Hail to the Dinosaurs!
They say the legs go first, but it doesn't
have to be that way.
Close to 100 years ago, George Hackenshmidt
was the Heavyweight wrestling champion of the
world -- and that was back in the day when
wrestling matches were real.
He was in tremendous shape as a young man --
strong and muscular in in great condition.
He kept on training for his entire life, and
many years later -- in his late 70's or early
80's, he was able to do the following:
1. Place two ordinary wooden kitchen chairs
across from one another and about three to
four feet apart.
2. Place a broomstick over the backs of the
chairs, so it was waist height for him.
3. Perform a standing high jump right over
the broomstick.
It sounds impossible, but I've seen photos of
him doing it.
Contrast Hack's performance with that of the
typical senior. We're talking artificial knees
and hips, little or no bone density, and
virtually no strength. Many older folks cannot
walk or even stand on their feet without
assistance.
That's a very good reason to keep on training.
Your workouts at age 20, age 30, age 40 and age
50 are the ones that are going to keep you going
when you're age 60, age 70 and age 80 (and
hopefully, for many years after that).
But like anything else you need to do it the right
way -- carefully balancing training "hard enough"
versus training "too hard."
Balancing "enough" training with "too much" training.
Balancing strength training and conditioning/cardio
work.
Finding the bodyweight that is the best for you as
you grow older -- and then maintaining that magic
weight.
There's very little information about serious
strength training for older lifters. Almost all of
the training literature is aimed at the younger crowd.
And much of what is left for older lifters is too basic
and too remedial for anyone other than a beginner.
That's why I wrote Gray Hair and Black Iron. It's
about hard, heavy, challenging workouts for older
lifters. It has a ton of advice written for older
trainees (after all, at age 54, I'm one myself), and
it has over 50 detailed workouts for lifters of all
ages. It's been our most popular book for the past
several years -- and there's a reason for that. It's
a darn good book.
The goal is to have leg and hip strength like George
Hackenshmidt had when you're in your 70's and 80's.
And Gray Hair and Black Iron -- and a barbell - will
get you there.
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. Readers often ask how old you should be before buying
Gray Hair and Black Iron. If you're 35 or older, grab the
book now. And even if you're younger, you may want to give
it a try. I've had many younger guys read the book and write
to say how much it helped them. You can find the little
monster right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2 My newest book, Black Iron: The John Davis Story, is
right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/blackiron_johndavis.html
