John Grimek's No. 1 Exercise

A rare photo of World and Olympic champion John Davis hitting a heavy military press back way in 1940 or 1941.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. The Dinosaur Files.

Here's the link to the two most recent issues
of The Dinosaur Files in PDF:

July-August Dinosaur Files

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

May-June Dinosaur Files

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

2. 25 and Counting!

Speaking of good reads,  we offer 25 Kindle
books and courses. Here's the complete
list:

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

3. John Grimek's No. 1 Exercise!

And now, let's talk training.

For some reason, the most common question
on Internet strength training forums is this:

"If you could do just ONE exercise, what would
it be, and why?"

The most common answers are:

1. Squats -- because "they're the best exercise
for all-around strength and muscle mass."

2. Deadlifts -- because "they're even better than
squats and you can do them even if you don't
have squat stands or a power rack."

a. Or because: "It's a squat but you hold the bar
in your hands."

3. Trap Bar deadlifts -- because "they're a cross
between a deadlift and a squat."

4. The pec deck -- because -- sorry, just kidding,
no one actually says this.

a. Thank goodness.

b. Although some people probably think it.

5. The clean and press -- because "it works all
of the muscles."

6. Curls - because, you know - "curls for the
girls."

7. One-legged overhead squats on a stability ball
balanced on a wobble board - "Never done, them,
or seen them, but they sound cool."

Those are all good answers (other than no.
4, 6 and 7).

But what would John Grimek have said?

We actually KNOW what he would have said
because he once wrote an article about it.

In Grimek's opinion, if you could only do
one exercise, you should do the clean
and press.

He believed the clean and press would give
you a great total body workout.

Grimek followed his usual pattern of suggesting
that you start light, add weight from set to set,
and drop the reps as you added weight.

Thus, you might do something like this:

50 x 10 (light warm-up)

100 x 10

120 x 8

130 x 8

140 x 7

150 x 6

160 x 5

170 x 3

180 x 2

190 x 1

200 x 1 (if you're feeling strong that day)

If you want to focus more on strength and
power do lower reps -- something like
5/4/3/2/1 or 5 x 3 or 8 x 2 -- or singles.

Anyhow, that was John Grimek's answer --
and I tend to agree with him!

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. I cover the military press in The Dinosaur
Training Military Press and Shoulder Power
Course:

Hardcopy

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

Kindle e-book

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

PDF

See the links to our PDF courses:

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

P.S. 2.  You'll also enjoy The Training Secrets of
John Grimek:

Hardcopy

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

Kindle e-book

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


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

Hard-copy and PDF Books and Courses

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

Kindle Books and Courses

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

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

P.S. 4. Thought for the Day:

"Load the bar, lift the bar, and repeat. It's
not easy, but it's not rocket science."

-- Brooks Kubik

Fast, Fun and Easy Reading for Dinosaurs!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We have over 25 Dinosaur Training

e-books in the Amazon Kindle store

now - including many back issues of

The Dinosaur Files newsletter, and

we're adding more as fast as we can.

Here's a list of some of our top sellers:

1. Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol. 1.

"Exercises, Workouts and Training

Programs"

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaursecrets01_kindle.html

2. Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol. 2,

"How Strong Are You?"

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets2_kindle.html

3. The Training Secrets of John
Grimek

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

4. The Dinosaur Military Press and
Shoulder Power Course

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

5. The Doug Hepburn Strength and
Muscle Building System

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

And here's a link for the rest of them - as

in, all 25 of them:

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

These are a great way to set up a portable

strength training library, so that you can

read about the Iron pretty much anywhere

and everywhere.

Note: You do NOT need a Kindle reader

to enjoy these great books and courses.

Amazon offers a free app that let's you

read Kindle books on any device.

You can find the app on every sales

page for every book in the Kindle

bookstore.

So go check them out - and let your

fingers do the walking!

Happy reading!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

The Day John Grimek Quit the Iron Game!

 

John Grimek was the best built man of his generation - and he became an Iron Game legend - but he almost quit training one day when he was just getting started. Here's the true story of what happened.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Couple of quick notes, and then we'll
talk training.

1. Dinosaur Shirts, Posters and
More

We have some new Dinosaur shirts,
hoodies, muscle shirts, mugs and a
great poster at the Retro Strength
Shop - and, of course, there's a lot
of other fun stuff there - so check
them out and treat yourself to some
old-school swag:

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

By the way, if you get one of my new
shirts, hoodies, posters, etc. - be sure
to post a photo of it on Facebook, Insta-
gram, or in my Brooks Kubik - Dinosaur
Training Facebook Group - or at John
Wood's Strength Secrets Facebook
Group.

Your fellow Dinos will want to see it!

2. The April Dino Files

If you don't have the April issue of
The Dinosaur Files strength training
newsletter, go here to grab it:

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

It's a really good issue - and the May
issue (which I am working on) is going
to be another good one!

3. Pruning the List

I'm going through the email list
and pruning email addresses that
seem to be inactive. I'll try to prune
only those addresses that don't
seem to be following us any more -
or that don't appear to be active
email addresses any more - but I'm
only human, so I'll probably make
some mistakes.

If I delete you by mistake, please
don't take it personally - and sign
back up!

4. The Day John Grimek Quit the
Iron Game!

A lot of guys think that John Grimek
was a total genetic freak - that he
always had it easy - and that every
time he so much as looked at a barbell
he gained a quarter inch on his upper
arms.

But, of course, that's not quite true.
Grimek did indeed have good genetics
for building an old-school bodybuilder's
physique - and good genetics for weight-
lifting and feats of strength.

But it didn't come easily for him.

There was plenty of hard work involved -
and many, many mistakes when he was
just getting started.

One of those mistakes was letting his
youthful enthusiasm get the better of
him.

Trying to force progress faster than his
body would allow.

Doing too much.

Too many workouts.

Too many exercises.

Too many sets.

Too many reps.

In a word, over-training.

Just like we all did - and like many of us
still do.

Yes, John Grimek over-trained as a young
man - and it almost destroyed his career.

Things got so bad that Grimek decided
he had had enough of it - and he quit
training!

Gave it up.

Stopped.

Put the barbell and the weights back in
the big wooden box they were delivered
in - shoved the box into the corner - and
decided to spend his free time swimming
and tanning and lying on the beach to
watch the girls.

But then something unexpected happened.

He started to grow.

He couldn't believe it.

He wasn't even training any more!

He was just taking it easy.


But he was growing.

He measured his arms and they were
bigger than ever before.

And this was after having not gained an
ounce of muscle for a very long time.

He thought it over, and realized that he
had been over-training.

That he needed to do the right amount
of work and no more - the amount that
made him grow - and then STOP and
give his body the time it needed to
grow bigger and stronger.

He got back to training - on a shorter
and saner schedule than the one he
had been following - and the rest, as
they say, is history.

Now, you may not have the genetics
that John Grimek had - but your genetics
may be a lot better than you think.

You'll never know unless you train the
right way - and do what John Grimek
learned to do.

Train enough - but not too much!

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 John Grimek's life
and training, grab this great course:

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

It's also available in PDF and Kindle editions
if you prefer those - see the links for PDF
and Kindle courses at our products page
(link below).

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: 

"Genetics matter, but so does sensible
training."

-- 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

John Grimek's No. 1 Exercise!

 

World and Olympic champion John Davis completes a heavy military press. Virtually all of the old-timers specialized in the military press - and found that it built tremendous "stand on your feet" strength and power - along with plenty of muscle!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. The Dinosaur Files.

Here's the link to the January issue of the
Dinosaur Files in PDF:

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

2. 25 and Counting!

Speaking of good reads,  we offer 25 Kindle
books and courses. Here's the complete
list:

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

3. John Grimek's No. 1 Exercise!

And now, let's talk training.

For some reason, the most common question
on Internet strength training forums is this:

"If you could do just ONE exercise, what would
it be, and why?"

The most common answers are:

1. Squats -- because "they're the best exercise
for all-around strength and muscle mass."

2. Deadlifts -- because "they're even better than
squats and you can do them even if you don't
have squat stands or a power rack."

3. Trap Bar deadlifts -- because "they're a cross
between a deadlift and a squat."

4. The pec deck -- because -- sorry, just kidding,
no one actually says this.

a. Thank goodness.

b. Although some people probably think it.

5. The clean and press -- because "it works all
of the muscles."

6. Curls - because, you know - "curls for the
girls."

a.  Although, truth be told, heavy barbell and
dumbbell curls are NOT a bad exercise - and
they build a lot of strength and muscle when
you train them hard and heavy.

b. A lot of guys take pride in NOT doing curls,
which is kind of silly - but that's another topic
for another day.

Those are all good answers (other than no.
4 and no. 6).

But what would John Grimek have said?

We don't have to wonder about it for very
long. 

We actually KNOW what he would have said
because he wrote an article about it.

Grimek was hands-down a fan of the clean and
press.

In Grimek's opinion, if you could only do one
exercise, you should do the clean and press.

He believed the clean and press would give
you a great total body workout.

Louis Abele prepares for a heavy military press in a contest back in 1940. Abele was 5'8" and weighed 218 pounds of solid muscle, making him one of the most muscular men of the era - as well as one of the strongest. He favored plenty of heavy pressing snatching and squatting in his workouts. 

Grimek followed his usual pattern of suggesting
that you start light, add weight from set to set,
and drop the reps as you added weight.

Thus, you might do something like this:

50 x 10 (light warm-up)

100 x 10

120 x 8

130 x 8

140 x 7

150 x 6

160 x 5

170 x 3

180 x 2

190 x 1

200 x 1 (if you're feeling strong that day)

If you want to focus more on strength and
power do lower reps -- something like
5/4/3/2/1 or 5 x 3 or 8 x 2 -- or singles.

World and Olympic champion Paul Anderson was a pressing machine. Anderson sometimes trained on only two exercises - the squat and the military press.

Personally, I like a series of progressively
heavier singles. I used to do:

120 x 1

140 x 1

160 x 1

180 x 1

200 x 1

220 x 1

240 x 1

250 x 1

260 x 1

270 x 1

275 x 1 (on days when I felt extra strong)

That was just 10 or 11 singles - but it gave
me a complete, head to toe workout.

In my next workout, I did a similar (but much
heavier) progression of singles in the squat. So
for a long time, my only two exercises were the
squat in one workout, and the clean and press in
my next workout - alternating back and forth and
doing three workouts a week. It wasn't a lot of
training, but it was very effective.

Anyhow, that was John Grimek's answer --the
clean and press - and I tend to agree with him!

What do YOU think? Shoot me an email and
let me know.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. I cover the military press in The Dinosaur
Training Military Press and Shoulder Power
Course:

The cover photo for the Dinosaur Training Military Press and Shoulder Power Course features a man named Grimek - which was a no-brainer given how much Grimek liked the clean and press!   

Hardcopy

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

Kindle e-book

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

PDF

See the links to our PDF courses:

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

P.S. 2.  You'll also enjoy The Training Secrets of
John Grimek:

Hardcopy

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

Kindle e-book

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

P.S. 3. My other books and courses are right
here at Dino Headquarters:

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

P.S. 4. Thought for the Day:

"Load the bar, lift the bar, and repeat. It's
not rocket science."

-- 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

Train With John Grimek!

John Grimek - the Monarch of Muscledom!

 
Hail to the Dinosaurs!

In case you didn't know - we've released my
John Grimek training course on Kindle. 

Grimek was one of the very best bodybuilders
of all time - and many rank him as the best all-
natural bodybuilder ever.

He also was one of the strongest men of his
era - a USA Senior National Weightlifting
Champion - the North American Weightlifting
Champion - an American record holder - and
a man who set several unofficial World Records
in the military press.

Get this - Grimek is the only man in history
who:

1. Won the USA Senior National Weightlifting
Championship;

2. Won the North American Weightlifting
Championship;

3. Set American records in the Military Press;

4. Set unofficial World records in the Military
Press (unofficial because they were not recognized
due to World War Two);

5. Represented the USA in weightlifting in the
Olympic Games and the World Championships; 

6. Won the Mr. America title (which he won twice -
prompting the AAU to make a rule prohibiting former
winners from entering the contest a second time);

7. Won the Mr. USA tile - defeating all the former
Mr. America winners and top bodybuilders of the
era;

8. Won the Mr. Universe title (in a classic battle with
the legendary Steve Reeves);

9. Included feats of strength (bar bending, chain breaking,
and similar feats) in his posing exhibitions - showing that
he was a genuine all-around strongman; and

10. Retired from bodybuilding competition undefeated.

That's a pretty impressive list of accomplishments -
but John grimek was a pretty impressive man!

This has been one of our best-sellers ever since
we released it in hard copy back in 2012 -- so if
you missed it in hard-copy, sprint on over and
grab the e-book right now.

You can find the little monster right here:

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

If you prefer the hard-copy edition of the
course, you can find it right here:

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

Thanks, and if you order the Kindle e-book, please post
a review. They really help us.

Yours in strength, 

Brooks Kubik