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| World and Olympic champion John Davis completes a heavy military press. Virtually all of the old-timers specialized in the military press - and found that it built tremendous "stand on your feet" strength and power - along with plenty of muscle! |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Two quick notes, and then we'll talk
training.
1. The Dinosaur Files.
Here's the link to the January issue of the
Dinosaur Files in PDF:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_files.html
2. 25 and Counting!
Speaking of good reads, we offer 25 Kindle
books and courses. Here's the complete
list:
http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html
3. John Grimek's No. 1 Exercise!
And now, let's talk training.
For some reason, the most common question
on Internet strength training forums is this:
"If you could do just ONE exercise, what would
it be, and why?"
The most common answers are:
1. Squats -- because "they're the best exercise
for all-around strength and muscle mass."
2. Deadlifts -- because "they're even better than
squats and you can do them even if you don't
have squat stands or a power rack."
3. Trap Bar deadlifts -- because "they're a cross
between a deadlift and a squat."
4. The pec deck -- because -- sorry, just kidding,
no one actually says this.
a. Thank goodness.
b. Although some people probably think it.
5. The clean and press -- because "it works all
of the muscles."
6. Curls - because, you know - "curls for the
girls."
a. Although, truth be told, heavy barbell and
dumbbell curls are NOT a bad exercise - and
they build a lot of strength and muscle when
you train them hard and heavy.
b. A lot of guys take pride in NOT doing curls,
which is kind of silly - but that's another topic
for another day.
Those are all good answers (other than no.
4 and no. 6).
But what would John Grimek have said?
We don't have to wonder about it for very
long.
We actually KNOW what he would have said
because he wrote an article about it.
Grimek was hands-down a fan of the clean and
press.
In Grimek's opinion, if you could only do one
exercise, you should do the clean and press.
He believed the clean and press would give
you a great total body workout.
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| Louis Abele prepares for a heavy military press in a contest back in 1940. Abele was 5'8" and weighed 218 pounds of solid muscle, making him one of the most muscular men of the era - as well as one of the strongest. He favored plenty of heavy pressing snatching and squatting in his workouts. |
Grimek followed his usual pattern of suggesting
that you start light, add weight from set to set,
and drop the reps as you added weight.
Thus, you might do something like this:
50 x 10 (light warm-up)
100 x 10
120 x 8
130 x 8
140 x 7
150 x 6
160 x 5
170 x 3
180 x 2
190 x 1
200 x 1 (if you're feeling strong that day)
If you want to focus more on strength and
power do lower reps -- something like
5/4/3/2/1 or 5 x 3 or 8 x 2 -- or singles.
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| World and Olympic champion Paul Anderson was a pressing machine. Anderson sometimes trained on only two exercises - the squat and the military press. |
Personally, I like a series of progressively
heavier singles. I used to do:
120 x 1
140 x 1
160 x 1
180 x 1
200 x 1
220 x 1
240 x 1
250 x 1
260 x 1
270 x 1
275 x 1 (on days when I felt extra strong)
That was just 10 or 11 singles - but it gave
me a complete, head to toe workout.
In my next workout, I did a similar (but much
heavier) progression of singles in the squat. So
for a long time, my only two exercises were the
squat in one workout, and the clean and press in
my next workout - alternating back and forth and
doing three workouts a week. It wasn't a lot of
training, but it was very effective.
Anyhow, that was John Grimek's answer --the
clean and press - and I tend to agree with him!
What do YOU think? Shoot me an email and
let me know.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. I cover the military press in The Dinosaur
Training Military Press and Shoulder Power
Course:
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| The cover photo for the Dinosaur Training Military Press and Shoulder Power Course features a man named Grimek - which was a no-brainer given how much Grimek liked the clean and press! |
Hardcopy
http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_course.html
Kindle e-book
http://www.brookskubik.com/militarypress_kindle.html
See the links to our PDF courses:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 2. You'll also enjoy The Training Secrets of
John Grimek:
Hardcopy
http://www.brookskubik.com/johngrimek_course.html
Kindle e-book
http://www.brookskubik.com/grimektraining_kindle.html
P.S. 3. My other books and courses are right
here at Dino Headquarters:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day:
"Load the bar, lift the bar, and repeat. It's
not rocket science."
-- Brooks Kubik
BEFORE YOU LEAVE . . .
We have more than 25 Dinosaur Training books and courses in the Kindle
bookstore - here are several of them - head on over and take a look at the others:
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