Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I get lots of questions from readers asking
me to give them feedback on their Dino-style
abbreviated workout.
Let me summarize some of my responses, and see
if you notice a pattern:
1. "Why no squats?"
2. "Do you deadlifts?"
3. What do you do for your upper back?"
4. "Do you do any pressing movements?
5. "Do you do any sort of overhead pressing?"
6. "Do you do any sort of cardio work?"
7. "Are you doing gut, grip and neck work?"
I bet you see the pattern!
Too many guys interpret abbreviated training as
meaning you only do two or three exercises that
you happen to enjoy -- or that you happen to be
good at.
Thus, the guy who deadlifts a ton but has a lousy
squat will do deadlifts but no squats.
The guy with the good squat and the lousy deadlift
will skip his deadlift.
The guy with the bad pressing leverages will
"forget" to include presses.
And so on.
But there's a big difference between abbreviated
training and unbalanced training.
The way to keep everything in balance is simple.
Use the squat, pull, push formula.
Every week, you should include one squatting
exercise, one pushing (pressing) exercise, and
one pulling exercise.
If you wish, you can train 2x per week and squat,
pull and push in each workout. (Note: this works
better for guys who do Olympic style -- high bar --
squats and front squats, and Olympic style pulling
movements, e.g., high pulls, power cleans, power
snatches or classic snatches and cleans in split
or squat style. Powerlifting style (low bar) squats
and deadlifts are hard to do 2x per week if you go
heavy in each workout.)
Or you can train two primary exercises per session,
such as squat and bench or deadlift and overhead
press, and mix things up from workout to workout.
That would allow you to train 2x or 3x per week,
as you prefer.
Simple formula -- but it works. It helps keep your
training in balance.
But remember -- you also want to do some sort of
gut, grip and neck work -- and you want to do some
sort of cardio work. Remember, your heart and lungs
are as just important as any other muscle group --
and perhaps more important than any of them.
And a final note. I often write about ultra-
abbreviated training, where you may do only one
exercise per workout.
How do you balance your program?
It's easy -- you do several different workouts,
with a different exercise in each -- or you
specialize on one exercise for 6 to 8 weeks, and
then specialize on something else -- and over time,
you build balance into your program.
William Boone did that back in the 30's and 40's,
and over time built world class strength and power
in the squat, the deadlift, the bent press and the
jerk from stands -- an amazing example of all-around
development resulting from (get this) one exercise
workouts!
As always, thanks for reading, and have a great
day. If you train today, have a great (and well
balanced) workout!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. For more information on balanced training
programs, grab CHALK AND SWEAT or STRENGTH, MUSCLE
AND POWER -- or order both books and save on s&H:
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
P.S. 2. For more information on cardio training for
strength athletes -- a very important and often
neglected topic -- grab a copy of Gray Hair and Black
Iron -- it has a ton of ideas on how a "heavy iron"
guy can work his heart and lungs without doing cardio
theater, "stepping" himself to death or training like
a 120 pound marathon runner:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 3 My other books and courses are right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
