New Shoulders in a Box!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We were talking about preserving and
protecting your shoulders last week,
and that reminded me of some things
that are awfully good for them.

They're tools that I use, and they're
tools that many Dinos use -- particularly,
many older Dinos. I've suggested them to
readers before, and whenever I do, I always
get emails a month or two later from someone
who says, "Took your advice -- and it
really helped."

But they're also important tools for younger
Dinos. If you start using them NOW, your
shoulders will be in better shape when
you're older.

So here they are:

1. The Dave Draper Top Squat

Many older trainees find it hard to
hold onto a squat bar when they do back
squats -- and some can't even get into
position to do the movement. Their
shoulders just aren't flexible enough.

So they end up doing front squats or
Trap Bar squats -- or skipping their
leg work -- or doing second and third
rate exercises like leg extensions or
leg presses.

Enter the Dave Draper Top Squat.

This is a simple device that fits onto
your barbell and allows you to hold the
bar in position with your hands out to
the front.

You're tight, solid and in complete
control -- and there's no problem
getting into proper position, even
if you have the tightest shoulders
in the world.

You can buy this direct from Dave Draper,
or order it from John Wood (who sells the
Top Squat under a license with Dave Draper).

To order from Dave Draper:

http://www.davedraper.com/top-squat.html

To order from John Wood:

http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/products/dave-drapers-top-squat-1

2. Indian Clubs

Indian clubs are light (1 to 2 pound)
wooden clubs that look a little like
skinny bowling pins.

They were popular in the 1880's, 1890's
and early 1900's, and many of you my age
can recall seeing them lying around a
school gym or YMCA when you were young.

You use them to perform a variety of
shoulder exercises, using rotational
movements and moving the shoulder joints
through a wide range of motion.

They're not a strength builder. They're
a way to keep your shoulders loose,
flexible and supple.

Note that you do NOT need heavy clubs.
You want them light. One pound clubs
are plenty, and 1.5 pounders are also
good. Two pound clubs are as heavy as I
would recommend.

I started to use them on the advice of
Tommy Kono -- so you can say that this is
a Gold Medal Training Tip -- coming from
a two-time Olympic Gold Medal Winner and
six-time World Champion.

I use the clubs as a part of my regular
warm-up in every workout, and they work
GREAT.

How great?

Well, I'm 57, and I've had more than my
share of shoulder problems - starting with
a bad injury when I was a high school
wrestler 40 years ago.

But I can do squat snatches -- and that
requires pretty darn flexible (and strong
and health) shoulders.

And the Indian clubs have helped me do it.

I ordered my clubs from John Wood:

http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/products/classic-wooden-indian-clubs

So there you have it. Two unique tools
to help preserve and protect your shoulders.

Grab them now. It will be like getting new
shoulders in a box.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. I cover plenty of other  tips about
preserving and protecting your shoulders
in Gray Hair and Black Iron and the Dinosaur
Military Press and Shoulder Power Course:

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

http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_course.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: "Treat your
shoulders right. They deserve it." -- Brooks
Kubik

Words of Wisdom from an Older Dino!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I thought you'd enjoy an email from
Bernie Rothman, a 75-year old Dino
who's been hitting the iron for (get
this) SIXTY YEARS!

If you're an older trainee, see how
many of Bernie's comments apply to
YOU!

Bernie writes:

Hi Brooks,

Some observations of a 75 year old Dino,
now 60 years under the weights.

1. Pulling power intact but pushing power
greatly reduced.

2. Heal slower.

3. Recover slower.

4. Reverse rows are worthwhile.

5. Rather be strong and not look it, than
look strong but not be it.

6. My goals are to stay mobile as long as
possible. This means leg work and stuff like
farmers walk as well as walking, get up out
of deep chairs, run across the street if
necessary, carry a suitcase up a few flights
of stairs, lift up items above the head if
necessary -- in other words be able to
perform physically in ordinary tasks as
long as possible.

7. Another goal -- not to have my belly
hanging over my belt.

8. You don't work the body as separate little
pieces and then expect all the parts to
function excellently as a unit -- this
means, you need to do compound exercises.

9. It takes longer to work out because you
have to spend more time working up to the
heavy sets -- that is, in trying not to
hurt yourself and have to do costly
layoffs.

10. Compete with your current weights,
not with the ones you did many years ago.

11. Try to do your exercises on your feet,
and not only will you wind up doing the
best possible exercises but you will be
doing possibly the best abdominal work
there is.

12. If you have the will, you will find a
way to work out even if it involves less
than ideal conditions.

And one bonus thought:

1. If your upper arms and shoulders and back
are strong, but your hands, grip and forearms
are weak, then what use are the muscles you
developed except for show?

Bernie Rothman"

Bernie -- thanks for sharing that. Those
are some great points for older trainees.

Heck, they're great points for trainees of
any age.

To everyone else -- I hope that gets your
day and your week off to a good start!

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 guide to effective
strength training for older Dinos:

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

P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right
here at Dino Headquarters:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Build your
strength, and maintain it for as long as
possible." -- Brooks Kubik

Part 3 -- Bob Hoffman's Biggest Challenge!

(Here's Part 3 in our little series
on Bob Hoffman's greatest challenge.
Remember, we're back in 19134 -- and
Bob has been working like heck for
the past year, trying to make a
300 pound clean and jerk.)

The 13th of April fell on a Friday
that year.

No, Bob Hoffman didn't try for the 300
pound lift on Friday the 13th -- but he
did take a hard workout that morning at
the York barbell Club gym.

Then he drove to New Haven, CT., where
he stayed overnight.

The next day, he drove to Gardner, Mass.,
for the New England Weightlifting
Championships.

After the contest, he drove to Boston,
where he stayed until late Tuesday, and
then he drove most of the night to make
the 430 mile trip back home to York.

Bob took his 40 pound dumbbells on the
trip, and trained with them in the morning
on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

He rested on Wednesday after the long drive
home, and went to the York gym on Thursday,
April 19.

He weighed in and found that he was about 8
pounds lighter than his usual weight at that
time of 247 pounds. It was difficult to keep
his weight up when he was traveling.

Bob told the York lifters he wasn't sure
if he was strong or not after the long
trip, but he'd soon know.

He warmed up with a 150 pound snatch, and
then did 170 twice.

From there, he made a big jump to 235, for
an easy clean and jerk.

Next he did 270, and the lifters who watched
him said it went easier than ever before.

From 270, he jumped to 290, and it, too,
went up easily and quickly.

Now he was a mere 10 pounds away from his
goal.

He chalked his hands, walked to the bar,
crouched down -- and pulled it to his
chest with power to spare -- but he couldn't
hold it, and the weight went crashing back
down.

He tried again - same result.

Tried a third time. It was the same.

So he tried to continental the weight. Got
it to his chest - held it -- but missed the
jerk.

(Note: in the clean, you pull the bar from
floor to chest in one "clean" movement. In
the continental, you lift the bar in two
or more stages -- floor to thighs, thighs to
stomach, with the bar resting on the buckle
of your lifting belt - and from there, to
the chest. In competition, you have to
clean the weight, but to get 300 pounds
overhead in the gym, anything was fair
game.)

Bob repeated the continental -- and once
again missed the jerk.

On his third attempt, he again pulled the
bar to his shoulders -- and this time he
made the jerk!

He held the bar overhead, grinning from
ear to ear as the York lifters clapped and
cheered.

The bad part was, no one had bet against
him. When Bob did 280 for the first time, he
won a nickel bet on the lift -- and the same
for his first lift with 285. He wore the two
nickels on his watch chain to show folks the
kind of money you can make as a professional
weightlifter.

And that's the way things were -- way back
in 1934! Hope you enjoyed it!

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 rugged strength and outstanding
muscular development, it's hard to beat
the kind of stand on your feet lifting they
did "back in the day" -- and this course
will teach you how to train like the old-
time champions:

http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_course.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: "Rule No. 1 is
to stand on your feet and lift heavy stuff.
There are no other rules, because you
don't need them."-- Brooks Kubik  

Part Two -- Bob Hoffman's Biggest Challenge!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

(Note: If you missed last Friday's email,
we're following Bob Hoffman's struggle to
clean and jerk 300 pounds -- a challenge
he gave himself in June, 1933. You can
read about it right here at the Dinosaur
Training Blog -- in the entry right before
this one. And now, as they say -- let's get
back to the action.)

December, 1933 was an extra busy time
for Bob Hoffman -- and he stayed busy
right into the new year. He spent about
half his time on the road.

He traveled to weightlifting contests
in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and
Gardner, Massachusetts.

He attended conventions in New York,
Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit.

He spent 10 days at the New York
convention, 8 days in Philadelphia,
4 in Detroit and 5 in Boston.

When he was at home in York, he trained
in the York barbell Club gym -- and
that meant plenty of snatching, cleaning,
pressing and heavy jerks, along with
all of the barbell exercises in York
Courses 1, 2 and 3 -- presses, curls,
reverse curls, rowing, squats, deadlifts,
and repetition weightlifting exercises.

But when he traveled on extended
business trips, Hoffman's options were
much more limited.

He took a pair of dumbbells with him.

On some trips, a pair of 40-pounders.
On others, a pair of 45-pounders.

And in his hotel room, after a long
day of speeches, presentations,
committee meetings and business
conferences, Hoffman would grab
the dumbbells and get to it.

He did every exercise imaginable
with those dumbbells -- but he did
extra work on presses, alternate
dumbbell presses, the curl and press
exercise, and his favorite, two-
dumbbell upright rowing. Sometimes
he performed as many as 10 sets of
10 reps in the two-dumbbell upright
row.

But then, disaster struck.

In February, at an out of town
conference, Hoffman was doing one-
legged squats in his hotel room --
and he slipped and severely twisted
his knee.

Fore several weeks, he had to walk up
and down stairs sideways, because his
bad knee couldn't support his weight.

Not good if you're trying to lift 300
pounds over your head!

Back at the York Barbell Club gym,
the fellows were always making bets
with one another. Usually just a
nickel (which was actually real
money back then).

If someone had bet you a nickel that
Bob Hoffman would have made that 300
pound lift, bad knee and all -- would
you have taken the bet?

Admit it -- you probably would have bet
against him. And you would have thought
it was a pretty safe bet.

But Bob kept on training, no matter what.
Kept on lugging those dumbbells around
the country. Kept on pushing toward his
goal.

Because when you set a goal for yourself,
that's what you do. You keep on going no
matter what obstacles Life throws in your
path.

(To be continued . . .)

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 the best in old-school dumbbell
training, grab Dinosaur Dumbbell Training:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.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: "A goal is a
promise you make to yourself." -- Brooks
Kubik

Bob Hoffman's Biggest Challenge!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

In June, 1933, Bob Hoffman decided to
train for the 300 pound club. Meaning,
he planned to train to lift a 300 pound
barbell from the floor to overhead in
the clean and jerk.

Now, I know that everyone on the interwebs
can do 10 or 20 reps in the clean and jerk
with 400 or 500 pounds -- or maybe even a
1000 pounds -- or, at least, they say they
do -- but back then, 300 pounds was a heck
of a lot of weight.

Just look at the official results from the
USA National Championships.

In 1929, a man named Willie Roher won the
Heavyweight class at the USA National
Championships. He clean and jerked 286
pounds.

At the USA National Championships of 1930,
the winner of the Heavyweight class, Al
Manger, managed a 275 pound clean and
jerk.

Manger won the Heavyweight class again in
1931 -- with a lift of 269 1/2 pounds --
and did about the same when he won the
Championship the next year.

In 1933, John Mallo took the Heavyweight
crown. He clean and jerked 303 pounds.

The next strongest lifter of the 1933
Championships was Bill Good. He won the
181 pound class with a clean and jerk
of 292 pounds.

So when Hoffman set his sights on a 300
pound clean and jerk, he was aiming to
lift a weight that very few men in the
country could even dream of handling.

At that time, his best was 235 pounds --
and it was anything but an easy lift for
him. He missed it eight times before
making it on his ninth attempt.

So Hoffman needed to add 65 pounds to his
all-time best (and very difficult) lift.

And Hoffman was no spring chicken when
he embarked on the mission. He was 35 --
and that's old enough, in today's world,
to compete in the Masters's division in
weightlifting, powerlifting, track
and field, swimming or other sports.

Nor was Hoffman a natural strong man.
He began weight training in 1923 -- and
in his first workout, he struggled to
clean and press 80 pounds.

Hoffman's job and travel schedule made
his cherished 300 pound lift even more
unlikely. he walked long, brutal hours
running the York Oil Burner business,
coaching the York Barbell Club, managing
the York barbell Company, and serving as
editor and publisher of Strength and
Health magazine.

And his job required frequent travel.
Sometimes, he was on the road more than
Jack Kerouac (although in all fairness,
Kerouac was only 11 at the time). But
Hoffman was driving 500 to 700 miles
at a crack -- in an old roadster --
and that made regular training pretty
darn difficult.

And, of course -- they didn't have any
roidskies back then -- or even any food
supplements. It was just regular food --
three squares a day, and perhaps less
than that on the road. So don't get of
track and think that Hoffman had some
sort of super secret something or other
to help him make BIG GAINS in RECORD
TIME. He didn't.

In fact, when you come right down to it,
Bob Hoffman had only one thing going for
him:

A BURNING DESIRE TO LIFT 300 POUNDS OVER
HIS HEAD.

But would that be enough?

(To be continued . . .)

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. Bob Hoffman trained old school style --
just like I teach in all of my books and courses,
including these:

1, Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength
and Development

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

2. Strength, Muscle and Power

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

3. The Training Secrets of John Grimek

http://brookskubik.com/johngrimek_course.html

4. The Doug Hepburn Training Course:

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

5. The Dinosaur Training Military Press and
Shoulder Power Course

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

6. Dinosaur Arm Training

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

7. Dinosaur Dumbbell Training

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "You build strength and
muscle rep by rep and set by set." -- Brooks Kubik

An Old School Pressing Program!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Here's an interesting training
question from an old English
magazine called VIGOUR. This is
from the June, 1947 issue.

John Barrs, one of the editors
of the magazine, gave the answer.

I'll offer my own comments after
the question and the answer from
Barrs.

THE QUESTION -- NEW PRESSING
SCHEDULE

Dear Mr. Barrs,

I have made good progress with
my lifting since my last letter
to you . . .  but now my press
has got stuck.

I can't get past 160, yet my
snatch has moved up to 165 and
my clean and jerk to 210 or 215.

I have been using the 5/4/3/2/1
system. 135 x 5, 140 x 4, 145
x 3, 150 x 2, 160 x 1. I do this
at the beginning of my schedule
and again at the end with all
weights 5 pounds less. I work
out three times per week.

JOHN BARRS' ANSWER

A change of programme and more
frequent pressing is indicated
in this case. Good results should
be obtained by employing the fixed
poundage method -- 8 or 10 sets of
3 presses at a time with about 75
percent of your maximum weight.

125 pounds will be quite enough to
start with, but this weight should
be increased about 2 1/2 pounds
every fortnight.

Leverage exercises with dumbbells
are not especially helpful towards
press improvement. The answer is
to press, press and keep on pressing.
Limit try-outs should be made not
more often than once a week

MY COMMENTS

I think John Barrs nailed it! If you've
read Dinosaur Training, you know that I
discuss the following progression:

1. Train on 5 x 5 for awhile.

2. After a couple of months, change
to 5/4/3/2/1.

3. After a couple of months try something
like 5 x 3 or 5 x 2.

Note that the above are work sets, so the
idea is to do some progressively heavier
warm-up sets before the work sets. Thus,
5 x 2 might really be 2 x 5 progressively
heavier warm-up sets, 1 x 3 ditto, and then
5 x 2 work sets with the same weight.

You need to follow sensible set/rep schemes
at all times, but you also need to change
them up from time to time.

Barrs' suggestion of 8 - 10 triples with
75% is a tough schedule. You might want to
try 5 x 2 with 75% and add one set per week
(or once set every two weeks) until you get
up to 10 x 2.

Three times per week pressing will be too
much for many trainees (especially older
trainees). Once per week will work better
for many of you.

But over-all, John Barrs gave a great answer
and some great training advice. Follow it,
and you'll make good gains in the press!

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. The legendary John Davis was a six-time
World Champion and two-time Olymnpic Gold
medal winner. He followed a unique training
program that's very similar to the John Barrs
pressing program. Check it out in Black Iron:
The John Davis story:

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

P.S. 2. For more tips on how to build world
class pressing power, grab this:

Hard-copy:

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

Kindle e-book:


http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_kindle.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: "If you're going to
train, you might as well do it right." -- Brooks
Kubik

Resting Outside the Box!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

You've heard the phrase "think outside
the box."

Well, what about resting outside the box?

Here's a great email from Captain
Jeffrey Alton of the Greensboro, NC
Fire Department. He headed it "Resting
Outside the Box."

Captain Alton began by telling me a bit about
his training career. He's 54 now. He started
training at age 14, doing the typical muscle
pumper nonsense. he built some strength and
muscle, but not as much as he wanted, and in
his twenties he hurt his shoulder. The injury
bothered him for decades.

And then, two years ago, a friend gave him a
copy of GRAY HAIR AND BLACK IRON. It totally
changed his training.

He dropped the muscle pumping and started to
train Dino style -- hard and heavy on the
basics.

Currently, he's doing squats, deadlifts, snatches
and clean and jerks -- and his shoulder no longer
hurts! (Which shows you what those booby-building
workouts can do to your body.)

Anyhow, the purpose of Captain Alton's letter was
to share something that's given him great success.
He thought (and I agree) that other Dinos might
benefit from his ideas about rest between workouts.

Here's what he wrote:

"Being a firefighter I work an odd schedule. I work
24 hours on duty and then 48 hours off duty. I only
workout at the fire station. I run a paint business
on my off days which makes me so tired I don't want
to workout at the end of the day.

This workout schedule gives me two days rest between
each workout.

I lift on Mon, Thurs, Sun, Wed, Sat, Tues and Fri and
then repeat the schedule because the next work day is
Mon. I do four different workouts on a rotating
schedule. Which means I repeat each workout every
12 days.

Most serious lifters follow a routine which fits into a
seven day week, perhaps lifting on Mon, Wed and Fri or
something similar. But extending the workouts over a
longer period works better for me, not only because it
fits my schedule but because it fits my body and gives
me more rest between workouts.

I hope this information is beneficial to other Dinos.

Thanks for your time and commitment to lifters like
me.

Your friend at the Iron Bar,

Captain Jeffrey Alton"

So there you have it -- and now you know what I mean
when I talk about resting outside the box!

I've said this before, but it bears repeating. To make
good gains, you need to train the right way -- but you
also need to get enough rest to allow your body to
recover from your workouts.

Many Dinos have made great gains on three workouts per
week, using a divided workout program.

Others have made their best gains on TWO workouts per
week -- or on three workouts every 10 days -- or (as
Captain Alton has found) four workouts every 12 days.

The bottom line is, REST IS IMPORTANT! Make sure you
schedule your training so you get enough rest between
workouts.

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're over the age of 35, you NEED Gray
Hair and Black Iron. Go here to grab a copy:

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: "You need training days
and you need rest days. One won't work without the
other." -- Brooks Kubik