Hail to the Dinosaurs!
A brief note, and then some training
talk.
We just launched the pre-publication
special for Dinosaur Dumbbell Training.
Here's the link with all the details:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
Currently, there are two order buttons.
One is for the book alone -- the other
let's you add my new audio CD, The Seven
Keys to Concentration (which covers Dinosaur
Mindpower for peak performance). We can add
the CD for no additional shipping charges, so
if you order both of them you save on shipping.
Many Dinos have asked me to do a DVD to go
with the book -- if that's what you want,
shoot me an email and let me know. If I do
the DVD, you'll be able to add it to your
book order later on (and again, save on
shipping).
And, of course, to everyone who placed an
order -- or who places one later today --
THANK YOU!
On the training front, the summer Olympics
are right around the corner, and as a former
wrestler, and I'm hoping to catch some
of the freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling.
So I thought I'd talk about strength
training for wrestlers. Here are 10 tips:
1. Specialize on your grip. You want your
hands to be so strong that when you grab
your opponent, the fight oozes right out
of him.
2. Work your back and hips hard and heavy.
In wrestling, the power for lifts and throws
comes from your hips and back.
3. Heavy overhead presses are a must. Henry
Wittenberg (Gold medal winner in wrestling
at the 1948 Olympic Games, and silver medal
winner at the 1952 Olympics) could press 198
pounds for ten reps at a bodyweight of 191
pounds!
4. Don't neglect your legs. Strong legs give
you a strong base and help you drive harder
and faster when you shoot for a take-down.
5. Neck training is a must.
6. The Russians -- who are always extremely
tough wrestlers -- do plenty of power cleans
and similar pulling movements in their training.
7. Heavy awkward objects are great for building
the kind of rugged total body strength that
makes a wrestling champion.
8. Dumbbells teach you how to generate one
armed strength and power -- something that is
critical when you are on the mat.
8A. The dumbbell snatches, swings, cleans and
pressing exercises in Dinosaur Dumbbell Training
are perfect for wrestlers.
9. Bodyweight training is excellent -- especially
the type of high-octane, high-impact exercises in
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training.
10. I'm a huge fan of Trap Bar deadlifts for
wrestlers. They Trap Bar simulates many of your
power positions in lifts and take-downs on the
mat.
Of course, the same tips apply to anyone
interested in judo or any other grappling art --
or in all building all-around strength and power!
As always, thansk for reading -- and again, thanks
to everyone who has reserved a copy of Dinosaur
Dumbbell Training! And if you train today, make
it a good one!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Here's the link for Dinosaur Dumbbell Training:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.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: "The passion for hard
training separates us from the rest of the world.
They think we're crazy to work that hard. We think
they're crazy for not understanding." -- Brooks Kubik
Showing posts with label henry whittenberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label henry whittenberg. Show all posts
How to Train for Strength and Power
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Nearly 40 years I was on a wrestling mat in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the opening period of a freestyle match.
My opponent and I were on our feet, locked up, working for an opening. I had my right hand on the back of his neck and my left hand on his upper arm right above the elbow. He had the same grip on me.
I pulled down on his neck and he pulled back – and then bulled forward.
As he did, I pulled him close, twisted to the side and hit a powerful hip throw combined with a hard leg sweep. For a fraction of a second I was balanced on my left leg, with my right leg sweeping backward, shooting him high into the air.
He went up five feet in the air, his body turned from vertical to horizontal in the blink of an eye – and then he hit the mat, flat on his back, with me landing on top for an instant pin.
Yesterday’s post about Henry Whittenberg’s training program for wrestling got me to thinking about that throw.
It was a perfect example of the kind of total body strength and explosive power you need for championship wrestling – or for martial arts – or for football – or any combat sport.
How do you build that kind of strength and power?
You do it the way Henry Whittenberg did – and remember, he won a Gold Medal in freestyle wrestling at the Olympics. You can’t do better than that!
1. Use barbells and dumbbells for the majority of your strength and power training. They give you the biggest bang for your buck.
1a. Pull-ups, push-ups and rope climbing are great for wrestlers. Most coaches have their wrestlers do plenty of bodyweight exercises before and after their mat work.
2. Stand on your feet for 90 percent of your training. Note that Henry Whittenberg did standing presses, not seated presses – squats, not leg presses – and barbell bent-over rowing, not lat machine pulldowns.
3. Use basic, compound exercises. Squats, presses, deadlifts, rowing, etc. They worked for Henry Whittenberg, and they’ll work for you.
3a. If you know how to do power cleans, power snatches, push presses and jerks, then work them into your program.
4. Train your legs, hips and lower back. That’s where your power comes from. Do NOT fall into the common trap of working your upper body and ignoring your lower body. Think about that hip throw and leg sweep. Perfect move – instant pin – and I sure as heck didn’t do it with arm strength.
4a. Wrestling is all about coordinated effort and total body power. So train that way. Forget about the isolation movements and bodybuilding stuff.
4b. Heavy curls are a strength movement, not an isolation movement. If you’ve ever done HEAVY curls, you understand what I mean.
5. Note that Whittenberg trained three primary exercises and one of them was – that’s right – squats! He knew the importance of leg, hip and lower back strength!
6. A little bit of strength training goes a LONG way – and leaves you plenty of time for mat work and drilling. How many times do you have to drill a move in practice before you can make it work in a match? The answer is – MANY TIMES!
7. Train your neck. That hip toss started when I pulled my opponent’s head down and forward. If his neck had been stronger, it wouldn’t have been as easy.
8. Train your grip. Note that the throw started when I had my hands on my opponent – and yes, I was holding him tight. When a good wrestler grabs you, you KNOW you’ve been grabbed.
8a. Thick bar work is great for the grip – so are heavy-duty grippers like these:
http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/captains_of_crush_grippers.html
8b. Strong thumbs! Do plenty of pinch grip work!
9. You can’t be strong and powerful if you run out of gas – so do plenty of cardio work, and plenty of mat work. You need to be able to go full-speed for the entire match.
10. Sandbags, sandbags, sandbags – they offer endless possibilities for wrestlers.
If you missed it, take a look at yesterday’s post with Henry Whittenberg’s complete (and very effective) training program. It’s posted on the Dinosaur Training Blog, so scroll down for it after you finish this post.)
And of course, take a look at my various training books and training courses at the Dinosaur bookstore. They cover effective strength and power training in detail:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
As always, thanks for reading. Have a great day and a great weekend. And if you train today, do it Dino style: hard, heavy and serious.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Never, ever wrestle a guy who trains this way – unless YOU train the very same way! For more information, grab a copy of Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength and Development:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
Nearly 40 years I was on a wrestling mat in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the opening period of a freestyle match.
My opponent and I were on our feet, locked up, working for an opening. I had my right hand on the back of his neck and my left hand on his upper arm right above the elbow. He had the same grip on me.
I pulled down on his neck and he pulled back – and then bulled forward.
As he did, I pulled him close, twisted to the side and hit a powerful hip throw combined with a hard leg sweep. For a fraction of a second I was balanced on my left leg, with my right leg sweeping backward, shooting him high into the air.
He went up five feet in the air, his body turned from vertical to horizontal in the blink of an eye – and then he hit the mat, flat on his back, with me landing on top for an instant pin.
Yesterday’s post about Henry Whittenberg’s training program for wrestling got me to thinking about that throw.
It was a perfect example of the kind of total body strength and explosive power you need for championship wrestling – or for martial arts – or for football – or any combat sport.
How do you build that kind of strength and power?
You do it the way Henry Whittenberg did – and remember, he won a Gold Medal in freestyle wrestling at the Olympics. You can’t do better than that!
1. Use barbells and dumbbells for the majority of your strength and power training. They give you the biggest bang for your buck.
1a. Pull-ups, push-ups and rope climbing are great for wrestlers. Most coaches have their wrestlers do plenty of bodyweight exercises before and after their mat work.
2. Stand on your feet for 90 percent of your training. Note that Henry Whittenberg did standing presses, not seated presses – squats, not leg presses – and barbell bent-over rowing, not lat machine pulldowns.
3. Use basic, compound exercises. Squats, presses, deadlifts, rowing, etc. They worked for Henry Whittenberg, and they’ll work for you.
3a. If you know how to do power cleans, power snatches, push presses and jerks, then work them into your program.
4. Train your legs, hips and lower back. That’s where your power comes from. Do NOT fall into the common trap of working your upper body and ignoring your lower body. Think about that hip throw and leg sweep. Perfect move – instant pin – and I sure as heck didn’t do it with arm strength.
4a. Wrestling is all about coordinated effort and total body power. So train that way. Forget about the isolation movements and bodybuilding stuff.
4b. Heavy curls are a strength movement, not an isolation movement. If you’ve ever done HEAVY curls, you understand what I mean.
5. Note that Whittenberg trained three primary exercises and one of them was – that’s right – squats! He knew the importance of leg, hip and lower back strength!
6. A little bit of strength training goes a LONG way – and leaves you plenty of time for mat work and drilling. How many times do you have to drill a move in practice before you can make it work in a match? The answer is – MANY TIMES!
7. Train your neck. That hip toss started when I pulled my opponent’s head down and forward. If his neck had been stronger, it wouldn’t have been as easy.
8. Train your grip. Note that the throw started when I had my hands on my opponent – and yes, I was holding him tight. When a good wrestler grabs you, you KNOW you’ve been grabbed.
8a. Thick bar work is great for the grip – so are heavy-duty grippers like these:
http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/captains_of_crush_grippers.html
8b. Strong thumbs! Do plenty of pinch grip work!
9. You can’t be strong and powerful if you run out of gas – so do plenty of cardio work, and plenty of mat work. You need to be able to go full-speed for the entire match.
10. Sandbags, sandbags, sandbags – they offer endless possibilities for wrestlers.
If you missed it, take a look at yesterday’s post with Henry Whittenberg’s complete (and very effective) training program. It’s posted on the Dinosaur Training Blog, so scroll down for it after you finish this post.)
And of course, take a look at my various training books and training courses at the Dinosaur bookstore. They cover effective strength and power training in detail:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
As always, thanks for reading. Have a great day and a great weekend. And if you train today, do it Dino style: hard, heavy and serious.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Never, ever wrestle a guy who trains this way – unless YOU train the very same way! For more information, grab a copy of Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength and Development:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
A Gold Medal Training Program
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
In an earlier message I mentioned Henry Whittenberg’s weight training program. Whittenberg won the Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling in 1948 and the silver medal in 1952. At one time, he had a winning streak of over 300 matches. He is considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.
His secret?
Weight training.
Nothing fancy. Just basic stuff – with heavy poundages. (As in 180 pounds for 3 x 10 in the military press – at a bodyweight of 191 pounds.)
Here’ his program:
1. Clean and press, light weight for warm-up, 1 x 10
2. Military press 3 x 10
3. Squat 3 x 10 – 15
4. Light breathing pullovers after each set of squats 1 x 10
5. Barbell bent-over rowing 3 x 10
Optional
Note: optional means optional. These are extras, to work in if time and energy permit.
6. Wrestler’s bridge with weight on chest 1 x 10
Note: If you’re not a wrestler, feel free to use a head-strap for your neck work.
7. Sit-up with weight 1 x 15
8. Barbell curl 2 x 10
9. Bench press 2 x 10
10. Rope skipping or running, and then wrestling practice
Note: You might also do some grip work. Thick bar holds or thick bar pull-ups would work well. So would some serious work with heavy-duty grippers like these:
http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/ironmind_handgripper_buying_guide.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. We’ve had a number of good programs for wrestlers, football players and martial artists in the Dinosaur Files newsletter. Subscribe now, and I’ll start your subscription as of May, 2010 and send you the back issues so you don’t miss anything. There’s great material in every issue!
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_files.html
In an earlier message I mentioned Henry Whittenberg’s weight training program. Whittenberg won the Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling in 1948 and the silver medal in 1952. At one time, he had a winning streak of over 300 matches. He is considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.
His secret?
Weight training.
Nothing fancy. Just basic stuff – with heavy poundages. (As in 180 pounds for 3 x 10 in the military press – at a bodyweight of 191 pounds.)
Here’ his program:
1. Clean and press, light weight for warm-up, 1 x 10
2. Military press 3 x 10
3. Squat 3 x 10 – 15
4. Light breathing pullovers after each set of squats 1 x 10
5. Barbell bent-over rowing 3 x 10
Optional
Note: optional means optional. These are extras, to work in if time and energy permit.
6. Wrestler’s bridge with weight on chest 1 x 10
Note: If you’re not a wrestler, feel free to use a head-strap for your neck work.
7. Sit-up with weight 1 x 15
8. Barbell curl 2 x 10
9. Bench press 2 x 10
10. Rope skipping or running, and then wrestling practice
Note: You might also do some grip work. Thick bar holds or thick bar pull-ups would work well. So would some serious work with heavy-duty grippers like these:
http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/ironmind_handgripper_buying_guide.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. We’ve had a number of good programs for wrestlers, football players and martial artists in the Dinosaur Files newsletter. Subscribe now, and I’ll start your subscription as of May, 2010 and send you the back issues so you don’t miss anything. There’s great material in every issue!
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_files.html
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