Gray Hair and Fast Feet!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Yesterday we talked about about speed, and
a question I received from an older Dino who
said that he lost his speed -- not his strength,
but his speed -- sometime around age 60.

He asked me if I had noticed the same thing.

The answer is -- not yet -- and I'm working
really hard to keep it that way. In fact, my
workouts focus as much on speed as on
strength development now -- although
many of the things that build one also
build the other.

Here are seven things I do in my workouts
that help keep me moving FAST.

1. Olympic lifting.

It's the best thing there is to keep you
moving FAST.

Of course, you need to know how to
perform the lifts properly. So you need
to do whatever is necessary to learn how
to perform the lifts properly. For most of
us, that means finding a good coach.

2. Perfect form.

Speed is the result of repeating a given
movement over and over until you can
perform it perfectly.

Perfect form makes for efficient lifting.

Efficient lifting lets you develop maximum
speed of movement.

So you need to drill, drill, and drill to get
your form down.

Over and over -- again and again. And you
need to try to make each lift better than the
previous lift.

3. No slow movements.

I don't do any slow, grinding movements in
my workouts.

Slow movements make you slow. You don't
need that.

That's not to say you use light weights and
fast, bouncy movements. Far from it. I train
heavy, and I do almost nothing but singles.
But there's a big difference between a slow,
grinding rep that takes forever to finish,
and a rep that's a little lighter but moves
twice as fast.

4. Keep your weight under control.

You can't move fast if you're carrying 20 or
more pounds of blubber. It's like running a
hundred yard dash while carrying  a heavy
sandbag on your back. The sandbag just
slows you down -- and so do the Lard
Lumps.

5. Don't get hurt.

This one is easier to say than to do. Older
bodies are easier to injure.

But do everything you can to avoid injuries.

The dings and dents really slow you down.
They tighten you up, reduce your range of
motion, and make you stiff.

Train smart, and keep your ego in check.

Don't baby yourself, but don't be stupid.

Find the balance between aggressive training
and reckless training.

6. Under-train.

I almost said "don't over-train," but for an
older trainee, over-training is so easy that
it's better to say: "Under-train."

If you make it a point to do a little bit less
than you feel like you could do, both in
terms of weight, effort and volume, you
may end up doing just about the right
intensity and amount of work.

Always leave something in the gas tank.
It helps your recovery enormously.

7. Follow a healthy, anti-inflammatory
diet.

Inflammation is an older trainee's worst
enemy. It makes you stiff and sore and
inflexible -- tightens your muscles -- and
slows you down.

You don't need that.

You need a body that doesn't suffer from
extreme inflammation.

You get there by under-training (see point
no. 6) -- and by following the right kind of
diet and nutrition plan.

The diet and nutrition program in Knife,
Fork, Muscle will work great. It's an anti-
inflammatory diet as well as a strength
and muscle-building diet -- and it will
help keep the excess pounds off, as well.

Go here to grab the little monster:

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

Bonus tip. I said we'd have seven, but
here's one more. Work on stretching and
flexibility -- or as they now call it, mobility.

You want freedom of movement in all the
major joints.

Freedom of movement helps your speed
enormously. Stiff and tight joints slow you
down. It's like try to move fast while
wearing a strait-jacket. It doesn't happen.

So work on staying loose and flexible and
supple.

There's one more tip -- and it's a big one.
We'll cover it tomorrow. But those seven --
sorry, EIGHT -- tips will really help. They
work great for me.

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. Here's the number one book about
effective training for older Dinos:

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

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

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


P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Stay strong, stay
lean, stay loose, stay fast." -- Brooks Kubik

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Stay Loose and Stay Strong!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Three quick notes, and then we'll talk
training.

1. Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol. 1
It's my new course, and you can find
it right here:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_01.html

Note: for the first time ever, we are offering
the course in your choice of e-book or
hard-copy. Many of you have been
asking for e-book options, so we're
going to give it a try.

You can order the e-book on Amazon's
Kindle site, or order the hard-copy directly
from Dino Headquarters. The above link
has order buttons for both options.

2. Reviews for Dinosaur Training Secrets
Please post reviews for the new course on
the order pages at the Amazon.com and
Amazon.co.uk sites. The reviews really
help us.

Also, if you ordered the e-book, please
shoot me an email and let me know --
otherwise, I don't know who ordered the
e-book. I'm trying to see how many of
our long-time Dinos have grabbed the
e-book.

3. The Dinosaur Files quarterly

Issue no. 2 of the Dinosaur Files quarterly
should be ready to mail next week. It's a
great issue, and you're really going to like
it. We'll put up an order page soon -- I'll
send a link when it's ready.

On the training front, one of our long-time
Dinos asked about how to maintain good
mobility for weightlifting when you are an
older lifter (age 50 or up).

And another Dino asked if I do any sort of
stretching or flexibility work -- and if I think
it's important for older trainees.

Those are somewhat related questions, so
let me cover them together.

I'm almost 60 now, and I still do full-range
squat snatches and squat cleans. I'm more
flexible and more mobile now than when I
was 50 -- but I've had to work at it alot.

I do 10 - 15 minutes of stretching and very
light lifting drills (broomstick only) before
lifting -- and then I begin with the empty
bar and do even more drilling. It's the only
to get loose and supple after sitting at my
desk all day long.

I pay particular attention to my ankles,
knees, hips, lower back, shoulders and
wrists.

I include Indian club drills as part of my
warm-up. They're great for loosening up
the hsoulders and the upper back.

I also do stretching in-between sets of
my various exercises and lifts.

If anything, I should do even more of this
kind of work than I do. I may try doing 20
or 30 mins per day on non-lifting days and
see what happens.

For specific stretches for weightlifters, see
the Catalyst Athletics website.

One of the other very important things is
to work to perfect your technique and make
all of your lifts as smooth and as perfect as
possible. You need to avoid jerking the weight
or arm pulling or powering it up. Bad technique
makes you tight -- and, of course, it can also
lead to an injury.

Tommy Kono talks about this in his books.
He believes that power cleans and power
snatches tighten the shoulders, so if you
are an older trainee and you do them, you
make yourself too tight and too stiff to do
squat snatches and squat cleans.

I've found that Tommy is correct, and so
I stick to the full lifts exclusively. (Full lifts
meaning squat style.)

Tommy also says you need to avoid going
too heavy if you are an older lifter. Save the
truly heavy attempts for competiiton.

Again, I've found that this is very good
advice. Sometimes it's hard to follow,
but it's very good advice.

And, of course -- you need to be sure you
avoid over-training. It's the kiss of death
for an older lifter. See Gray hair and Black
Iron for detailed information about effective
training for older Dinos.

Diet and nutrition also comes into play. The
right kind of diet will keep you lean and
strong, which helps your mobility and is
good for your joints. Carying extra weight
puts extra stress on your knees and ankles,
and over time, it adds up.

Also, the right kind of diet -- the kind I cover
in Knife, Fork, Muscle -- is an anti-inflammatory
diet. It helps reduce inflammation throughout
the body -- which in turn helps you stay mobile
and flexible.

As far as supplements go, I think that a high-
quality fish oil product is great for older lifters.

I've answered these questions in the context
of training for older weightlifters. But the same
points apply to all older trainees -- regardless of
how you train.

I hope that helps -- and I hope it encourages our
older Dinos to stay loose, flexible, and mobile
as well as strong and powerful. All of these
qualities are important. Work to build and
maintain all of them.

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. Here's the order page for the new Dinosaur
Training course:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_01.html

P.S. 2. Go here to grab Knife, Fork, Muscle and
Gray Hair and Black Iron:

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

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

P.S. 3. My other books and courses are right here
at Dino Headqaurters:

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

P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "Stay loose and stay
strong!" -- Brooks Kubik

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