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

The Original 100 Rep Challenge!

A year or two after I specialized o heavy dumbbell training, I tried something a little different - and gave it a try to see how it would work.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Back in the 1940's and 1950's,
Big Joe Hise experimented with
some 100 rep challenge workouts.
He focused on the military press.

Did 100 single reps over the course
of several hours.

One of his training partners wrote
about it in Peary Rader's IronMan
magazine.

He said it worked really well.

Kim Wood tried the 100 rep challenge
when he was in college and got good
results with it.

He told me about it, and I gave it a
try.

I did 100 reps in bottom position squats
with 315 pounds - and over the course
of five or six weeks I worked up to 350
pounds.

I also did Trap Bar deadlifts for 100 reps
with 315 pounds - and kept at it until I
worked up to 350 pounds.

I stopped at that point.

The workouts were just too long and too
hard to recover from.

I wrote about it in the old Dinosaur
Files newsletter, and a number of
readers gave it a try.

They all enjoyed the challenge - got
sore as heck - and after awhile they
went back to more sustainable work-
outs.

In other words, we all learned the
same thing. Over the long haul, less
is better.

Anyhow, when we moved two years ago,
I was cleaning out some boxes of old
stuff, and I found an old VHS tape
labeled:

Life in the Dino Dungeon - Trap Bar
Deadlifts - 100 Reps

And then I remembered - I had filmed
one of those crazy 100 rep Trap Bar
deadlift workouts!

At that point, I didn't even have a VHS
player. So I gave the tape to John Wood,
and said he could put it up on the Iron
League if he wanted to do so.

It took a long time to convert the little
monster - but John finally did it - and
now you can see the entire workout.

All 100 reps.

Nothing but Trap Bar deadlifts, chalk,
sweat, and one very tired (but very
determined) Dinosaur.

It's not the fanciest workout in the
world - and it doesn't have any of the
cool (but silly) exercises you see on
Insta-Monkey, Face Pages, and
Monkey Tube - but it's a pretty hard
workout.

And it's up there for all Iron League
members to see.

So if you're an Iron League member,
check it out - and let me know what
you think!

Yours in strength,


Brooks Kubik

P.S. Go here to join the Iron League -
and tell John I sent you!

https://www.ironleague.com/

The Top Training Program of 1969

The training course that came with my very first barbell. I still have it - and it includes the exact training course I followed way back in 1969.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Back in 1969, when I was 11 years old,
I devised what was probably the best
training program of the year.

I wrote it down in the "notes" section
of the little booklet that came with my
very first barbell set.

And I still have it.

By this point in time, I had been
reading the muscle comics for a year
or two - so i was pretty much of an
expert when it came to strength
training and muscle-building. (At
least, I thought I was.)

I knew all about supersets, tri-sets,
burns, pumping, bombing, blasting,
and blitzing - as well as cheating,
forced reps, muscle priority, muscle
confusion, and a bunch of other stuff
that I (thankfully) forgot about long
ago.

I also knew all the best exercises for
the different muscle groups:

1. The best exercises for cannonball
delts (including one I got from Mr.
Kleen, a professional wrestler in the
Chicago AWA promotion who demon-
strated exercises after winning his
matches).

2. The best exercises for baseball
biceps (including another one from
Mr. Kleen).

3. The best exercises for horseshoe
triceps.

4. The best exercises for barn-door
lats.

5. The best exercises for washboard
abs.

6. The best exercises for gladiator
pecs.

7. I'm sure I would have known the
best exercises for tree-swinging traps,
but the phrase wasn't around yet.

I think I also knew the best exercises
for the legs and back - but I don't
remember what they were, or what
the corresponding adjectives were.

Back then, leg and back training
wasn't nearly as important as
building baseball biceps - at least,
not in the muscle comics - and
certainly not for an impressionable
11-year old.

Anyhow, I wrote the entire program
in that old training course.

And you can see it - because I
loaned it to John Wood, and John
is putting it up at The Iron League
website.

Consider it a small slice of Iron Game
history - and for everyone my age or
older, a fun trip down Memory Lane.

Of course, there's plenty of other
great stuff posted at The Iron
League - including a long-lost,
never before seen video of yours
truly hitting a special 100 rep
Trap Bar deadlift workout in the
original Dino Dungeon.

Fun stuff - and great memories.

Go here to join The Iron League -
and tell John I sent you:

https://www.ironleague.com/

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

My Old-School Training DVD's

 

A 302 pound push press with a Christmas tree barbell - featured in my Power Rack Training DVD. Note the chains at the end of the bar to get us up over 300 pounds. This was shot 20 years ago at the original Dinosaur Dungeon. There's another two hours of action on the DVD.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I sent this email recently, but ever
since I began posting videos of my
workouts here at Dino Headquarters
I've been getting questions about
my old Dino DVD's and where to
get them.

"Where are they?"people ask. "I
can't find them on your website."

So I thought I should cover it again.

Back in the late 1990s, I made five
Dinosaur Training videos:

1. The Lost Art of Heavy Dumbbell
Training

2. Bags, Barrels and Beyond

3. Power Rack Training

4. Olympic Lift Basics

5. Strength Training Basics

We didn't have I-phones back then,
so I had to do things the old-fashioned
way.

I hired a professional camera-man,
and shot each of them in the original
Dinosaur Dungeon.

Each of them is about 2 hours long,
and each of them has a ton of lifting,
non-stop action, and plenty of chalk
and sweat.

The camera-man loved the assignment.

He was used to filming wedding videos.
This was a *little bit* more exciting.

I sold them in VHS format for a long
time, and then we remastered them
to DVD.

But I don't carry them today.

I've licensed them to John Wood so
that he can feature them at the Iron
League member site.

So that's the place to go if you want
to see them.

And frankly, it's a great deal - because
the cost of a one year's membership is
less than the cost of all five DVDs. And
you get to see a ton of other great Iron
Game stuff, as well.

So if you missed them the first time
around, or if you didn't see all of them -
or if you bought the DVDs but can't
find them after your last move or the
last big flood - then sprint on over and
join the Iron League:

http://www.ironleague.com/

As always, thanks for reading and have
a great day. If you train today, make it
a good one!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

T

Dinosaur Training DVDs - Where to Find Them!

Push pressing 302 pounds with a Christmas Tree Barbell - one of the many highlights of my Dinosaur Training DVDs.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Back in the late 1990s, I made five
Dinosaur Training videos:

1. The Lost Art of Heavy Dumbbell
Training

2. Bags, Barrels and Beyond

3. Power Rack Training

4. Olympic Lift Basics

5. Strength Training Basics

We didn't have I-phones back then,
so I had to do things the old-fashioned
way.

I hired a professional camera-man,
and shot each of them in the original
Dinosaur Dungeon.

Each of them is about 2 hours long,
and each of them has a ton of lifting,
non-stop action, and plenty of chalk
and sweat.

The camera-man loved the assignment.
He was used to filming wedding videos.
This was a *little bit* more exciting.

I sold them in VHS format for a long
time, and then we remastered them
to DVD.

But I don't carry them today.

I've licensed them to John Wood so
that he can feature them at the Iron
League member site.

So that's the place to go if you want
to see them.

And frankly, it's a great deal - because
the cost of a one year's membership is
less than the cost of all five DVDs. And
you get to see a ton of other great Iron
Game stuff, as well.

So if you missed them the first time
around, or if you didn't see all of them -
or if you bought the DVDs but can't
find them after your last move or the
last big flood - then sprint on over and
join the Iron League:

http://www.ironleague.com/

As always, thanks for reading and have
a great day. If you train today, make it
a good one!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

An Important Iron League Update!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I wanted to put a quick note out to The Dino
Nation that there there will be a price increase
on John Wood's "Iron League" website effective
tomorrow (March 1st, 2017).

However, if you join today, you can lock in the
current rate for as long as you are a member.

In The Iron League, you'll find all FIVE of my
Dinosaur Training DVDs (which are no longer for
sale), issues of Peary Rader's classic Iron Man
magazine, Power Rack training, feats of strength,
sandbag lifting, thick bars, sledge hammer training,
rope climbing and pretty much any kind of training
a Dino could ask for.

There is also a large selection of books and courses
on wrestling, boxing, judo and jiu-jitsu which should
also be of tremendous interest to Dinos.

My advice is to join on immediately, and you can do
so right here:

http://www.ironleague.com

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************

How to Improve Your Workouts by 20 Percent

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes, and then we'll talk
iron - and how to improve your
workouts by 20 percent.

1. Dinosaur DVDs at the Iron
League

John Wood has loaded all of my old
Dinosaur Training DVDs at the Iron
League member site - so if you want
to see them, join the Iron League.

Of course, there's a ton of other
great stuff at the Iron League.

It's one of the most interesting
and most complete collections of
Iron Game info that you'll ever
see.

Go here to join:

http://www.ironleague.com/

2. The Dinosaur Files

The January Dino Files will be out
soon in PDF - and then in Kindle -
and it's going to be a heck of an
issue. Be looking for it.

In the meantime, if you missed the
last issue, here it is:

Nov - Dec Dino Files on Kindle

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-novemberdecember2016-kindle.html

Nov - Dec Dino Files in PDF

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_novemberdecember2016.html

3. How to Improve Your Workouts
by 20 Percent

(Note: This one is from two years
ago. I'm sharing it again because it's
so important - and because it can
make such a difference in your
workouts.)

On the sets and reps front, I hit a hard
workout in the garage last night.

It was hot, and the sweat was flying --
and so was the chalk -- and so was the
iron.

As I always do, I timed the rest periods
between my sets.

I load the bar, and take exactly two minutes
before I chalk up for the next set. So the total
rest between sets is about three minutes,
depending on how long it takes to load the
bar.

Here's why I do it.

Thirty or forty years ago, Russian scientists
studied weightlifters and found that the lifters
who timed their rest periods had 20 percent
fewer missed lifts in their workouts than the
lifters who didn't.

I think that's in part because the mere act of
timing your rest period helps keep you focused
and engaged. Of course, there may be other,
physiological reasons, as well.

But regardless of WHY it works -- it
WORKS.

It's a simple way to get more from your
training. Twenty percent fewer misses is
a big difference.

And that, my friends, is the tip of the
day:

Time your rest periods.

Simple -- but effective.

Note that the secret is NOT how long to
rest. There's no magic number.

The secret lies in timing the rest periods -
whether it's two minutes or three minutes
or whatever.

Timing your rest periods keeps you focused
on the task at hand - and that turns out to
be one of the secrets of maximally effective
strength training.

Of course, they did this research before the
days of monkey phones and selfies - so it
goes without saying that you don't sit
around and look at your monkey phone
or pose for selfie-welfies during your
rest periods.

Instead, you focus on the next set.

Like I said, simple stuff - but very,
very effective.

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. Speaking of rest, someone asked me about
Rest Pause training. I cover it in detail in Strength,
Muscle and Power -- along with power rack training,
abbreviated workouts, specialization programs,
training for advanced men, grip blasters,
finishers, old-school deadlift variations, and
much more:

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

P.S. 2. My other books and courses -- and
links to my Kindle e-books -- are right here:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Never stop
learning, and never stop growing."
-- Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************

Reg Park, Brad Steiner, and Much More!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Several days ago I shared an email
about Bradley J. Steiner's list of the
21 "Essential Exercises."

I noted that when I started in the Iron
Game, Steiner wrote for Peary Rader's
old Iron Man magazine, and was one of
the most popular Iron Game authors in
the world -- as well as one of the most
honest and most direct.

Steiner taught old school training --
and told his readers to stay away from
the muscle pumping nonsense that was
(and still is) so very common -- and also
told his readers to stay away from
steroids and other drugs.

He often wrote about the mental aspects
of strength training and muscle building.

He focused on physical culture -- a great
term -- and on making yourself the very
best and strongest person that you could
be, both physically and mentally.

He also talked about using your training
to enrich your life rather than making
your life revolve around your training.

As in, train three times a week for about
an hour per workout. That's plenty of
time to build tons of strength and
muscle -- and it allows you to live
a full and rewarding life.

In other words, he taught old school
training and old school values.

So you can see why I enjoyed reading
his books and articles so much.

Anyhow, I've received a ton of emails
from readers asking where they can find
more from Bradley J. Steiner.

There are three places to look.

1. The Iron League

The first is John Wood's Iron League,
which includes old issues of the very
same Iron Man magazines that carried
Steiner's articles "back in the day."

John has a special license to post these
old issues of Iron Man -- and a complete
collection of them -- and a ton of other
great stuff, including several boxes of
rare old materials from my personal
library, which I have loaned to him
to share on the Iron League.

He also uploads old video -- including
my old Dinosaur Training videos from
back in the 1990's. In fact, it's the only
place to find them. I'm letting John do
that because I think the Iron League is
a really important project, and I want
to help support what he's doing.

The Iron League is a members only,
curated website with an incredible
collection of old Iron Game books,
courses and magazines.

One of our Dinos calls it "The Library
of Congress of Strength" -- and that's
a pretty good name for it.

Go here to join The Iron League:

http://www.ironleague.com/

So that's the first place to find old
articles by by Bradley J. Steiner.

2. Bill Hinbern's Website

The second place to look is Bill
Hinbern's website.

Bill has been selling old books and
courses for something like 50 years
now -- and he sells a great looking
reprint edition of Steiner's otherwise
impossible to find, classic text, The
Complete Guide to Effective Barbell
Training.

Note that Bill did this with Steiner's
express permission and approval --
which is how you do these things.

Go here to grab The Complete Guide:

http://superstrengthtraining.com/complete-guide-effective-barbell-training-bradley-steiner

And that's the second place to find
more training wisdom from Bradley
J. Steiner.

3. Brad Steiner's Website

The third place to look for material
from Bradley J. Steiner is at his
website.

It focuses on self-defense training,
but includes plenty of info on effective
strength training, as well.

Go here to check it out:

http://www.americancombato.com/

4. Reg Park Specialization Courses

I mentioned Reg Park in the title of
this email/blog post, and you may be
wondering why, since I haven't
mentioned him yet.

The answer is this -- Bill Hinbern has
just released a series of specialization
courses written by Reg Park.

Bill used to be the North American
distributor for these courses -- but
they haven't been available for over
40 years.

For more information on these VERY
RARE and one of a kind courses, go
here:

http://superstrengthtraining.com/reg-park-mr-universe-specialization-courses

Be sure to tell Bill I sent you. I've been
buying stuff from him for over 40 years
now, and he's a very good friend.

Anyhow, I hope that answers the questions
about where to find more OLD GOLD from
Bradley J. Steiner -- as well as some terrific
old courses from Reg Park.

As always, thanks for reading and have a
great day. If you train today (as I will)
make it a good one!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************

Three Quick Notes for Dinosaurs!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I have three quick notes for you.

1. The October Dinosaur Files

The October issue of The Dinosaur
Files is available in your choice of
Kindle or PDF:

Oct Dino Files on Kindle

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_october2016-kindle.html

Oct Dino Files in PDF format

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_october2016.html

The little monster has been getting
great reviews, so let me know how
you like this issue!

2. Stand on Your Feet Training

We talked about the importance
of stand on your feet training in an
earlier email today.

Here's a great course that covers
stand on your feet strength and
how to build it:

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

It's also available in Kindle and PDF
editions. See our products page for
the Kindle and PDF links:

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

3. John Wood's Iron League

Have you seen the latest updates and
additions at John Wood's Iron League
membership site?

Go here to check it out:

http://www.ironleague.com/

One of our longtime Dinos calls The
Iron League "the Library of Congress
of Strength" - and that sums it up
pretty darn well.

More tomorrow - we have an important
tip on speed development for you.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************

Fast and Effective Workouts for Working Dinosaurs!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

One quick note and then we'll talk iron.

1. I goofed!

I goofed yesterday. I sent the wrong link
for an Iron League membership.

The correct link is right here:

http://www.ironleague.com/

Head on over and take a look -- I think
you'll like what you see.

2. Workouts for the Working Man

Back in the 1950's, Peary Rader wrote an
article in IronMan titled "Workouts for the
Working Man."

The article covered effective training for
men who work demanding physical jobs.

If I recall correctly, Peary was answering a
question from a man who worked 10 or 12
hour days as a painter, going up and down
ladders, and performing thousands of reps
with a heavy paintbrush.

After a day like that, there wasn't much gas
in the tank for a 2 or 3 hour split routine
workout or 12 x 12 on all of his exercises.

So Peary suggested what we would now call
an abbreviated program -- with low reps,
because low reps help to conserve energy.

It was good advice.

I was reminded of this because I received
an email this week from a man who works
10 or 12 hours a day on a construction job.

After 10 or 12 hours a day of carrying bricks,
concrete blocks and other construction
materials, and operating a jack hammer,
he doesn't have time or energy for a long
workout.

But he still wants to build some serious
strength and muscle.

So what does he do?

My answer is similar to Peary Rader's
answer.

He should follow a short, simple program
with a minimum number of exercises.

He should train one or two times during
the work week for 15 to 30 minutes per
workout -- and take a longer (45 minute)
workout on Sat or Sun.

He should do multiple sets of low reps in
each exercise. 5 x 5 would be perfect for
squats and deadlifts -- and it should be
four progressively heavier sets and one
set with his top weight for the day.

On upper body exercises he can do 3 x 5
or 3 x 6 -- two progressively heavier sets
and one set with his top weight for the day.

He should use perfect form in all of his
exercises. This will target the proper muscle
groups and make his training more productive
and more efficient. And it will be less tiring --
and a lot less wear and tear on his already
tired body.

Thus, his workout schedule might look
like this:

Tues

1. Standing press 3 x 5-6

2. Barbell curl 3 x 5-6

3. Neck work with head-strap 2 x 10

Thurs

1. Deadlift or Trap Bar deadlift 5 x 5

2. One-arm DB row 3 x 5-6

3. Grip work of his choice -- 1 or 2 sets

Sat

1. Squats 5 x 5

2. Bench press (barbell or dumbbell) 3 x 5-6

3. Gut work -- 1 set

If that's still too much work, he should cut
back even more -- and perhaps train once
a week on Sat or Sun -- doing his choice of
squats OR deadlifts, one upper body pressing
exercise, and one upper body pulling exercise,
plus one set of gut work.

For other workouts that would work very
well for this man -- or for any Dinosaur who
works a demanding job or who doesn't have
much time or energy for training -- grab
a copy of Dinosaur Training Secrets,
Vol. 1:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_01.html

In any case, I hope that helps our reader --
and anyone else who is crunched for time
but wants to train!

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. Abbreviated training is very important for
older trainees. See Gray Hair and Black Iron for
effective workouts and training programs for
older Dinos:

http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.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 -- and some weights -- there's a way."
-- Brooks Kubik

My First Home Gym

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol. 3

Is available in your choice of hard-copy or
Kindle e-book -- and it's getting rave reviews
ever since we released it in 2015.

It covers old-school progression methods --
and gives you a ton of different ways to
set up your training for steady gains in
strength and muscle mass.

Go here to grab the little monster:

Hard-copy:

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

Kindle e-book:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets3_kindle.html

PDF - see the list of PDF courses on our
products page:

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

2. We're on Twitter and Facebook now!

Follow us on Twitter and friend us on Facebook.
It's a good way to stay in touch.

3. The Iron League

John Wood's Iron League is rocking it! I did a
special bench press course that John has posted
on the Iron League. It's one of many Iron League
exclusives. My Dinosaur Training DVD's are also
available at The Iron League.

John has a ton of stuff that I've never seen
before -- and that you're not going to see
anywhere else. He adds new stuff to the
Iron League all the time -- so it's a resource
that just keeps growing.

Go here to grab a membership in the Iron
League:

http://www.theironleague.com

And now, let's talk training . . .

4. My First Home Gym

There's a small ranch house in Park Forest,
Illinois with a birch tree in the front yard,
hedges on the sides, a patio in the back,
and an old wooden fence circling the back
yard.

There are three small bedrooms. One of them
was my room when I was a kid. That's the site
of the original Dino Dungeon -- a/k/a my first
home gym.

I had two small barbells. One was a little thing
made out of pipe and plastic plates. The other
was a real barbell with iron plates that my dad
used.

I had 160 pounds of iron plates and about 40
to 60 pounds of plastic plates -- or more
accurately, concrete in plastic.

The concrete in plastic plates cracked years
ago and are long gone. We still have the iron
plates. My dad used them right up until his
passing in April of 2015.

I had two dumbbell sets -- one for the iron
plates and one for the plastic plates. I didn't
use them much. They took forever to load.

I had some iron boots from Sears. They
didn't work very well. No matter how you
tried to tighten the ankle straps, they
always fell off. So I did squats to exercise
my legs, which was a good thing.

I had some chest expander sets -- the old
spring kind. My dad bought one from the
local sporting goods store. We found the
others at garage sales.

I had a rubber hand gripper and an old set
of Sandow spring-grip dumbbells. Those
came from a garage sale, as well. I still
have them. In fact, they're lying on my
desk as I type this email.

I had a head-strap for neck training. It was
from the local sports store, and it was too
flimsy and weak to hold much over 10
pounds. A lot of equipment was flimsy
and weak back then.

I had a sandbag to practice wrestling throws
and isometric leg scissors. I made it from an
old duffel bag my dad used in the Navy. That
was the origin of the sandbag workouts I cover
in Dinosaur Training.

At first I did bench presses by lying on my
bed to press the barbell. But later, my parents
bought me an honest to goodness weight
bench. It had adjustable weight racks that
doubled as squat stands, and the bench
adjusted from flat to incline.

I'd been reading about the incline bench
and how to use it to build the all-important
pec-delt tie-in, so I was eager to do incline
bench presses and incline flies.

Of course, the first time I tried the incline
bench, the thing broke -- so I used it as a
flat bench only after that. Like I said, much
of the equipment we bought back then was
pretty poor.

I saw a portable isometric exerciser advertised
In IronMan, and I bought that so I could do
isometrics and gain 2 percent in strength
every week in only six seconds a day, which
is how they advertised isometrics back then.
It didn't work, but it was fun to use. I wish
I still had it.

One of my junior high school coaches let me
borrow an Exergenie device from the school
and use it over the summer. That didn't work,
either, but it was fun. I attached it to a discus
(also borrowed from the school) and practiced
a discus throwing motion against resistance.

I had a doorway chinning bar, and I rigged up
a lat machine with it. I used the sandbag for
weight for the lat machine.

The house was set on a concrete slab, and the
floors were covered with linoleum tiles. I never
thought about putting anything on the floor
when I trained, so there are some dings and
dents in the linoleum. There's even a big
chunk missing from when I dumped a 95
pound squat bar one day. Oops! Sorry, mom!
Sorry, dad!

I haven't seen that house for more than 40
years, but I still remember it -- and I remember
my home gym most of all.

It didn't make me Mr. America -- but it made
me a Dinosaur, and that's what counts.

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 Dumbbell Training and Dinosaur
Bodyweight Training are great for home gym
training:

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

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

P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right here --
including links to all of my Kindle e-books:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the day: "Old iron never
fades away. It stays with us forever." -- Brooks
Kubik

**********************************************************************************

Peary Rader's Lifting News

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Many of us remember Peary Rader's
wonderful Iron man magazine, which
many believe was the best magazine
in the history of the Iron Game.

It was good, but there was something
else that I think was even better.

It was Peary Rader's OTHER magazine -
LIFTING NEWS.

LIFTING NEWS covered Olympic weight-
lifting, powerlifting and serious, old-school,
strength and power training.

Each issue was filled with priceless
information for lifting fans and anyone
else who wanted to learn about strength
and power building.

LIFTING NEWS brought you:

Detailed, in-depth, reports of the big
contests - who won, who placed, who
bombed - and why.

Results from smaller contests. (Hey, did
you know a guy named Kubik won a
powerlifting contest in Arizona some 50
years ago? Was he a relative? I don't
know. But I saw it reported in an old
issue of LIFTING NEWS.)

Great photos. (Let me repeat that -
GREAT photos. Many that you never
saw anywhere else.)

Killer cover photos of the top lifters
in the USA and around the world.

Articles by the top lifters in the world.
(Doug Hepburn wrote some of his very
best articles for LIFTING NEWS.)

Tons of articles on lifting technique,
strength and power programs, and
power rack training. Man-making
stuff. (Peary Rader was a huge fan
of power rack work.)

The problem was, very few issues of
LIFTING NEWS were ever printed -
and today, they're rarer than hen's
teeth.

And if you can find them, they usually
cost an arm and a leg.

But you can read them - fast, easy
and for pennies a day.

John Wood is posting some of his
favorite issues of LIFTING NEWS
at the Iron League.

Go here for further info - and to sign
up for an Iron League membership:

http://www.ironleague.com/

By the way, John has a pretty good
collection of other great stuff - and
it makes the Iron League the Library
of Congress of Strength, as one of
our long-time Dinos aptly called it.

He also has 3 boxes of special stuff
that I just loaned to him to scan and
post - and it includes stuff that is
literally one of a kind. Meaning that
you won't see it anywhere else.

I did that because I really like what
John is doing with the iron league -
and I want to support him as much
as possible.

Anyhow, LIFTING NEWS is back - and
it's a goldmine of strength and power
training.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Here's the link again to join the
Iron League:

http://www.ironleague.com/

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Reading is
important, but you have to know what
to read." - Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************

A New twist on Heavy Support Training

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

If you've read my books and courses, you
know I've had great success with heavy
partial movements in the power rack.

The bottom position bench press and the
bottom position squat were two of the
most effective movements I ever used.

The power rack workouts and training
tips in Dinosaur Training and in Strength,
Muscle and Power helped me build more
strength and muscle mass than I ever
imagined.

They also -- and this is very important --
made my bones, tendons and ligaments
much stronger and thicker.

That's one of the big benefits of power
rack training. It builds you from the
inside out -- meaning that it builds
your bones, tendons and ligaments.

I had great success with power rack
training because I studied and tried
different ways of doing it -- and then
developed a special system that
worked perfectly for me.

Much of it was trial and error. I studied
what worked for other people back in
the day, and I took what seemed to be
the best ideas, and I tried them and
made careful notes of what happened.

That's how all real progress in the Iron
Game has happened.

It's always been one lifter somewhere --
who had an idea -- and who tested it to
see if it worked.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of watching
someone else on a similar journey.

John Wood has been doing a special power
rack program built around a very unique
kind of support training.

He started the program about a year and
a half ago.

It's a new twist on heavy support training --
something different than I've ever seen,
read about or tried.

Let me repeat that.

John is doing something new and different.
It's not the kind of heavy partials I do. It's
not the kind that Joe Hise did -- or that
John Davis or John Grimek did -- or that
Bob Peoples, William Boone or Paul
Anderson did.

It's something new.

But it's been pretty impressive.

John had a DEXA scan before he started the
program, and another one 8 months later.

The second scan showed that he had increased
his bone mass throughout his entire body by
1.5 percent -- which is a huge increase in a
short period of time for a man over age 30.
He also increased his muscle mass by six
percent -- and knocked a few points off his
bodyfat percentage.

Anyhow, John has done a great little video
that shows exactly what he's been doing.
I watched it yesterday. In fact, I was the
first person to see it other than John.

It's very interesting, and it gives you some
great ideas on new ways to train -- and new
ways to build bone mass.

And yes, I'm going to be giving it a try,
starting with my very next workout.

Here's the catch. You can't buy it on DVD.
It's an Iron League exclusive. Meaning that
you need to join the Iron League to see
it.

That's actually a pretty good deal, because
the Iron league has a terrific collection of
other great training materials -- old books,
old magazines, old courses and old articles.
Rare old photos. Stuff you're not going to
find anywhere else.


And now -- the Iron League has the Bone
Strength Project on video.

Check it out. John's new twist on support
work may be just what you're looking
for.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Go here to grab your membership in
the Iron League -- and to learn more about
the Bone Strength Project and how to use
it in your own workouts:

http://www.ironleague.com/

P.S. 2. For more about old-school power
rack training, grab these:

Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength
and Development

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

Strength, Muscle and Power

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

The Dinosaur Training Strength Archive (Vol. 1
includes an all new power rack program)

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

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Stronger bones
mean bigger, stronger muscles." -- Brooks
Kubik

***********************************************************************************

News, Notes, Updates and Questions for Dinosaurs!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I need to cover a bunch of different
topics this morning, so let's get going!

1. The February Dinosaur Files

We just released the February issue of
the Dinosaur Files. Go here to grab it:

February 2016 Dinosaur Files

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_february2016.html

If you missed the December and January
issues, go here to grab them:

January 2016 Dinosaur Files

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_januaryr2016.html

December 2015 Dinosaur Files

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_december2015.html

And, as always, a very big THANK YOU to
everyone who reads and enjoys The
Dinosaur Files! Your support and your
enthusiasm means the world to us.

2. Tommy Kono

As I noted last week, Tommy Kono is
very ill, and may not be with us much
longer. If you'd like to send him a card
or letter to wish him well and to thank
him for everything he has done for the
Iron Game, send it to me and I will
forward it to Tommy.

Mail it to me at this address:

Tommy Kono
c/o Dinosaur Training
PO Box 4426
Louisville, Ky 40204

We've had a terrific response so far --
but please step up and take action if
you have not already done so. I know
it will mean a great deal to Tommy.

3. Follow Me on Instagram, Facebook
and Twitter!

I'm posting some great photos and video
on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Be
sure to follow me and join the fun. And
hit the LIKE and SHARE buttons as much
as you can. (Consider it "active rest" for
your thumbs and fingers.)

I'm on Facebook at Brooks Kubik.

I'm on Twitter at #brookskubik and
#dinosaurtraining.

And I'm right here on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/brooks_kubik/

4. Dinosaur Training DVD's

I still carry my Dinosaur Training DVD's
and my Bodyweight Training DVD's -- but
I've also let John Wood upload them at
his member site, The Iron League. Of course,
there's a ton of other great stuff at The Iron
League  -- including some things that are so
rare that I've never seen them anywhere
else -- or even knew they existed. And that's
saying a lot, because I've been collecting Iron
Game books, courses and magazines for close
to 50 years, and I thought I had "seen it all."
Go here to join up:

http://www.ironleague.com/

5. Dinosaur Training Seminars

Are you interested in attending a Dinosaur
Training seminar here in Louisville?

Are you a gym owner -- and would you like
to host a Dinosaur Training seminar?

If the answer to either question is "Yes!" then
shoot me an email. If there's enough interest,
we can make start doing some seminars this
year.

The Wrap-Up

There's more to cover, but that's enough 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. You can find all of my books and courses
right here at Dino Headquarters:

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

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "The more you
do, the more you CAN do." -- Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************

Squats for Older Dinos?

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Let me give you a quick heads up and then
we'll talk training.

1. A New Reg Park Training Course

My good friend, Bill Hinbern, has released a
new Reg Park training course -- and it looks
GREAT! Go here to grab the little monster:

http://superstrengthtraining.com/secret-of-the-multi-set-system-reg-park

2. The Iron League

I'm letting John Wood load my original
Dinosaur Training DVDs onto The Iron
League -- and he's loaded three of them
so far. Plus, there's a ton of other great
stuff at The Iron League -- with more
being added all the time:

http://www.ironleague.com/

3. The December Dinosaur Files

Is available with immediate electronic
delivery, and it's been getting great
reviews from Dinos around the world.

Go here to grab the little monster:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_december2015.html

4. Squats for Older Dinos?

On the training front, I thought I'd ask
the older Dinos a question -- and see
what sort of feedback we can get from
the Dino Nation.

The question is about squats.

At dinner last night, Trudi raised the
issue. (Yes, we talk about heavy iron
at the dinner table.)

"Do you think it's good for an older
trainee to do heavy back squats?" she
asked. "Or is there too much compression
on the spine?"

I was chewing on a big mouthful of
roasted mastadon, and I didn't answer
immediately.

So Trudi answered her own question.

"I think front squats are better for older
trainees," she said. "They place a lot
less pressure on the spine."

I kept on chewing.

She kept on answering her own question.

"And Trap Bar squats are probably best
of all," she added.

I nodded. Trap Bar squats and deadlifts are
off the charts good for anyone -- but they're
especially good for older Dinos.

I finished chewing the hunk of mastadon.

"Squats might be too hard on the spine
for some older trainees," I said. "But for
others, they might help keep the spine
healthy and strong."

"That's true," she said.

And then she had an idea.

"You should ask your older Dinos what
works best for them. It would be interesting
to see."

So that's what I'm doing.

Are you an older Dino?

Do you do back squats -- or do other exercises
work better for you now?

Shoot me an email and let me know! And
I'll figure out the best way to share the
results with your fellow Dinos! (We might
do it in the January issue of The Dinosaur
Files -- I think it would make a good
article.)

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Here are some great resources for
older Dinos:

a. Start with Gray Hair and Black Iron -- a book
that covers effective training for older Dinos
in detail -- and gives you over 50 different
workouts for older trainees:

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

b. Then try my "Going Strong at 54" DVD:

http://brookskubik.com/goingstrong.html

c. After that, grab my new mini-course for older
Dinos. It's available with immediate electronic
delivery:

http://www.brookskubik.com/minicourse_01.html

d. And last but not least -- each issue of the
Dinosaur Files newsletter covers effective
training for older Dinos -- and gives you
real life, real world workouts used by your
fellow Dinos. It's the stuff no one else ever
covers -- but it's standard fare for the Dino
Files. Be sure to grab each and every issue,
starting with December 2015:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_december2015.html

P.S. 2. "Older trainees may be forgotten everywhere
else. But they're not forgotten here -- and
they never will be!" -- Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************

Bench Press Questions

John Davis completes a heavy jerk at Muscle Beach "back in the day."  Davis always did plenty of heavy bench presses as part of his Olympic lifting workouts.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

For some reason, I've been getting a ton
of bench press questions lately. So let's
cover some of them.

Q. Is it better to pause the bar at your chest,
or use a drop, bounce and rebound so you
can handle more weight?

A.The pause style is better. It's much stricter,
and it's much harder. And if you intend to enter
powerlifting or bench press competition, it's
what you'll be doing in the contest.

The drop, bounce and rebound is a way
of cheating. You can handle more weight,
but it's because you're cheating, not because
you're getting stronger.

Q. What's the best assistance exercise for
the bench press?

There are three movements that are particularly
good.

One is the bottom position bench press in the
power rack. You can do it with the pins set so
the bar is brushing your chest at the bottom
of the movement -- or two inches above the
chest -- or four inches -- or six inches. This
helped my bench press more than anything
I ever did.

Do singles in the bottom position bench press.

The second movement is the close grip bench
press. By close grip, I mean a slightly less
than shoulder width grip. Do sets of five.

The third exercise is the seated press on a
very high incline bench. Do these in the power
rack with the pins set so you can start from the
chest. Do singles.

Upper back work is also very important for
bench pressing. So are heavy curls -- emphasis
on heavy. The back work and the curls help to
balance out the pushing exercises. Don't
neglect them.

Q. I know you were a National bench press
champion and record holder. Can you give me
specific tips on bench pressing technique?

I've done a complete bench press course that
covers this topic in detail. It's available at
John Wood's Iron league site -- along with
tons of other great stuff:

http://www.ironleague.com/

Q. Where can I find a good training program
for powerlifting and the bench press?

I've put together a terrific power rack program
that will be perfect for you. It's in book 1 in
my Dinosaur Training Strength Archive series:
Hard copy

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

Kindle e-book

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurtrainingarchive_kindle01.html

This is NOT a bench press only course -- it's a
complete guide to buiklding all-around strength
and power, but it includes exactly the kind of
bench press work that helped me win five
National championships in the bench press.
If you're looking to build strength and power,
this program will do it.

There are more questions, but we'll have to save
them for another time.

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. I almost forgot. I have more power rack
training tips -- and more about bench press
and powerlifting workouts -- in Strength,
Muscle and Power:

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

P.S. 2. My other books and courses -- and
links to all of my Dinosaur Training e-books --
are right here:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Hard, heavy
and basic." -- Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************

The Christmas Tree Barbell

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Eighteen or nineteen years ago, I did
something new and unusual.

I hired a video company to come over
to my original Dinosaur Dungeon --
the basement gym in my old house --
and film a series of 2 hour "how to do
it" training videos.

This was before cell-phones, before You-
Tube, and before DVD's so it was high-
tech stuff for its time -- even though
the technology is pretty ancient by
now.

We covered old-school dumbbell training,
heavy awkward objects, power rack
training, Olympic lifting basics, and
strength training basics.

I later remastered the videos to DVD,
and we've been selling them at the
Dinosaur Training site for years --
and they've always been very
popular.

The power rack DVD included a special
program that took my push press from
275 pounds to 300 pounds in just
two weeks -- which is pretty good.

I even made a new PR at the end of
the video. And it was such a fun looking
lift that we also included it at the end of
the video on Olympic lifting basics.

It was 302 pounds -- and I made it with
a Christmas Tree Barbell.

No, it wasn't a real Christmas Tree --
but that's the best name for it.

The ceiling in the basement was a little
too low to do overhead lifts with an
Olympic barbell loaded with 45 pound
plates, so I had to use 25's, 10's, and
5's. These were iron plates, not bumper
plates, so the lighter plates were smaller
in diameter. I could use them without
hitting the ceiling.

But I didn't have enough smaller plates
to get me up to 300 pounds.

I ended up adding some one pound
and 1/2 pound plates (the kind used for
micro-loading), and some short lengths
of chain rolled into a loop and then
wrapped with duct tape to keep them
from unrolling.

If memory serves correctly, I had to
tape the small plates and the chains to
the bar to keep them from sliding off.
So the barbell looked like a Christmas
Tree covered with odd-shaped and
mismatched ornaments.

A 302 pound Christmas tree.

It made for a heck of a lift -- and you can
see it right here at The Iron League:

http://www.ironleague.com/

In fact, you can see all five of my old
Dinosaur Training videos at The Iron
League. That's roughly 10 hours of
"how to do it" instruction -- and some
very heavy lifting.

The Iron League is John Wood's new
members only site, and serves as
an on-line archive of terrific strength
training stuff -- and boxing, wrestling
and martial arts stuff -- including many
books, courses and magazines that
are virtually impossible to find any-
where else.

I have a pretty complete library of old
strength training books, magazines and
courses -- but John has things I never
saw before -- and some things I never
even knew existed.

He also has original material from Kim
Wood, Dennis Rogers and others -- and
a special bench press course that I
write for him. It's an Iron League
exclusive.

One of my friends and fellow Iron
Slingers called The Iron League the
"Library of Congress of Strength."
That's a pretty good name for it.

Anyhow, take a look at the video
clip and see what you think about
the Christmas Tree Barbell!

http://www.ironleague.com/

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Thought for the Day: "The more you
know, the more you can do." -- Brooks
Kubik

***********************************************************************************

Revealed -- The Secret of True Strength!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

The secret was revealed in 1925.

That was the year when George F. Jowett
shared his secret with the world.

The secret of true strength.

But, like most secrets, few paid careful
attention. Most ignored it -- or didn't
bother to give it a try -- or forgot about
it.

But a young man from New Jersey read
about the secret, and decided to test
Jowett's special program.

To his surprise, it worked.

Just like George F. Jowett said it would.

In fact, it worked even better than Jowett
had promised.

The young man from New Jersey went on
to win the USA Senior National weightlifting
championship.

He won the prestigious North American
weightlifting championship - not once, but
twice.

He represented the USA in weightlifting at
the Olympic Games.

He set United States records in the Military
Press -- which was an exercise he trained
by using the Jowett method.

He even set unofficial World records in the
Military Press.

And, as you would expect from a human
pressing machine, his shoulder and triceps
development was incredible. In fact, his
muscular devleopment from head to toe
was remarkable.

Which is one reason why he won the Mr.
America contest -- the Mr. Universe contest --
and the Mr. USA contest in a showdown
featuring a score of former Mr. America
winners.

His name was John Grimek -- and he was
hailed as the best developed man of his
era -- and one of the strongest men of his
generation.

And, as I said, he used that Jowett secret.

The secret of true strength.

You can do the very same thing.

My good friend, John Wood, has started a
terrific member site where he is creating
an on-line archive that one reader has
dubbed "the Library of Conress of
Strength." It has a ton of great stuff,
with more being added all the time.

You can sign up for a month to month
membership, or a one year membership.

When you sign up for the ONE YEAR
membership, John will mail you an
introductory package that includes a
special course authored by George
Jowett.

The title of the course is "Ligaments --
The Secret of True Strength."

That's the course that gives you the
secret that John Grimek used with such
spectacular results.

And as an added bonus, John will include
a second course that covers the special
grip workouts used by one of the greatest
strongmen of all time. His name was John
Grun Marx, and he could twist horsehoes
into pretzels -- with his bare hands.

The title of the John Grun Marx course is
"The Grip of Steel." It's a very rare course.
I have never seen a copy of it before --
in fact, I never even knew it existed.

I just got my copies of these two courses,
and I'm really enjoying them -- so I wanted
to give you a heads up about them -- and
about the Iron League. I'm giving the two
courses -- and the Iron League -- two
thumbs up.

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 join the Iron League -- and
remember, if you grab the ONE YEAR
membership, you get the two bonus
courses:

http://www.ironleague.com/

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Knowledge is power,
and the more you learn about strength and power
training, the more strength and power you can
build." -- Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************

Is This the Most Dangerous Exercise?

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

A quick note, and then we'll talk iron.

I'll be cohosting Physical Culture Radio with
Carl Lanore at 12:00 EST today. Catch the
show live or listen to it later on at your
convenience:

http://superhumanradio.com/

Carl has been on vacation, so we haven't
done a show for about two weeks. This
should be a good one.I'm looking forward
to it.

On the training front, let's cover what may
very well be the most dangerous exercise.

Amazingly, it's a very common exercise.

You've probably even seen people do it --
and perhaps YOU do it -- or are thinking
about doing it.

So pull up your chair and pay close
attention.

THE MOST DANGEROUS EXERCISE

Readers often ask about bench pressing
with a thumbless grip.

Does it help?

Can you use more weight?

Should you do it?

In response, I tell them about something
I saw at a powerlifting contest many years
ago.

It was a National Championship meet for
submasters and masters. So it had plenty
of very good, and very experienced lifters.

I remember watching one lifter who was
a National bench press champion and
American record holder in the bench
press. Which obviously means he was
very strong and had been lifting hard
and heavy for a very long time.

On his third attempt, he tried for a new
American record.

He used a thumbless grip.

He lowered the bar slowly and under
control -- paused at the chest -- got the
"Press!" command -- and started to drive
the bar upward.

As he hit the mid-point and started to
pull the bar back toward his head, his
elbows rotated up and his wrists went
back a little -- and the bar rolled right
out of his hands.

There were two experienced spotters, one
on either side of the lifter.

But it happened so fast, they didn't catch
the bar.

It smashed into his chest before anyone
could do anything.

Luckily, he got up and walked away from
it. As far as I could tell, nothing was broken.

But it could have been a very serious
accident.

And if he had been training alone, without
a spotter and without safety racks or a power
rack with bottom pins set to catch the bar
at the bottom, it could have been very
bad. The bar might have ended up on his
throat.

Or on his face.

And neither throat nor face are good places
for a barbell to land.

Nor do you make good progress if you
try training with a broken rib -- or a
severely bruised sternum.

And that's why I suggest that you skip the
thumbless bench press thing. Wrap your
thumbs around the bar, hold onto it, and
control it.

By the way, if you were a member of the
Iron League, you would have known the
answer -- because I cover it in a special
bench press course that I wrote as an
Iron League exclusive.

I did that because I think the Iron League
is a great idea -- and a great value for its
members -- and I'm trying to support it
by providing some exclusive content.

Kim Wood, Dennis Rogers and others are
doing the same thing.

The Iron League also features plenty of
great vintage material that you won't
find anywhere else -- making it (in the
words of one of our fellow Dinosaurs,
"the Library of Congress of strength").

Go here to take a look at what's available:

http://www.ironleague.com/

But to get back to the thumbless grip on
the bench press -- it's a bad idea.

There's a reason why we have thumbs.

It's called "holding onto things."

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. Readers have been asking for the
complete list of all of my Dinosaur Training
e-books on Kindle. Here it is:

http://dinosaurtraining.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-complete-list-as-of-july-13-2015.html

P.S. 2. My hard copy books and courses
(and Dinosaur Training DVDs) are available
at Dinosaur Headquarters:

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

P.S. 3 Thought for the Day: "Train hard and
train heavy -- but always train safe."
-- Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************

An Inside Report -- My Interview with Bill Hinbern

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Last weekend was busy as heck. We travelled to
Cincinati to attend a surprise birthday party for
Hall of Fame coach Kim Wood -- and met a ton
of great people and had loads of fun.

The next day, Bill Hinbern and I sat down at a
table in a hotel conference room and smiled at
a video camera -- and started to talk about
old-school iron.

There was no cameraman -- no technical crew --
no cue cards -- no teleprompter -- no music --
no audience -- and no laugh machine.

It was just two guys who love old-school strength
training and physical culture -- sharing their
combined experience of more than 100 years in
the Iron Game.

We talked for over 90 minutes -- probably close
to two hours.

I haven't listened to the interview, so I'm not
sure what it looks like or how it sounds. We're
going to edit it this week, and put it up on You-
Tube so you can see it. I'll send a link when it's
ready.

I think you're really going to like it -- especially
because Bill Hinbern has tons of great stories to
share -- and almost never does an interview --
and Bill and I have never done an interview
together.  So this is going to be something
very unique, and very special.

Until then, here's some other stuff you might
enjoy:

1. My Interview with Bill Kociaba and Clarence
Bass

Here's part 2 of my recent podcast interview
with Bill Kociaba and Clarence Bass:

http://kociaba-fitness.com/blog_rwf_18_brooks_clarence_2

2. The Iron League

John Wood's new members-only site is getting
better all the time -- with more great stuff being
added faster than you can read or watch it all:

http://www.ironleague.com/

3. Dinosaur Strength Training Secrets, Vol. 3

Vol. 3 in my new series of courses covers some
of the most effective old-school progression systems
that will help you make steady gains without burning
out, going stale or hitting one of those dead-end
sticking points that are so common for most trainees.

It's available in your choice of hard-copy or
Kindle e-book:

Hard-copy edition

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

Kindle e-book edition

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets3_kindle.html

4. The Dinosaur Files Quarterly

The June issue of the Dinosaur Files Quarterly is
being printed even as I type this. We'll put up an order
page sometime in the next 24 hours so you can order
your copy of the little monster.

Beginning with this issue, the Dinosaur Files Quarterly
will be available in both hard-copy and Kindle e-book
editions. The hard-copy edition will be ready first --
the Kindle e-book edition should be ready by this time
next week or perhaps a bit earlier.

I'll keep you posted on the Dinosaur Files in my daily
emails.

Anyhow, you're going to be having tons of great stuff
to watch, read and listen to -- and that means, it's
going to be as GREAT month for the Dinos.

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. For other great books and courses -- and for
my Dinosaur Training DVDs -- go here:

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

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "One of the secrets of
life is to read good books. Another is to do squats.
Very few people do either, and hardly anyone does
both." -- Brooks Kubik

***********************************************************************************