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| John Grimek military pressed 285 pounds at a bodyweight of 183 pounds - way back in 1940. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I've been getting a lot of questions
about shoulder problems - dings,
dents, tightness, exercises that help,
exercises that hurt, and possible
work -rounds for exercises that
you just can't do any more.
It seems that many trainees -
especially older trainees - have
shoulder problems that hold
them back - and that's a
shame.
So I thought I'd cover some of
the key points in today's email.
Hope it helps!
1. Use light Indian clubs every
day.
Five or ten minutes of LIGHT
Indian club work every day is
great for the shoulders.
Use 1, 1.5 or 2 pound Indian
clubs.
These are especially good if
you sit in front of a computer
all day.
I got this tip from Tommy Kono,
the great two-time Olympic gold
medal winner in weightlifting -
so I think of it as "gold medal"
training advice.
I use my Indian clubs every day,
and it really helps - as in, it keeps
me doing Olympic lifting at 60
years of age.
Get your clubs from John Wood:
http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/products/classic-wooden-indian-clubs
2. Focus on overhead pressing.
Focus on overhead pressing rather
than bench pressing.
Bench pressing is much harder on
the shoulders.
Old-time lifters had fewer shoulder
problems than modern trainees, in
part because they did lots of over-
head work and little or no bench
pressing or similar movements.
If military presses hurt, try push
presses.
3. Avoid the "stretch."
If you do dumbbell bench presses,
dips or other movements where
you can go really low and "stretch"
your chest and shoulders, be VERY
careful.
Don't drop and bounce.
Don't go too low.
Don't pause in the low position.
It's better and safer to use a
limited range of movement,
especially on dips.
4. Skip those McDonald Bar
bench presses.
Bench press record holder Mike
McDonald used a special bench
press bar that allowed a much
greater range of movement,
with a very deep stretch at
the bottom.
My advice is to skip these. They
give you too much of a stretch,
and that can be a problem.
5. Stop doing the press behind
neck.
This is a tough one for many of us,
because we grew up reading about
Reg Park working out with 300
mind-boggling pounds in the
press behind neck - and we all
wanted to do the same!
The problem is, the press behind
neck leads to shoulder problems
for many of us.
Military presses, push presses, and
dumbbell presses are much easier
on the shoulders.
6. No pullover machines or
pec decs!
Pull-over machines and pec decs
are certified shoulder wreckers.
That's especially true if you "go
for the stretch" when you do
them.
7. No flies or pullovers.
Flies and pullovers can lead to
shoulder problems, especially if
(you guessed it) you do them
with a deep stretch at the
bottom.
They're not very good strength
and muscle builders anyway, so
why do them?
Note: I'm talking about heavy
pull-overs. Light breathing pull-
overs after a heavy set of
squats are okay because you
use a very light weight when
you do them.
So there you have it - seven
tips for shoulder health.
I hope they help - and I hope
you keep your shoulders strong
and healthy for a very long
time.
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. Gray Hair and Black Iron
covers safe and effective training
for older Dinos. If you're age 35
or older, you need this book. It
will help you enormously:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. Dinosaur Dumbbell
Training has some terrific
shoulder builders - and
remember, many trainees
find dumbbells to be much
more forgiving than barbells:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 3. My other books and courses
are right here at Dino Headquarters:
Hard-copy and PDF
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
Kindle
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day:
"Take care of your shoulders,
and they'll take care of you."
- Brooks Kubik
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