A New PR in Two Short Weeks!

I launched my new Heavy Partials training course earlier this year, and many of you grabbed it and made BIG GAINS in strength, power and muscle mass -  and you made them very, very fast. 

 
Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I launched my new Heavy Partials training
course earlier this year, and many of you
have grabbed it and are giving the pro-
gram a try.

That means we're getting a ton of great
feedback on it. Many of you made BIG
GAINS on the program - and you made
them VERY FAST.

For example . . .

One of our many Texas Dinos has been
doing plenty of heavy bench press partials
ever since he got the course - and in just
two weeks he set a new PR in the
bench press.

Think about that for a second.

New course - do it for just two weeks -
and BOOM - new PR.

That's not too shabby.

It's also not a surprise.

Thirty years ago, when I was competing in
drug-free bench press and powerlifting con-
tests, I traveled from Louisville to Jackson-
ville to compete in a National bench press
contest.

My goal was to set a new age group World
record in one of the two powerlifting feder-
ations I lifted in.

Long story short, I won my age group and
weight class - but missed the World record
attempt.

I was steamed.

I drove back to Louisville cussing and fuming
the whole way.

I went on a special all-partials bench press
program for just two weeks - entered another
National Championship contest in Edison,
New Jersey - and set the new record.

When I set the record, I made an EASY lift
with the weight I had missed just two weeks
earlier in Jacksonville.

So in case you were wondering - yes, this
stuff works.

It works fast.

And it works great.

Go here, grab the new course, and see for
yourself. It's available in PDF or Kindle,
whichever you prefer:

Dinosaur Strength and Power -
Course No. 2 - Heavy Partials

Kindle edition

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

PDF edition

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurstrengthandpower-02.html

And, of course - be sure to let me know
how you like the new program - and what
kind of results you get from it.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

Two Weeks to a New PR!

Heavy partials build amazing strength - and they do it FAST!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I launched my new Heavy Partials training
course a couple of weeks ago, and many of
you have grabbed it and are giving the pro-
gram a try.

Which means we're getting a ton of great
feedback on it.

One of our many Texas Dinos has been
doing plenty of heavy bench press partials
ever since he got the course - and in just
two weeks he set a new PR in the bench
press.

Think about that for a second.

New course - do it for just two weeks -
and BOOM - new PR.

That's not too shabby.

It's also not a surprise.

Thirty years ago, when I was competing in
drug-free bench press and powerlifting con-
tests, I traveled from Louisville to Jackson-
ville to compete in a National bench press
contest.

My goal was to set a new age group World
record in one of the two powerlifting feder-
ations I lifted in.

Long story short, I won my age group and
weight class - but missed the World record
attempt.

I was steamed.

I drove back to Louisville cussing and fuming
the whole way.

I went on a special all-partials bench press
program for just two weeks - entered another
National Championship contest in Edison,
New Jersey - and set the new record.

When I set the record, I made an EASY lift
with the weight I had missed just two weeks
earlier in Jacksonville.

So in case you were wondering - yes, this
stuff works.

It works fast.

And it works great.

Go here, grab the new course, and see for
yourself:

Dinosaur Strength and Power -
Course No. 2 - Heavy Partials

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurstrengthandpower-02.html

And, of course - be sure to let me know
how you like the new program - and what
kind of results you get from it.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

A Goldmine of Strength Training Tips

You can't beat old-school training for real world, drug-free results - and you get plenty of old-school training tips in issue no. 4 of The John Wood Report.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I just read The John Wood Report
No. 4.

I'm amazed - because issue no. 1 was
great - issue no. 2 was even better -
and issue no. 3 somehow managed to
surpass both of them.

But issue no. 4 is off the charts good.

It includes articles on:

Breaking plateaus.

Bodyweight training.

Stone lifting.

Hand-balancing.

Sledge hammers.

Bench press training.

Chest expanders.

And a nifty little conditioning work-
out that dates all the way back to
1862 (not a typo - I mean back to
the era of the American Civil War).

Arm training.

And much more.

There's a total of 9 articles - including
3 articles by special guest authors -
each of whom any Iron Game enthusiast
will recognize immediately.

In short, it's a must-have for serious
strength trainers.

So I highly recommend that you sprint
on over and grab a copy right now:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/johnwoodreport-04.html


It's a PDF download - so you'll get a
link to the little monster almost
immediately - and that's good,
because it means you can start to
use this valuable information right
away.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

Last Chance for Dad's Day!

 

We're down to the last box of Strength, Muscle and Power, and I'm not doing another printing any time soon - perhaps not ever - so if you want a copy, grab it now.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We're down to the last box of Strength,
Muscle and Power, and I'm not going to
do another printing for awhile - perhaps
not ever.

That means that this is the last time the
little monster will be available for Father's
Day - because they won't be around this
time next year.

Heck, they probably won't be around
much longer, period.

Anyhow, if you want a copy, grab it
now:

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

It's a great book that gives you tons of
hard-hitting workouts - including the
exact program I used when I won five
National championships in the bench
press.

It also covers:

power rack training

home gym training

heavy, awkward objects

thick bars

grip training

rest-pause training

specialization programs

building tendon and ligament
strength

abbreviated training

ultra-abbreviated training

and lots more!

Go here to grab the little monster -
and if you want me to autograph it
for you, be sure to ask when you
place your order.

Here's the link again:

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

Some Terrific Bench Press Alternatives for Dinosaurs!

No bench, no spotter, no rack - no problem! There are plenty of great bench press alternatives to try - including some of the killer exercises in Dinosaur Bodyweight Training.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Several readers have asked about bench
press alternatives for Dinos who train
alone, without a spotter and without
a power rack.

It's a good question because doing bench
presses without a spotter and without a
power rack is a bad idea - as in, you can
literally die under the bar if you get stuck
with a heavy weight.

And I'm not making this up. At least once a
year there's a newspaper report from some-
where about someone who got pinned under
 a heavy barbell while training bench presses
on his own - and he died.

So what are the options?

One obvious possibility is the parallel
bar dip. However, I would stay away
from these. They can be very tough
on the shoulders. That's especially
true if you do them on wide dipping
bars or if you pile on plenty of extra
weight.

Having said that, I know that some of you
do dips, enjoy them, and have no problem
with them. If they work for you, then feel
free to do them, but do them the RIGHT
way. Avoid a deep stretch, and don't do
any sort of drop and bounce stuff.

Here are some other, and in my opinion,
much better options. Of course, you
would only use ONE of these in any
particular training program:

1. Dumbbell Bench Presses

These are great, and many trainees
find that they actually work the chest
muscles harder than regular bench
presses.

Don't lower the dumbbells any further
than you would lower the barbell. A
deep stretch can hurt your shoulders.

2. Dumbbell Incline Presses

These were a favorite of many top
bodybuilders from the 1940s and 1950s.
Reg Park, Clarence Ross, Steve Reeves,
Alan Stephan and George Eiferman all
did plenty of dumbbell incline presses.

Note that you can use different angles.

Some dinos prefer a 30 degree angle,
others a 45 degree angle, and others
a 60 degree angle.

3. Dumbbell Floor Presses

Charles Smith covered these in an old
issue of Muscle Power magazine back
in the 1950s. It's a good exercise, and
with practice, you can go pretty heavy.

Resist the temptation to bounce your
upper arms and elbows off the floor
to use more weight or do more reps.

That's cheating, and it's a good way to
hurt yourself.

4. Barbell Floor Presses

Of course, you do these with plates
large enough that you can roll the bar
into the starting position and then roll
it back out when you are finished with
your set. You don't want to get stuck
under a heavy barbell.

Again, resist the temptation to bounce
the upper arms and elbows off the floor.

Some Dinos find that floor presses are
easier on their shoulders than bench
presses are -- but others (I'm one of
them) find the reverse to be true. So
start light and work up slowly until you
are sure the exercise will be okay
for you.

5. One Arm Dumbbell Bench Presses

These are a very good exercise -- and a
very tough one. It's hard to balance the
dumbbell and stay in position on the
bench. You actually get a good *core*
(I hate that word) workout when you
do these.

These are a good exercise if you have
trouble getting two dumbbells into the
starting position for the two dumbbell
bench press.

6. One Arm Dumbbell Incline Press

Again, this is a good exercise if your
problem is wrestling a pair of heavy
dumbbells into the starting position
for the two dumbbell version of the
exercise.

Remember to experiment with different
angles!

7. Push-ups

See Dinosaur Bodyweight Training for
dozens of super-effective push-up variations.

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

Also, note that you can add resistance
with heavy bands or by putting a barbell
plate or a sandbag on your upper back.

Pro wrestling great Bruno Sammartino
famously did a push-up with 600-pound
wrestler Haystacks Calhoun sitting on
his upper back and shoulders. That
might be an all-time record in weighted
push-ups.

So there you have it: seven terrific
alternatives to the regular bench
press. Give them a try!

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. Dinosaur Training started a strength
training revolution when I published the little
monster way in 1996 - and it's been a best
seller ever since:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.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:

"Where there's a will, there's a way --
and where there's a way, strength and
muscle lies ahead."

-- 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:

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

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

Friday Q and A for Dinos

It's Friday, it's sunny, and I'm looking forward to a great workout in the outdoor training area here at Dino Headquarters!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I've been getting a ton of questions from
Dinos around the world, and thought I'd
share some of them with you -- along
with my answers.

1. You're a former bench press champion
and record holder. Why don't you write a
course about bench pressing?

A. I just wrote a long course on the bench
press. But I don't sell it. It's only available
at The Iron League, which is a wonderful
member's only strength training archive
developed by my good friend, John Wood.

I've also allowed John to upload five of my
original Dinosaur Training DVD's, as well 
as all seven of my Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training DVD's. They're not all available
yet, but several are. And in the meantime,
there's a ton of other great stuff at The
Iron League:

http://www.ironleague.com/

2. When you outline a program where the
trainee does 5 x 5 with one heavy set, what
weight do you use on the warm-up sets? If
the top set is 100%, what are the percentages
for the warm-up sets?

A. Try 60/70/80/90/100 percent. If you are
doing an exercise like squats or deadlifts where
you need to start lighter and do more warm-up
sets, then try 30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100
percent. I know that's 8 x 5, but the extra
warm-up sets are just that - warm-up sets -
and they won't tire you out or cut into your
recovery.

3. I dropped off your email list. What happened?

A. I don't know. People sometimes drop off the
list and we don't know why. It's either something
to do with our email service or its something at
your end. One reader changed mobile devices
recently, and doesn't get the emails any more.

I send emails every day other than Sunday, so
if you miss an email, there's a glitch somewhere.

Go to my website and sign back up -- and check
your junk mail settings, because they change
sometimes and you may need to put us on
your white list.

As a back-up, I post every email I send at the
Dinosaur Training Blog. If you miss an email, go
to the Blog to catch up. You can access the Blog
from my website. Email me if you can't find the
link.

I'm also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at
"Brooks Kubik." I share links to my blog posts
on Facebook and Twitter, so those are great
ways to stay in contact. Look for #brookskubik
or #dinosaurtraining.

Also . . .  join the new Strength Secrets Face-
book group - I post links to my Blog posts and
daily emails there:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/strengthsecrets/

4. I'm a young woman. How should I get started
in strength training?

A. Women can and should train exactly the same
as men. See Chalk and Sweat, and Dinosaur
Training Secrets, Vols. 1 and 3 for training
programs for beginners.

5. Which is better for upper body muscle mass --
the bench press or the push press?

A. The bench press will build more mass, but
the push press will build more power and is a
better movement for athletes in most sports.

That said, don't do one or the other. Do BOTH!
6. I recall that Trudi challenged you to try a
vegetarian diet for 30 days - back in August
of last year. How did that go?

It worked very well. We learned to cook and
prepare tons of delicious new (to us) dishes.

So we stayed on the new diet.

We both lost weight - and we both feel great.

In fact, my goal for 2018 is to be stronger
at age 61 than I was in my early 50's - while
weighing less - and doing it on a whole food,
plant-based diet - just to prove that I can do
it.

For me, eye health is a priority because I
have glaucoma - and after as few months
on the diet, I had an eye exam and got the
best results in the past 15 or so years. One
of my primary tests came back as essentially
normal - which is a huge improvement. And
I think the new diet was responsible.

I'll be doing a more detailed report on the
experiment. I know many of you are very
interested in seeing what happened and
how we have been doing things.

In the meantime, check out my Facebook
and Instagram pages for photos of my
meals.

You'll see tons of delicious vegetarian
dishes.

7. Do you like body rows with rings?

A. Yes, and I cover them in Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training -- along with tons of other great exercises
with rings (and with ropes, as well). Many Dinos
like body rows better than any other rowing
exercise.

There have been about a zillion other questions
this week, but we'll have to leave it at seven for
now.

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 Chalk and Sweat, Dinosaur
Bodyweight Training, Knife Fork Muscle and my
new Dinosaur Training Secrets courses:

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

P.S. 2. Remember to check out The Iron
League -- it's really good:

http://www.ironleague.com/

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: 

"There's never one RIGHT way to do
something -- but there are plenty
of WRONG ways."

- 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:

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

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

Grab It While You Can!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We have just three boxes of Strength,
Muscle and Power left, plus some copies
on the bookshelf by Trudi's desk.

Seven copies to be precise.

That makes a grand total of 67 copies -
which sounds like a lot, but really isn't.

They'll go fast.

And when they're gone, that's it, because
we not doing a second edition or another
printing anytime soon.

Remember, Trudi and I are planning to
move to the Pacific Northwest in the not
too distant future - and we can't take
thousands and thousands of books with
us - so we're not able to do a second
printing right now.

Anyhow, it's a great book - with tons of
terrific training programs and workouts -
including the EXACT programs I used to
win five National Bench Press Champion-
ships and set over a dozen American and
World records in the bench press (in the
submaster's division, lifting in drug-free
powerlifting federations).

The same programs helped me pack on
something like 40 pounds of muscle.
So it's well worth getting - and the
programs in it are well worth trying.

Go here to grab the little monster:

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

Smart Dino Saves $30.000 in Medical Bills

One of our longtime Dinos just saved $30,000 in medical bills. Here's what happened.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We'll talk iron in just a minute, but
first I need to cover two quick
updates.

1. The Old School Strength Q
and A, Vol. 2

It's here, it's new, and it's available
in your choice of hard-copy or PDF.

The little monster covers 20 training
questions from Dinos - and detailed
answers to them.

Go here to grab it - and if you missed
vol. 1 in the series, grab that, too:

http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool-qanda.html

And be sure to let me know how you
like the little monster!

2. The October Dino Files

The October issue of the Dinosaur
Files is available as a free bonus
when you order vol. 2 of the Old
School Strength Q and A.

If you order the hard-copy Q and
A, you get a hard-copy issue of the
Dino Files - and if you order the PDF
version of the Q and A you get the
Dino Files in PDF.

Yes, I know it's a great bonus - I
wanted to find a good way to say
THANK YOU to everyone who
grabs the new Q and A course.

3. Smart Dino Saves $30,000
in Medical Bills

Here's a true story.

One of our longtime Dinos was
hitting it hard in his home gym
a couple of weeks ago.


Older Dino - been training for a
very long time - knows what he's
doing.

Reads my stuff, reads Bill Hinbern's
stuff and reads John Wood's stuff.
Including the stuff we write about
training smart - and making safety
a priority - and using the right kind
of equipment.

Which is something all three of us
have covered on a regular basis -
and something we'll keep on
covering because it's so darn
important.

But back to our Dino.

He was doing bench presses.

First rep - easy.

Second rep - easy.

Third rep - a little harder.

He keeps on going.

And suddenly, something happens.

There's a sharp pain in his shoulder,
and he drops the bar.

Right out of his hands.

Now, you may wonder how THAT
happened - especially to a long-
time Iron Slinger - but the fact of
the matter is that it DOES happen
sometimes.

And it can happen to anyone.

I once saw a National Champion
and American record holder in the
bench press do almost exactly the
same thing.

Dropped the bar right out of his
hands and right onto his chest.

Boom - just like that.

But back to our Dino - lying there
under the free-falling barbell.

The bar comes crashing down.
But instead of landing on his face -
or on his throat - the bar lands on
the safety pins in the Sutherland
power rack he bought from John
Wood.

And the bar bounces up and down
a bit - but the industrial strength
safety pins protect our Dino - and
he's okay.

Needs to get his shoulder checked
out - but he doesn't have $30,000
in medical bills for surgery to fix a
broken jaw and replace all of his
teeth.

Likewise, he doesn't need to worry
about surgery for a crushed wind-
pipe - which is good, because I
don't know if it would work very
well.

So I'm darn glad that I write about
safe training - and about using a
power rack when you bench press
without a spotter.

And I'm glad that Bill Hinbern and
John Wood cover the very same
topic from time to time.

And I'm glad that John Wood sold
our Dino a Sutherland rack - and
that our Dino used it for his bench
pressing.

But most of all, I'm glad that our
Dino read our daily emails about
safety and safe training - and I'm
glad he took the message to heart -
and I'm glad that he's okay.

Share the message and spread the
word - and help everyone who trains
do it the right way - and the safe way.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Do you get the daily emails from
John Wood and Bill Hinbern? If not,
go here to sign up for them:

John Wood

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/

Bill Hinbern

http://superstrengthtraining.com/

P.S. 2. Power rack training is great
for safe training - but it's also great
for super effective strength and
muscle building workouts.

I cover the details of how to get
the very best results from power
rack workouts in Strength, Muscle
and Power - including the exact
program I used to win five National
Bench Press Championships:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day

"Important messages are worth
repeating from time to time -
and they're always worth listening
to."

- 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:

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

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

How to Save Your Life

Strength training is one of the very best things you can do - but it can also be one of the most dangerous things you do. Here's an important safety tip for all of us.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes, and then we'll talk
iron.

1. The Old School Strength Q and A,
Vol. 2

It's here, it's new, and it's available
in your choice of hard-copy or PDF.

The little monster covers 20 training
questions from Dinos - and detailed
answers to them.

Go here to grab it - and if you missed
vol. 1 in the series, grab that, too:

http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool-qanda.html

2. The October Dino Files

The October issue of the Dinosaur
Files is available as a free bonus
when you order vol. 2 of the Old
School Strength Q and A.

If you order the hard-copy Q and
A, you get a hard-copy issue of the
Dino Files - and if you order the PDF
version of the Q and A you get the
Dino Files in PDF.

Yeah, I know that's a pretty good
bonus - but I like to spoil you guys.

3. How to Save Your Life

It's easy.

Don't bench press without a spotter
unless you bench inside a power
rack with the bottom pins set to
catch the bar if you miss.

If you think that's being overly
dramatic, consider this.

Ten days ago a 15-year old boy in
Australia was bench pressing by
himself in what must have been
an empty gym.

It was around 8:00 at night.

He had 220 pounds on the bar.

Something happened.

A gym member came in to do
some training - looked across
the gym - and saw the boy lying
there with the barbell on his
neck.

They think he had been pinned
under the barbell for 20 or 30
minutes.

And the poor kid died.

This happens somewhere about
once a year.

Don't let it happen to you.

If you bench alone, bench inside
a power rack with the pins set to
catch the bar.

If you don't have a power rack,
do dumbbell bench presses or
dumbbell incline presses.

Or do push-ups - or weighted
push-ups.

Or just skip the bench press that
day - and do overhead presses
or push presses.

Or squats or deadlifts.

Or whatever.

But don't bench press alone unless
you use a power rack.

Not ever.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Here's the link again for the new
Q and A course:

http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool-qanda.html

P.S. 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. 2. Thought for the Day:

"Train hard and heavy, but train
safe." 

- 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:

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

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