How to Build Herculean Super Strength

 

World and Olympic champion John Davis built plenty of strength and power with old-school, Dino-style training methods.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes and then we'll talk
training.

1. Strength and Health magazines
for Sale

Trudi and I want to move to the
Pacific Northwest next year, and
that means I need to clear out
all of my duplicate strength books
and magazines.

I'm starting with old issues of Bob
Hoffman's Strength and Health -
over 400 of them - at great prices
in special year by year sets.

Go here for the complete list:

Strength and Health mags

https://dinosaurtraining.blogspot.com/2018/12/brooks-kubiks-iron-game-collection-list.html

I'll be listing other items later
today and for the next week or
so - as you might imagine, I have
a ton of them - and I want to find
good homes for them - meaning,
I want them to go to Dinos.

2. The Dinosaur Files

Go here to grab the Sept-Oct and
Nov issues of The Dinosaur Files
strength training newsletter:

Nov 2018 Dino Files

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-nov2018.html

Sept-Oct Dino Files

www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-sep-oct2018.html

Meanwhile, I'm working away as
fast as Possible on the Dec issue -
and yes, it's going to be another
good one.

3. How to Build Herculean
Super Strength

45 years ago, Bradley J. Steiner wrote
a great little book with one of the best
titles in the history of the world:

"Powerlifting and the Development of
Herculean Super-Strength."

Good title, huh?

In the book, Steiner focused on building
four key areas:

1. Your legs and hips

2. Your back

3. Your shoulder girdle

and

4. Your chest

The theory was, if you built plenty of
strength and muscle mass in those four
key areas, you'd end up with plenty of
strength and muscle mass from head
to toe.

And it's a valid theory. It works. By
focusing on these four critical areas,
you build maximum strength and
muscle throughout your entire body.

And here's another tip. Or rather, three
of them. These come from me, but I
think Steiner would approve of them:

1. Power rack training

2. Rest-pause training

3. Heavy singles

Why do these help build Herculean
super-strength?

Because they let you train with HEAVY
WEIGHTS.

And make no mistake about it -- heavy
weights are what it takes to build
Herculean super-strength.

That was true 45 years ago - and it's
still true today.

And it will always be true.

Today, tomorrow, and forever.

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. My new training course on heavy
partials will help you build plenty of
strength and power:

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

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. 3. Thought for the Day: 

"You build strength, muscle and
power rep by rep, set by set, pound
by pound and workout by workout."

-- Brooks Kubik

Before You Leave - Check These Out! 

Brooks Kubik's Kindle Books

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

We have over 25 books and courses in the Kindle store - including these little monsters:

 
For even more Kindle books by Brooks Kubik, visit:

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

Heavy Iron at the Old York Gym

 

John Davis hits a heavy jerk - it looks like 400 or more pounds - at Muscle Beach. Davis used a Secret Weapon to build overhead strength when he trained at the old York Barbell Club Gym.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Back in the 1930's and 1940's, the old
York Barbell Club Gym on the second
floor of the Strength and Health build-
ing at 51 N. Broad Street in York, Pa.
was probably the most famous gym
in the world.

John Grimek trained there.

Steve Stanko trained there.

John Davis trained there.

Tony Terlazzo trained there.

All the York champions trained there.

And one of the things they did when
they trained was heavy partials.

It was so effective that they called it
"The Secret Weapon."

They rigged up two chains hanging
from the ceiling - and they used them
to do super heavy military press lock-
outs - and super heavy jerk supports.

Two men in particular worked extra
hard on these two movements.

One was John Davis.

The other was John Grimek.

Both men worked up to 800 or 900
pounds - sometimes even 1,000
pounds - on standing military press
lockouts and jerk supports.

Like John Davis, John Grimek did plenty of overhead supports and jerk lockouts with super-heavy weights while training at the old York Gym.

Just picture that.

Davis standing there with 800 pounds
locked firmly overhead.

Then Grimek does the same.

And then they add more weight to the
bar - pushing it up all the way to an
even 1,000 pounds - half a ton.

Davis became the greatest weightlifter
of his generation - and the strongest
man in the world, as witnessed by his
two Olympic gold medals in the Heavy-
weight class in weightlifting.

He also, by the way, once saved a man's
life.

He was working in a garage. A jack
slipped and a co-worker was pinned
under a 3,00 pound truck.

Davis ran over - and shifted the truck up
and over just enough so they could pull
the man out from under it.

So yes, those heavy partials built some
serious strength.

Grimek won the Mr. America and Mr.
Universe titles - and was undefeated
in bodybuilding - and was undoubtedly
the top bodybuilder of his generation.

He was also no slouch in the strength
department. He set American records
in the military press - and even set two
unofficial World records in the press.

So there you have it.

The strongest man in the world - and
the top bodybuilder in the world - both
training on heavy partials.

I continue that tradition in my new
Dinosaur Strength and Power course -
which covers heavy partials - and gives
you three different workouts using them.

Go here to grab the little monster - and
train shoulder to shoulder with John Davis
and John Grimek:

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

Look What I Found at Play It Again Sports!

I walked into Play It Again Sports the other day and spotted this little monster - and ended up taking it home!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Trudi wanted to get some kettlebells to use
in our apartment, so we headed over to the
local Play It Again Sports store to see if we
could find any for her.

We walked into the store, and the first thing
we saw were some power racks.

Most of them were modern racks, which I
don't like very much.

I prefer old school racks made from heavy
iron - the kind that can hold a ton without
complaining.

And, of course, I like them to be black iron.

Somehow, a rack doesn't have the same
look when it's painted fire engine red
or tangerine orange.

But the main thing you want is a very, very
strong rack - very solid - as in, more or
less bomb-proof.

Now, I have done plenty of rack training in
my life.

I used to train at a local gym that had a very
solid, super strong rack made by a retired iron
worker named Carl. That was my kind of rack.

And yes, it was black iron.

I more or less lived in it when I trained there.

Later, I set up a home gym in my basement,
and bought a rack from Jan Dellinger at the York
Barbell Company.

It was one of the last six they had in stock -
old school, solid, and strong.

And black iron, of course.

Giving 435 or 440 pounds a ride on my old York power rack.

I used that rack for a long time - but when we
sold our house in 2015, I sold the rack to a
young guy named Bobby. He's strong as heck
(he has closed the No. 3 gripper), and he puts
it to good use, which is what any good rack
deserves.

Meanwhile, I was doing a lot of Olympic lifting,
and didn't need a rack for it, and all was well.

But, as they say, things changed.

Last summer, I listened to John Wood give a
killer presentation on The Bone Strength
Project - and I decided to try it - but you
need a power rack to do it.

So I started to look for a used rack at a not
too steep price.

Of course, I wanted an old school rack.

Solid and strong.

And black iron.

Time passed, and I couldn't find what I
wanted.

But that changed yesterday - because one of
the used racks at Play It Again Sports was
EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Old school. Strong as heck. Solid and heavy.

And black iron.

And the little monster was listed at only $250.00.


Anyhow, I grabbed the rack. It's here at Dino
Headquarters now, and it's going to be getting
a lot of use.

Oh, about the kettlebells. We couldn't find any.

But that was okay. The trip was well worth it -
and, of course, Trudi deserves all the credit for
suggesting that we head over there.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. I cover power rack training in detail in
Strength, Muscle and Power:

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

And if you're interested in learning about John
Wood's unique and very effective Bone Strength
Project, grab this:

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/bone-strength-projectPDF.html

P.S. 2. 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:

"Old school iron - in basic black - is pretty much
impossible to beat.

- 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

25 Pounds in Two Weeks!

Throwback to 1997 - hitting a 435 pound partial push press in the power rack. That was part of a special training program I used to add 25 pounds to my push press in just two weeks.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two days ago I posted a photo on my
Instagram and Facebook pages.

It's a still shot from my old Power Rack
Training Video that I shot back in 1997.

It shows me doing a partial push press
in the power rack with 435 pounds.

Or maybe it was 440 or 445 - it's been
a long time and I don't remember. Any-
how, it was a lot of weight.

And that was at age 40 - lifetime drug
free - and a bodyweight of about 225.


Anyhow, a lot of people wanted to know
how I trained my partial push presses.

Here's the answer.

I decided to do a two week specialization
program to show just how effective heavy
partials can be.

My goal was to add 25 pounds to my
push press - going from 275 pounds
to 300 pounds.

I trained heavy partial push presses
three times a week for two weeks.

Heavy singles, starting light, and working
up to some really heavy iron.

Then I tested my push press - and made
a 302 pound lift.

After that, I went back to my regular
program, but still did the heavy partial
push presses once a week.

A couple of weeks later, I got it up to
320 pounds in the partial push press.

For more details on old-school, Dino-
style power rack training and heavy
partials, see Chapters 2 and 3 in my
book, Strength, Muscle and Power:

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

It's not as trendy as squats on
stability balls or one-legged pogo
stick jumping, but it's a heck of
a lot better for building real world
strength and muscle.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. I also cover heavy partials -
and other very effective ways to
increase your pressing power -
in The Dinosaur Military Press
and Shoulder Power Course.

You can grab it in your choice of hard-
copy, Kindle edition or PDF with
immediate electronic delivery:

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

P.S. 2. 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. 3. Thought for the Day: 

"Hard work and heavy iron have been
building supermen for many, many
years."

-- 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

Increased Nerve Force for Greater Strength!

 

Heavy training builds nerve force - and nerve force helps you lift heavier weights - and keeps you healthy and strong as you grow older.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!
 
One of our longtime Dinos sent
me an email about a recent study
that compared the effect of
training with light weights to
training with heavy weights.

They had one group of test
subjects who did leg extensions
3x a week with 30 percent of
their one rep max.

They had another group who
did leg extensions 3x a week
with 80 percent of their one
rep max.

Heavy training made John Davis one of the strongest men who ever lived.

Both groups did as many reps
as possible in each workout.

Pretty simple stuff - standard
protocol for research in the
field - and certainly not as
good for you as doing squats.

But stay with me - it gets much
more interesting.

The researchers found that you
build more strength with heavy
weights.

Okay, that's not a surprise.

We all know that (or should know
it - although the muscle media
and the Internet honchos tend to
forget it).

But here's the cool part.

The increased strength came from
an increase in nerve capacity.

In other words, an increase in the
ability of your nervous system to
recruit muscle fibers - and to
trigger them to fire fast and
effectively.

What the old-timers referred to
as NERVE FORCE.

The group that trained with light
weights increased their nerve
force by less than one percent
over the course of the six-week
study.

The group that trained with heavy
weights increased their nerve force
by almost 2.5 percent.

That's more than twice as much as
the group that trained with light
weights.

For life-long strength and health, train heavy and build nerve force along with strength and muscle mass.

Now, again, this is a six-week study,
and it's leg extensions instead of
squats, etc., etc. - but that's a
very interesting result.

Think of the implications.

For weightlifters and powerlifters.

For martial artists.

For other athletes.

For increasing strength without
increasing bodyweight.

For healthy aging.

Yes, healthy aging - because anything
that keeps your nerves strong also
helps keep your brain healthy.

And the stronger your nervous
system, the better your balance
and coordination will be.

Anyhow, I thought this was a
very interesting study - and I
wanted to share it with you.

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. Gray Hair and Black Iron has
tons of great training tips - and more
than 50 different workouts - to keep
older trainees healthy and strong:

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

P.S. 2. 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/products.html

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:
"For strong nerves, train with
heavy iron." - Brooks Kubik

 

We have more than 25 Dinosaur Training books and courses in the Kindle bookstore - here are a couple of them - head on over and take a look at the others:

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