Brooks Kubik's Old School Q & A

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

On Monday, we launched a
new training course.

The title is Brooks Kubik's Old
School Q & A.

It covers 15 questions from
readers - with detailed answers
to them.

We cover a wide variety of important
training topics in the book, including:

The best footwear for squats.

How to keep your T-levels
healthy and high.

How to break a plateau on
pull-ups.

How the old-timers REALLY
trained.

Exercise alternatives if you can't
do squats.

Strength co-efficients for older lifters
and how to use them.

Safe and effective training for older
trainees.

How to break through a sticking
point.

How long a workout should last.

Parallel dips for older trainees.

Warm-up sets.

Sets and reps for the military press.

Sets and reps for muscle mass.

Deadlift questions.

And much more.

The Q and A format makes the new course
fast, fun and eminently readable -- but let's
us give you plenty of vitally important
strength training information.

Go here to grab a copy:

http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool_01-kindle.html

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************

A Very Big Thank You!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We launched my new book on Kindle
yesterday morning, and the little
monster raced right up to No. 1 in
one of its categories in the Kindle
USA bookstore.

It was No. 2 in another category,
and No. 7 in a third.

It made the top 10 in the UK, three
top 10 lists in Germany, three in
Canada, and two in Australia.

All in all, we're currently in a
dozen or more top 10 lists
around the world - and that's
pretty good for a book that's
less than 24 hours old.

So let me give a great big
THANK YOU to everyone who
stepped up, took action, and
grabbed a copy.

We really appreciate it.

Of course, if you haven't grabbed
a copy yet, you can do it right
here and right now:

http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool_01-kindle.html

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************

The $64,000 Question

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

In case you missed the BIG NEWS
we released a new training course
today.

It's a complete book of questions
and answers about strength
training and muscle building.

It's based on real questions from
real people - your fellow Dinos -
meaning people like you and me.

One of the questions is about
how to keep your T-levels
healthy and high - which is
a question I get all the time,
especially from older Dinos.

The answer to that one alone
is worth the price of the entire
course.

But, of course, there's much,
much more.

So whatever you're doing, I
strongly urge you to sprint
on over and grab a copy:

http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool_01-kindle.html

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

Revealed - The New Training Course from Dinosaur Training!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Many of you are asking about my new training course: what's in it, what does it cover, what will it teach me?

So I thought I'd share the Introduction to the little monster - because that will give you the answer.

By the way, you can grab the Kindle edition of the new course right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool_01-kindle.html

We'll release the course in hard-copy as soon as we get it formatted. The hard-copy (paperback) edition will be printed and shipped by Amazon. I 'll send a link when the hard-copy edition is ready.
And get this - if you're an Amazon Prime customer, you get free shipping - which is hard to beat!

 

INTRODUCTION

I began writing for Stuart McRobert’s Hardgainer magazine back in 1991, and began to receive training questions from readers almost immediately.  In 1996, I published Dinosaur Training, Lost Secrets of Strength and Development, and the questions doubled or tripled – and then the Internet arrived on the scene, and soon everyone had email, and before you knew it, I was getting hundreds of questions every week.  That’s continued to the present time, and it will probably last for the rest of my life.

I’ve always tried to answer questions as they come in.  Sometimes I send a short personal response. And other times, when several readers have the same or similar questions, or when it looks like something that many readers might be wondering about, I answer it in my daily emails and post it on the Dinosaur Training Blog.  (If you’re not already getting my emails, go to my website at www.brookskubik.com and sign up for them. They’re a great way to stay up to date with the latest news from Dinosaur Headquarters – and they give you a goldmine of training advice.)

Questions from readers are very important.  If one person sends me a question, there are probably hundreds of others who have the same question.  So when I answer one person’s question, I’m really answering a question for hundreds or perhaps thousands of your fellow Dinos around the world.

My experience in this regard is hardly unique.  Every Iron Game magazine for the past 100 or more years has run question and answer columns and articles, and some of the top names in the business have spent plenty of time answering training questions from readers.  The list includes Eugene Sandow, Bernarr MacFadden, Alan Calvert, Mark Berry, George F. Jowett, Bob Hoffman, Harry Paschall, Peary Rader, John McCallum and John Grimek.

Interestingly, many of the questions that trainees asked 100 or more years ago are almost identical to the questions that trainees are asking today.  It seems that trainees today have the same questions and concerns that trainees had 50, 60 or even 100 years ago.  And that makes sense, because the human body is the same today as it was then – and barbells and dumbbells are the same today as they were then – and the basics of building strength, muscle and power are the same today as they were when Arthur Saxon thrilled the world with his amazing feats of strength.

I was talking about this with my good friend, John Wood, who runs the Old-time Strongman, Functional Hand Strength and Trap Bar Training sites (as well as his new member site, The Iron League).  John suggested that I begin a series of short books collecting my answers to various training questions that might be of interest to a large number of trainees.  That sounded like a good idea, so I rolled up my sleeves and got started. 

This is the first book in that series.  I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it answers some of the questions that you might have.

I also hope that you’ll help me with future books in this series by continuing to ask training questions.  You can send them to me at info@brookskubik.com.  Don’t be shy – we love to hear from you.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Here's the link again to the Kindle edition of the new course:

http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool_01-kindle.html

***********************************************************************************

I Had to Do It!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I had to do it!

I had to add more text than expected to the
new Dinosaur Training Secrets course.

Here's what happened.

I finished the course and sent it to my layout
and design guy for e-books. He worked like
heck, and got it up on Kindle as an e-book
faster than a guy doing one-legged squat
snatches on a stability ball discovers that
functional and silly are two different things.

In the meantime, I sent the course to the
guy who does layout and design for my
hard-copy courses.

He had another project to finish, so he was
a little bit behind the e-book guy.

So we launched the e-book first -- and lots
of Dinos have read it. The little monster was
an Amazon no. 1 best seller in its category
within 24 hours of the launch -- and has
been in the top 10 in one list or another
in 16 different Amazon Kindle bookstores.
In Canada, we were no. 1 in THREE top
10 lists.

Anyhow, as I said, the e-book launched
first.

Meanwhile, the layout guy for hard-copy
courses finished his other project and got
going on the Dino course.

When I got the draft of the hard-copy
course to proofread and review, it was
almost two pages short of the number
of pages I was shooting for.

Not to worry -- that just meant I had to
add a new chapter.

At the same time, I was getting plenty of
emails from Dinos who had read the e-book
and had comments or questions.

So I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

I used the questions from readers of the e-book
to prepare a question and answer chapter for
the hard-copy course. And that gave us the
extra pages we needed for the hard-copy
version.

I sent the final edits to the printer late last
night, so the course should be printed today
or tomorrow -- probably tomorrow. We'll fill
all orders as soon as we have the courses.
It will probably happen over the weekend,
with the last ones in the que mailed on
Monday.

And while we're doing that, I'll send the new
question and answer section to the guy who
prepares my e-books -- and ask him to update
the e-book by adding the new chapter.

If you have the e-book version, Amazon will
send you an email when the update is
ready. Be looking for it over the weekend
or sometime next week.

So everyone's going to end up with even more
material than expected -- and that's good!

That's also one of the unexpected plusses of
doing e-books. It lets us do things like this
fast and easily.

Anyhow, that's the update on course no. 3
in my new series of courses. Go here to grab
the little monster in your choice of hard-copy
or Kindle e-book:

Hard-copy:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_03.html

Kindle e-book:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets3_kindle.html

And please post a review on our Kindle page.
The reviews really help us!

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 other books and courses -- including links
to all of my Kindle e-books -- are right here:

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

P.S. 2. We're working as fast as possible to
finish the June issue of the Dinosaur Files
Quarterly. If you have any feedback on issues
one or two, pls send them in! Ditto for training
questions, or diet and nutrition questions!

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Always do squats,
and always give people more than they expect."
-- Brooks Kubik

****************************************

Straight Talk on Training -- and a Big Thank You!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

A Big Thank You!

Let me start with a big THANK YOU to
everyone who stepped up, took action,
and ordered my new Dinosaur Secrets
training course yesterday.

We had a great day, and smashed our
previous records for e-book sales in one
day.

We also shot the little monster right up
to no. 1 in Amazon's Top 10 list for Kindle
e-books in the Men's Health category.

Plus, we made it to no. 2 in the Sports and
Outdoors category -- and no. 3 in Health,
Fitness and Dieting.

And in Australia, we made it to no. 1 in two
of the top 10 lists.

And that's not bad for one day.

By the way, you can help that process just
by going to our Kindle page and looking at
the e-book -- and by posting a review -- or
even by reading and rating the reviews that
other people post.

In any case, THANK YOU for your support.
It was overwhelming, and it means more
than I can tell you.

How Does Your Training Make You Feel?

On the training front, let's talk about the
three measures of training progress.

Bradley J. Steiner wrote about this more
than 40 years ago. I read his words when
I was in high school, and I thought he made
a lot of sense. Over the years, I've come to
agree with him more and more.

Steiner said there were three ways to
measure the effectiveness of your training:

1. How you look.

2. What you lift.

3. How you feel.

Of these, he believed the third element -- how
you feel -- was the most important.

I agree with that.

One of the problems with modern bodybuilding
is that the focus is 100% on the first element --
on how you look.

That's important, but it's not the MOST
important.

What you lift -- in other words, how strong you
are -- is just as important (if not more so) than
how you look.

But most important of all is how you feel.

Your training should make you feel terrific.

It should energize your body from head to
toe.

Clear out the cobwebs.

Banish aches and pains.

Put the smackdown on the minor illnesses that
most people experience on a more or less
regular basis.

Fill you with that wonderful "It's great to be
alive" feeling that everyone knows but few
experience.

Fill you with optimism, courage and quiet
confidence.

Bob Hoffman's first book had a title that captured
it all: "How to be Strong, Healthy and Happy."

To me, that's the goal of physical training --
and the very best measure of the effectiveness
of your training program.

Of course -- and this is very important -- none
of that is going to happen if you over-train. If
you over-do things, your training wears you
down, and over time, it makes you feel WORSE
rather than BETTER.

That's one of the big problems with the super
programs, the high volume workouts, and the
spend all day in the gym approach -- and it's
one of the reasons I always promote sane,
sensible training and real world workouts.

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 Dinosaur Secrets course is available
in your choice of hard-copy or Kindle e-book:

Hard-copy:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_03.html

Kindle e-book:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets3_kindle.html

P.S. 2. My other books and courses -- and links to my other
Kindle e-books -- are right here:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Your training
should always make you feel better than if
you didn't train. If not, there's something
wrong with how you're training." -- Brooks
Kubik

*************************************************

Coming Soon -- Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol. 3!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I wanted to give you a special heads up on
something new and exciting for the Dino
Nation.

Synchronize your watches and get set to take
action:

1. The time is 9:00 in the morning (Eastern
Standard Time).

2. The day is Wednesday, May 27, 2015.

3. The place is wherever you are when you
receive my email message on Wednesday
morning.

We're going to be releasing course no. 3 in my
new series of Dinosaur Training courses. Most of
you already have course no. 1 and course no. 2
in the series, and based on your emails and your
reviews on our Amazon Kindle pages, you're
loving them.

And I think you're going to feel the same about
course no. 3 in the series.

I like writing the courses in this series because they
allow me to focus on some very important issues
that will make a huge difference in your training --
and in the results you get from your training.

They also allow me to pull together everything
I've learned during my almost 50 years in the
Iron Game -- and to give you my latest thoughts,
new discoveries, changes in my thinking, and the
reasons for those changes.

Course No. 3 covers a critical topic for all serious
trainees: progression systems that allow you to
make fast and steady progress without burning
out, going stale, over-training or hitting a plateau
or a sticking point that seems to hold you up
forever.

It's a topic that readers around the world ask me
about literally ALL THE TIME. Heck, as I was
working on the course yesterday afternoon I
received an email from a reader who had followed
the WRONG kind of progression system and
worked himself into a severe case of over-training
in just a few short weeks. He said this happened
over and over, and he didn't know what to do to
stop it.

I'll share his email tomorrow. Many of you --
perhaps most of you -- will identify with him.

He reminds me of ME many years ago -- before
I learned some of the things I'm going to share
in the new course.

Interestingly, I had just finished a chapter that
gave him the exact answer he needed -- an answer
that came from (get this) an UNPUBLISHED book
written around 1940 by one of the greatest Iron
Game authors of all time.

It's something that I didn't learn about until
very recently -- but it's something that may
be one of the most important and most
beneficial pieces of information that I ever
found.

It's solid gold from the old Iron Mines -- and
it's exactly what our reader needs to do to
get back on track and to start making fast
and steady gains -- and to avoid what no
less an authority than the legendary Arthur
Saxon called "the bugbear of training." (He
was referring to the phenomenon of "going
stale" -- or as we call it, "burning out" or
over-training.)

And that's just one chapter. There's a whole
lot more.

The course gives you a variety of old-school
progression systems for fast and steady gains
in strength and muscular development.

It covers the best and most effective systems for
beginners -- and then offers a variety of different
progression systems for intermediates and advanced
trainees.

It gives you concrete examples ands step by step
instruction, plenty of actual workouts, and enough
different approaches so that everyone who reads
it will be able to fashion his or her very best
PERSONALIZED progression program.

That's important, because we're all different, and
we all have different goals, needs and training
preferences -- and our bodies are different and
respond differently to our training. A one-size-
fits-all approach doesn't work. That's why I'm
giving you a variety of options -- so you can
choose the one best suited to YOU and to
YOUR needs.

As you can see, I'm very excited about the
new course -- and I think it's going to be one
of our most popular courses.

So, as I said at the beginning, synchronize
your watches -- and be ready to take action
at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

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. As with courses no. 1 and no. 2 in the
series, the new course will be avilable in your
choice of hard-copy or Kindle e-book.

***********************************

Author, Dinosaur and Guinea Pig!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Everyone keeps asking, "When is your
next book coming out?"

The answer is -- as soon as I finish
it!

That's not intended as a flip response.
It's the truth.

For several years, I did full-time
writing, and was able to give the
Dino Nation a ton of new books and
courses. Which was great for all of
us.

But last October a friend at a small
law firm asked me if I'd consider
joining them to help on a big case
they were handling.

Now, I wasn't looking for legal work,
but this was a friend -- and when a
friend asks for help, you say "Yes."

So two hours later I was doing legal
work once again -- and then it became
LOTS of legal work -- and pretty soon
it was SUPER BUSY legal work -- and
only recently have I been able to
get back to writing. Not full-time
writing, but nights and weekends --
because I'm still doing the law job.

I'm working on several projects, but
my primary objective is too finish a
book on diet and nutrition for life-
long strength and health.

It's going slow, and it's taking a
long time to finish, but we're getting
there.

And as part of my research for the
new book, I'm doing a little experiment,
using myself as the Guinea Pig.

I'm following the Dinosaur Diet to
the letter -- and I'm going to see
just how lean and muscular I can be --
while getting stronger and handling more
weight in the Olympic lifts than ever
before.

When I was a 17-year old high school
wrestling champion I weighed 145 pounds
and I was cut to the bone. Lean and
strong, and in great shape. I could
wrestle for hours, and that's no
exaggeration because that's what
we did in practice.

My goal at age 56 is to be just as lean
and muscular -- but much stronger --
than I was when I was a high school
wrestling champion.

To get there, I'm working super hard
on Olympic weightlifting. No cardio,
no aerobics, no high rep gut work,
nothing but Olympic lifting.

Diet-wise, I'm following the Dinosaur
Diet -- a/k/a, the same diet I'll
be covering in the new book.

All of which makes me a triple threat:
Author, Dinosaur and Guinea Pig!

So stay tuned for updates on the
experiment -- and for status reports
on the book. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, and 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. If getting back into great shape --
or if staying in great shape -- sounds
like fun, grab this:

http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.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: "Anything good
is worth waiting for, but don't wait too
long before doing your squats."
-- Brooks Kubik

The "What Are You Up To?" Question

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I've been getting as ton of emails asking
what I'm up to and when my next book is
coming out.

So here's the update.

A little history. I'm 56, and I work as
a lawyer. From 1982 through 2010 I worked
at a very large law firm here in
Louisville (250 lawyers, with offices
throughout the southeast). Very busy,
long hours, worked most weekends, and
how I found time to train and to write
my first book, Dinosaur Training, is a
complete mystery.

While working at that firm I wrote
Dinosaur Training, Legacy of Iron
and Gray Hair and Black Iron.

In 2010, I retired from legal practice
and made the writing a full-time job.

Over the next few years I wrote a
dozen books and courses, published The
monthly Dino Files newsletter, and
even wrote -- get this -- a screenplay.
I also did a seminar and a DVD, an
audio CD, the daily emails, and a
ton of interviews on SuperHuman Radio.
To put it mildly, I was PDB (pretty
darn busy).

Last October, I got a phone call from a
friend at a small law firm, asking if I'd
be able to help them out by doing some
part time work on a big case they had. I
said "Sure."

The next day, I wrote in the morning and
did law work in the afternoon. The next
day I did an hour of writing and a full
day of law work. The following day (which
was a Saturday) I worked all day on the
law job.

And before you knew it, I was a FTL (full
time lawyer) once again.

That's slowed down the writing, of course.
But it hasn't stopped it -- and it's not
going to stop it.

Anyhow, I've been working on several new
projects. One is a training book. Another
is a book on diet and nutrition. That one
is giving me a huge headache. I've started
and stopped it half a dozen times. I think
the enormous amount of diet and nutrition
BS (bottomless silliness) out there has
caused WB (writer's block) to set in. But
I'm still working on it. I know you really
want to see it.

I've also started Legacy of Iron 6 -- so
that's in the hopper, as well.

And -- get this -- I'm going to test the
ebook water a little later in the year.

I'm also training -- hard and heavy and
serious. The workouts in the garage are
getting more and more focused, I'm working
like heck on Olympic lifting -- which at
age 56 is sort of like climbing a tall
mountain with a freight train strapped
o your back. Meaning that it's an MC
(Major Challenge). But MC's are good.
They keep us young.

Anyhow, I'm still splitting time between
legal work, Dino writing, and hard training.
Stay tuned for updates on the writing. In
the not too distant future, you'll have
some fun and informative new reading
material from DC (Dino Central) -- and
in the meantime, there's plenty of great
books and courses in stock.

As always, thanks for reading, and have a
great day. We'll talk sets and reps and
other training stuff tomorrow -- but in
the meantime, if you train today, make
it a good one.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Here's something special:

http://www.brookskubik.com/blackiron_johndavis.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: "Today's reps
are tomorrow's gains." -- Brooks Kubik

Dinosaur Dumbbell Update!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I'm pounding away on my new book -- DINOSAUR
DUMBBELL TRAINING -- and the little monster
is starting to look pretty darn good.

It's going to be a book -- not a course, but
a book -- and it's going to be 8 1/2 x 11,
with plenty of pages and TONS of great
content. 

Right now, it looks like we'll cover over
100 different exercises -- including many
that are entirely new -- with step by
step "how to do it" instruction -- and
plenty of photos -- and plenty of
workouts, including all-dumbbell workouts
and workouts that include barbells and
sandbags and bodyweight exercises and
lots of other fun stuff.

If all goes well, we'll shoot the photos
over the weekend. Wish me luck, because
I'll be the one demonstrating the exercises,
and that's a heck of a lot of exercises to
do -- especially when you're doing them
in 90 degree heat in a garage that's
hotter than a blast furnace.

But, as always -- working on these projects
is a labor of love, and the Dinos are the
very best people in the entire world -- so
sweating off five or ten pounds is perfectly
fine. I want to make this book the best
book I can make it -- because that's what
the Dinos deserve!

Anyhow, things are going very well on
the book front. Very busy, with lots
still to do -- but we're getting there.

As I always do, I'm going to launch the
book with a pre-publication special.
Everyone who orders during the pre-
publication special will get a special
bonus when we fill the orders.

If time permits, I'll shoot a DVD, as well.
But the first job is to finish the book!

When I have a better idea of the time-line
to completion, I'll put up a link with a
sales page, and you can go ahead and reserve
your copy. If all goes well, that will
happen in the next seven to ten days --
so be looking for an email from me that
gives you the link.

In the meantime, feel free to grab a copy
of anything else at Dino Headquarters. We
have books, courses, DVD's, t-shirts,
muscle shirts, and back issues of the
Dinosaur Files newsletter -- as well as
the ever-popular Legacy of Iron books.

You can find them right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/products.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. I'm always happy to autograph a book or
course for you -- all you have to do is ask
for an autograph. (There's no charge for them.)
Use the Special Instructions section of the
on-line order form to request the autograph.
I like to personalize your book for you, so
be sure to tell me who to sign it to (e.g.,
"Jim" or "James"). And if someone else orders
a book or course for you, be sure they ask
for an autograph and give me your name.

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "The best cure
for writer's block is walking around the
block with a pair of heavy dumbbells. Squats
and deadlifts work well, too." -- Brooks Kubik

An Iron Game Quiz!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Test your knowledge of Iron Game
History and great strongmen and lifters
of the past:

1. Name a six-time World Weightlifting
Champion.

2. Name a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist
in weightlifting.

3. Name the very first Pan-American Champion
in weightlifting in the Heavyweight Division.

4. Name a twelve-time United States National
Champion in weightlifting.

5. Name a man who held every single World and
Olympic weightlifting record in his weight class.

6. Who was unbeaten in international competition
in weightlifting for a period of 15 years?

7. Name a famous weightlifter who won World
and Olympic championships by training alone,
without a coach.

8. Name the Youngest World Weightlifting Champion.

9. Name the only man to win a World or Olympic
Weightlifting championship in three different decades.

10. Who was the first man to total 1000 pounds in the
three Olympic lifts? (Clue: Steve Stanko was the first
to do so in official competition, but this man actually
did it, an an exhibition, on not one but TWO occasions
before Stanko did so.)

11. Who was the first man to clean and jerk 400 pounds
in official competition?

12. Who is the ONLY Heavyweight lifter who was rated
the very best lifter in the entire world on a pound
for pound basis? (Note: that's truly incredible,
because pound for pound comparisons always favor
lighter men.)

13. Who was the ONLY Heavyweight champion in weight-
lifting who cold perform a one arm chin -- turn back
flips -- and perform a standing broad jump of 11 feet?

14. List a weightlifting champion from Brooklyn who
trained by himself in the basement of a neighborhood
church?

15. Name an American weightlifting champion who was
so good that the Russians refused to enter one of their
greatest champions to compete against him.

Give up?

The answer to all of the above questions is ONE MAN --
and that's why I've written a comprehensive biography
that covers his life, his lifting and his training.

You can find it right here:

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

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

A Big Thank You from Dinosaur Training!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Let me begin by saying THANK YOU to everyone
who stepped up and ordered a copy of my big,
new book about weightlifting super-star John
Davis.

We appreciate your support, and as I've said
many times before, we can't do it without you.

I wrote about John Davis because he epitomizes
a very special generation of lifters.

They grew up in the middle of the Great
Depression.

They didn't have much money, and I'm sure there
were plenty of times when they went hungry.

They came from poor but honest families. Many of
them were immigrants. Some of them didn't speak
English when they were young.

Somehow, they got interested in weightlifting --
in large part as the results of the unceasing
efforts of Bob Hoffman to promote the sport
through his books, courses and the pages of
Strength and health magazine.

As far as equipment and training quarters, they
didn't have very much. Most of them used little
more than a barbell, a lifting platform, and a
set of homemade squat stands. Some had homemade
benches for doing prone presses. Some had
dumbbells and chinning bars. And that was
about it.

Many of them were self-coached. Self-trained.
Self-taught.

And yet, this generation of American lifters
managed to beat the entire world. They took on
the powerful Russian Bear -- the state-supported
Soviet lifting machine -- and they beat it.

Just a bunch of guys who lifted barbells in
garages, basements, YMCA weight rooms
and neighborhood gyms or lifting clubs.

And from 1938 through 1952, the top star in
American weightlifting was John Davis -- a poor
kid from Brooklyn who became the greatest lifter
of his generation -- and one of the greatest who
ever lived.

John died in 1984. Today, nearly 60 years after
his last Olympic victory, his strength, power
and lifting skill -- and his endless string of
championship performances -- are forgotten by all
but the few who either lived and lifted with him or
who study the Iron Game.

John Davis was far too great a man, and far too
remarkable an athlete, to be forgotten. And that's
one of the reasons why I wrote about him.

The title is BLACK IRON: THE JOHN DAVIS STORY -- and
you can find it right here at the Dinosaur Training
bookstore:

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

Again, thanks to everyone who has reserved a copy!

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 also need to thank everyone who has renewed their
subscription to the Dinosaur Files newsletter. If you
still haven't renewed your subscription, do it now so
you stay on the mailing list! The next issue is going
to be another good one, and you won't want to miss it:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_renewalpage.html

The Mystery Revealed!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Everyone is wondering:

1.Where was the Mystery Gym where
they heated the place with an old-
fashioned wood-burning stove in the
wintertime?

2. Who is the Mystery Lifter?

3. What does the new book look like
and how can I order a copy?

Okay -- here are some answers:

1. The Mystery Gym was the South
Phillie Weightlifting Club. The
Mystery Lifter trained there in 1940
and 1941.

This tiny gym located on the second
floor of an old brick building in
Philadelphia produced TWO of the six
Gold medal winners in weightlifting
at the 1948 Olympic Games. One of them
was Frank Spellman. The other was the
Mystery Lifter.

Obviously, he trained at other places as
well over the course of his career, but
he trained at the South Phillie WLC in 1940
and 1941. You can read all about it in the
book -- because I interviewed several of
the men who trained with him back then.

2 and 3. For the identity of the Mystery
lifter and to reserve your copy of the new
book during our big pre-publication special,
go here:

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

IMPORTANT -- if you want me to autograph
your book, please ask for an autograph in the
"Special Comments" section of the on-line
order form.

I am always happy to autograph any book for
you, but you need to ASK for the autograph.

If someone else orders the book for you, be
sure they give me YOUR NAME and ask for an
autographed copy if that's what you want.

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. Here's the link again -- to a book that
is a true tribute to a great champion:

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

More About the Mystery Gym!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We've had more and more guesses roll in
about the Mystery Lifter and the Mystery
Gym.

Many of you have guessed the name of
the Mystery Lifter.

No one has guessed the name of the gym. And
frankly, I don't think anyone will. So the
"name the lifter and the gym" challenge is
officially over.

I'll reveal both the name of the lifter and
the name of the gym where he trained back in
1940 on Monday -- but for right now, let me
give you some details about the gym.

And let me note, this is where he trained in
1940 and 1941. He trained ELSEWHERE both before
and after. many of you have guessed the name of
the lifter but placed him in a different gym.

So here's the info about the old gym with
the wood-burning stove:

1. At that time, it was on the second floor
of an old, two-story brick building. There
was a plumbing supply company below it.

2. The building still stands today. It's
very small. It's amazing to think there was
once a powerful weightlifting club in such
small and spartan quarters.

3. There was no heat in the winter, other
than an old wood-burning stove.

4. When it was cold, the lifters left an
old globe barbell close to the stove, so
the handle would be warm when you lifted it.
They used the bar for their warm-ups. After
your warm-ups, you moved on to one of the
other (ice-cold) barbells.

5. They had only the most basic of equipment:
an assortment of barbells of various makes
(including some that were homemade), ditto for
dumbbells, one set of homemade squat stands,
one lifting platform, some homemade benches
for prone presses, and not much else.

6. They had a single Olympic barbell that had
been donated or sold to them at a discount price
by Bob Hoffman.

7. They were all lifters. No bodybuilders. Even
today, members of the gym now in their 80's or
90's sneer at bodybuilders and bodybuilding.

8. They were squat nuts. The squat was one of
their favorite exercises.

9. In their heyday, they were probably the number
two team in the United States behind the York
Barbell Club.

10. One of their members once defeated John Grimek and
Gord Venables in a lifting contest.

11. When the War came, they all enlisted. Several
of the lifters were War heroes. One of them landed on
Omaha Beach on D Day. Another was a sniper in the
Pacific. A third was lying in his foxhole one night
when a German tank came charging out of nowhere and
ran right over the foxhole! (Luckily, he dug it deep
enough that he survived.)

12. Two of the six Gold medal winners at the 1948
Olympic Games trained at this tiny little gym.

Yes, no. 12 is NOT a typo. Let me repeat that.

At the 1948 Olympic Games, there were six different
classes in the weightlifting competition.

Two of the six weight classes were won by men who had
trained at this little gym prior to World War Two.

And that's something worth knowing - because it goes
to show you just how much you can accomplish with a
little bit of hard work and effort.

As always, thanks for reading, and THANKS to everyone
who sent in a guess. If you train today, you know what
to do! Make it a good one.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. If you subscribe to the Dinosaur Files newsletter,
shoot me an email when you get your April issue -- and
remember, the April issue is the last issue for our
first year of publication, so you need to renew your
subscription:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_renewalpage.html

Guesses By the Dozen!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I've been buried with emails from readers
who are trying to guess the name of the
mystery man who is the topic of my new book.

The guesses have included:

Steve Stanko

Paul Anderson

Tony Terlazzo

Tommy Kono

Jack LaLanne

John Davis

John Grimek

Milo Steinborn

Steve Reeves

Pete George

Charles Rigoulot

Frank Leight

Louis Abele

Bob Hoffman

Norb Schemansky

Those are interesting guesses -- and one
of them just might be the right answer.

As for the gym, the guesses have been:

The basement of an old church in Brooklyn

Sig Klein's gym

The York Barbell Club Gym

The American College of Weightlifting

Yarrick's Gym

Leo Stern's Gym

John Fritsche's Gym

A gym in Sweden (because of the wood-burning
stove)

One reader's garage gym (because his garage
gets cold in the wintertime)

Gold's Gym (I think this was a joke)

"John Davis World Champion Training Headquarters"
(from several readers of the legacy of Iron books)

Eastside Barbell Club

The Harlem YMCA

Yaco's Gym

The Yeoman's Bar

John Fritsche's Gym

Vic Tanny's Gym in Santa Monica

Saunier's Gym in Paris

Coopper Athletic Club in Brooklyn

Maspeth Gym in NYC

The Easton Brothers Gym

The Sacramento YMCA

Bob People's Dungeon

"No Idea What Gym"

a YMCA somewhere

Steve Wolsky's home gym

The French Sporting Club in NYC

The German-American Althetic Club in NYC

a converted two-car garage on Gratiot and
McClellan in Detroit

the York Bellbell Gym (a typo, I think)

Tony Terlazzo's Gym in Hollywood

Tony Terlazzo's Gym in LA

The Milo Barbell Company

BRUNO'S GYM

Those are also interesting answers -- but NONE of
them are right. One of them, however, is very, very
close.

Stay tuned on Monday. The secret will be revealed.

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. If you subscribe to the Dinosaur Files newsletter,
don't forget -- it's time to renew your subscription!

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_renewalpage.html

10 More Clues!

Hail to the dinosaurs!

We've had a ton of readers try to win a
free dinosaur training t-shirt by guessing

1. The name of the old time weightlifting
champion who is the subject of my next book,
AND

2. The gym he trained at back in the 1940's
where they had no heat other than a wood-burning
stove. The lifters kept an old barbell by the
wood stove so it would stay warm -- and used that
bar for their warm-ups. After that, they moved
on to the COLD bars!

So far, we've had a number of readers guess the
name of the lifter. (And we've had a number who
made wildly wrong guesses.)

But NO one has guessed the name of the old gym
where they heated the bar in front of the wood-
burning stove.

So I thought I'd give you some more information
about the Mystery Man. See if this helps to
identify him:

1. He is the only man in history to win World
weightlifting championships in THREE different
decades.

Think about that for a moment. That's incredible
longevity.

2. He won TWO Olympic gold medals. (When you order
the book, you're going to see them -- in full color.)

3. He had what was probably the longest winning
streak in weightlifting history -- he was unbeaten
for 15 years.

4. He may have been the only Heavyweight lifting
champion who could perform one arm chins -- and he
could do them while holding extra weight in his hand!
(One of his former training partners told me he saw
him do a one hand chin while holding -- get this --
a 50 pound dumbbell in the other hand.

5. He once entered the Mr. America contest as a favor to
Bob Hoffman and won the Best Back Award without posing,
flexing or spreading his lats. he just stood there -- and
the judges looked at the tremendous thickness of his
back muscles, and fell right out of their chairs.

6. He never did deadlifts, but he could deadlift 705 pounds.

7. He was a huge fan of opera (as were many lifters back
in the day), and he actually studied voice and took singing
lessons. He and Pete George once did a one-week engagement
where they sang on stage at one of the largest theaters
in Europe.

8. He was the first man in history to clean and jerk 400 pounds
in official competition.

9. He was almost completely self-trained, and he devised his
own training programs and workouts. His training programs were
years ahead of his time.

10. He once saved a co-worker's life when a 3,000 pound truck
slipped off a jack and pinned the man beneath it. Our Mystery
Lifter actually lifted the truck high enough that others could
pull the injured man to safety.

I hope that helps identify the subject of my next book.

But as for the gym with the wood-burning stove, GOOD LUCK!
(I'll tell you a bit about the gym later in the day or
tomorrow.)

The other thing you need to know is this. I'm going to put
up a pre-publication sales page for the new book next week.

Everyone who orders during the pre-publication special gets a
when we ship the book.

So when that special page goes up, place your order and reserve
your place in line!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. For all other Dinosaur training books and courses --
and for the Dinosaur Files newsletter -- go here:

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

Name the Mystery Man -- and the Gym Where he Trained!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I dropped a bombshell announcement yesterday
afternoon.

If you missed it, head over to the Dinosaur
Training Blog and take a look.

The bottom line -- there's a big new book
coming, and it covers the life, lifting and
training of one of the very strongest men
who ever lived. A World and Olympic weightlifting
champion and World and Olympic record holder.

I've not only researched the heck out of it, but
I've interviewed his friends, training partners
and teammates. So it is going to give you THE
REAL STORY.And that goes for his training program
as well. His former training partner, now 94 years
of age, wrote it down more than 70 years ago. He
gave it to me when I interviewed him for the book.

I haven't revealed the name of the champion. There's
a reason for that.

We're having a little contest to see if anyone can
guess:

1. The Champion's name,

AND

2. The old-school gym he trained for several years --
where they had no heat other than an old wood-burning
stove and had to keep a barbell in front of the stove
so it wasn't ice cold when they grabbed it. They used
the barbell for their warm-ups, and then moved on to the
other, ice-cold barbells.

The first reader with the right answer to BOTH questions
gets a free Dino Training t-shirt.

One guess per reader, and we close the contest at 2:00
EST today.

So far, some of you have guessed the name of the lifter,
but no one has guessed the name of the gym.

So take a stab at it and see what happens.

In other news, the April issue of The Dinosaur Files has
been mailed, so let me know when you get it and what you
think. And remember, if you subscribe to the Dinosaur
Files newsletter, you need to resubscribe right away.

Use the following page for renewals:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_renewalpage.html

If you missed the first year of the Dinosaur Files, you
can grab the entire set of back issues (12 20-page issues)
right here:

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

As always, thanks for reading, and have a great day. If
you train today (as I will), make it a good one!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Remember -- try to guess the name of the lifting champion
AND the old school gym where he trained. It's a toughie -- I
didn't know this until I interviewed several of his friends
and training partners!

P.S. 2 If you subscribe to the Dinosaur Files, don't forget to
renew your subscription!

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_renewalpage.html

Something New From Dinosaur Training Headquarters!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

If you're reading this message, you're
a serious lifter -- and more than likely,
a true student of Iron Game history.

And probably, on more than occasion,
you've read about one of the great
strongmen or lifting champions of the
past, and asked yourself

"HOW DID HE DO THAT?"

You've probably also wondered what it
was like "back in the day" -- back in
the era I call "The Golden Age of
Strength."

So here's a question for you.

Would you want to read a detailed biography
of one of the greatest lifting champions
who ever lived?

A man who won World Championships.

A man who won Olympic gold medals.

A man who set World and Olympic records.

A man who did it the old-fashioned way.

No drugs, no supplements, and no coach.

No fancy equipment, and nothing high tech.

He did some of his best training in a little
gym where the only heat in the winter-time
was an old wood-burning stove. In the winter,
it was so cold that they kept one old barbell
in front of the stove so it stayed warm. When
you started your workout, you got to warm up
with that bar. After that, you had to use the
cold bars.

Would you like to read a biography that includes
information gathered from interviews with that
man's teammates on World and Olympic teams?

Would you like to learn EXACTLY how the man
trained -- as told to me by his former training
partner, now 94 years of age (and looking 20
years younger).

Would you like to see the piece of paper
lying immediately to my left side as I type these
words?

It's from that 94 year old man -- the champion's
former training partner.

It's a small, yellowed note card.

It has the champion's EXACT 8-week pre-contest
training program on it.

He wrote it down while the champion dictated it
to him while they were having dinner together one
day more than 70 years ago.

And how about this -- would you like to see
unpublished photographs of the champion? Photos
that no one has ever seen?

What if all of that priceless information ended
up in a great big book -- and you can find it
right here at Dinosaur Headquarters?

Is that something you might be interested in?

Well, stay tuned -- because there's going to be
a very special announcement coming.

Be looking for it.

This one is going to be very, very special.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Can you guess who I'm writing about? The first
person to guess the name of the lifter AND the name
of the gym where they kept the barbell in front of
the old wood-burning stove gets a free Dinosaur
Training t-shirt.

One guess per reader, and the offer is open for the
next 24 hours only.

How to Order Chalk and Sweat (Please Read!)

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

My web guy just called and gave me the revised, final instructions about how to access the Chalk and Sweat page on Friday morning.

So here’s what to do:

1. Go the following link at about 8:50 or 8:55 in the morning. (That’s Eastern Standard Time.)

http://brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html

2. When you get there, the page will look exactly the way it looks right now – with the countdown timer ticking merrily away.

3. Hit the “refresh” button on your computer.

4. If nothing happens, wait 30 seconds and then hit “refresh” again. Keep hitting the refresh button every 30 seconds or so.

5. Right around 9:00 in the morning, give or take a few minutes, you’ll hit “refresh” and suddenly the old page will disappear forever – and you’ll see a new page – with an order button.

You know what to do after that.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Remember – keep hitting “refresh” until the new screen pops up. It will happen at 9:00 EST, give or take a few minutes.

A Sneak Preview for Chalk and Sweat!

I happen to think that my new book, Chalk and Sweat, is one of the most practical and useful strength training books ever written – for anyone, at any level of development.

But don’t take my word for it.

TAKE A LOOK – SEE FOR YOURSELF!

That’s right -- take a peek at the table of contents.

Here’s what you’ll find inside the pages of CHALK AND SWEAT:

TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR BEGINNERS

Ten different strength and muscle-building programs for beginners – and important advice about how to use them to get started the RIGHT WAY!

Program No. 1 – An All-Barbell Program for Beginners

Program No. 2 – Another All-Barbell Training Program for Beginners

Program No. 3 An All-Dumbbell Training Program for Beginners

Program No. 4 – A Barbell and Dumbbell Program for Beginners

Program No. 5 – Barbell, Dumbbell, and Bodyweight Training for Beginners

Program No. 6 – More Barbell, Dumbbell and Bodyweight Training for Beginners

Program No. 7 – An All-Bodyweight Training Program for Beginners

Program No. 8 – Sandbag Training for Beginners

Program No. 9 – Sandbag and Bodyweight Training for Beginners

Program No. 10 – Barbell, Dumbbell, Sandbag and Bodyweight Training for Beginners

TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR INTERMEDIATES

Special advice for intermediate trainees – and how to maximize your gains in strength and muscular size once you are beyond the beginner stage – along with 10 detailed training programs for intermediates:

Program No. 11 – A Barbell Only Program for Intermediates

Program No. 12 – A Barbell and Dumbbell Program for Intermediates

Program No. 13 – Heavy and Light Training for Intermediates

Program No. 14 – Repetition Weightlifting for Intermediates

Program No. 15 – Another Repetition Weightlifting Program for Intermediates

Program No. 16 – A Divided Workout Program Using Repetition Weightlifting and Barbell and Dumbbell Training

Program No. 17 – A Divided Workout Combining Barbell, Dumbbell and Bodyweight Training for Intermediates

Program No. 18 – An All-Bodyweight Training Program for Intermediates

Program No. 19 – Barbell, Dumbbell, Bodyweight, Sandbag and Barrel Training for Intermediates

Program No. 20 – An All-Dumbbell Training Program for Intermediates

TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR ADVANCED LIFTERS

Critical instruction for advanced lifters – real world stuff that really works – the things you’re not going to read anywhere else – solid gold for men who want to move from STRONG to SUPER STRONG!

Program No. 21 – An All Barbell Training Program for Advanced Lifters

Program No. 22 – Barbell and Dumbbell Training for Advanced Lifters

Program No. 23 – Olympic Weightlifting for Advanced Trainees

Program No. 24 – A Divided Workout, Olympic Weightlifting Program for Advanced Lifters

Program No. 25 – Another Divided Workout, Olympic Weightlifting Program for Advanced Trainees

Program No. 26 – An All Bodyweight Program for Advanced Trainees

Program No. 27 – Barbell, Dumbbell, Bodyweight and Sandbag Training for Advanced Lifters

Program No. 28 – Barbell and Bodyweight Training for Advanced Lifters

Program No. 29 – The Triple Power Program

Program No. 30 – Heavy Iron for Advanced Lifters

LEG TRAINING SPECIALIZATION

There are two keys to building maximum muscle mass and maximum strength and power. One of them is specialized leg training – and the other is specialized back training. So I’ve included TEN leg specialization programs and TEN back specialization programs – and I teach you how to use them for maximum muscle as fast as possible.

Program No. 31 – The Breathing Squat Program

Program no. 32 – Another Breathing Squat Program

Program No. 33 – A Third Breathing Squat Program

Program no. 34 – Bradley J. Steiner Leg Specialization

Program No. 35 – Another Example of Steiner Leg Specialization

Program No. 36 – John Grimek’s Squatting Program

Program No. 37 – Leg Specialization for Olympic Lifters

Program No. 38 – Another Leg Specialization for Olympic Lifters

Program No. 39 – A Bottom Position Squat Program

Program No. 40 – Nothing But Squats

BACK TRAINING SPECIALIZATION

Combine heavy Dinosaur style back training with your leg specialization programs and produce the ultimate in strength, muscle and power. Ever feel like making a gorilla feel puny? Here’s how to do it!

Program No. 41 – No Frills Back Specialization

Program No. 42 – More No Frills Back Specialization

Program No. 43 – No Frills Back Specialization with Heavy Awkward Objects Added

Program No. 44 – Backyard Back Blasting with Barbells and Heavy Awkward Objects

Program No. 45 – Olympic Lifting for Back Specialization

Program No. 46 – The Trap Builder

Program No. 47 -- A Six Day Per Week Back Specialization Program

Program No. 48 – The Massifier

Program No. 49 – The Harold Ansorge Special

Program No. 50 – The Backyard Barbell and Heavy Stuff Back Blaster

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Chalk and Sweat will be available at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday, December 17, 2010. Here’s the current sales page for Chalk and Sweat – with the countdown timer – ticking the seconds away until zero hour – 9:00 A.M. on Friday!

http://brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html