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| John Grimek used the XYZ workout at many different times in his career. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
One quick note, and then we'll talk iron -
as in, the mysterious and virtually un-
known XYZ Workout.
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
As always, be sure to let me know
how you like the little monster -
your feedback is important to us!
2. The XYZ Workout
As an older Dino who trains at home with
very limited equipment (and who likes it
that way), I almost always do some
variation "of the XYZ workout.
You've probably never heard of the XYZ
workout.
I don't think I ever did when I was a
kid who devoured all the muscle mags
every month.
I remember Betty Weider's leopard-skin
bikini, but I don't remember Joe Weider
extolling the virtues of XYZ training.
I remember Bob Hoffman writing about
Hi Proteen powder, but I don't remember
Strength and Health articles that covered
the XYZ program.
I remember tons of articles about 20-rep
breathing squats in Peary Rader's old Iron
Man magazine - but I don't remember any
articles about the XYZ workout.
No, scratch that - I remember one Iron
Man article that came close to it - but only
one.
So I didn't do it when I was a kid - or even
when I was in my 20's and 30's.
But now, as I said, I do it all the time.
Heck, I did it last night.
The XYZ workout goes something like this.
You want to do a particular exercise which
you know from experience is a very good
exercise for you - or it's a new exercise
that you want to try.
Let's call it Exercise X.
In your mind, it's the very best exercise
there is for building a particular muscle
or muscle group, or for gaining strength
in a certain part of your body (or through-
out your entire body).
Which means you really, really, REALLY
want to do it.
But you can't do it - because:
1. You don't have the right equipment.
2. It requires a power rack or spotters to
do it safely - and you don't have them.
3. You can't do it - or you can't do it
without severe muscle or joint pain -
because of a past or current injury or
one or more dings and dents.
4. You used to do it - and it used to work
great for you - but you can't do it now
because it pretty much cripples you for
a week or two - even with much lighter
weights than you used to use in it.
5. Two or more of all of the above.
So what do you do when you can't do
Exercise X?
Do you pack it in - skip your workout -
and go plonk yourself in front of the
television?
That's what most people do - but it's
not what Dinosaurs do.
If you're a Dinosaur, you do Exercise Y.
It may not be as good as Exercise X -
but it sure as heck beats not doing
anything.
But what if you can't do Exercise Y?
What do you do then?
You guessed it.
You do Exercise Z!
And that's the XYZ Workout.
You may not be able to do the one best
exercise for a given purpose - but that's
okay.
Find something else that works - and do
that instead.
No matter what, you can always find a
fun, effective, result-producing exercise.
Last night, I trained for a little over an
hour, and did five different exercises.
Three of them were exercise Y variations.
Two of them were exercise Z variations.
And I had a really good workout.
Thirty years ago, it would have been all
Exercise X variations - but that was then,
and this is now - and the important thing
is to keep on training and to do it pain-
free.
So that's the XYZ workout in a nutshell.
Give it a try - it works pretty darn well.
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 cover plenty of XYZ exercises and
related work-arounds for older Dinos in
Gray Hair and Black Iron:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. Dinosaur Dumbbell Training gives you tons of excellent exercises
that you can use as alternatives to
barbell exercises:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
gives you plenty of great bodyweight
exercises to use in place of similar
barbell or dumbbell movements:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
P.S. 3. My other books and courses are
right here at Dino Headquarters:
Hard-copy and PDF
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
Kindle
http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day:
"If you can do X, then do X - but if not,
then do Y. If you can't do Y, then do Z.
But always do something!"
-- 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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