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| I'm a big fan of old-time bodybuilders like John Grimek - but everyone who sent me hate mail the other day seems to have forgotten that. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
One quick note, and then we'll
talk training.
1. The John Wood Report
No. 3
Issue no. 3 of The John Wood
Report is now available.
It's a PDF so you can grab it
and download it - and read it
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It's printable, so you can read it
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And if you move fast, you can save
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Here's how to do it.
Go here to grab your copy of The
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When you get to the checkout, enter
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But act now - because the Early Bird
Special ends at 5:00 PM EST on
Friday, May 18, 2008.
2. Buried In Hate Mail
I sent out a very good email the other
day.
It listed some things I wish I had done
back in high school, when I was training
for high school wrestling.
In the email, I noted that one of the
things I wish I had done was NOT
READ the muscle magazines of the
era - because they didn't have very
good advice.
In response, I got buried in hate
mail.
One guy even unsubscribed from my
email list because (he said) I was
"unfair to bodybuilders."
He also said, "we're all in the health
and fitness business together."
So let's talk about that a little bit.
First of all, I have no problem with
old-school bodybuilders and old-
school bodybuilding.
After all, I wrote a complete course
about John Grimek - and I talk about
Reg Park quite a bit - and I've written
articles and emails about Bill Pearl
and Clarence Ross - and about
Tommy Kono's four Mr. Universe
titles.
And I've written plenty of articles
about how to build a better physique -
many of which are reprinted in my book,
Strength, Muscle and Power - and
I've written Dinosaur Arm Training,
which teaches readers how to build
bigger, stronger and more muscular
arms - which sounds an awful lot like
bodybuilding.
And in Gray Hair and Black Iron I list
a number of bodybuilding workouts for
older Dinos - and I expressly note that
many older Dinos may do better on
bodybuilding workouts that are easier
on their joints than the heavier work-
outs that many younger Dinos do.
We also have a number of readers who
were competitive body-builders, or who
trained with competitive bodybuilders -
including one reader (Ian Duckett) who
used Dino-style workouts to win the
Master's World Championship in drug-
free bodybuilding.
So I'm not opposed to bodybuilding per
se.
But I am opposed to modern body-
building - because drugs have taken
it over.
And I'm not going to support, condone,
glorify or publicize any kind of drug use.
I'm also very opposed to modern body-
building supplements. Many of them are
dangerous. But modern body-building
exists primarily as a way to sell modern
supplements.
In addition - modern bodybuilding is
NOT in any way shape, or form focused
on health and fitness.
The drug use, supplements, and extreme
diets make that impossible.
Remember, we've had elite bodybuilders
DIE at big contests.
And we've had many top bodybuilders
from the modern era encounter severe
health problems - or die young - which
is kind of crazy given the fact that old-
school champions often lived very long
and healthy lives.
So I don't talk about modern body-
building.
I just can't do it.
If that's a problem for anyone, I'm
sorry.
But that's the way it is - and the way
it's going to continue to be.
I should also note this - my comment
about muscle magazines not being
helpful was in the context of a teen-
ager training for wrestling.
It had nothing to do with bodybuilding.
The comment was a simple observation
about an undeniable fact:
The muscle magazines of the 1970s
didn't offer very much in the way of
training for sports.
The Weider magazines pretty much
ignored the topic in the 1970s.
Weider launched one sports-oriented
magazine but it only lasted for a couple
of issues - and that seemed to sour his
writers and editors on writing articles
about weight training for sports.
There was a little bit in the York
magazines (Strength and Health
and Muscular Development) - and
a very tiny bit in Peary Rader's Iron
Man - but it wasn't very good or
very complete.
For example, I don't recall any article
that covered the points I made in
yesterday's email - or an article that
covered even two or three of them
in the context of training for sports.
It would have been wonderful if the
magazines of the 1970s had included
regular articles by and about the top
amateur wrestlers (and other athletes)
of the era and how they trained - but
they didn't.
After all, this was the era of Dan Gable
(google him if you don't know), and
amateur wrestling was on the up-tick
in the USA - and articles on strength
training and conditioning for wrestlers
would have been well received.
But the magazines pretty much (not
entirely, but pretty much) ignored
the topic of effective sports training
and conditioning.
That's a shame, but that's the way it
was.
That was the point I was making - and
I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers -
but apparently I did.
Hence the hate mail.
Quite a bit of it.
None of which I'm going to answer
individually - but I thought I should
address it here.
Anyhow, I've got a big project to work
on, and I'm going to get back to it.
As always, thanks for reading and have
a great day. If you train today, make it
a good one.
Oh - and don't forget to grab issue no.
3 of The John Wood Report. It's a
good one:
ttps://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport03.html
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Here are two books that have
plenty of great exercises for
athletes:
Dinosaur Dumbbell Training
Tons of old-school dumbbell exercises -
and over 50 complete workouts.
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
A complete course in old-school body-
weight training - with plenty of killer
exercises - and more than 50 workouts.
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_bodyweight.html
2. 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/kindle.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:
"If you have time to send me hate
mail, you have time to train - and
seriously, training is a much better
use of your time."
-- 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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