The Old School Strength Training Q and A
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Just wanted to let you know that we
put up the link for the Old School
Strength Training Q and A.
It's right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool-qanda.html
You can order the little monster in
hard-copy or grab it on Kindle,
whichever you prefer.
We're also going to make it
available in PDF format - but
that's not up yet, so the PDF
link won't work. But everything
else is good to go.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
My Uncle Amos - National Champion!
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
If you're a regular reader, you know
I'm very interested in my family
history and genealogy.
You may also know that my father's
family comes from Martin, Slovakia -
a small city in the Tatra Mountains
of north-central Slovakia, close to
the border with Poland.
My grandfather was born and raised
in a small village just south of
Martin - a village called Borcova.
He immigrated to the USA on January,
1907.
My grandfather came from a large
family that ran a big lumber camp
in the mountains. They cut the wood
and took it by wagon over the Tatra
Mountains into Poland - and then went
far into the Polish plains where wood
was scarce and they could sell theirs
for a higher price.
So the Kubiks were strong and sturdy
people - essentially, a family of lumber-
jacks and mountaineers.
Which helps explain why I got into
wrestling and weight training when
I was a kid - and why I won a State
Championship in Greco-Roman wrest-
ling - and why I won five National
National Championships in the bench
press.
My family has good genes for strength
sports - especially for sports that
require plenty of upper body strength.
And that brings me to my Uncle Amos.
I never knew I had an Uncle Amos -
but this past summer, one of my
brother's friends was vacationing on
Cape Cod, and saw a small weekly
local paper with some old photos
in it.
One of them was the Town Crier, Amos
Kubik - who dressed like an old-time
Puritan, and carried a hand-bell, and
walked through the town making
public announcements.
His voice was loud and so strong
that he got complaints when he
went by the courthouse because
he drowned out the judges and
the lawyers.
Apparently, he was very famous in his
day. There's even a video of him on
YouTube. And he was featured in many
photos and postcards back in the 30's
and 40's.
My brother's friend almost fell out of
his chair because Amos Kubik looks
very much like my brother - and like
me - so he saved the newspaper and
sent it to my brother, asking if Amos
Kubik was a relative.
My brother had no idea. He had never
heard of Amos Kubik - and neither had
I. But there was a heck of a family
resemblance.
My brother sent the newspaper to
me, and of course I fired up the old
Google and started to do some
searches.
And get this . . .
Amos Kubik was a famous athlete
when he was a young man.
In fact, on Labor Day 1897 he won
the New England Amateur Rowing
Association Junior Singles Champion-
ship held on the Charles River in
Boston - and not by a nose, but by
two lengths.
In other words - Amos Kubik was the
rowing champion of all New England.
The following year - 1898 - Amos Kubik
won the National Intermediate Single
Scull Championship.
In other words, Amos Kubik and I
both won National Championships
in strength sports - and I think that's
a pretty good family tradition!
Of course, Amos Kubik is not my
actual uncle - but his family did
come from Slovakia, and there
are some clues and hints that he
might have hailed from Martin -
and that makes him a relative of
some sort, for sure.
There's also a Kubik-Grimek-Stanko
connection from Slovakia. I'll share
that in another post later in the week.
In the meantime, and as always,
thanks for reading. If you train today,
make it a good one - and do some
extra reps for my Uncle Amos!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Genes aside, it takes plenty of
hard work and the right kind of training
to win a National Championship.
You can find the EXACT training program
I used to win five National Championships
in the bench press right here in Strength,
Muscle and Power:
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses
are available 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
"You come from a long line of strong
and sturdy people. Train hard, and
honor their memory."
- 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:
Important Updates for Dinosaurs
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I have a couple of quick updates
for you.
1. Dinosaur T-Shirts
We checked with our t-shirt printer
this morning, and the new Dinosaur
Training t-shirts should be ready on
either Friday 9-8 or Monday 9-11.
As soon as we have them, we'll fire
them out the door to everyone who
placed an order.
2. Strength and Health Mags
We still have complete 12-issue sets
for many of the years from 1940 thru
1970.
Each 12-issue set runs $120.00 plus
s&h.
If you're interested, shoot me an
email.
We also have several sets of six
issues from different years in the
1940's. Each six-issue set is $60.00
plus s&h.
3. The Birthday Countdown
The birthday countdown continues.
I'll be turning 60 on 9-9.
That makes 51 years of training,
which is a lot of workouts over the
years.
Of course, I'm still training and still
having fun - and I look forward to
keeping you posted on the details
for a very long time. It would be lots
of fun to be tossing iron in my 70's,
80's and 90's.
4. The Strength Training Q and A
We just printed a bunch of copies
of my Old School Strength Training
Q and A, Vol. 1.
We don't have a sales page up yet,
but if you want to order a copy, shoot
me an email and we'll do it that way.
Let me know how you prefer to pay,
and where we'll be shipping your copy
of the Q and A course.
Brooks Kubik
Souped Up Soup for Strength and Health
![]() |
| There's a great big pot full of strength and health simmering away here - and it costs next to nothing to make this super nutritious, super delicious vegetable broth. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Trudi and I made a big pot of souped
up soup last night.
Souped up soup comes from an old
recipe by John McCallum in his
famous "Keys to Progress" series
in Strength and Health magazine.
You make it by saving vegetable
scraps and peelings in a plastic bag
in the freezer.
Note: by veggie scraps I am referring
to unused tips, ends, peels, stems,
cores and other inedible parts of
fresh veggies. Not table scraps off
of someone's plate - but food scraps
you make when you cut, slice peel
and prep your veggies.
For example, potato peels, carrot tips
and carrot ends, the core of a red or
green pepper, the bottom end of a
celery stalk, the peels from an acorn
squash, the core and inner leaves from
a head of iceberg lettuce, parsley
stems, and stems from kale, spinach,
chard, or other greens.
Normally, you would throw them
in the garbage. But this is a way
to use them to add some great
free taste and free nutrition to
your diet.
Of course, this also means you
need to be making your own
meals and using plenty of fresh
veggies in them - but you should
be doing that anyway.
When the bag is full, you pour the
frozen vegetable scraps into a big
pot, cover with water, add some
salt and pepper, and cook it for a
couple of hours.
Let it cool for a while, then strain
the veggie scraps, and you're left
with some beautiful vegetable broth
to use in soups, stews and other
recipes.
At this point, discard the veggie
scraps. They've served their
purpose, and there's no more
nutrition left in them.
By the way, if you have a garden,
be sure to put the veggie scraps
into your compost pile. They break
down very quickly and make great
compost.
The broth is very rich, dark, tasty
and flavorful - and it makes great
soup, stew or other dishes.
It's also jam-packed with vitamins
and minerals. So much so that it
could be considered a no-cost
vitamin-mineral supplement.
To make it even better, add some
fresh crushed garlic and onion to
the mix before you start cooking
it.
And yes, you can add a soup bone
to the mix - just be sure to sear it
or brown it a bit before throwing it
in.
The veggie broth is one of our secret
ingredients in soups, stews and other
dishes. As you can see, we've made
some great tasting meals with it:
![]() |
| Red lentil, spinach and potato stew - flavored with curry and other Indian spices. |
![]() | ||
| Lentil, sweet potato and cauliflower stew on the left; sag paneer (a spinach dish) on the right. Both seasoned with curry and other Indian spices. |
![]() |
| Tuscan white bean soup with sweet potato and kale. Seasoned with Mediterranean spices. |
Speaking of meals - Trudi wanted to
try some new recipes, new meals,
and new dishes, so she asked me to
try nothing but home-made, cooked
from scratch vegetarian dishes from
around the world for the next 30
days.
That made it a challenge, so I
accepted. I like challenges - and
besides, it's always interesting to
try something new and report on
how it works.
We've been doing it for two weeks
now, and it's been a lot of fun. I'll
share more about it in future posts.
But souped up soup is neither a
vegetarian food nor a food for
carnivores.
It's just a great way to make a
really good soup broth for next to
nothing.
And it's one of the best ways to
be sure you're getting all the
vitamins and minerals you need.
Give it a try - and let me know
how you like it.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. For more recipes and cooking
tips, and tons of advice on how to
eat for strength and health, grab
Knife, Fork, Muscle:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_nutrition.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/kindle.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day
"Train for strength, eat for health,
and live every day to the fullest."
-Brooks Kubik
Countdown to 60!
| I'll be turning 60 in five days, and that means 51 years of training. I'm looking forward to many more. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
The countdown begins today.
I turn 60 on September 9 -
this coming Saturday - and I'm
counting the days until I get
there.
I started training at age 9, so
that makes 51 years of training.
More than a half century in the
Iron Mines.
Which makes me think back on
all the different things I've done
to build strength and muscle over
the years.
Barbells.
Dumbbells.
Chest expanders.
Calisthenics.
Isometrics.
The Universal Gym.
The Exer-Genie.
Bullworker training.
The Marcy Gym.
Nautilus machines.
Hammer Strength machines.
Rope climbing.
The peg board.
Bodybuilding.
Powerlifting.
Olympic lifting.
Yoga.
5 x 5.
Breathing squats.
Heavy singles.
Doubles and triples.
All kinds of grip work.
Heavy awkward objects.
Power rack training.
Isometronics.
Old-school bodyweight workouts.
Old-school dumbbell training.
Training advice and workouts from
Bradley J. Steiner, Arthur Jones,
Peary Rader, Reg Park, Bob Hoffman,
Harry Paschall, Jim Schmitz, John
Grimek, Tony Ditillo, Doug Hepburn,
and others too numerous to mention.
Some of it worked great.
Some of it didn't work very well at
all.
But I've kept at over the years, doing
lots of training and lots of experimenting.
Trying different things.
Always looking for new ideas and new
ways to build strength and muscle.
And now I'm knocking on the door to
age 60, and I'm still doing this stuff -
and still trying new stuff - and having
a lot of fun doing it.
Whatever your age, I hope you're
feeling the same sense of excitement
as you move forward on YOUR
journey - and I hope that the
training ideas and workouts I
share are working well for you.
Let's plan to keep on training
together for many years to come.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Here's a must read for older
Dinos:
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/kindle.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day
"If you keep on training, your barbells
and dumbbells won't rust - and neither
will you."
-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:
A Labor Day Treat for the Dinos
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Since it's the Labor Day Holiday
here in the USA, I thought I'd
share a little treat with you.
A couple of months ago we
released a new course on Kindle.
It's the Old School Strength Q
and A, Vol. 1. It gives detailed
responses to 15 training questions
that I received from various Dinos
over the past year or two.
Many of you asked if we could
release the little monster in
hard-copy format, as well - so
I sat down and worked up a
hard-copy edition - and we
went ahead and printed a
bunch of them up.
The cost is $19.95 plus s&h.
We don't have a sales page
yet, but if you're interested,
shoot me an email and we'll
place your order that way.
Let me know what address
we'll be shipping to, and
whether you prefer to pay
by cc, PayPal or check.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
Bruno Sammartino Almost Killed Me
| It doesn't take much equipment to set up a great place to train. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
When I was a kid, Bruno Sammartino
was the Heavyweight Wrestling
Champion of the World.
Sammartino was a super-strong, thickly
muscled man - and one of the very
strongest men in the world.
He set a World Record in the bench
press with a huge 565 pound lift.
He also body slammed 600-pound
Haystacks Calhoun at Madison
Square Garden.
That's some serious strength.
Sammartino was a real-life success
story.
His family lived in Abbruzi, Italy
during World War Two, and had
to hide in a cave in the mountains
to escape the fascists.
They survived by eating grass and
any wild plants they could find. Poor
Bruno almost starved to death.
After the War, they immigrated to the
USA.
Bruno weighed something like 80
pounds as a young teenager - a real
stringbean - but then he discovered
weight training, and the rest, as
they say, is history.
Bruno published a great little training
course after he became the Heavyweight
Champion of the World.
I saw it in the back of a wrestling
magazine, and of course I sent away
for it immediately.
The course included plans for building
your own bench and squat stands out
of wood.
I had a bench with uprights that
doubled as adjustable squat stands,
so I didn't try making my own
equipment.
But five or six years later, after we
had moved, I was setting up a home
gym, and I needed some strong,
sturdy squat stands.
So I pulled out the old course and
made a set of self-standing squat
stands out of 4 x 4 uprights with
2 x 4 cross-braces at the bottom.
It took me awhile, because I'm
not much of a carpenter.
I wasn't able to follow the plans
exactly as they were written, so
I made some changes and did
the best I could. I figured it
would all be okay.
Finally, the squat stands were
finished.
They looked pretty good, so I
decided to give them a try.
I started light, and added weight
from set to set.
Everything was fine until a set with
300 pounds.
When I tried to put the bar back
on the stands, I knocked one of
them over.
So there I was, with 300 pounds
on my back - and I couldn't drop it
because I was using metal plates
and I was standing in my parents'
garage, and I sure as heck wasn't
going to knock a big hole in the
concrete floor.
The doors were closed, so I couldn't
walk outside and drop the bar in
the back yard.
I was trapped.
Luckily, my younger brother heard
the crash when the squat stand hit
the ground, and came out to see
what was happening.
After he stopped laughing, he lifted
the squat stand up and put it back
into position, and I was able to rack
the bar.
After that, I learned my lesson - and
braced the heck out of those squat
stands with 25 and 50 pound plates
to keep them from tipping over.
The funny thing is, I had some GREAT
workouts in that garage - even with
those wobbly, tippy homemade squat
stands.
| My current training quarters are a lot like where I trained when I was a kid - and I'm having great fun in each and every workout! |
Now, I'm not suggesting that wobbly,
tippy squat stands are a good thing.
But I am saying this - you can have
some great workouts without very
much in the way of fancy equipment.
In fact, you may very well find that
the best workouts of your life are
the ones you take in your garage,
basement, or backyard.
Just you and the iron.
Exactly the way it should be.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. If you remember Bruno Sammartino
from when you were younger, you're an
older Dino now - and you're ready for
the workouts and training tips in Gray
Hair and Black Iron:
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/kindle.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day
"Some of the best workouts in your
life will happen in the most spartan
and basic of places to train."
-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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