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| At age 61, I'm still training - and still doing lots of squats and Olympic lifting - and that's way better than most 61-year olds. There's a reason for that - I don't do dangerous and foolish exercises, and I've never done them. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I was looking at a copy of Hepburn's Law
the other day. It's an old training course
written by Doug Hepburn.
For those who don't know - which I assume
is few of my readers - Hepburn was one of
the biggest and strongest men in the world
back in the 1950's.
He set World records in the military press,
strict barbell curl, one-arm dumbbell press,
two-dumbbell press, bench press and squat.
He was the first man in history to break the
500 pound barrier in the bench press.
He won the World Weightlifting Championship
in 1953 - and won the British Empire (now the
Commonwealth Games) Championship in 1954.
If you want to learn more about Doug Hepburn
and how he trained, I wrote a complete course
about his life and lifting - which you can grab
right here:
Kindle edition
Hard-copy edition
Anyhow - back to Hepburn's Law.
There was a chapter about injuries and how
to prevent them.
And Doug Hepburn gave this advice:
"Don't do dangerous and foolish lifts."
A line drawing on the opposite page shows
a trainee doing a heavy deadlift while standing
on a low platform or riser so the lift begins with
the bar almost touching the toes.
Now, some people swear by riser deadlifts.
They used to be part of the Swedish Deadlifting
Program back in the late 60s and early 70s -
and they worked great for some people.
And long before that, John Grimek did heavy
stiff legged deadlifts while standing on a box
or bench so he could lower the bar all the way
down to his toes.
And today, riser snatch pulls and clean pulls
are popular among many Olympic weightlifters.
So don't send me hate mail about riser dead-
lifts. That's not the point - although if you ever
DO try riser deadlifts, be sure you have the
flexibility and proportions to do them with a
flat back. They work for some people but
not for others.
Instead, focus on Hepburn's basic message.
Far too many trainees hurt themselves by
doing dangerous and foolish lifts. It's so
common now that it's a Facebook meme.
I often joke about it by referring to "squats
on roller skates."
But you really do see people doing squats
on stability balls - with a barbell on their
shoulders.
Which is something that looks impressive
(or perhaps insane), and thus, garners a
lot of traffic on social media.
But remember, all it takes is one slight
twist and you can blow out a knee or an
ankle - and that can make effective training
impossible for a very long time. Perhaps
forever.
So why do it?
Why even try it?
Why not knuckle down to some serious back
squats or front squats - performed in perfect
form - with a good series of progressively
heavier warm-up sets before your work set
or work sets?
It's not as cool looking as squats on a stability
ball, and it won't get you a million likes on
Facebook, but it will build strength and muscle
as fast, effectively and as safely as possible.
And remember this - if Doug Hepburn saw
you training your squats (or any other basic
exercise) that way, he'd give you a big
thumbs up!
And a thumbs up from Doug Hepburn is
worth a thousand likes on Facebook.
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 common
sense strength training and muscle building
for older Dinos - and teaches you how to
build your body up rather than tearing it
down:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right
here at Dino Headquarters:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:
"Train for results, not for social media."
-- Brooks Kubik
BEFORE YOU LEAVE . . .
We have more than 25 Dinosaur Training books and courses in the Kindle
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