The 70 Percent Workout

Hitting it hard at age 60. The key to lifelong strength and health is intelligent training on a regular and consistent basis.  

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. The February Dinosaur Files

Is now available in your choice of Kindle
or PDF formats:

Go here for the Kindle edition:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_february2017kindle.html

Go here for the PDF format:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-february2017.html

The Kindle edition is already in the
Top 10 List for its category on
Kindle, which is pretty good for a
training journal devoted to old-school,
common sense strength training.

2. John Wood's Trap Bar Training
Guide

Is getting great reviews from Dinos
around the world. Go here to grab
the little monster in a Kindle edition:

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

This little monster is a No. 1 best
seller on Kindle - again, that's pretty
good for hard, heavy and basic.

3. The Complete List

I have 24 books in the Kindle bookstore
now - go here for the complete list and
links to all of them:

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

4. The 70 Percent Workout

(Note: this one's from two years ago,
but it's an important training tip, so
I wanted to share it again.)

I had one of my best workouts of the
year last night.

I went out to the garage, warmed up,
got nice and loose, and then did a
series of progressively heavier singles
in the clean and jerk.

I did squat cleans and power jerks.

Long story short, I ended up doing 22
pounds more than I had planned to do.
And I hit my top weight not once, but
twice. Once to lift it -- and the second
time to reenforce the successful lift.
(That's a Tommy Kono trick, and a
good one.) (Note: these were two
singles, not a double.)

And the top weights actually felt light.
My form was perfect through the entire
workout. As the weights got heavier, my
form and speed got better and better.

And there was a reason for this.

The last two workouts before this one
were light workouts. In one of them, I
did snatches to 70 percent of my one rep
max. In the other, I did cleans to 70
percent of my one rep max. In each
workout I did five singles with the 70
percent weight.

I took the light workouts because I had
been training extra hard and heavy, and
I was getting a bit sore and beat up. I
needed a bit of a break from the heavy
training.

And it worked pretty well.

Getting ready for lift-off. Effective training requires careful planning.

 The seventy percent workout is an
excellent idea for older trainees. It's
particularly good for Olympic lifting,
because you can drill form and
technique on the light day. But it
works well for any older trainee,
no matter what exercises you
perform.

You can follow a simple cycling system
similar to those outlined in Gray Hair
and Black Iron, or you can follow the
Light, Medium Heavy system outlined
in Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vols. 1
and 3. There's no one way to do it.

The important thing is to include some
light workouts that allow you to recover
mentally and physically from the harder
and heavier workouts. They'll set the
stage for some great workouts -- just
like they did for me last night!

(Note: As I said, that was two years
ago. I've been using the 70 percent
workout idea ever since, and it always
works well for me.)

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Go here to grab Gray Hair and Black
Iron:

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

P.S. 2. We also have a great PDF mini-course
that covers effective training for older Dinos:

http://www.brookskubik.com/minicourse_01.html

P.S. 3. 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. 4. Thought for the Day: "Every step
takes you closer to your destination --
even the little ones." -- Brooks Kubik

My new training course is available right here in the Kindle bookstore: http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool_01-kindle.html

A Simple Strategy to Help Recover from Heavy Workouts!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We'll talk training in a second, but
first of all, I know many Dinos are
John Davis fans -- and here's something
from my buddy John Wood that every
John Davis fan will want to hang on
the gym wall. Order it directly from
John Wood at the below link in P.S. 1.

Mine is in the mail. It should arrive
today or tomorrow -- and yes, I plan to
frame it and put it out in the garage --
or perhaps keep it up in the study where
I do all my writing. Writing can be a bit
of a workout sometimes.

On the training front, here's a simple
strategy for everyone to consider -
especially the older Dinos with more
limited recovery ability and more aches
and pains than our younger readers.

I've been doing this lately, and it works
pretty well.

Train 3x per week on a divided workout
schedule -- doing either two different
workouts (A and B), or three different
workouts (A, B and C).

If you use two different workouts, make
every third workout a light session where
you drop the weight and focus on performing
every rep in absolutely letter perfect form.

I do all Olympic lifting now, so I use the
light day as a day where I really focus on
form and technique. But you can use the
same principle with any exercise.

In week one, I train hard on workout A,
hard on workout B, and light on workout
A in my third session.

The next week I train hard on workout B,
hard on workout A, and light on workout
B in the third session.

If you do three different workouts, make
workout C the light one in week one, workout
B the light one in week two, and workout A
the light one in week three.

It works really well. The easy workout gives
your mind and your body a nice break from the
heavy stuff, and serves as a form of active
rest to help your recovery. So you come back
feeling really strong and energized in the
next workout.

And it's a very simple system to implement.

Now, you may ask -- what kind of weight do
you handle on your light day?

That will vary from person to person depending
on a variety of factors -- your age, your
training experience, the exercises you do,
and how heavy you go on your heavy days.

But here's a simple way to work it out.

The first time you schedule a light day,
try 10% less than what you handle on your
heavy days. See how that feels and you recover
from it. The key is how you feel on your next
heavy day.

The next time you have a light day, try 15%
less than your heavy day weight. See how that
feels -- and how you feel on your next heavy
day.

Next, try 20% less -- and see what that does
for you.

In other words, some simple trial and error
should help you work it out pretty well.

So there you have it. A very simple -- but
very effective -- training strategy. Give
it a try and let me know how it works for
you!

As always, thanks for reading and have a
great day. If you train today, whether it's
a heavy day or a light day, make it a good
one!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Don't forget about the John Davis
poster from John Wood -- order directly from
John Wood:

http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/products/limited-edition-john-davis-poster

P.S. 2. Here's something else for John Davis
fans -- order from me:

http://www.brookskubik.com/blackiron_johndavis.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: "Focus on recovery
as much as training. Do everything possible to
maximize your recovery." -- Brooks Kubik