Hail to the dinosaurs!
Last week I asked if you were interested in a big, thick book full of Dinosaur training programs. A book with workouts for beginners, intermediates and advanced men – along with some specialization programs to build maximum levels of strength and muscular size.
The response was overwhelming.
You definitely want the book.
Well, here at Dinosaur Headquarters, when YOU speak, WE listen – so guess what I’m working on this week?
If I work really fast, we may be able to get this little monster put together, printed and out the door in time for the Holidays – so keep your fingers crossed and wish my forefingers “Fast typing!” (I’m a two-finger typist.)
In the meantime, many of you have asked what my current training program looks like. So here it is.
Right now, I am focusing on Olympic lifting. Specifically, the snatch and the clean and jerk. I train these because I enjoy the feel of the movements. They’re very fast and very athletic. And I believe they have good carry-over to preserving your strength, power and mobility as you grow older.
Besides, I write so much about weightlifting and weightlifters – as in, for example, the Legacy of Iron books – that it seems natural to focus on weightlifting.
Now, please note. I am NOT saying I want you to run out and start doing cleans and snatches. If you know how to do them, that's fine -- but most people don't. If that's YOU, and you want to try them, get some good coaching first. Start light, and work on your form and technique. And train your flexibility. Do NOT go heavy too soon. You'll just hurt yourself -- and you'll develop poor lifting habits.
I train alone, out in the garage. No coach, and no lifting partner, although our two cats often prowl around when I’m training, and if I don’t hit a lift in letter perfect form, they give me a yellow-eyed stare dripping with scorn and derision.
I wear lifting shoes, of course – and Tommy Kono’s neoprene knee sleeves. No belt. I try to keep the bar as close to my body as possible when I do snatches and cleans, and the belt would get in the way.
I lift on a platform made of several layers of ¾ inch plywood over a single layer of ¾ inch rubber mat. I also have ¾ inch rubber mat on each side of the platform where the plates go.
I use rubber bumper plates, and I don’t drop the bar after a lift, so the platform has held together very well. That also helps protect the bar and plates. I use an Eleiko bar, so I want it to last. They’re top of the line, and they’re expensive, so you should take good care of them.
I train 3x per week. I focus on one lift per session. I alternate between snatch day and clean and jerk day.
I’m working very hard on the split style of lifting. At age 53, with a history of shoulder problems that dates back to when I was a high school wrestler, the shoulder flexibility just isn’t there to do squat snatches.
That’s fairly common with older lifters, whether or not they ever wrestled. Many (perhaps most) older lifters find that they have to do either power cleans and power snatches or split cleans and split snatches due to flexibility limitations.
I begin each workout with a very thorough warm-up and stretching. The warm-up includes doing the lifts with a broomstick, followed by an empty bar.
From there, I work up slowly to my heavier weights.
I do almost nothing but singles. I start each lift from the floor, and never train lifts from the hang. My goal is to make each lift a letter-perfect technical lift.
I film my workouts, and after training, I go through each lift and see how I did. I’m constantly trying to improve my lifting positions, my speed, my power and my technique. My goal is to perform the lifts in an exceptionally fast and smooth style, with constant acceleration from start to finish.
It’s much more than merely lifting the barbell. It’s lifting the barbell in perfect form.
As I mentioned, I usually do one exercise per session. So a workout might consist of warm-ups and stretching, followed by snatches. Or it might consist of warm-ups and stretching followed by clean and jerks.
I usually do squats or front squats once a week, in my Sunday evening workout. On these, I usually do singles, although sometimes I do doubles. If I do too many reps in the squat or front squat, or if I do them too often, I end up with sore knees and have trouble hitting the low position in the lifts.
At the end of the workout, I do more stretching, and hang from an overhead bar to stretch my spine.
As I mentioned, I do singles. I usually begin with about 50% of my top lift, and work up to 80% to 90% of it. Sometimes I will do multiple singles at each weight – other times, I will just do one until I hit my top weight for the day.
Sometimes I do one single with my top weight for the day, but more often I do two to five top-weight singles.
That’s what I’m doing at present. It will change over time, of course, but it’s working well and suits my needs. And it’s fun. I really look forward to each and every workout.
Now, please note – I’m not saying that this is the perfect workout or that everyone needs to do what I do. Nor am I suggesting that you run down to your basement and start doing Olympic lifting. “Dance with who brung ya” is a good rule for lifting.
And if you’re going to try Olympic lifting, you need to start slow, get some expert coaching, study the lifts, inform yourself, and work on your flexibility. Don’t run out and start doing heavy cleans or snatches in lousy form – you’ll just get hurt, and you’ll develop bad lifting habits.
The main point to note about my training is that I don’t do very much of it. Three workouts per week, each lasting about an hour, is plenty. And more than that is too much. That’s true for me, and it’s probably true for most readers.
Also note that I keep my mind wrapped around the workout from start to finish. I’m constantly focused on what I’m doing and how well I did the last lift. There’s continual feedback. If I were a coach, I’d probably hate me.
Today is a training day, so I’m going to be hitting it at about 6:00 or 7:00 in the evening. And now you know exactly what I’m going to do!
Thanks for reading, and have a great day – and if you train today, make it a good one!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. For more about effective strength and power training for Dinosaurs, Cellar-dwellers and garage gorillas, check out the exciting resources available at the Dinosaur Training bookstore!
