Hail to the Dinosaurs!
A friend of mine spotted a great gag gift
not very long ago.
A pair of super-heavy dumbbells made out of
balsa wood, and painted grey so they look
exactly like metal dumbbells.
He thought it was funny, so he bought them
and brought them home -- and now they occupy
a place of honor in his study.
But guess this -- two weeks later, he sees
a photo of a great big, heavily muscled
bodybuilder, veins popping, sweat dripping
and fibers bulging as he does some super-
heavy dumbbell curls.
And the dumbbells the "champ" is using look
exactly the same as the wooden ones.
Were they real -- or were they wood?
Who knows?
But I think a lot of the stuff you see in the
magazines (and on the internet) is about as
"real" as wooden dumbbells.
I recall reading a muscle mag when I was in
high school, and it said a top bodybuilder
trained his shoulders by doing seated presses
with (get this) 150 pound dumbbells for 6
sets of 6 reps.
That was interesting, because I had read the
very same article several years earlier --
written by the same author, and appearing in
the same magazine -- and it said the same guy
used (read carefully) 90 pound dumbbells for
6 x 6 in the seated dumbbell press.
By then, the guy had retired from competition,
and may not even have been training, so it's
not like he had gotten stronger.
Someone had decided 90 pound dumbbells weren't
heavy enough.
To make the champ sound like a Superman, they
needed to say he was using heavier dumbbells.
Like -- 150 pound dumbbells.
I mean, just try it and see. After your next
workout, go home and tell your wife or girl-
friend that you used 150 pound dumbbells for
6 sets of 6 reps in the seated dumbbell press.
She may or may not have any idea what you're
talking about, but just saying "I lift 150
pound dumbbells" will make you feel like a
Superman.
Or not. It depends on your honest quotient.
But all kidding aside, there's a serious problem
with inflated in muscle magazines and on the
internet.
Inflated claims, whether they are about sets, reps,
weights, workouts or measurements, make it
difficult or impossible for the average trainee
to understand what "good development," "good
measurements," and "good lifting" really is.
Too many young kids believe that Mr. Muscles
really handles 150 pound dumbbells for 6 x 6 --
and feels downright puny when he can only manage
one top set of six reps with 60 or 70 or 80
pounds.
So it's a problem -- and it's been a problem for
a long time -- and it's probably getting worse,
not better.
Tomorrow, I'll give you some realistic lifting
so you can see how you measure up to honest
weights and honest lifting. Be looking for it!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. If you want to lift balsa wood, there's a lot
of it out there. If you want to lift heavy iron,
grab any of my books and courses:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
