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| Sig Klein and some of his wonderful old-time barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells. Klein owned and operated one of the very best old0-school gyms in the entire world - and taught thousands of trainees how to train safely, productively and effectively. (Photo courtesy of John Wood at http://www.oldtimestrongman.com - sprint over and check it the other great photos there.) |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
We'll talk training in just a second - and cover
the question in the title of today's email - but
first let me cover some important updates.
1. Those Cool Shirts
John Wood has opened a t-shirt shop with all
kinds of terrific old-time strongman designs -
including shirts featuring John Grimek, the
Mighty Atom, Louis Cyr, old-time kettlebells
and kettlebell lifters, the Farmer Burns School
of Wrestling, the Great Gama, Eugene Sandow,
bareknuckle boxing, grippers, Bosco, Joe
Kinney's No. 4 gripper close, and much more.
He even has - get this - Dinosaur Training
shirts. (I gave him the okay to do it - so
they are licensed, authorized and approved.
They're also pretty neat looking - check
them out!)
It's called the Retro-Strength Shop - and
the name pretty much says it all.
Right now, there are over 100 designs -
t- shirts, coffee mugs, posters and more -
and John is adding more great swag all the
time.
So check it out - and bookmark it - and
check it again every couple of days. You
never know what you'll find there:
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| A Sig Klein coffee mug - that's something you don't see every day! |
John has been bringing great products to
serious Iron Slingers for over ten years -
and the Retro-strength shop is another
home run.
2. The Dino Files
I'm finishing up the September-October
issue - and it's a good one - with some
terrific workouts and training tips.
In the meantime, if you missed the last
issue - or the previous issue - here they
are:
July-August Dino Files
May-June Dino Files
3. Jowett's Progressive Barbell
Training
I still have a few copies of my modern reprint
edition of George F. Jowett's classic course,
Progressive Barbell Training.
This is a great old-school course from way
back in the 1930's - with a complete training
program, and line drawings to illustrate the
correct performance of all of the different
exercises.
Good stuff - and very rare.
Shoot me an email if you'd like to grab one -
they're $20.00 plus shipping and handling.
4. Are We hard-Wired to Train on
Reckless and Crazy Workouts?
In yesterday's email I talked about The
First Rule - which is part of the Hippocratic
Oath that all doctors swear to follow.
The First Rule is "Do No Harm."
I noted that no similar rule applies to the
crazy exercise stuff that people post on
social media.
Instead, it seems people follow the
exact opposite rule on social media.
The more dangerous - the more reckless -
the greater the risk of a career-ending
(or even life-ending) injury, the better!
Meaning better for clicks and looks and
likes and shares and building a big army
of followers.
And many trainees - even the ones who
are old enough to know better - do a lot
of dangerous, reckless and risky stuff in
their workouts.
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| Finishing an overhead press in the outdoor lifting area here at Dino Headquarters. At age 61, I train hard but smart - because it's the only way to be able to keep on training. |
Stuff that isn't even very productive or
effective - and that certainly isn't worth
the risk of injury.
Why do they do it?
Well, that's a good question.
I think the answer is that we're hard-wired
to do crazy and aggressive, high-adrenaline
activities. Especially men.
It's in our genes.
And there was a time when it was a good
thing for the survival of the human species.
It's what made a cave-man go charging up
against a giant cave-bear or a saber-tooth
tiger armed with nothing more than a
pointed stick.
And that was very good for the human
race.
Without it, we probably would have died
off long ago.
But that urge to charge right in, no matter
how dangerous the foe, isn't as helpful in
the modern world - and in particular, when
it comes to strength training.
Instead, it makes us fascinated with high-
risk exercises - and high-risk ways of
training.
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| John Grimek performing the alternate dumbbell press - one of his favorite exercises. It's a terrific exercise - hard, heavy, result-producing, and safe. |
consequences.
Now, I'm NOT saying to take it easy when
you train - or to stick to the soft and gentle
stuff - or to baby yourself.
But I am saying that you should consider
the risk-benefit ratio of anything you do
when you train - and let your brain, rather
than a primal drive for high-adrenaline
adventures - dictate what you do and
how you do it.
I know that's hard, especially when so
much social media is showing the high-
octane, high-adrenaline stuff.
But you can be smarter than that - and
being smarter means you can keep on
training for a long, long time.
If you need some specific training ideas
and some detailed workouts for safe,
fun, and effective training, grab a copy
of Gray Hair and Black Iron:
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. Remember to check out the Retro-
Strength store - and be sure to grab the
two most recent issues of The Dinosaur
Files:
The Retro-Strength Shop
July-August Dino Files
May-June Dino Files
P.S. 2. My other books and courses are
right here at Dino Headquarters - including
links to my PDF courses and my Kindle
books - including this little monster:
Hard-copy and PDF
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
Kindle
http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:
"Training should be challenging and
demanding - but not dangerous. Never
dangerous."
- Brooks Kubik
Brooks Kubik's Kindle Books
http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html
We have over 25 books and courses in the Kindle store - including these:
We have over 25 books and courses in the Kindle store - including these:
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For even more Kindle books by Brooks Kubik, visit:
