That Was Then, This Is Now!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

As most readers know, I wrestled
in high school. That meant long
practices, and many, many hours
on the wrestling mat. We wrestled
five or six days per week, for up
to three hours. And sometimes we
did extra running and extra weight
training on top of the wrestling
workouts. It was a tough program.

Amazingly, we thrived on it. We
grew stronger, faster, more
explosive, more skilled and
much, much better conditioned.

By the end of the season, our
practices consisted of non-stop
wrestling for 90 minutes to two
hours for the varsity guys. The
coach started us off varsity
against varsity. You wrestled
the guy one weight class up. When
you had mashed each other into a
pulp, the coach moved you to
different mats and rotated other
wrestlers against you so you
were always facing a fresh
opponent. And you did that
for up to two hours.

It was pretty amazing -- but it
worked. We got to the point where
we could wrestle pretty much anyone
into the ground. And in dual meets
and tournaments, we never got tired.
Not even in the toughest of matches
against the toughest of opponents.

So there was a time in my life when
long, high volume, daily workouts
were perfect.

But that was a long time ago. Forty
years ago. I can't train that way
today. At age 56, I need a much more
conservative approach.

My workouts generally last under an
hour, and some last only 45 minutes.

I go hard and heavy some days, and
other days I take it easy.

I plan my workouts very carefully,
and I include some easy weeks to help
recover from the heavier sessions.

I limit the number of exercises in
any one workout, and I keep the total
volume fairly low in any one workout.

I focus on the most important exercises,
and I pretty much ignore the ones that
aren't as important.

It's a different approach than the one
I followed 40 years ago, back in those
high school wrestling days, but it's
an effective one.

It's also a manageable approach. Works
well if you work for a living.

And I'm not the only one. There are
thousands of older trainees around the
world who have found that the key to
successful training as you grow older
is to take things a bit easier. Train
hard, train heavy and train serious --
but train smart. Focus on recovery and
recuperation. Do things that your body
can handle. Train your muscles -- don't
just go out and destroy them.

It's a different approach -- but for
older trainees, it's the only approach
that works.

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. Gray Hair and Black Iron is the bible
of strength training and muscle building
for anyone over the age of 35:

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

P.S. 2. My other books and courses --
and DVD's, t-shirts, sweat shirts and
hoodies -- are right here:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Train with
your brain, not your ego." -- Brooks Kubik

The Birthday Report

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I'll begin with a great big THANK
YOU to everyone who sent in some
Happy Birthday wishes by email.
You helped make it an extra
special day.

The day went according to plan:

1. Great workout in the garage,

followed by

2. Steak and salad for dinner

Now, if you think about it, that's
not too different from any other
day here at Dino Headquarters.

And it's not too different from
any day in YOUR life.

That's the beauty of the Iron Game.

You make every day special.

You either start the day or finish
the day with a workout -- and then
you enjoy some great food. (Note:
food always tastes best if you
earn it -- and in our world,
you earn your meal by having
a great workout.)

If it's a non-training day, make
it special by doing some stretching,
going for a long walk, doing
some concentration and visualization
drills, curling up with a good
book about training, or watching
a good strength training DVD.

Even if you don't train, you should
think about training. Make it a part
of your life -- a part of every single
day.

Heck, you can even dream about it.

In fact, if you're serious about your
training, you WILL dream about it.

And that's great. It shows that your
training has become firmly embedded
in your sub-conscious.

By the way, in case you're wondering,
I did open some presents after dinner.

1. Tommy Kono knee bands

2. Lifting belt

3. Some lifting books

4. Some lifting DVD's

5. Coffee mug from daughter

The coffee mug had nothing to do with
lifting, but I like coffee in the morning.

Anyhow, it was a most excellent birthday.
Thanks again for the birthday wishes!

We'll talk sets and reps tomorrow. But
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 how I celebrated my birthday
two years ago:

http://brookskubik.com/goingstrong.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: "When in
doubt, lift. If in serious doubt, lift
harder and heavier." -- Brooks Kubik

Steak, Salad and Iron -- and Birthday Candles!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

It's my birthday today. I'm an
official age 56 -- as opposed to
age 56 in weightlifting years,
which is what I've been ever
since January 1.

And how, you might ask, will I
be celebrating the day?

Well, the schedule looks something
like this:

1. Send email to the Dinos.

2. Hit a hard workout in the garage,
a/k/a The Dino Dungeon.

3. Steak and salad for dinner.

3a. Large steak. Grilled rare.

That doesn't sound too terribly
different from any other workout
day -- but I'm looking forward to
it.

Especially the workout.

Today's going to be a solid technique
today. I'll be working on the squat
style snatch -- starting with a broom-
stick, progressing to an empty bar --
and then gradually adding weight to the
bar and working up to perhaps 70 percent
of my one rep max.

I'll spend about an hour on the lifting
drills, followed by half an hour of
specialized stretching to help loosen
the joints and un-knot the tight spots.

That's how I'll earn the steak dinner.

The drilling and stretching is part of
an intensive program to develop perfect
form in the squat style snatch.

I'll combine it with specialized work on
the squat style clean and jerk (using the
split style jerk).

I've been working the lifts very hard
this year, and I've improved them
greatly -- but now it's time to take
them to the next level.

At my age, the squat style lifts are a
challenge. I should have learned them
when I was a teenager. Or at least when
was in my twenties. But, as they say,
better late than never.

And after all, 56 isn't that old. Isn't
70 the new 40?

Besides, if it were easy, why bother?

Anyhow, that's the report from Dino
headquarters. 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. Today's a great day to order a book
or course from Dino Headquarters -- and/or
a Dinosaur Training t-shirt, or hoodie --
or one of my Dino DVD's:

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

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Stretching your
body keeps you young, but stretching your
limits keeps you younger." -- Brooks Kubik

Have You Hit Your Peak?

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I got an email the other day from
a 38-year old Dino.

He's already worried about hitting
the big 4-0.

Specifically, he's worried that his
best lifting days are behind him.

I have a birthday coming up -- I'll
be 56 in real years. (I've been 56
in lifting years since January 1.)

And I thought, "Wow -- 38's just a
kid. He's got the best years of his
life in front of him."

Of course, he has to train right --
hard, heavy and serious -- and not
get side-tracked on the silly stuff --
but he ought to be having some great
workouts and making some great gains
in the next couple of years. Which
means he'll be better than ever at
age 40.

It reminds me of a time I was in the
school weight room back when I was in
law school. One of the undergraduates
was working out. He was a pretty strong
kid. Obviously serious about his
training.

One of the other undergrads asked him --
and I kid you not, this really happened --
"What could you lift when you were
in your prime?"

"I don't know," said the other kid. "I'm
not there yet."

It was a good answer. Whatever your age,
you might want to file it away for
future reference.

Age 19 -- like those kids in the college
weight room -- don't sweat it, just train
hard (but smart) and enjoy the gains.

Age 38 -- don't sweat it, just train hard
(but smart) and enjoy the gains,.

Ag 56 -- don't sweat it, just train hard
(but smart) and enjoy the gains.

Age whatever -- same advice.

By the way, I hit an age 56 and 2013 PR
in the clean and jerk yesterday. The
train hard (but smart) stuff really
works.

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 ultimate guide to Train
Hard (but Smart):

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: "That stuff to
knock the gray out of your hair is fine, but
regular hard training  is what keeps you
young." -- Brooks Kubik

Slow Cooking, Dino Style!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

The other day I got an email from a
reader who is in his mid-fifties.

He's going back to squats after not
having done them for a long time.

He's using 135 pounds right now,
and the bar feels heavy, and he
thinks back to the day when he
handled a whole lot more than
that -- and he gets pretty
discouraged.

He feels like he ought to be
repping out with 315 instead
of 135.

Heck, they're the same numbers --
a 1, a 3 and a 5 -- just arranged
differently.

And 20 years ago, that 315 was a
walk in the park.

So he feels like quitting.

Instead, he sends me an email and
asks, "What should I do?"

Well, let me offer a couple of
suggestions.

Number 1 -- adopt the Dino mindset,
and view the current obstacle as an
opportunity.

Number 2 -- Focus on the here and
now, and on getting stronger NOW,
and forget about the past.

Number 3 -- Use the present opportunity
to do some long, slow, steady gaining.

You're regaining your former strength,
so it's going to be much easier than the
first time around. But your body is older,
and doesn't recover as fast as it did 20
30 years ago -- and you need to be sure
to avoid any injuries -- so you focus on
slow cooking.

Do 5 reps with 135.

In your next workout, do 2 x 5 with 135.

In the next, do 3 x 5 with 135.

In the fourth workout, add 5 pounds -- and
do 140 x 5.

Next workout -- 140 x 2 x 5.

After that -- 140 x 3 x 5.

And in the following workout, do 145 x 5.

That simple progression -- adding sets,
and then  adding weight and dropping back
to one set -- and then adding sets
again -- will keep you gaining for
a long, long time.

When your gains finally slow down --
which may be when you're handling 225
or 250 pounds for 5 reps -- you change
to adding one rep per workout -- or
you reduce the weight increases from
5 pounds to 2 pounds -- or even one
pound.

Note that you do NOT need to do anything
extreme or heroic. You don't need to do
squats until your legs are a quivering
mass of jelly blobs -- you don's need to
do 77 assistance exercises -- you don't
need to train to failure -- and you don't
need to try to move mountains of iron.

You just need to focus on long, slow,
steady progression.

For an older lifter on the comeback
trail, that's the sensible way to do
it.

So there you have it -- slow cooking,
Dino style. (And you probably thought
we we're going to talk about cooking
dinner. . . .)

By the way, this works for anything
and everything you do: squats, deadlifts,
presses, whatever. It's how you should
design your entire workout. Slow but
steady progression -- a long-term
approach for lifelong strength and
muscle.

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. For more about real world strength
training and muscle building, try these
great resources:

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

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html

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

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

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

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

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Slow and steady wins
the race -- and it also builds strength, muscle and
power." -- Brooks Kubik

How to Stay Out of the IUSETA Club!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I had a great workout last night.

I set two 2013 and age 56 PR's in
the snatch, using the split style
of lifting.

I had been working squat snatches
for most of the year, but switched
back to split style about a month
ago. It's much easier on my shoulders,
although it's hard on the lead knee.
(In other words, like most things
in life and lifting, it's a trade
off.)

Now, you might ask, "What's a 2013
and age 56 PR?"

It's a little something I do to help
stay motivated -- and to help avoid
the dreaded IUSETA Club.

The IUSETA Club was coined by Harry
Paschall when he was sometime in his
40's or 50's. He caught himself saying
"When I was younger, I used to lift
such and so." All his friends of the
same age did the same thing. Hence,
the "I Used to Lift Such and So
Club" -- which Harry shortened to
the IUSETA Club.

I could lift more at age 40 or 45 than
I can lift at age 56. But instead of
dwelling on what I USETA lift, I focus
on what I can lift now -- and I always
keep trying to improve my current
numbers.

Thus, I keep track of my best lifts
for every training year, from Jan 1
to Dec 31. Those are my PR's for the
year. Hence, the 2013 PR.

I also track my PR's for my current
age. Hence, the age 56 PR.

And please note -- for purposes of
tracking my current age PR's, I use
the birthday system they use in Master's
weightlifting comps. Whatever age you'll
be on Dec 31 is your age for the entire
year. So even though my birthday isn't
until next week, I've been 56 since
Jan 1. (This drives Trudi crazy --
she can't understand why I say I'm
older than I really am. Hey, it's a
lifter thing.)

I also make things more interesting
(and more fun) by tracking PR's for
my top singles, PR's for doubles and
triples (which i rarely do), and PR's
for workouts where I do 5 singles with
my top weight for the day.

Last night, I worked up to 5 singles
in the snatch -- with more weight than
I've used for 5 x 1 any time this year
(or last year). So that was a 2013 and
age 56 PR.

On the final lift, I upped the weight
and hit my heaviest snatch of the year
(or of last year). So that was another
2013 and age 56 PR.

I also track my best lifts in each age
for master's weightlifting (e.g., age
55 to 59), and my best lifts at age
50 or older.

Younger lifters don't need to worry
about this kind of approach. Younger
lifters can focus on their absolute
PR's -- for singles, sets of multiple
reps, or a given number of sets for a
given number of reps per set.

But older trainees need to stay focused
on the present -- on what they can do
NOW and three months from NOW -- and
that's when keeping track of your PR's
for the current year and your current
age can really help.

And that's how to stay out of the
IUSETA Club!

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 number one book on real
world, no nonsense strength training and
muscle building for older Dinos:

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

P.S. 2. This almost qualifies as a companion
DVD for Gray Hair and Black Iron -- we shot
it two years ago at Dino Headquarters:

http://brookskubik.com/goingstrong.html

P.S. 3. My other books and courses are right
here:

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

P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "Older is easy,
smarter is harder, stronger is hardest of
all -- but you can do it." -- Brooks Kubik

Three Feet and Fifteen Seconds!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Some people say that weightlifting
(or any kind of strength training)
is dangerous.

I disagree -- but you do need to
be careful.

Several days ago we had a storm
coming in. I had finished my
workout, but left the light on
in the garage. I didn't notice
it until I was out the door,
down the steps, across the
back yard and on the porch.

So I went turned around, walked
back to the garage, unlocked the
door, turned out the light,
locked the door again, and walked
back through the yard to the house.

Stepped onto the back porch, and
stopped -- and turned around. Not
sure why. I think I heard
something.

And WHAM! -- just like that, a
huge branch from a neighbor's
enormous old oak tree came
hurtling down from above and
crashed into our back yard.

It was about as thick through
the middle as I am through the
chest -- and it was about ten
feet long -- and it was heavy.
Heavy enough to do some serious
damage if it fell on top of you.

And it fell right next to where
I had just been walking.

Missed me by three feet and
fifteen seconds.

The cats were on the back porch,
watching the rain come in. It
made them jump when it hit.

I have to tell you, something
like that makes you stop and
think.

I looked at the shattered
wood, and I watched the rain,
and I thought about it for a
minute or two.

I've been answering lots of
questions about sets and reps
lately -- and about rest between
sets -- and how long a workout
should last. Guess I timed that
one just about right.

I went into the house.

Trudi was cooking dinner. It
smelled pretty good. Much better
than it would have smelled if I'd
been about fifteen seconds slower.

"How was your workout?" she asked.

"It was good," I said. "Real good."

The next time I trained was last
night. I hit an age 56 and 2013 PR
in the clean and jerk. It seemed
like the thing to do.

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 want to see what my workouts
look like, grab one or more of my Dinosaur
Training DVD's:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dvds.html

http://brookskubik.com/goingstrong.html

P.S. 2. My Dinosaur Training books and
courses are right here:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Always give
110 percent. 100 percent is good, but you
can do better." -- Brooks Kubik