How to Stay Out of the Danger Zone!

John Grimek shows what old-school strength and muscle looks like in action!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I saw an interesting article the other
day reporting on several recent studies
that looked at the effect of various factors
on injuries suffered by (1) runners and (2)
rugby players.

Now, I know that running and rugby are
different than strength training, but bear
with me. There was some very valuable
information for strength trainers like us.

In both studies, the researchers found
that the greatest risk of injury occurred
when there was a sudden increase in
the amount or intensity of one's
training.

An increase of just 20 percent was
enough to put an athlete into the danger
zone -- and an increase of 40 percent
or more increased the risk of injury by
about three to four times.

Now, you may think, "That's fine -- but
who would ever increase their training
volume or intensity by 20 to 40 percent?"

That's a fair question.

Here's the answer.

We've all done it.

Beginners do it all the time. They go from
no training to "lots of training" (usually far
too much). That's why beginners need to
start  light and easy and train progressively,
with slow and steady increases in both
volume and  intensity.

Other trainees do it when they come back
from a lay-off. Once again, they go from
zero training to "lots" of training, and
usually do it without any kind of break-in
period or any sort of slow, systematic
progression.

Many trainees do it when they go one a
specialization program. You see it happen
all the time.

Trainees do it when they go on a crash
weight loss program and start doing
high volume workouts to "burn off the
flab".

Trainees do it when they add cardio to
their strength training programs. They
go from three training days a week to
six (three days of strength training and
three days of cardio).

I could go on with many more examples,
but you get the point.

So how do you stay out of the danger
zone?

It's simple.

You follow old-school, "slow cooking"
progression methods.

You increase both your volume and your
intensity at a pace your body can handle.

You give your body time to adapt to any
increases in volume or intensity.

In other words, you follow the slow and
steady approach. Not the crash and burn
approach.

It sounds simple. But it works. And it's
one of the secrets of lifelong strength
and health.

As always, thanks for reading and have
a great day. If you train today, make it
a good one -- and stay in the gaining
zone, not the danger zone!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. The progression systems in Dinosaur
Training Secrets, Vol. 3, will keep you
on the right track -- and keep you out of
the danger zone!

Hard-copy

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

Kindle e-book

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

PDF with electronic delivery

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaursecrets_vol3_digital.html

P.S. 2. My other books and courses are
right here at Dino Headquarters - including
links to my PDF courses and my Kindle
books:

Hard-copy and PDF

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

Kindle

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:

"Do it one rep at a time and one pound at
a time."

-- Brooks Kubik

Before You Go . . . . Take a Look at These:

Brooks Kubik's Kindle Books

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

We have over 25 books and courses in the Kindle store - including these little monsters:

 
For even more Kindle books by Brooks Kubik, visit:

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

Let the Magic Happen!

There's a special kind of magic that comes with old-school, drug-free progressive strength training - and I sincerely hope that everyone reading this Blog Post has a chance to experience that magic!

 
Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes and then we'll talk iron - and talk
about magic, as well - a very special kind of magic.

1. Bosco Is Back!


John Wood has designed some brand new Bosco
t-shirts and hoodies - and they look pretty sharp.

Go here to check them out:

Bosco T-Shirts

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/bosco-tshirt.html

Bosco Hoodies (Black)

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/boscohoodie-black.html

Bosco Hoodies (Gray)

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/boscohoodie-grey.html

2. The Dino Files

Do you have the most recent issues of The
Dinosaur Files newsletter?

If not, you're missing a terrific strength
training resource - so go here to grab
them in a downloadable and printable
PDF format:

July-August Dinosaur Files

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

May-June Dinosaur Files

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

3. Let the Magic Happen!

In the Middle Ages, alchemists tried to
find a way to change iron to gold.

Some men spent their entire lives in a
fruitless search for the magic formula
that would change ordinary iron into
beautiful, shining gold -- gold that
would make them wealthier and more
powerful than the richest of kings.

They never succeeded.

Iron was iron, and gold was gold.

But hundreds of years later, other men
made a remarkable discovery.

They learned how to unleash the magic of
iron.

These were men like Alan Calvert, Mark
Berry, Harry Paschall, George F. Jowett,
Sig Klein, Bob Hoffman and Peary Rader.
The men who put barbells and dumbbells --
and the secret of how to use them --
into the hands of thousands of eager
trainees around the world.

And make no mistake about it. Barbells and
dumbbells are quite literally miracle tools.

Properly used, they can transform your
physique, adding many pounds of muscle,
and building enormous strength and power.

With the right kind of training, you can double
or even triple your starting levels of strength
and development. And some trainees do even
better than that.

To me, that's magic. Far more magic than
turning iron to gold.

But it doesn't stop there.

Barbell and dumbbell training works because it
is a form of progressive resistance training. You
start by handling weights that are manageable but
challenging -- and you gradually increase your
reps in each exercise -- and then you add weight
to the bar, drop back on the number of reps, and
build back up again.

And you repeat the process over and over.
It's a series of small steps -- but every step is a
step forward. With every step, you move forward
toward more strength, more muscle and more
power. Every step is a victory.

You end up transforming your body -- but more
than that, you end up transforming your mind,
your heart and your entire being.

You learn some of the most important lessons
a person can learn.

You learn that hard work leads to great results.
That success occurs step by step.

That whatever you can conceive and believe, you
can achieve.

That nothing can stop you.

And that you and you alone control your destiny
and your future.

Now, that's REAL magic.

If you train, you know what I'm talking about. If
you don't train, or if you stopped training, now's
the time to start (or start again) -- and to grab
some of that magic.

Do it now.

Let the magic happen!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. These books have been working their magic
for trainees around the world. Which do you need
to complete your collection?

Dinosaur Dumbbell Training

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

Gray Hair and Black Iron

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

Chalk and Sweat

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

Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength

and Development

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

Dinosaur Bodyweight Training

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

Dinosaur Strength and Power - Course No. 2 - Heavy Partials (PDF Course)

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurstrengthandpower-02.html

P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right
here at Dino Headquarters - head on over and
check them out!

Hard-copy and PDF Books and Courses

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

Kindle Books and Courses

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:

"If you're looking for magic, look no
further than the nearest barbell."

-- Brooks Kubik

Before you leave, be sure to check out our Kindle books - we have over 25 now - with more on the way!

Brooks Kubik's Kindle Books

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

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

What Social Media Doesn't tell You About Strength Training

There's a very important secret to great gains - and it's something you just don't see on social media.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We'll talk iron in just a minute - but first,
let me cover a few quick updates.

1. The May-June Dinosaur Files

We ran late with the May issue of The Dino-
saur Files strength training newsletter, so we
did a combined May-June issue. It's an extra
big issue, with a ton of great articles -
including:

The Valhalla Challenge

The Deadlift from Hell

The Simplest Bodyweight
Workout in the World

Bob Hoffman's Favorite
Training Program

Go here to grab the little monster:



May-June Dinosaur Files

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

2. Strength-Style Arm Training

I'm doing a new series of courses. Each one of
them gives you a new and different training
program, with detailed instructions on how to
train for maximum results.

The goal is to give you a comprehensive
encyclopedia of old-school, super-
effective workouts.

No. 1 in the series covers Doug Hepburn's
strength-style arm training. It gives you a
complete program with three different work-
outs - plus four printable workout sheets to
keep track of them:

Dinosaur Strength and Power - Course
No. 1

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurstrengthandpower-01.html

3. Dinosaur Tee-Shirts

Many of you have been asking if we carry
Dinosaur Training tee-shirts. We do - but
you need to order them from the Retro-
Strength Shop.

Trudi and I live in a small apartment now -
after selling the house and downsizing when
the kids grew up and moved out - and we
don't have room to keep a big inventory of
shirts here.

Which is why we're offering them at the
Retro-Strength Shop. They do the
printing and the shipping for us. Works
way better - and for overseas Dinos, it's
much, much less expensive - because
they can print shirts in Europe and ship
them for much less than we can do it
from Louisville.

Go here to check out the new Dino shirts -
and all the other great shirts and other
strongman swag:



Dinosaur Training 3/4 sleeve shirt

https://www.retrostrength.com/product/dinosaur-training-cover-3-4-sleeve-raglan-shirt/

The Retro-Strength Shop



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

4. The One Workout Fallacy

We seem to be bombarded with images
of strongmen, weightlifters, powerlifters,
MMA pros and other martial artists, body-
builders, wrestlers, football players, and
everyone else who has an I-phone and a
social medium account.

All of them are doing what appears to be
the hardest, heaviest most Herculean
workout in the history of the world -
and many of them are legitimately hard-
core and impressive.

They do everything - hill sprints, running up
stadium stairs, kettlebell swings, log lifts,
tire flips, sledge-hammer smashes, squats,
snatches, clean and jerks, handstand
gymnastics, chains, bands, box jumps,
circus dumbbells, stone lifts, amazing
feats of grip strength and other stuff
that shouts "Strength, Power, Fitness!"
so loud that they can hear it in Outer
Congolia.

It's great stuff - and it fires you up to go
out and train like a madman - and that's
fine, as far as it goes.

But the uber-workouts on social media
can't show one very important thing.

In fact, it's the single MOST important
thing  . . .  and you don't even see it.

It's the day to day, workout to workout,
non-heroic grind of slow, steady, gradual
progression.

You go from 300 pounds to 302 1/2
pounds.

You go from five reps to six reps with a
given weight.

You go from one single with a given weight
to two singles with the same weight - and then
you go from two singles to three singles.

You progress from one set of five reps
with a given weight to three sets of five
reps with the same weight.

You do one more tire flip.

You do one more sprint - or one more
jump - or one more of anything.

You include stabilizing workouts - where
you don't try to progress, but merely stay
where you are and consolidate your gains.

You even do lighter workouts where you
back off and give your mind and body a
much-needed rest from the maximum
intensity stuff.

You do it according to a predetermined,
systematic plan.

You set a goal, work back by 30 percent,
and then plan how to work up to your goal
in slow, steady, manageable increments.

Step by step, little by little, bit by bit.

Pound by pound, rep by rep, set by set.

And the thing is - you stay with it until
you achieve your goal.

Then you set a new goal, drop back, and
work up to it.

And you don't go looking for new things -
or new exercises- or new add-ons - you
focus on what you are doing and you
work relentlessly toward your current
goal.

That's the secret - and it's what you don't
see in the social media videos and selfies,
however inspiring they may otherwise be.

You don't see it because there's no way to
show it - and it would be BORING to watch -
because it's the same thing, over and over,
with very slow and gradual improvements.

So don't look for it on social media. It's just
not there.

But it means everything when it comes to
building strength, power and fitness.

Progression - it's the key to great gains.

Always has been and always will be.

As always, thanks for reading and have a
great day.  If you train today, make it a
good one - and make it part of that long,
slow, gradual march to achieve your goals.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Progression is so important that I
wrote an entire course on it.

It's Vol. 3 in the Dinosaur Training
Secrets series - and it's one of the
best and most useful courses I've
ever offered.

Go here to grab a copy:

Hard-copy and Kindle:

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

PDF

Go to our products page and scroll
down for the list of PDF books and
courses:

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

IMPORTANT -  if you want to grab all three
of my Dinosaur Training Secrets courses, you
can grab them in hard-copy at the Dinosaur
Training website - or as a special three-book
package at the Kindle bookstore - or as a three-
book passage in PDF format at my website.

Three-book set on Kindle:

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



P.S. 2. Thought for the Day

"Inch by inch, rep by rep, pound
by pound."

- Brooks Kubik

Friday Q and A for Dinos

It's Friday, it's sunny, and I'm looking forward to a great workout in the outdoor training area here at Dino Headquarters!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I've been getting a ton of questions from
Dinos around the world, and thought I'd
share some of them with you -- along
with my answers.

1. You're a former bench press champion
and record holder. Why don't you write a
course about bench pressing?

A. I just wrote a long course on the bench
press. But I don't sell it. It's only available
at The Iron League, which is a wonderful
member's only strength training archive
developed by my good friend, John Wood.

I've also allowed John to upload five of my
original Dinosaur Training DVD's, as well 
as all seven of my Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training DVD's. They're not all available
yet, but several are. And in the meantime,
there's a ton of other great stuff at The
Iron League:

http://www.ironleague.com/

2. When you outline a program where the
trainee does 5 x 5 with one heavy set, what
weight do you use on the warm-up sets? If
the top set is 100%, what are the percentages
for the warm-up sets?

A. Try 60/70/80/90/100 percent. If you are
doing an exercise like squats or deadlifts where
you need to start lighter and do more warm-up
sets, then try 30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100
percent. I know that's 8 x 5, but the extra
warm-up sets are just that - warm-up sets -
and they won't tire you out or cut into your
recovery.

3. I dropped off your email list. What happened?

A. I don't know. People sometimes drop off the
list and we don't know why. It's either something
to do with our email service or its something at
your end. One reader changed mobile devices
recently, and doesn't get the emails any more.

I send emails every day other than Sunday, so
if you miss an email, there's a glitch somewhere.

Go to my website and sign back up -- and check
your junk mail settings, because they change
sometimes and you may need to put us on
your white list.

As a back-up, I post every email I send at the
Dinosaur Training Blog. If you miss an email, go
to the Blog to catch up. You can access the Blog
from my website. Email me if you can't find the
link.

I'm also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at
"Brooks Kubik." I share links to my blog posts
on Facebook and Twitter, so those are great
ways to stay in contact. Look for #brookskubik
or #dinosaurtraining.

Also . . .  join the new Strength Secrets Face-
book group - I post links to my Blog posts and
daily emails there:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/strengthsecrets/

4. I'm a young woman. How should I get started
in strength training?

A. Women can and should train exactly the same
as men. See Chalk and Sweat, and Dinosaur
Training Secrets, Vols. 1 and 3 for training
programs for beginners.

5. Which is better for upper body muscle mass --
the bench press or the push press?

A. The bench press will build more mass, but
the push press will build more power and is a
better movement for athletes in most sports.

That said, don't do one or the other. Do BOTH!
6. I recall that Trudi challenged you to try a
vegetarian diet for 30 days - back in August
of last year. How did that go?

It worked very well. We learned to cook and
prepare tons of delicious new (to us) dishes.

So we stayed on the new diet.

We both lost weight - and we both feel great.

In fact, my goal for 2018 is to be stronger
at age 61 than I was in my early 50's - while
weighing less - and doing it on a whole food,
plant-based diet - just to prove that I can do
it.

For me, eye health is a priority because I
have glaucoma - and after as few months
on the diet, I had an eye exam and got the
best results in the past 15 or so years. One
of my primary tests came back as essentially
normal - which is a huge improvement. And
I think the new diet was responsible.

I'll be doing a more detailed report on the
experiment. I know many of you are very
interested in seeing what happened and
how we have been doing things.

In the meantime, check out my Facebook
and Instagram pages for photos of my
meals.

You'll see tons of delicious vegetarian
dishes.

7. Do you like body rows with rings?

A. Yes, and I cover them in Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training -- along with tons of other great exercises
with rings (and with ropes, as well). Many Dinos
like body rows better than any other rowing
exercise.

There have been about a zillion other questions
this week, but we'll have to leave it at seven for
now.

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.  Go here to grab Chalk and Sweat, Dinosaur
Bodyweight Training, Knife Fork Muscle and my
new Dinosaur Training Secrets courses:

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

P.S. 2. Remember to check out The Iron
League -- it's really good:

http://www.ironleague.com/

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: 

"There's never one RIGHT way to do
something -- but there are plenty
of WRONG ways."

- 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