Five Things to Know

 

Calling all Dinos! - it's time for a quick update on some of the things that have been happening this week!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

It's Saturday morning, and it's been a heck
of a week - so I thought I'd mention some
important updates.

And since it's a wet, rainy day here in Louis-
ville - and the same for many of the rest of
you - I thought I'd mention some good stuff
to grab and read - and some good places to
visit today.

1. The John Wood Report

On Friday afternoon, John Wood released
issue no. 2 of The John Wood Report.

It's a monster-sized, 19 page issue, in PDF
format so you can get it instantly - and yes,
it's printable, so you can print it and save it.

It has some great articles and training tips.

Tips on building pressing power, some fun
push-up challenges, cool workouts, a primer
on the reverse curl, some ab flattening tips,
special gut exercises and - get this - the
Hammer Man's Challenge to the World.

Go here to grab the the little monster:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport-02.html

If you missed issue no. 1, it's right here:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport-01.html

2. The Dino Files

The March issue of The Dinosaur Files is
getting great reviews. If you don't have it
yet, here's the link for the downloadable
and printable PDF:

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

And if you missed the October, Nov, Dec
Jan or Feb issues, go here to grab them so
you have the complete set:

Feb issue

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

Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan issues

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_files.html

By then way - the March issue includes the
toughest leg training program in the world -
as well as the simplest bodyweight training
workout in the world - some special tips on
healthy joints for older Dinos - and a really
great article about how one of our longtime
Dinos has been battling back from cancer
surgery.

Very good stuff - informative, and super
inspiring!

3. The Strength Secrets Facebook Group

John Wood has started a fun new Facebook
group.

It's by invitation only - meaning you have to
apply and be approved for membership - so
it's limited to serious people having serious
discussions about the Iron Game.

Go here to apply for membership - and be
sure to tell John I sent you!

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

4. The Dinosaur Training Facebook
Group

Long ago, someone (and I don't know who),
started a Facebook Group for fans of Dinosaur
Training.

The admin bailed recently, and Bill Hinbern
took over as admin - and he made me an
admin, as well - so now we're trying to revive
the group and pep it up a bit.

So if you'd like to join that group, as well -
here's the link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/85968831897/

5. The Coolest Strongman Coffee Mug
of All Time

John Wood's Retro-Strength Shop has a ton
of great stuff - including a full-color Louis
Cyr coffee mug that may very well be the
coolest strongman coffee mug of all time.

Go here to take a look - and see if you agree
with me:

https://www.retrostrength.com/product/louis-cyr-profile-mug/

There's more to update you on - but I'll save that
for another email.

In the meantime, and as always - thanks for
reading - and if you train today, make it a
good one!

Yours in strength,

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

Here It Is - The John Wood Report, No. 2!

Today's a red letter day for Dinosaurs - because John Wood just released issue no. 2 of The John Wood Report - and wow, is it ever good!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I've got some big breaking news for you!

My good buddy John Wood has just released
issue no. 2 of The John Wood Report.

It's a monster-sized, 19 page issue, in PDF
format so you can get it instantly - and yes,
it's printable, so you can print it and save it.

Go here to grab the the little monster:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport-02.html

And if you're curious, here's the complete list
of articles in this issue:

1. Five Secrets to Motivation

2. Workout Design Q & A pt 1

3. Six Ways to Flatten Your Stomach

4. Building Pressing Power pt 1

5. Three Quick Ab Exercises

6. A Pair of Pushup Challenges

7. The Reverse Curl

8. The Hammer Man's Challenge

9. Feb 1987 Steel Tip Workout

10. The 3% Rule

PLUS a special bonus article by Jan
Dellinger!

Here's that link one more time:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport-02.html

Good stuff - and a red letter day for
Dinos!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik


 

A Very Good Question!

Strength training is about basic principles - which you can adapt and apply to any kind of equipment - and to your own unique goals, interests and needs.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

In response to yesterday's email about
Dinosaur Arm Training, I rec'd an
email from Jim DeSantis, an age 62
Dino who's been training for 30 years.

Jim had a very common question, so
I thought I'd cover it in this morning's
email message.

Jim wrote:

Hi Brooks,

I've been training for 30 years. I do
squats and deadlifts, but the rest are
mostly what I guess you'd consider to
be bodybuilding exercises.

I don't do snatches, cleans, jerks and
other Olympic lifting movements.

Does Dinosaur Arm Training involve
any Olympic lifting?

I know that a lot of the exercises you
advocate are Olympic lifting movements
and what I would consider to be "strong
man" lifts, but I think that at age 62 I'm
too old to start doing those types of
exercises.

Will your arm training course work for
me?

Jim DeSantis

That's a very good question - and a very

common one. For some reason, people

think I want everyone to do Olympic

lifting simply because that's what I like

to do - or to do "strong man" training

because that's what I did in my late 30's

and early 40's.

Over the years, I've done MANY different

types of training: powerlifting, all-dumbbell

workouts, bodyweight training, strong-man

training, Nautilus workouts, "power body-

building", heavy power rack training, and

total-body workouts three times a week the

way Bradley J. Steiner used to teach back in

the 1970's.

They're all good, and they all work.

Right now, at age 61, I prefer doing Olympic

lifting workouts - although (and this is very

important), I do them in a sensible and age-

appropriate fashion, and I follow the basic

principles of abbreviated training and relatively

short, low-volume workouts that I've written

about in virtually all of my books and courses.

But does that mean that YOU should do

Olympic lifting?

Or that you HAVE to do it?

No, not at all.

If you prefer doing squats, deadlifts, and other

basic, compound exercises, then by all means

do them.

The vast majority of older Dinosaurs do basic

compound exercises - or they make basic com-

pound exercises the mainstay of their training

program.

For this reason, my books and courses offer

universal training principles that can be applied

to any kind of workouts you like to do.

And it's why most of my suggested workouts

involve basic, compound exercises rather than

Olympic lifting movements.

Dinosaur Arm Training is a good example.

It includes several excellent total-body work-

outs - but no snatches or cleans other than

very light flip snatches and very light

power clean and press used solely and

exclusively as warm-up exercises.

If you prefer to do something else for a

warm-up, that's fine. A couple of sets of

hyperextensions and some quick push-

ups and deep knee bends (bodyweight

squats) will work just as well.

So, YES - Dinosaur Arm Training will

work great for you - and it doesn't include

any heavy Olympic lifting.

Hard-copy

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

Kindle

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

PDF

Go to our products page and look for the section
listing our PDF courses with immediate electronic
delivery. Dinosaur Arm Training is no. 14 on the
list.

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

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. Do you have the March issue of the
Dinosaur Files newsletter? If not, go here
to grab it:

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

Also - if you missed the October, Nov, Dec
Jan or Feb issues, go here to grab them so
you have the complete set: 

Feb issue

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

Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan issues

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_files.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:

"Focus on the basic principles of strength
training, and apply them to your own
particular goals and needs."

-- 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

An Arm Training Question

Dinosaur Arm Training combines complete, total-body workouts with plenty of specialized arm training.  It's much more than "just an arm training course."

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

One of our readers had a question about
the workouts in Dinosaur Arm Training.

The workouts are for three-day-per-week
training.

But he prefers training twice a week - so
he asked if he could change the program
to a twice-a-week schedule.

That's a good question. Here's the answer:

Of course he can!

For example:

Week 1

Tues - Workout A

Fri - Workout B

Week 2

Tues- Workout C

Fri - Workout A

And so on.

That actually works very well. For some
trainees, it works better than three work-
outs per week.

You also can do three workouts in week
one, and two workouts in week two -
and switch back and forth from week to
week.

It's all good, and it all works.

By the way, Dinosaur Arm Training gives
you three progressively more difficult total-
body workouts - using a divided workout
schedule for each program.

So it's NOT "just an arm training program."

It's a program that will build strength and
muscle throughout your entire body - with
extra emphasis on your arms.

It's a pretty good program - and you can
grab it right here:

Hard-copy

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

Kindle

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

PDF

Go to our products page and look for the section
listing our PDF courses with immediate electronic
delivery. Dinosaur Arm Training is no. 14 on the
list.

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

I also should mention that Dinosaur Arm
Training is NOT another "pumper's guide
to the Universe" arm training program.

Not at all.

It teaches you how to build arms that look
strong - and that are stronger than they
look!

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

If It's Working, Keep On Doing It!

World and Olympic champion John Davis followed pretty much the same training program for most of his career - a marked contrast to the program hoppers who change workouts at the drop of a hat!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I have two important notes for you, and
then we'll talk training.

1. The March Dino Files Newsletter

We released the March issue of The Dinosaur
Files newsletter in PDF format, and the little
monster has been selling like hotcakes.

If you don't have your copy yet, go here to
grab it:

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

I'm working to finish the April issue, and we
hope to have that ready for you pretty soon.

If you have comments or feedback on the
March issue, shoot them in asap - we may
ber able to include them in the April issue.

2. More Great Swag for Dinos!

John Wood has released some great new
strongman shirts and other great stuff at
the Retro Strength Shop - go here to
check them out:

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

Personally, I think the new full-color Louis
Cyr coffee mug is pretty awesome - along
with the new Bill Pearl shirt - and - heck,
I could go on for a long time. It's all pretty
cool.

3. If It's Working, Keep on Doing It!

At least once a week I get an email from a
reader who's doing something that's working
well for him -- meaning that he's making good
gains in strength and muscle, recovering from
his workouts and enjoying his training -- but
then he sees something on the Interwebs
and it makes him think he should change
his program and do something different.

It's usually one of two things:

1. Something new and different that might
be better than what he's doing now -- often
being the workout of a current champion --
or a workout authored by the champion's
ghost writer.

2. A blog post, article or forum discussion
telling him that what he's doing "doesn't
work."

Most of the time it's number two -- which
is surprising, because the immediate
response should be, "It may not work
for YOU, but it works for ME!"

But written words are powerful, and all
too often they often make us second-
guess ourselves.

So our trainee -- the one who is making
good gains and having lots of fun in his
workouts -- starts to second-guess
himself.

And he sends me an email and asks what
he should do.

As I said, this happens at least once a
week. Luckily, as questions go, it's an
easy one.

The answer is always the same:

"If it's working, keep on doing it. If your
gains slow down or stop, then and only
then try something different."

And here's a related point. When you do
try something different, it should probably
be something similar, not a radical change
in approach. In other words, if 5 x 5 has
worked well for you, you might try 5 x 6,
6 x 6, or 5 x 5 followed by 1 x 3 and 1 x 1.

But don't change from 5 x 5 to 10 x 10,
or 50 rep death sets, or a three hour
pumping program.

Also, the best way to change things up is
often to use a new exercise, while keeping
the sets and reps the same. For example,
switch from back squats to front squats,
or from straight bar deadlifts to Trap Bar
deadlifts.

And remember this -- when you switch to
a new exercise or a new program, start
light and easy, and gradually add weight
to the bar. Make it progressive. Don't try
to max out and set new PR's the first day
in the saddle. See Dinosaur Training
Secrets, Vol. 3, for detailed advice on
how to use old-school progression systems
for steady gains without going stale or
burning out.

Anyhow, that's the answer to a very common
question -- one that's become all the more
common because of the often overwhelming
amount and diversity of information on the
Interwebs.

Remember, if it's working for you, keep on
doing it.

If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.

If the wheels are still on the wagon, and
they seem to be working fine, don't stop
and change them.

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 Dinosaur Training Secrets,
Vol. 3. Go here to grab the little monster in
your choice of three formats:

Hard-copy edition

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

Kindle edition

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

PDF with electronic delivery

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

"Train with confidence. Avoid doubters
and nay-sayers. Be resolute, and do what
you need to do." 

-- 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

Can You Spot Yourself on the List?

World and Olympic champion John Davis hitting a heavy clean and jerk at Muscle Beach back in the day. Wouldn't you love to have seen Davis in action - or to have trained with him?

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

One quick note and then we'll talk training.

1. The March Dino Files Newsletter

We released the March issue of The Dinosaur
Files newsletter in PDF format, and the little
monster has been selling like hotcakes.

If you don't have your copy yet, go here to
grab it:

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

I'm working to finish the April issue, and we
hope to have that ready for you pretty soon.

If you have comments or feedback on the
March issue, shoot them in asap - we may
ber able to include them in the April issue.

2. Can You Spot Yourself on the List?

When it comes to training, most people focus
on "the champions" and what the "champions"
are doing.

I tend to focus on the ordinary folks -- people
like you and me who love to train and who stick
to it through thick and thin, and who end up
pretty darn strong and pretty darn impressive.

For example, I read something years ago about
an NFL strength coach who was in his mid-50's.
Someone saw him training one day.

He was doing squat snatches.

To me, that's impressive. He may not have been
setting a world record, and he may not have been
outlifting the much younger NFL players -- but he
was doing something very impressive.

Squat snatches aren't easy - and if a 50-something-year-old strength coach is doing them, that's pretty impressive.

 As anyone who's ever tried to do a squat snatch
will tell you, the lift requires strength, power, speed,
timing, coordination, balance, flexibility, mobility
and athleticism. So when a 50-something-year-
old coach steps onto the platform and hits some
squat snatches in perfect form, that's impressive.

I got to thinking about it, and I started a list of
Impressive Things that Dinos Do.

Here it is. See if you can spot yourself on the list
(and note that you may be there more than once):

1. Lifting and carrying great big stones.

2. Giving a heavy sandbag the ride of its life.

3. Making great gains from your training even if
you only have time for one or two workouts a
week.

4. Doing squats -- and doing them hard and heavy.

5. Any of the advanced workouts in Dinosaur
Bodyweight Training.

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

6. Finishers.

7. Thick bar training.

8. Heavy partials in the power rack.

9. Saying "no" to roidskies.

10. Keeping at it after age 40.

11. Keeping at it after age 50.

12. Keeping at it after age 60 and beyond.

13. Making a date with a special strength
stone somewhere in Scotland - or in Iceland.

14. Teaching your children how to train.

15. Teaching your grandchildren how to train.

16. Heavy dumbbell training -- with the emphasis
on heavy. (See Dinosaur Dumbbell Training
for details.)

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



17. Learning to do new stuff -- whatever your
age.

18. Using the same barbell at age 60 that you
used at age 12.

19. Growing as much of your own food as
possible.

20. Entering your first powerlifting, weightlifting
or strongman comp.


21. Dropping 40 pounds and five inches off your
gut because you know it's good for your health --
and staying just as strong at your new bodyweight
as you were when you were heavier.

22. Focusing on lifelong strength and health.

23. Learning about the lives and lifting of the
great old-time champions -- and striving to
match their lifts in your own workouts.

24. Setting a good example for others.

25. Teaching someone else how to train Dino
style.

There are many more. Send in your ideas and
I'll share them with your fellow Dinos.

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. No. 26 on the list is having a well-read copy
of Dinosaur Training on your bookshelf or in
your gym bag:

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

P.S. 2. Diet and nutrition is one of the keys to
lifelong strength and health -- and Knife, Fork,
Muscle covers healthy eating for Iron Slingers:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_nutrition.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. 4. Thought for the Day:

"Every Dinosaur is a champion - every
single one of them."

-- 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