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| Bernie Baron demonstrates plenty of nerve force - as well as muscle power and bone strength - in this classic photo from 1940. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
One of our longtime Dinos sent
me an email about a recent study
that compared the effect of
training with light weights to
training with heavy weights.
They had one group of test
subjects who did leg extensions
3x a week with 30 percent of
their one rep max.
They had another group who
did leg extensions 3x a week
with 80 percent of their one
rep max.
Both groups did as many reps
as possible in each workout.
Pretty simple stuff - standard
protocol for research in the
field - and certainly not as
good for you as doing squats.
But stay with me - it gets much
more interesting.
The researchers found that you
build more strength with heavy
weights.
Okay, that's not a surprise.
We all know that (or should know
it - although the muscle media
and the Internet honchos tend to
forget it).
But here's the cool part.
The increased strength came from
an increase in nerve capacity.
In other words, an increase in the
ability of your nervous system to
recruit muscle fibers - and to
trigger them to fire fast and
effectively.
What the old-timers referred to
as NERVE FORCE.
The group that trained with light
weights increased their nerve
force by less than one percent
over the course of the six-week
study.
The group that trained with heavy
weights increased their nerve force
by almost 2.5 percent.
That's more than twice as much as
the group that trained with light
weights.
Now, again, this is a six-week study,
and it's leg extensions instead of
squats, etc., etc. - but that's a
very interesting result.
Think of the implications.
For weightlifters and powerlifters.
For martial artists.
For other athletes.
For increasing strength without
increasing bodyweight.
For healthy aging.
Yes, healthy aging - because anything
that keeps your nerves healthy and
strong also helps keep your brain
healthy and strong.
And the stronger your nervous
system, the better your balance
and coordination will be.
Anyhow, I thought this was a very
interesting experiment - even if they
did leg extensions - and it highlights
some important points for all of us.
By the way - there are two very good
programs to help build nerve force by
building and strengthening the spine:
1. The Save Your Life Neck Training
Program
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_files.html
2. The Bone Strength Project
https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/bone-strength-projectPDF.html
As I mentioned yesterday, the two make
an unbeatable combination - in part because
they help keep your spine strong and straight -
which in turn helps improve nerve force.
And who knows - maybe someday the
science guys will test them - and prove
to the entire world that old-school, Dino
style training has some very serious
benefits.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Gray Hair and Black Iron has
tons of great training tips - and more
than 50 different workouts - to keep
older trainees healthy and strong -
and to help keep their nerve force at
full capacity.
You can grab the little monster right
here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses
are right here at Dino Headquarters:
Hard-copy and PDF
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
Kindle
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:
"For strong nerves, train your back,
spine and neck."
- 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:
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