World and
Olympic weightlifting champion was working as a
mechanic in a garage in Brooklyn -- and a jack
broke -- and a 3,000 pound truck pinned a co-
worker beneath it.

Davis was there in a flash -- and all by himself,
lifted one end of the truck high enough that they
could pull the man to safety.

Other lifters have had similar things happen --
some as dramatic as Klein's rescue or Davis'
battle with the 3,000 pound truck -- and others
less dramatic, but no less important.

It's almost as if an angel rides on a weightlifter's
shoulder, steering his or her footsteps so they end
up in exactly the right place at exactly the right
time.

This happened to me on Sunday.

Trudi and I were watching the three-year old grand-
daughters while their parents were shopping at the
mall.

We made lunch for them, let them work in the garden,
read to them, let them water the garden, played some
games, and let them do some drawing and painting.
Then they decided they wanted to go play in the
park -- so we took them to the park.

They played on the swings for awhile, and then one
of them played kickball with Trudi and the other
one decided to play on the jungle gym. I went over
to keep an eye on her. She's old enough to play on
it, but just barely, and sometimes she needs help.

Anyhow, she climbs up one side and slides down the
other -- and then runs over to the other side and
goes up -- and then down -- and she's running back
and forth and all over the place, and I'm following,
and keeping an eye on her.

I turn and wave to Trudi. She and the other one are
far off in the distance, kicking a red rubber ball.

The granddaughter climbs up again, and this time she
goes across a sort of mini-suspension bridge that
leads to another slide.

The footing is a bit tricky because the thing sways
back and forth.

There is a sort of wire mesh suspended from the
handrails, to keep the kids from falling off, but for
some reason it doesn't go all the way down. A bad
design.

So she's walking across, and I'm standing close to
the bridge -- and suddenly another little girl comes
flying across the thing, running as fast as she can.

She's nimble as a deer, and twice as fast, and she
runs across and over to the slide, does a 180 and
starts to run back.

She's half way across when a big black horse-fly
buzzes right into her face. She jumps back in surprise,
falls on her back, bounces once, rolls over and falls
off the side of the bridge.

It's a five foot drop to hard ground below, and for
a three year old, that probably means a broken arm --
or worse if she lands on her neck or head.

But somehow, I happen to be in exactly the right place
at exactly the right time. And I've spent a lifetime
of heavy lifting, so catching a little person isn't
any problem at all.

I don't even have to move.

All I do is raise my left arm -- and she falls right
onto my upper arm and shoulder.

She looks at me with big brown eyes. She thinks she's
in trouble.

"I'm sorry!" she says.

"Don't worry, it's okay!"

I smile, and place her back on the bridge. She scrambles
to her feet and runs off.

And what might have been a tragedy -- wasn't.

That's the sort of thing that happens to weightlifters.
And that's why I say that we carry angels on our
shoulders.

And frankly, I'm glad that we do.

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, it's the last day of the pre-publication
special for the John Grimek course -- so if you've been
sitting on the fence, you need to move fast -- and
reserve your copy NOW:

http://brookskubik.com/johngrimek_course.html

P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right here:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Train like the devil, but
live with the angels." -- Brooks Kubik