Weight Training and Budo

Brand new from Dinosaur Training - with tons of great training tips - hard hitting workouts - and super-effective training programs. Good stuff for anyone interested in building real world strength and power.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

When I was a kid, there were very
few sources of training advice - and
most of what you could find was the
standard bodybuilding stuff.

How to build 20" upper arms in record
time.

How to sculpt barn-door lats and build
gladiator pecs.

Horseshoe triceps.

Cannonball delts.

Baseball biceps.

Washboard abs.

Bombing, blasting and blitzing.

That kind of stuff.

But I was lucky enough to find the
better strength training and muscle
building magazines - Bob Hoffman's
Strength and Health and Muscular
Development - and Peary Rader's
wonderful Iron Man magazine.

And in them, I found articles by a
man named Bradley J. Steiner.

Steiner was a a martial arts teacher.

Or more accurately - he taught real
world, no BS self defense.

The kind of stuff that really works.

Not the fancy stuff.

The stuff that works.

He also taught real world strength
training and muscle building.

And he even wrote articles about
how to combine the two - in other
words, how to build rugged combat
strength and conditioning.

One of those articles appeared in Bob
Hoffman's Strength and Health.

If memory serves correctly, it was
titled Weight Training and Budo -
and it was a pretty good article.

It was also very unusual - because
back then (almost 50 years ago) -
very few martial artists did weight
training.

Heck, back then, very few athletes
did weight training.

Which was GREAT for those who
did. It was their secret weapon.

I should say OUR secret weapon -
because I used Steiner's training
ideas to make myself a better
wrestler.

It worked, too.

I won a state championship in
Greco-Roman wrestling - and
that's a pretty good testament
to the effectiveness of combining
the right kind of strength training
with your combat training.

Anyhow, it's many long years down
the Road of Life - and yesterday, I
released a new book that teaches
a lot of what I learned in those old
articles by Bradley J. Steiner.

How to train for combat sports.
It's a complete course - with real
world, no nonsense training advice -
and tons of great workouts and
training programs.

It's available in a Kindle edition -
and you can grab it right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/100-combat-tips.html

Sprint on over and grab a copy
right now - and have fun with
it - and with the workouts in it!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

The Save Your Life Neck Training Workout - And More!

 

The Save Your Life Neck Workout is a must-read for anyone interested in wrestling, bjj, grappling or any other combat sport - and it's pretty darn important for everyone else, as well. By the way, that's World Champion Lou Thesz applying the toe hold in the above photo - and he did a heck of a lot of neck training over the years.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Are you reading the new Dinosaur
Files monthly newsletter?

I hope so, because every issue is a
goldmine of information.

It's 8 to 12 pages per issue - a fast,
fun read - available in PDF format
with immediate electronic delivery -
and it's printable, so you can print
each issue and save it in your
strength training and muscle
building collection.

And if you don't have a printer, just
talk to your local Kinko's or other
printing center. You can email The
Dino Files to them, and they can
print it for you for a nominal charge -
and it will be ready by the time you
walk into the shop.

We started this format with the Oct,
2017 issue - and it seems to work
pretty well. It saves a ton on postage,
especially for our overseas Dinos.

We've had great feedback on each
issue - and that's not surprising,
because each issue is loaded with
valuable training tips and workouts.

For example . . .

The October 2017 issue includes:

1. a stonelifting workout that you
can do on its own or once a week
in combination with barbell and
dumbbell workouts; and

2. a 3-day per week workout used
with great success by a 58-year
old Dinosaur

The November 2017 issue covers:

1. one-hand barbell lifts,

2. Bone Strength Training,

3. outdoor training,

4. a six-exercise, total-body HIT
workout,

5. a sled-pulling and tire flipping
workout; and

6. The Save Your Life Neck
Training Workout

By the way, people often ask me about
strength training for wrestling, bjj and
martial arts - and The Save Your Life
Neck Training Workout is a pretty
good place to start.

The December 2017 issue features
a very effective six-day per week
workout that you can modify to
do your choice of:

1 exercise per workout

2 exercises per workout

or

3 exercises per workout

This has been one of our most
popular workouts - and one of
our most popular issues.

The January 2018 issue covers:

1. Bone density and celiac disease,

2. Cold weather workouts,

3. Lower back rehab,

4. Handstand pushup progressions,

5. A kettlebell workout, and

6. A special mass-building program
for Dinos (which is a little bit different
than most of my suggested workouts -
but very effective and lots of fun)

The February 2018 issue includes:

1. Training for older Dinos,

2. A three-day per week program,

3. A flexible daily training program
with complete training schedules for
both indoor and outdoor training -
giving you more than a dozen
workouts to try.

As you can see, we pack tons of great
info into each issue - and all of it is
practical and effective. In the words
of my good friend, Mike Thompson,
it's "the real thing."

You can grab the Oct, Nov, Dec and
Jan issues right here:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_files.html

And you can grab the February 2018
issue right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur-files-february2018pdf.html

I'll send links to other issues of The
Dinosaur Files in a separate email -
because this one is plenty long
already!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. If you want a subscription to The
Dinosaur Files, we can make it happen.
I can even do hard-copy subscriptions for
those of you here in the USA. Just shoot
me an email and ask for the details.

Old- School Beats Everyone!

How'd you like to be able to do that?

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

John Wood released a great old-
school training course on Kindle
the other day.

It's called (and this is a GREAT
title):

Power and Health Through
Progressive Exercise

It covers:

The natural laws of training

Strength training for boxers

How to build punching power
Hand-balancing

Feats of strength

Single and double-arm lifts

Medicine ball training
Plus a whole lot more!

And get this - the author was one
of those guys who walks the walk.

Meaning that he really knew what
he was talking about.

No question about it.

Because way back in 1905, he was
able to lift a 100 pound dumbbell
overhead with either hand - which
was pretty darn good - and is pretty
darn good even today.

Anyhow, the little monster has already
raced up to no. 1 in its category in the
Kindle bookstore - in less than 24 hours -
and that means that old-school training
has beaten everyone else in the past
24 hours.

So let's keep it going - and keep Power
and Health Through Progressive
Exercise at the top of the charts.

Go here to check it out - and if you grab
a copy, as I hope you do, be sure to
leave a review:

Power and Health Through
Progressive Exercise

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/power-health1905b.html

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

Old-Time Training Secrets

Fred Rollon, the Human Anatomy Chart, shows us what real-world, drug-free muscle looks like - and how amazingly effective, old-school strength training and bodybuilding can be!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Here's a quick heads up about an
excellent resource for real world,
no-nonsense, old-time strength
training and bodybuilding secrets.

David Webster, the longtime and
well-known Physical Culture expert
and former Scottish National Weight-
lifting Coach, wrote a detailed series
of courses on old-time training many,
many years ago.

He called it "The Complete Physique
Course" - which is a pretty good title,
I think - and which kind of shows you
that the program is pretty darn
comprehensive.

They've been out of print and pretty
near impossible to find for many years,
but John Wood is now releasing them
again - on Kindle - in an approved,
authorized edition - and that means
that they're available again - for the
first time in many years.

The Complete Physique Course is broken
into a series of lessons.

Lessons 1 thru 4 cover the following
important topics:

Lesson 1 - Old-school bodyweight
exercises.

Lesson 2 - Old-School bodybuilding
and bodypart specialization programs.

Lesson 3 - Training for sports - with
different programs and workouts for
many popular sports.

Lesson 4 - Olympic weightlifting (with
tons of training tips that have been
pretty much forgotten nowadays -
but that work amazingly well).

You can grab them right here:

The Complete Physique Course,

Lessons 1 and 2

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/complete-physique-01.html

The Complete Physique Course,

Lessons 3 and 4

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/complete-physique-02.html

I think you'll really enjoy these truly
excellent old courses - and I think
they'll give you a very good idea of
what old-school training was all about.

So check them out - leave a review
(reviews help spread the word) - and
let me know how you like them!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

Strength Training for Martial Artists

Sig Klein with some of the magnificent weights from his classic collection. Wouldn't it have been great to train with these legendary barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells?

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

One quick note, and then we'll talk
training.

1. New PDF Courses for Dinos

Last month we added two new courses
to our ever-growing list of PDF courses:

Dinosaur Strength and Power -
Course No. 1 - Hepburn Style Arm
Training

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

Dinosaur Strength and Power -
Course No. 2 - Heavy Partials

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

There are plenty of other Dino courses
available in PDF editions, as well. We
have an entire section for them at our
products page.

For example:

The Dinosaur Military Press
and Shoulder Power Course

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

The Training Secrets of Doug
Hepburn

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

And the new monthly Dinosaur Files
is available exclusively in PDF format:

May-June Dinosaur Files

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

I know that many of you - particularly
our overseas Dinos - have been asking
for more PDF products - so here they
are!

2. How to Combine Strength Training and
Martial Arts

On the training front, let's talk about a topic
that comes up all the time.

How do you combine strength training and
martial arts or self-defense training?

The question usually comes from older Dinos
who have limited energy and limited recovery
ability. They tend to over-train very quickly if
they train too often. Three strength training
workouts and three martial arts workouts in
one week flattens them.

I can see that. I don't do martial arts, but I
used to wrestle in high school - at top notch
wrestling schools in states with plenty of great
wrestlers. It was brutal stuff - daily practices
that lasted 2 or 3 hours - followed by weight
training workouts 3x a week. Today, at age
61, I couldn't do anything close to that.

And neither can most older guys.

Heck, most younger guys can't do it.

So what do you do?

Try this:

1. Train no more than 4 days per week
total.

a. Two martial arts workouts and two
strength training workouts.

b. Or try two martial arts workouts and
one strength training workout - or the
reverse.

2. Always use abbreviated and ultra-
abbreviated workouts.

a. Focus on the basic, compound exercises
that give you the biggest return for every
second of precious training time.

3. Focus on precise movements and perfect
technique in both your strength training
workouts and your martial arts or self-
defense workouts.

a. Doing the exercise or the technique in
100% perfect form is far more effective
than doing it sloppy - and far easier on
your body.

b. In other words, don't try to "muscle
through" things. Focus on SKILL.

4. Don't try to do the long workouts you
did when you were younger -- and that
goes for the dojo as well as the weight
room.

a. 30 to 45 minutes of focused, concentrated
training is PLENTY.

5. Your martial arts or self-defense training
will double as cardio training -- so don't add
much if any in the way of additional cardio
work.

a. Many older trainees use walking for their
"cardio" or conditioning work. It's not flashy,
but it's effective.

6. Use a simple cycling system for your
strength training workouts so you don't go
hard and heavy all the time. The simple
cycling system in Gray Hair and Black
Iron is ideal:

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

7. Use visualization drills to increase the
effectiveness of both your martial arts
training AND your strength training.

a. I cover visualization drills and to do
them in Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets
of Strength and Development:

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

So there you are. Seven tips to help combine
strength training with martial arts or self-
defense training. I hope they help!

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 almost forgot - heavy dumbbell training
is GREAT for martial artists - see Dinosaur
Dumbbell Training for exercises and
workouts:

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

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day:

"When you train with concentration
and focus, a little work goes a very
long way." 

- 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

Buried in Hate Mail - And You Won't Believe Why!

I'm a big fan of old-time bodybuilders like John  Grimek - but everyone who sent me hate mail the other day seems to have forgotten that.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

One quick note, and then we'll
talk training.

1. The John Wood Report
No. 3

Issue no. 3 of The John Wood
Report is now available.

It's a PDF so you can grab it
and download it - and read it
immediately.

It's printable, so you can read it
and save it.

And if you move fast, you can save
50 percent off the regular price.

Here's how to do it.

Go here to grab your copy of The
John Wood Report:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport03.html

When you get to the checkout, enter
this special code - to take five clams
off the purchase price:

5182018

That's a full 50% savings for those
who take immediate action.

But act now - because the Early Bird
Special ends at 5:00 PM EST on
Friday, May 18, 2008.

2. Buried In Hate Mail

I sent out a very good email the other
day.

It listed some things I wish I had done
back in high school, when I was training
for high school wrestling.

In the email, I noted that one of the
things I wish I had done was NOT
READ the muscle magazines of the
era - because they didn't have very
good advice.

In response, I got buried in hate
mail.

One guy even unsubscribed from my
email list because (he said) I was
"unfair to bodybuilders."

He also said, "we're all in the health
and fitness business together."

So let's talk about that a little bit.

First of all, I have no problem with
old-school bodybuilders and old-
school bodybuilding.

After all, I wrote a complete course
about John Grimek - and I talk about
Reg Park quite a bit - and I've written
articles and emails about Bill Pearl
and Clarence Ross - and about
Tommy Kono's four Mr. Universe
titles.

And I've written plenty of articles
about how to build a better physique -
many of which are reprinted in my book,
Strength, Muscle and Power  - and
I've written Dinosaur Arm Training,
which teaches readers how to build
bigger, stronger and more muscular
arms - which sounds an awful lot like
bodybuilding.

And in Gray Hair and Black Iron I list
a number of bodybuilding workouts for
older Dinos - and I expressly note that
many older Dinos may do better on
bodybuilding workouts that are easier
on their joints than the heavier work-
outs that many younger Dinos do.

We also have a number of readers who
were competitive body-builders, or who
trained with competitive bodybuilders -
including one reader (Ian Duckett) who
used Dino-style workouts to win the
Master's World Championship in drug-
free bodybuilding.

So I'm not opposed to bodybuilding per
se.

But I am opposed to modern body-
building - because drugs have taken
it over.

And I'm not going to support, condone,
glorify or publicize any kind of drug use.

I'm also very opposed to modern body-
building supplements. Many of them are
dangerous. But modern body-building
exists primarily as a way to sell modern
supplements.

In addition - modern bodybuilding is
NOT in any way shape, or form focused
on health and fitness.

The drug use, supplements, and extreme
diets make that impossible.

Remember, we've had elite bodybuilders
DIE at big contests.

And we've had many top bodybuilders
from the modern era encounter severe
health problems - or die young - which
is kind of crazy given the fact that old-
school champions often lived very long
and healthy lives.

So I don't talk about modern body-
building.

I just can't do it.

If that's a problem for anyone, I'm
sorry.

But that's the way it is - and the way
it's going to continue to be.

I should also note this - my comment
about muscle magazines not being
helpful was in the context of a teen-
ager training for wrestling.

It had nothing to do with bodybuilding.
The comment was a simple observation
about an undeniable fact:

The muscle magazines of the 1970s
didn't offer very much in the way of
training for sports.

The Weider magazines pretty much
ignored the topic in the 1970s.

Weider launched one sports-oriented
magazine but it only lasted for a couple
of issues - and that seemed to sour his
writers and editors on writing articles
about weight training for sports.

There was a little bit in the York
magazines (Strength and Health
and Muscular Development) - and
a very tiny bit in Peary Rader's Iron
Man - but it wasn't very good or
very complete.

For example, I don't recall any article
that covered the points I made in
yesterday's email - or an article that
covered even two or three of them
in the context of training for sports.

It would have been wonderful if the
magazines of the 1970s had included
regular articles by and about the top
amateur wrestlers (and other athletes)
of the era and how they trained - but
they didn't.

After all, this was the era of Dan Gable
(google him if you don't know), and
amateur wrestling was on the up-tick
in the USA - and articles on strength
training and conditioning for wrestlers
would have been well received.

But the magazines pretty much (not
entirely, but pretty much) ignored
the topic of effective sports training
and conditioning.

That's a shame, but that's the way it
was.

That was the point I was making - and
I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers -
but apparently I did.

Hence the hate mail.

Quite a bit of it.

None of which I'm going to answer
individually - but I thought I should
address it here.

Anyhow, I've got a big project to work
on, and I'm going to get back to it.

As always, thanks for reading and have
a great day. If you train today, make it
a good one.

Oh - and don't forget to grab issue no.
3 of The John Wood Report. It's a
good one:

ttps://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport03.html

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Here are two books that have
plenty of great exercises for
athletes:

Dinosaur Dumbbell Training

Tons of old-school dumbbell exercises -
and over 50 complete workouts.

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

Dinosaur Bodyweight Training

A complete course in old-school body-
weight training - with plenty of killer
exercises - and more than 50 workouts.

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

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: 

"If you have time to send me hate
mail, you have time to train - and
seriously, training is a much better
use of your time."

-- 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

Ten Things I Wish I Had Done 45 Years Ago!

I never did front squats when I was in high school - and now I wish I had done them. Here are 10 more things I wish I had done back then.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. The April Dino Files

Do you have the April issue of The
Dinosaur Files?

If not, go here to grab it:

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

Likewise, if you missed the March
issue, you can find it here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur-files-march2018pdf.html

I'm working on the May issue, and
it's looking good - I'll send an email
when it's ready to go.

2. The Retro Strength Shop

John Wood continues to add tons of
great stuff to the Retro Strength
Shop - including some killer Dinosaur
tee shirts, hoodies, coffee mugs and
posters.

Check them out:

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

3. Ten Things I Wish I Had Done 45
Years Ago

After awhile, you look back on life and
think about things you've done - and
things you wish you had done.

Here are 10 things I wish I had done
when I was a high school wrestler 45
years ago.

Sure, I trained - a lot - and I did pretty
well - but I would have done a lot better
if I had focused on some of these things.

1. More Dumbbell Training!

I wish I had done more dumbbell training
back then.

Dumbbells rock - especially if you do
old-school dumbbell exercises - the kind
I teach in Dinosaur Dumbbell Training.

2. Cleans and snatches.

I wish I had done more cleans and
snatches.

I'm talking barbell power cleans and
barbell power snatches.

And the power clean and press - or
push press.

These are great for wrestlers - or for
anyone else.

3. Trap Bar Deadlifts.

These may be the very best lower body
exercise for wrestlers.

They mimic the lifting and pulling in a
wrestling match very well.

4. Serious Grip Work.

The kind I cover in Dinosaur Training
and Strength, Muscle and Power.

And for the record - I wish I had started
grip work at age 5 or so.

Or even earlier.

5. Push-ups and Pull-ups.

All kinds of different push-ups and
pull-ups - including those killer double
rope pull-ups in Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training.

6. Never Seen a Muscle Magazine.

Seriously - I wish I had never seen
a muscle magazine when I was a kid.

They hurt more than they helped.

Too much focus on bodybuilding and
bodybuilding workouts.

Very little on strength training for
athletes.

7. Thick Bar Work.

It's perfect for wrestlers.

Great for everyone else - but perfect
for wrestlers.

8. More Sprints.

We ran laps - or went out and jogged a
couple of miles - but sprints would have
been better.

Or, at least, they would have been a very
good addition to the program.

Hill sprints also would have been very
good - except we didn't have any hills
by my high school.

9. Jump Rope.

Jumping rope - the way boxers do it,
using a high quality leather rope - is
a very good, much neglected, totally
under-rated exercise.

Boxers do it all the time, and that should
tell you something.

10. Taken a Chance.

There was a cute little girl in the front row
of my English class.

I should have taken a chance and asked
her out.

Because, after all, that's what really
matters in life.

Taking a chance - and seeing what
happens.

Applies to lifting - and to any kind of
training - and to life in general.

The Wrap-Up

So there you have it.

Ten things I wish I had done differently
back in high school.

But guess what - I ended up doing 9 out
of 10 of them - and even if I never asked
out the girl in English class, I did ask Trudi
out - and that worked out pretty well.

Anyhow, 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 mentioned a couple of great books
in today's post. You can find them right
here:

Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of
Strength and Power

The little blue book they call "The Bible
of Strength Training."

Tons of great training ideas - thick bars,
sandbags, heavy awkward objects, death
sets, single rep training, abbreviated work-
outs, power rack training, and some very
important chapters on the all-important
mental aspects of strength training.

Includes some of my favorite workouts.

A best-seller since 1996.

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

Dinosaur Dumbbell Training

Tons of old-school dumbbell exercises -
and over 50 complete workouts.

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

Dinosaur Bodyweight Training

A complete course in old-school body-
weight training - with plenty of killer
exercises - and more than 50 workouts.

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

Strength, Muscle and Power

Power rack training, isometronics, rest
pause training, mind power, finishers,
grip work, sandbags, barrels, one-hand
deadlifts, tendon and ligament strength,
home gym training, specialization, some
of my favorite abbreviated and ultra-
abbreviated workouts - and much more!

Includes so many workouts I can't count
them all.

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

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day

"Study the past to build the best
possible future."

- 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