Total Body Workouts - Friend or Foe?

Age 61, still training, and still having tons of fun doing it. Whatever your age, I hope you're doing the same - and feeling the same way about it!


Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes, and then we'll talk
training - and cover the good and bad
about total body workouts.

1. The July-August Dinosaur Files



It's a great issue - and you can grab it
right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-julyaugust2018.html

The 30 and 35 minute workouts for
those of you who are pressed for time
are well worth reading - and so is the
article about the old-school, "break all
the rules" training program that helped
one young lifter gain 35 pounds of
muscle - drug-free and supplement-
free.

By the way - if you missed the May-June
issue, you missed another good one -
but you can still grab it - right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-mayjune2018.html

This one includes, among other things, Bob
Hoffman's favorite workout - which you'll
find very interesting. But be warned: it's
much tougher than it looks!

2. Heavy Partials

My new course on heavy Partials is getting
great reviews from Dinos around the world.
Many have reported new PR's after being on
the program for a short period of time -
including one Dino who set a new PR in the
bench press in just two weeks!

Go here to grab the little monster:




3. Some Thoughts on Total Body
Workouts

On the training front, I'm getting a ton of
questions from Dinos about doing total body
workouts two or three times a week.

By total body, they mean five to ten different
exercises, including squats, deadlifts, and
upper body exercises in each workout.

"Would it work?" they ask.

And the answer is -- it depends.

Total body workouts are great for beginners.

It lets them do the basic exercises often enough
to learn how to perform them properly and
efficiently.That's obviously a very important
skill to develop.

Luckily, beginners are not strong enough
to outrun their recovery ability with a total
body session. So, for beginners, a total body
workout is an excellent idea.

For intermediates and advanced trainees,
things are different.

Intermediate and advanced trainees are strong
enough to handle weights that are so heavy that
it becomes very difficult to recover from a total
body workout.

You also have the problem of doing more sets
as you grow stronger -- because you need to
do more progressively heavier warm-up sets to
get to your working weight -- and that means
the workout grows longer and longer.

As I've often noted, I hit a plateau in my 20's
where I could not gain an ounce of muscle or
add any weight to the bar no matter how hard
I tried.

At the time, I was doing a nine exercise total
body workout three times a week. I did 5 x 5
on almost all of the exercises. And I did squats
and deadlifts in every workout -- which really
over-trained my lower back.

I switched to abbreviated training and a divided
workout schedule, and made enormous progress,
both in strength and muscle mass.

I cover all the details in Dinosaur Training
Secrets, Vol. 1, Exercises,
Workouts and
Training Programs.


If you're thinking about a total body workout,
you ought to give it a read. What you learn
might very well save you years of wasted
effort and unproductive training.

Let me repeat that: What you learn in this
course may save you years of wasted training -
which is why I write books and courses. I'm
trying to save you wasted time and wasted
energy - and to help you train as productively
and efficiently as possible.

By the way, let me note that the vast majority
(if not all) of our older Dinos use the divided
workout system and abbreviated programs.

It lets them maximize their recovery - and
recovery is critical as you get older. See each
issue of The Dinosaur Files for reports from
your fellow Dinos on what works for them.

Also, let me remind everyone that divided
workouts are NOT a conventional five or
six day per week split routine. It's exactly
what it sounds like. You take your total
body program and divide your exercises
into two or three workouts - and you hit
each workout once a week - and you train
a total of 3x per week.

No, it's not "a lot" of training - and that's
the point. It's the RIGHT amount of training
to build strength and muscle.

And after all, that's the goal.

Building strength and muscle.

Not logging endless hours of gym 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. Go here to grab Dinosaur Training
Secrets, Vol. 1:




Hard-copy

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_01.html

Kindle e-book

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaursecrets01_kindle.html

PDF

See the list of PDF books and courses at our
products page:

http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html

P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right
here at Dino Headquarters:



Hard-copy and PDF Books and Courses


Kindle Books and Courses





P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: 

"What works best for you will probably
change over time - but it's always going
to be important to maximize rest, recovery
and recuperation."


-- 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: