The January Dinosaur Files Has Landed!

 

Old-school retro snatches at Dino Headquarters - where we just released the January issue of the Dinosaur Files newsletter!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We've had a little bit of January craziness here
at Dino Headquarters - meaning that the January
issue of The Dinosaur Files is a little later than I
had intended - but HERE IT IS!

This issue of The Dinosaur Files includes two
terrific workouts.

One is a kettlebell workout followed by one of
our longtime Dinos - who uses it to supplement
his martial arts training. It's a very good workout.

If you prefer dumbbells to kettlebells, you'll be
glad to know that you can use dumbbells just
as easily as kettlebells for this program.

The second workout is a special program for
adding some muscle mass fast and easily.

It's a simple but very effective program - and
one that I have recommended to many Dinos
over the years. I think you'll like it.

Of course, there are plenty of other useful
nuggets of training information in this
month's issue.

Go here to grab the little monster in PDF
format:

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

The PDF is printable, so if you prefer to
have a printed copy of The Dinosaur Files,
all you need to do is grab the PDF and
print it out.

By the way, if you prefer a one-year, 12-issue
subscription, we can make that happen - just
shoot me an email and we'll get you set up.

And, of course - be sure to let me know
how you enjoy this month's issue of the
best little training publication on the
planet.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

More Proof that Dino Training Works!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. The Dino Files

Go here to take a peek at the cover of the
August-September Dino Files - and to look
at the table of contents - and to grab a copy
of the little monster:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_augustseptember2016.html

It's one of our best issues ever, and it's
been getting great reviews and terrific
feedback from readers.

2. More Proof that Dino Training Works

Just got this email from Ruiseart Alcorn, a
soon to be 58-year old Dino. It's in response
to yesterday's question about how to help
younger trainees ditch the silly stuff in the
muscle mags and start training hard, heavy
and sensible. It also gives us plenty of proof
that Dino Training works - at any age:

Hallo Brooks,

I have an almost equally frustrating time
when trying to explain to people how I train.
Young people think "more is better" and prefer
to follow the advice of steroid riddled idiots,
and sadly many older people prefer to
pedal aimlessly on exercise bikes because
they're "too old to lift weights." Aaaaaargh!

I am almost 58 and have been steadily gaining
on two main training days per week plus some
light stuff every morning.

I use two heavy kettlebells for all exercises,
and keep my reps low.

On Tuesdays i do 5 sets of clean and press,
and 5 sets of deadlift.

On Saturdays I do 5 sets of front squats, 5
sets of floor press and 5 sets of bent rows.

At the end of each workout I do 5 x 30
second sprint intervals (on the spot), and
five minutes of walking around the room
to warm down.

Each workout takes about 60 minutes in
total.

In addition to this, each morning upon
rising, I do 2 sets of clean-squat-press
with two light kettlebells (24 kg each). I
don't think of this as a workout as such -
it barely takes 5 minutes, and is really
more of a neuro-muscular practice
session. However, it wakes me up and
sets the pace for the day.

I also walk every day and practice martial
arts.

Whenever I explain my approach to training
to people, it goes in one ear and out the
other. Young folk think it's not possible to
gain on such a minimalist routine, whilst
older people think I'm nuts for "lifting so
much weight."

So, what's the answer?

It's simple - we just keep on doing what
we're doing. We've been doing it for
hundreds of years, and we'll keep on
doing it. Fads and shiny machines come
and go, but DINOS ARE FOREVER!

Hey, that sounds like a good title for a
movie,

Keep on liftin',

Ruiseart

Thanks, Ruiseart - that was well said, and
it really ties everything together. You've
told us what we all need to do:

Keep on doing what we're doing!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. It's incredibly valuable to see what your
fellow Dinosaurs are doing - and to learn
first hand what really works when it comes
to building and maintaining lifelong strength
and health. That's why I publish the Dino
Files - and why you should be sure to read
each and every issue:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_augustseptember2016.html

P.S. 2. Gray Hair and Black Iron is the no. 1
resource for older Dinos:

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

P.S. 3. My other books and courses - and back
issues of The Dino Files - as well as links to my
Kindle books - are right here:

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

P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "Life is as real as
you make it. So is your training." - Brooks Kubik

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

Answers to Your Training Questions!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Let's pull out the Dinosaur Mail bag and
answer some questions from Dinos.

Q. Can I combine barbell training with
kettlebell exercises?

A. Of course. Just be careful not to
overdo things.

For example . . . 

Barbell training 3x per week and 2 or 3
days of kettlebell work on your "off"
days would be overdoing for most people.
Some of the young Dinos out there might
get away with it for awhile -- but for
most readers, it would be way too much
work.

A better approach is to follow a 3
day per week program  using Dino-style
abbreviated workouts, and replacing some
barbell exercises with kettlebell
exercises.

Q. Can I do deadlifts one week and barbell
bent-over rowing the next week?

A. Sure. Several top powerlifters have
followed similar programs in the past. It
gives your back extra time to recover from
those heavy deadlift sessions.

Q. I've heard you can only digest about 30
grams of protein at any one meal, so you
should space things out and eat six or
seven meals a day. Is that true?

A. The human body didn't evolve to eat that
way. Our ancestors ate until they were full
whenever food was available. So the human
body can certainly handle big meals.

Also, if you're training hard -- meaning
lots of stand on your feet training, with
plenty of squatting, pushing and pulling --
then you'll need lots of protein AND you'll
digest it just fine.

So three meals a day will work fine.

Of course, some people prefer to eat
smaller meals more frequently -- if you
fall into that group, then go for it.

Those are just some of the many questions
that came in during the past couple of
days. I'll cover more questions from
readers in future emails. Be looking
for 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. Lots of readers ask about old-school
dumbbell training. Here's something to
answer your questions:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html

P.S. 2. My other books and courses are
right here:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Begin with the
question, not the answer." -- Brooks Kubik

Check Out this Training Program!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Here's an email message from Peter
Calicchio, asking about an abbreviated
workout he plans to try: 

"Hello Brooks,

How does this look as a minimalist or
abbreviated program?

Mon - Barbell Squats, Weighted Pullups

Wed - Kettlebell Clean & Press, Kettlebell
Front Squats

Fri - Barbell Deadlifts, Barbell Standing
Military Press

I'm gonna do 3x5 Reg Park style with 2 "warm
up" sets. Though I love the Barbell Flat
Bench and Weighted Dips Im giving them up
so I can stay in the iron game as long as
possible."

Hi Peter,

That program looks fine. You should make
great gains on it.

A couple of small tweaks:

1. Don't be wed to 5 x 5 and don't be wed
to two warm-up sets and three working sets.

You often need more than two progressively
heavier warm-up sets for squats and deads,
and if you do, make it 6 x 5 or 7 x 5 or
8 x 5.

2. On Friday, do the military press before
the deadlifts -- you want your lower back
as strong and stable as possible for the
presses. They won't work as well if you do
them after the deadlifts.

3. For those who prefer dumbbells, make
Wed. an all dumbbell day -- see Dinosaur
Dumbbell Training for some exercise ideas.

This program would work well if you combined
it with the Paschall pause which I have
covered in previous email messages.

Overall, though, as noted, it's a good
program and will give good results. Thanks
for sharing it!

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 cover 50 hard-hitting Dino style
abbreviated workouts in Chalk and Sweat:

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

P.S. 2. I mentioned Dinosaur Dumbbell Training
in today's email. Here's more about it:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html

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

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

P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "It takes time
and effort, but it's worth it." -- Brooks Kubik

Swing Your Way to Strength and Power!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We'll talk training in a minute,
but first of all, I want to give
a big shout out to Peter Bolsius.

Peter is a long-time Dino and has
written some great articles for
the Dino Files newsletter. He
even made the cover of one issue.

And now, he has achieved a life-
long dream. He's opening a Dino
style gym in Sydney, Australia.
The grand opening for Mojo Strength
is 2:00 to 5:00 on Saturday, Aug
4. The gym is at 589 Bunnerong Rd
Matraville. If you live anywhere
near, go over and check it out.

Opening your own gym -- especially
a Dino style gym -- is a pretty
good thing to do. The world needs
more good gyms. So kudos to Peter
for getting it done!

On the training front, Bill Kociaba
sent in a very interesting workout
report that I want to share with
you. Bill is about my age. I'm 55
and I think he's 54. So he's been
training for a long time -- but you
can always learn something new, no
matter how long you've been training,
and Bill learned something new and
valuable in his last workout.

Bill writes:

"I know infrequent workouts with lots
of recovery time are the way to go for
strength increases, but what just
takes infrequent to a new level.

As I mentioned to you a bit earlier,
I have really been getting into
kettlebells for the past couple
of months.

Today, my right forearm and elbow
were bothering me, so I decided to
skip the kettlebell work and do Trap
Bar deadlifts, which I have not done
since early May.

In that workout (last May), I did
272 x 3, with no belt. (I have stopped
using a belt.)

Anyhow, I pulled 270 today, and it felt
like nothing, so i tried 290 for an easy
double, then 302 for an easy single, and
finally 312 for a not so easy but still
solid rep.

That was 40 pounds more than I had ever
pulled without a belt, and the most I
have pulled in probably 20 years. Pretty
amazing considering I haven't had anything
heavier than a 70 pound kettlebell in my
hands in the past two months!

I think the full body movements like the
swings and snatches had a lot to do with
the increase. I just felt more solid and
the reps moved smoother and faster.
   
I'm going to put the TBDL back in maybe
every second or third week and see how it
goes.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Bill Kociaba"

Thanks for the report, Bill! Your experience
with kettlebell work is similar to my own
experience with Dino style dumbbell training
lots of dumbbell swings, cleans and snatches).
They have tremendous carry-over effect for
deadlifts and Trap Bar deadlifts.

BTW, Herman Goerner used to do lots and lots
of dumbbell and kettlebell swings -- and he
was the greatest deadlifter of his generation.

I like your plan of using the kettlebells
for swings and snatches, and doing the TBDL
every two or three weeks. Keep us posted on
your training and your progress!

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. Dino style dumbbell training will
make you strong, fast and powerful! Learn
it all in my new book, DINOSAUR DUMBBELL
TRAINING:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.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: "You'll have many
workouts during your life, but the most important
workout is the one you have today. Make the most
of it." -- Brooks Kubik

Barbells, Dumbbells and Kettlebells!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I was reading an old weightlifting book
at breakfast this morning.

It described all of the official lifts
used in competition in the B.A.W.L.A.
(the British Amateur Weightlifting
Association) going back prior to World
War One. It included barbell lifts,
dumbbell lifts, and kettlebell or
ring-weight lifts. It also included
special developmental exercises to
be used to build strength and power
for performing the competition lifts.

And I noted something interesting.

Some of the lifts and exercises were
performed with a barbell.

Some of them were performed with a
a single dumbbell.

Some of them required two dumbbells.

Several required dumbbells loaded so that
the back end was heavier than the front
end.

Some of them required a single kettlebell
or a single ring-weight.

Others required two kettlebells or ring-
weights.

And others required a barbell PLUS a
dumbbell -- or a barbell PLUS a kettlebell
or ring-weight -- or a dumbbell PLUS a
kettlebell or ring-weight.

That's interesting in many respects.

For one thing, it gives you a good idea
of the proper answer to the question,
"Which is better -- barbells or dumbbells?"

Or, the one you hear more often nowadays,
"Which is better -- barbells or kettlebells?"

Or, "Dumbbells or kettlebells -- which is
better?"

In the old days, they didn't ask those sorts
of questions. Instead, they trained with all
three -- and in some exercises or lifts, they
used two different lifting tools (e.g., a
barbell and a kettlebell) at the same time.

It was a good way of training. There was
plenty of variety, but everything you did
was old-school, hard core, basic and
productive.

And all it required was a barbell -- a set of
dumbbells -- and some kettlebells.

That made a pretty good little gym "back in
the day" -- and it makes a pretty good little
gym today!

BTW, if you're wondering what book I was
reading and where to get a copy, go here:

http://www.superstrengthtraining.com/william_pullum.html

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. The one hand swing is one of my favorite
old-school lifts. It builds strength, muscle,
speed and explosive power -- and it's tons of
fun! You can learn how to do it on my DVD,
The Lost Art of Heavy Dumbbell Training:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dvds.html

P.S. 2. My books and courses -- including Black
Iron: The John Davis Story and the Legacy of
Iron series -- are right here:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Nothing beats
hard work intelligently applied. Nothing."
-- Brooks Kubik

The Man Who Hated Kettlebells

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

IMPORTANT! If you're a kettlebell fan,
bear with me. Today's message will make
you chuckle, not cringe.

Yesterday, I met a man who hates kettlebells.
Here's how it happened.

I was waiting for the Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training books to arrive. They were being
shipped to me by UPS Ground. There were many
of them -- as in lots and lots of them. Many
boxes of books at 25 or 30 pounds per box.

Now, the books were being shipped to the house,
and we live on a hill, and there's something like
40 steps from the street to the the front door.

So I made a sign and set it down by the first
step by the street, and told the UPS guy to
give me a call when he arrived.

At 12:00 sharp, the phone rang. It was the UPS
guy.

"This is UPS. I have your delivery. You said to
call."

"Right," I answered. "Don't move. I'll be right
down."

When I reached the street, I could see that he
looked worried.

"Wow, that's a lot of steps," he said.

"Lotta boxes, too," I noted.

He looked glum.

"Yeah."

"Well, I got a deal for you," I said. "How about
we off load the boxes and stack them up right
here -- and then I carry them up to the house?"

You should have seen the look on his face. It
was like a little kid on Christmas morning.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Absolutely!"

"Will you be okay doing it alone? That's a lot to
carry!"

"I write books about strength training and physical
fitness," I told him. "That's what's in the boxes.
If I can't carry them up to the house, I don't
deserve to write about them."

"Well, in that case -- yeah, let's do it your way."

So we started to unload the boxes and pile them up
by the side of the street. We talked as we did so,
and I told him about Dinosaur Training and heavy,
awkward objects and lugging and loading drills,
and the farmer's walk and heavy dumbbells and all
kinds of fun stuff.

"What about kettlebells?" he asked.

"I don't use them, but I know a lot of guys who
really like them."

"Well, I hate them!"

Actually, he said more than that, but I don't
include that kind of language in my emails.

"Why do you hate them?" I asked.

I wondered if he had dropped one on his foot or
something.

"Because I had to deliver a while truck load to
a guy who runs a personal training business out
of his house!"

The nickle dropped. I nodded.

"He didn't help you carry them, did he?"

He shook his head.

"No one was home. I had to do it all by myself.
Those things are heavy, too!"

So that's the story of the man who hated
kettlebells. And it's the story of how the
first big shipment of Dinosaur Bodyweight
Training books arrived at Dino Headquarters.

By the way, the books look great -- if you
already ordered a copy, you're going to be
very happy when you see it -- which won't be
long, because get this -- we got almost all
of the pre-publication orders out the door
and into the mail yesterday. Yes, Trudi does
good work with shipping and handling.

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 grab Dinosaur Bodyweight Training
here:

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

P.S. 2. My other books and courses -- Dinosaur Training
t-shirts, muscle shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts -- the
Dinosaur Files newsletter -- the Legacy of Iron books --
and the world-famous Dinosaur Training DVD's -- are
right here:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "I can't make you strong --
but I can teach YOU how to make yourself strong!" --
Brooks Kubik