Hail to the Dinosaurs!
If you missed yesterday’s email message, Happy New Year!
It’s 2011 – another year made to order for great workouts, great lifting and great results.
In that regard, I’ve been receiving tons of training questions from readers. Here’s one of the most common questions over the past couple of weeks.
“Your new book, Chalk and Sweat, has training programs for beginners, intermediates and advanced lifters. How do I know which category I fall into?”
BEGINNERS
If you’ve never trained before, or you used to train but you haven’t done so for a long time, you’re a beginner.
If you’ve been working out, but not using basic, compound exercises like squats, deadlifts and presses, then you’re a beginner as far as the workouts in Chalk and Sweat are concerned.
Chalk and Sweat has ten different training programs for beginners. They feature different exercises and different types of equipment, and some are more difficult than others. A true beginner – no training at all – should start on one of the easier programs and follow it for 4 to 6 weeks in order to get started. Then he can try one of the other programs for 4 to 6 weeks.
If a beginner worked his way through 4 or 5 of the beginner programs, training progressively and adding weight to the bar on a regular basis, he’d be ready for one of the ten intermediate schedules in the book.
If you’re not sure where to start, and you’re not very experienced in training, then follow one of the beginner programs. It’s much better to start out light and easy and progress from there than to jump into a program that is too advanced and too strenuous and do the crash and burn thing.
As I’ve said many times, strength training is a life-long pursuit. You’re in it for the long haul. It doesn’t matter where you start – what matters is where you finish. And the best way to finish strong is to begin at the right place – with a program that is fun, interesting and progressive – NOT a program that knocks you flat on your you know what. THAT kind of program is for later on, when you’re more experienced.
INTERMEDIATES
An intermediate is someone who can move respectable weight in PERFECT FORM for SETS AND REPS in the basic compound exercises.
Something like this – in strict form, performed as part of your regular workouts:
1. Squat 2-3 sets of 5 to 8 reps with bodyweight
2. Deadlift 2 -3 sets of 5 to 8 reps with 20 pounds over bodyweight
3. Standing (Military) press 2 -3 sets of 5 reps with 60 percent of bodyweight
4. Bench press 2 -3 sets of 5 to 8 reps with 80 percent of bodyweight
5. Barbell bent-over row 2 – 3 sets of 5 to 8 reps with 70 percent of bodyweight
In addition, an intermediate is someone who has been training regularly and progressively for a period of at least three months, and who can handle three hard weekly workouts of 45 to 75 minutes without undue fatigue. In other words, an intermediate is in good lifting condition.
The above numbers are not exact because there are many individual factors that come into play here. These are ballpark numbers. General guidelines. Rules of thumb.
ADVANCED LIFTERS
An advanced lifter can do the following in strict style as part of his regular workouts:
1. Squat 2 - 3 sets of 5 to 8 reps with bodyweight plus 50 to 75 pounds
2. Deadlift 2 – 3 sets of 5 to 8 reps with bodyweight plus 100 pounds
3. Standing (Military) press 2 – 3 sets of 5 reps with 80 percent of bodyweight
4. Bench press 2 – 3 sets of 5 to 8 reps with bodyweight plus 20 pounds
5. Barbell bent-over row 2 – 3 sets of 5 to 8 reps with 90 percent of bodyweight
In addition, an advanced lifter will have at least one year of regular, progressive training under his belt, and will be in excellent condition for lifting. This is a MINIMUM, and for many of you, it’s going to be more like two or three years before you reach advanced status.
And once again, the above numbers are ballpark – so treat them as general guidelines.
Note that you may find it easy to reach intermediate or advanced status in some exercises, and more difficult in others. This is the result of past training and individual differences. Some people are naturally stronger in certain exercises.
That should help decide where you are now – beginner, intermediate or advanced – and it should help give you some training goals for the coming year. I want all beginners to move up to intermediate status in 2011 – and all intermediates to move up to advanced status.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day – and if you train today, make it a good one! Remember, you achieve success from one good workout after another.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Dinosaur Training books and courses – and the Dinosaur Files monthly newsletter -- will take you to the top of the iron mountain in 2011:
1. Chalk and Sweat: Dinosaur Training Workouts for Beginners, Intermediates and Advanced Lifters – the brand new book from Dino Headquarters, and already a huge hit with Dinos around the world:
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
2. The Dinosaur Files newsletter – 20 pages, hard copy, mailed to you monthly, with great photos and full of terrific training articles. Sub now, and ask me to start your subscription as of May 2010 so that you don’t miss an issue of this great newsletter:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_files.html
3. Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength and Development – the book that started the Dinosaur Revolution – the book they call “the bible of strength training”:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
4. Strength, Muscle and Power – a great new book from Dinosaur Headquarters – it’s an encyclopedia of strength training and muscle building secrets – with dozens of hard-hitting, no nonsense training programs for cellar-dwellers and garage gorillas of all ages:
http://brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
5. Gray Hair and Black Iron: Secrets of Successful Strength Training for Older Lifters – the first book ever written about serious strength training for older lifters – featuring more than 50 workouts specially designed for older lifters:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
6. History’s Strongest Men and How They trained – Vol 1: Doug Hepburn. A big 32 page training course covering the life and lifting – and the training programs – of the Canadian Hercules, Doug Hepburn:
http://www.brookskubik.com/doug_hepburn.html
