Dinosaur Training: The First Rule

Old-timers like Clevio Massimo (pictured on the cover of Dinosaur Arm Training) did amazing feats of strength - but they didn't do the stupid stuff you see in so many social media posts.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

When medical students are studying to
become doctors they have to take the
Hippocratic Oath or a modern version
of it.

That includes agreeing to what Hippocrates
called The First Rule.

"The First Rule is never do harm."

In other words, don't do something to your
patient that makes his or her health problems
worse.

And don't do something that harms or injures
a healthy person.

The practical effect is to be fairly conservative
in what you prescribe as a doctor.

You don't prescribe untested or untried drugs,
remedies or courses of treatment - and you
don't prescribe anything that has a high risk
of harm.

To the best of my knowledge, that rule doesn't
apply to videos and photos posted on social
media.

If squats on roller skates look cool in a YouTube
video, someone will film it and post it. After all,
it's all about the hits, shares, looks and likes.

And if there's a high risk of harm, so what?

All that matters is looking cool and having a
ton of social media followers.

We recognize that, and when we see those
things we briefly consider the idea of dropping
a heavy dumbbell on the head of the clown who
posted the video (in the unlikely event that we
ever meet him).

But then we go off and do our own workout -
and all too often, we violate The First Rule
in our own training.

And we end up hurting ourselves - or laying
the foundation for future injury.

I've done it more times than I like to admit -
and in all likelihood, so have you.

But I try not to do it any more.

I only use exercises that I know from experience
are safe and effective for me.

And if I try a new exercise, I start light and easy,
see how it works for me, and build up the weight
slowly and gradually.

I make perfect form a priority in all of my
exercises.

I always train with deep concentration and
total focus - which helps me maintain perfect
form - and also helps me listen to my body and
pick up on any signals it might be sending me
during the course of any given set or any
workout.

I keep a detailed training log so I can keep
track of what I did in a given exercise in a
previous workout - and so I can see how a
previous workout affected me.

If I train on Monday and rest on Tuesday, and
my knees, low back or shoulders are sore and
stiff on Tuesday, I make a note of that in my
training log - because that's very important
information. It means I probably over-did
things in Monday's workout.

I do a thorough, complete, head-to-toe warm-
up before touching the iron.

I work on stretching, mobility and flexibility
on my non-lifting days.

And yes, I have non-lifting days (and so should
you). Not non-training days, since I walk, stretch,
and do flexibility work every day - but non-lifting
days.

I use divided workout schedules and abbreviated
or ultra-abbreviated workouts.

My workouts are low volume and manageable.

I don't train so long (or so hard) that I can't
recover from my workouts.

If an exercise hurts, I find a different exercise
that accomplishes the same thing without
causing pain.

I follow simple cycling systems - the kind I cover
in Gray Hair and Black Iron. At age 61, I don't
need to be hitting my one rep max every time
I train.

Gray Hair and Black Iron is your complete guide to sane, sensible, effective training for older Dinos. http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html

I do the kind of cardio training that won't wreck
my body.

I follow an anti-inflammatory diet - one that keeps
me healthy and strong, and helps me recover
from my workouts.

I follow slow-cooking progression methods - the
kind I detail in Dinosaur Training Secrets,
Vol. 3.


Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol. 3, gives you a smorgasbord of old-school progression systems - to help keep your training and gaining! It's available in hard-copy, PDF and Kindle editions - see the links below!

They help make your training as safe and as
effective as possible - and they make it much
more fun, because you're following a plan and
you're always making progress.

These are things I do at age 61. I wish I had
done them when I was younger - and if you're
a younger trainee, there's no reason in the
world why you can't start doing them right
now.

And if you're an older trainee, you NEED to
be doing them right now - just like I need to
do them.

Remember, training is one of the very best
things you can do for yourself - but only if
you do it the right way - and only if you
follow The First Rule.

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. 3 - and harness the power
of old-school progression methods:

Hard-copy and Kindle editions

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_03.html

PDF edition

See the links to our PDF courses at our
Products page - which is right here:

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

Also, if you missed volumes 1 and 2 in the
Strength Secrets series - you can grab them,
as well:

For hard-copy and PDF editions, go here:

Hard-copy and PDF

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

Kindle

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

Note that you can grab the Kindle or
PDF editions in a bundle - by ordering
all three with one purchase. That's great,
because it's fast and easy - and it leaves
more time for training!

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. 4. Thought for the Day:

"Train hard, but train smart - and always
remember The First Rule!"

- 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: