What Social Media Doesn't tell You About Strength Training

There's a very important secret to great gains - and it's something you just don't see on social media.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We'll talk iron in just a minute - but first,
let me cover a few quick updates.

1. The May-June Dinosaur Files

We ran late with the May issue of The Dino-
saur Files strength training newsletter, so we
did a combined May-June issue. It's an extra
big issue, with a ton of great articles -
including:

The Valhalla Challenge

The Deadlift from Hell

The Simplest Bodyweight
Workout in the World

Bob Hoffman's Favorite
Training Program

Go here to grab the little monster:



May-June Dinosaur Files

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-mayjune2018.html

2. Strength-Style Arm Training

I'm doing a new series of courses. Each one of
them gives you a new and different training
program, with detailed instructions on how to
train for maximum results.

The goal is to give you a comprehensive
encyclopedia of old-school, super-
effective workouts.

No. 1 in the series covers Doug Hepburn's
strength-style arm training. It gives you a
complete program with three different work-
outs - plus four printable workout sheets to
keep track of them:

Dinosaur Strength and Power - Course
No. 1

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurstrengthandpower-01.html

3. Dinosaur Tee-Shirts

Many of you have been asking if we carry
Dinosaur Training tee-shirts. We do - but
you need to order them from the Retro-
Strength Shop.

Trudi and I live in a small apartment now -
after selling the house and downsizing when
the kids grew up and moved out - and we
don't have room to keep a big inventory of
shirts here.

Which is why we're offering them at the
Retro-Strength Shop. They do the
printing and the shipping for us. Works
way better - and for overseas Dinos, it's
much, much less expensive - because
they can print shirts in Europe and ship
them for much less than we can do it
from Louisville.

Go here to check out the new Dino shirts -
and all the other great shirts and other
strongman swag:



Dinosaur Training 3/4 sleeve shirt

https://www.retrostrength.com/product/dinosaur-training-cover-3-4-sleeve-raglan-shirt/

The Retro-Strength Shop



https://www.retrostrength.com/shop/

4. The One Workout Fallacy

We seem to be bombarded with images
of strongmen, weightlifters, powerlifters,
MMA pros and other martial artists, body-
builders, wrestlers, football players, and
everyone else who has an I-phone and a
social medium account.

All of them are doing what appears to be
the hardest, heaviest most Herculean
workout in the history of the world -
and many of them are legitimately hard-
core and impressive.

They do everything - hill sprints, running up
stadium stairs, kettlebell swings, log lifts,
tire flips, sledge-hammer smashes, squats,
snatches, clean and jerks, handstand
gymnastics, chains, bands, box jumps,
circus dumbbells, stone lifts, amazing
feats of grip strength and other stuff
that shouts "Strength, Power, Fitness!"
so loud that they can hear it in Outer
Congolia.

It's great stuff - and it fires you up to go
out and train like a madman - and that's
fine, as far as it goes.

But the uber-workouts on social media
can't show one very important thing.

In fact, it's the single MOST important
thing  . . .  and you don't even see it.

It's the day to day, workout to workout,
non-heroic grind of slow, steady, gradual
progression.

You go from 300 pounds to 302 1/2
pounds.

You go from five reps to six reps with a
given weight.

You go from one single with a given weight
to two singles with the same weight - and then
you go from two singles to three singles.

You progress from one set of five reps
with a given weight to three sets of five
reps with the same weight.

You do one more tire flip.

You do one more sprint - or one more
jump - or one more of anything.

You include stabilizing workouts - where
you don't try to progress, but merely stay
where you are and consolidate your gains.

You even do lighter workouts where you
back off and give your mind and body a
much-needed rest from the maximum
intensity stuff.

You do it according to a predetermined,
systematic plan.

You set a goal, work back by 30 percent,
and then plan how to work up to your goal
in slow, steady, manageable increments.

Step by step, little by little, bit by bit.

Pound by pound, rep by rep, set by set.

And the thing is - you stay with it until
you achieve your goal.

Then you set a new goal, drop back, and
work up to it.

And you don't go looking for new things -
or new exercises- or new add-ons - you
focus on what you are doing and you
work relentlessly toward your current
goal.

That's the secret - and it's what you don't
see in the social media videos and selfies,
however inspiring they may otherwise be.

You don't see it because there's no way to
show it - and it would be BORING to watch -
because it's the same thing, over and over,
with very slow and gradual improvements.

So don't look for it on social media. It's just
not there.

But it means everything when it comes to
building strength, power and fitness.

Progression - it's the key to great gains.

Always has been and always will be.

As always, thanks for reading and have a
great day.  If you train today, make it a
good one - and make it part of that long,
slow, gradual march to achieve your goals.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Progression is so important that I
wrote an entire course on it.

It's Vol. 3 in the Dinosaur Training
Secrets series - and it's one of the
best and most useful courses I've
ever offered.

Go here to grab a copy:

Hard-copy and Kindle:

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

PDF

Go to our products page and scroll
down for the list of PDF books and
courses:

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

IMPORTANT -  if you want to grab all three
of my Dinosaur Training Secrets courses, you
can grab them in hard-copy at the Dinosaur
Training website - or as a special three-book
package at the Kindle bookstore - or as a three-
book passage in PDF format at my website.

Three-book set on Kindle:

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



P.S. 2. Thought for the Day

"Inch by inch, rep by rep, pound
by pound."

- Brooks Kubik

Doing New Stuff the Smart Way!

 

The old-school, split style snatch - as performed by World and Olympic champion John Davis. It's a great exercise, but like any new exercise, you need to start light, slow and easy - learn the movement - and develop the necessary flexibility and mobility - before using anything remotely near a heavy weight. 

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes and then we'll talk
iron.

1. Strongman Coffee Mugs

John Wood has some great strongman
coffee mugs at the Retro-Strength
Shop - including some cool new ones
featuring old-school feats of strength:

https://www.retrostrength.com/product-tag/mug/

2. The Dinosaur Files Newsletter

The Dinosaur Files monthly newsletter
has been getting great reviews - and
that's no surprise, because it's the best
darn newsletter out there - covering all
things Dino. Go here to grab the February
issue:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur-files-february2018pdf.html

Also, if you missed the Oct, Nov,
Dec and Jan issues, you can get
them here:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_files.html

I'm working on the March issue right
now, and we'll get it as soon as we
can - and yes, it's going to be another
good one!

Also - if you want a one-year, 12-issue
subscription to The Dinosaur Files. we can
make it happen. Shoot me an email if you
want to grab a subscription.

3. Doing New Stuff the Smart Way

Social media has impacted everything in
life - and that includes strength training.

I've been noticing a common pattern lately.

Someone does a cool looking new exercise
or feat of strength and posts it on social
media.

Other guys and gals give it a try - and post
their own social media reports.

The reports usually go something like this:

"Tried Exercise X for the very first time today. 

Worked up to 400 pounds.

Plan to work up to 500 in the next two weeks.

Really love this new movement!"

And then someone else tries Exercise X - and
also tries to do 400 pounds - and so it goes,
on and on.

Now, there's nothing wrong with trying new
exercises.

It can be one of the best ways to keep your
motivation and enthusiasm as high as
possible.

And it can certainly help stimulate new gains
in strength and muscle mass.

But it can also backfire.

We all forget one very important thing when
we try a new exercise.

No matter how experienced we are, or how
long we've been training, we are beginners
in that particular exercise.

That means that instead of maxing out or
trying to post a big number the first time
we try it, we should go light and take it
easy - and then train it sensibly and pro-
gressively, making slow but steady
progress.

This is particularly true with old-school
exercises that require skill and technique
to perform - such as the bent press, the
side press, the Steinborn lift, the Jefferson
lift, the Arthur lift, or the two-hands
anyhow.

And it's also extra-important for lifts that
tax the tendons or ligaments - such as
finger lifts - or lifts that hit muscle groups
you may never have trained hard before -
such as the Zercher lift, stone lifting, the
bent press, or the Turkish get-up.

It takes time to learn how to do a lift the
right way - and it takes time to strengthen
and toughen up your body to perform a
new lift at a high level - and it takes time
to build tendon and ligament strength.

So give the process the time it needs.

That's actually more fun anyway - because
you enjoy a long period of linear progress
on the new exercise.

Anyhow, that's a tip that can save you a lot
of aches and pains, and perhaps a number
of missed workouts - and it's also a tip that
can help you have lots of fun with new
exercises.

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. There are plenty of great new exercises
in Dinosaur Dumbbell Training - just be sure
start light and easy and work up in weight
gradually and progressively:

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

P.S. 2. My other books and courses are
right here at Dino Headquarters - including
links to my PDF courses and my Kindle
books:

Hard-copy and PDF

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

Kindle

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:

"Have fun with new exercises - but train
them the smart way - with slow, steady,
progression."

- 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 70 Percent Workout

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

(Note: Here's one from a year ago. I
think the message is very important,
so I wanted to share it again. Also,
it's something I do regularly now -
and it'as been working very well for
the past year.)

I had one of my best workouts of the
year last night.

I went out to the garage, warmed up,
got nice and loose, and then did a
series of progressively heavier singles
in the clean and jerk.

I did squat cleans and power jerks.

Long story short, I ended up doing 22
pounds more than I had planned to do.
And I hit my top weight not once, but
twice. Once to lift it -- and the second
time to reenforce the successful lift.
(That's a Tommy Kono trick, and a
good one.) (Note: these were two
singles, not a double.)

And the top weights actually felt light.

My form was perfect through the entire
workout. As the weights got heavier, my
form and speed got better and better.

And there was a reason for this.

The last two workouts before this one
were light workouts. In one of them, I
did snatches to 70 percent of my one rep
max. In the other, I did cleans to 70
percent of my one rep max. In each
workout I did five singles with the 70
percent weight.

I took the light workouts because I had
been training extra hard and heavy, and
I was getting a bit sore and beat up. I
needed a bit of a break from the heavy
training.

And it worked pretty well.

The seventy percent workout is an
excellent idea for older trainees. It's
particularly good for Olympic lifting,
because you can drill form and
technique on the light day. But it
works well for any older trainee,
no matter what exercises you
perform.

You can follow a simple cycling system
similar to those outlined in Gray Hair
and Black Iron, or you can follow the
Light, Medium Heavy system outlined
in Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vols. 1
and 3. There's no one way to do it.

The important thing is to include some
light workouts that allow you to recover
mentally and physically from the harder
and heavier workouts. They'll set the
stage for some great workouts -- just
like they did for me last night!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Go here to grab Gray Hair and Black
Iron:

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

P.S. 2. We also have a great new mini-course
that covers effective training for older Dinos:

http://www.brookskubik.com/minicourse_01.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: "Every step takes
you closer to your destination -- even the little
ones." -- Brooks Kubik

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

Hard Work, Intelligently Applied

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Yesterday's email ended with some good
advice from John Grimek.

Someone asked Grimek the secret of his
success.

"Hard work," said Grimek.

That's a very good answer, and an important
message -- especially for anyone who might
be looking for an "easy" way to build strength
and muscle.

But hard work alone is not the answer.
It has to be "hard work, intelligently
applied."

In other words, you need to train hard but
smart.

The secret of smart training is to follow a
sensible and realistic progression system.
You start relatively light and easy, and
gradually increase the difficulty of your
workouts. The initial workouts help you
lay the foundation for harder and heavier
workouts later on -- and for the gains
that those workouts will bring. But you
can't just jump into the hard and heavy
stuff. You have to build up to it.

This basic principle applies to any kind of
training, and any kind of equipment.

When you put it that way, it sounds self
evident -- and some of you may be
thinking, "I already KNOW that!"
or "Why are we talking about this?"

That's a fair question. Here's the answer.

We're talking about it because most
people are too stubborn to do it. Rather
than start light and easy, and lay the
foundation for big gains down the
road, they jump into a super-demanding
and ultra-intense training program
because they think they can make
super-fast gains that way.

But the gains don't come.

Instead, the over-zealous trainee does
the "Crash and Burn." He over-trains,
goes stale, burns out -- and often injures
himself.

And I'm not just talking about beginners. 
This is a mistake that experienced trainees
often make  when they come back from a
lay-off, or when they start doing a new
exercise or a new program, or when they
decide to go on some sort of special
program.

I've done it -- you've done it -- and John
Grimek did it. Everyone does it.

But you don't have to keep on doing it.

You can start training smarter -- and the
way to do it is to use old-school progression
methods with "slow cooking." Don't try for
overnight results, instant this, big arms in
21 days, 20 pounds of muscle in six weeks,
or adding 100 pounds to your PR in four
short weeks. Take it slow. Slow and steady
is always better.

Remember, there's no such thing as
overnight results in the Iron Game. It
takes time to build serious strength and
muscle mass. That's where the "train
smart" rule comes into play.

In short, make haste slowly. It takes
time, but slow and steady helps you
travel much further -- and people only
remember what you end up doing, NOT
what you did at the start of the journey.

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 old-school progression in this
course -- and I think it's one of the best
and most useful courses I've ever done.
It's available in hard-copy, Kindle or PDF
with immediate digital download:

Hard-copy

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

Kindle e-book

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

PDF with electronic delivery

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaursecrets_vol3_digital.html

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

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

P.S. 3. "It takes time and effort. Don't try to
short-circuit or speed up the process. Give
Mother Nature the time she needs to do her
job." -- Brooks Kubik

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

The 70 Percent Workout

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I had one of my best workouts of the
year last night.

I went out to the garage, warmed up,
got nice and loose, and then did a
series of progressively heavier singles
in the clean and jerk.

I did squat cleans and power jerks.

Long story short, I ended up doing 22
pounds more than I had planned to do.

And I hit my top weight not once, but
twice. Once to lift it -- and the second
time to reenforce the successful lift.
(That's a Tommy Kono trick, and a
good one.) (Note: these were two
singles, not a double.)

And the top weights actually felt light.

My form was perfect through the entire
workout. As the weights got heavier, my
form and speed got better and better.

And there was a reason for this.

The last two workouts before this one
were light workouts. In one of them, I
did snatches to 70 percent of my one rep
max. In the other, I did cleans to 70
percent of my one rep max. In each
workout I did five singles with the 70
percent weight.

I took the light workouts because I had
been training extra hard and heavy, and
I was getting a bit sore and beat up. I
needed a bit of a break from the heavy
training.

And it worked pretty well.

The seventy percent workout is an
excellent idea for older trainees. It's
particularly good for Olympic lifting,
because you can drill form and
technique on the light day. But it
works well for any older trainee,
no matter what exercises you
perform.

You can follow a simple cycling system
similar to those outlined in Gray Hair
and Black Iron, or you can follow the
Light, Medium Heavy system outlined
in Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vols. 1
and 3. There's no one way to do it.

The important thing is to include some
light workouts that allow you to recover
mentally and physically from the harder
and heavier workouts. They'll set the
stage for some great workouts -- just
like they did for me last night!


Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Go here to grab Gray Hair and Black
Iron:

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

P.S. 2. We also have a great new mini-course
that covers effective training for older Dinos:

http://www.brookskubik.com/minicourse_01.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: "Every step takes
you closer to your destination -- even the little
ones." -- Brooks Kubik


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

Real Results Take Time!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Like every human being, dog, cat, hamster, gerbil,
goldfish, parrot and parakeet, I have a Facebook
page.

So without looking for it, I see all sorts of crazy
training stuff in my Facebook feed.

One of the current trends is the video of a trainee
hitting a new PR in the squat, deadlift, clean and
jerk or whatever.

There's usually a note that proudly proclaims that
"Sally Smith just made an awesome 15 kilo jump
and a new PR in the squat" -- or "Johnny Jones
upped his PR in the deadlift by 20 pounds!"

Now, I'm glad that Sally is doing squats -- and I'm
glad that Johnny is doing deadlifts.

And I'm glad they're adding weight to the bar.

And I'm glad they're excited about their training.

So far so good.

But, here's the problem.

Those big jumps are unsustainable.

You can do them for a couple of workouts, but you
can't do them forever. Very soon, you're going to
run right into a brick wall. Dead end street. No more
Gainsville. Toto, we're not in Kansas any more.
It's much better to add weight to the bar at a slower
and more manageable pace. It builds more strength
and more muscle when you do it that way -- and it
builds more confidence -- and it lays the foundation
for much better over-all results.

In other words, slower works better.

And this is nothing new. It's an idea that's been
around for a very long time.

Back in the day, the York courses taught single
progression and double progression.

In both systems, you added reps until you had
doubled your initial rep count -- and then you
added weight and dropped back to the original
number of reps and repeated the process.

In single progression, you added one rep every
workout. In other words, you always did a little
bit more in every single workout.

In double progression, you added one rep every
second workout. Thus, you would do a little bit
more, then repeat that workout, then do a little
bit more, and then repeat that workout, etc.

Double progression was slower. It took twice as
many workouts before you would add weight to
the bar.

Was that a problem?

No, not at all.

In fact, for MANY trainees, double progression was
better because it allowed them to build a much
better foundation for future gains. The "slow cooking"
approach gave plenty of time for the internal changes
that build strength and muscle -- such as an
improved digestive system, better circulation,
stronger nerve impulses, better assimilation of
food, increased appetite, and an increase in the
hormonal activity that supports growth.

That was true back in the 1930's and 1940's --
and it's just as true today.

Yes, I know we live in a world of instant gratification.

We all want it RIGHT NOW.

But patience is a virtue -- and in the Iron Game,
it's also a necessity.

Make haste slowly. You'll be glad you did.

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. Chalk and Sweat will take you from beginner to
advanced with a series of progressively heavier and
more demanding workouts -- without wasting any
valuable training time on second rate programs:

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

P.S. 2. Support your muscle building and strength
training workouts with the right kind of diet and
nutrition -- the kind I teach in Knife, Fork, Muscle:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_nutrition.html

P.S. 3. My other books and courses -- and Dinosaur
Training DVD's -- are right here:

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

P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "Slow and steady wins
the race, and slow and steady lifts the iron."
-- Brooks Kubik

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

Steak, Salad and Iron -- and Birthday Candles!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

It's my birthday today. I'm an
official age 56 -- as opposed to
age 56 in weightlifting years,
which is what I've been ever
since January 1.

And how, you might ask, will I
be celebrating the day?

Well, the schedule looks something
like this:

1. Send email to the Dinos.

2. Hit a hard workout in the garage,
a/k/a The Dino Dungeon.

3. Steak and salad for dinner.

3a. Large steak. Grilled rare.

That doesn't sound too terribly
different from any other workout
day -- but I'm looking forward to
it.

Especially the workout.

Today's going to be a solid technique
today. I'll be working on the squat
style snatch -- starting with a broom-
stick, progressing to an empty bar --
and then gradually adding weight to the
bar and working up to perhaps 70 percent
of my one rep max.

I'll spend about an hour on the lifting
drills, followed by half an hour of
specialized stretching to help loosen
the joints and un-knot the tight spots.

That's how I'll earn the steak dinner.

The drilling and stretching is part of
an intensive program to develop perfect
form in the squat style snatch.

I'll combine it with specialized work on
the squat style clean and jerk (using the
split style jerk).

I've been working the lifts very hard
this year, and I've improved them
greatly -- but now it's time to take
them to the next level.

At my age, the squat style lifts are a
challenge. I should have learned them
when I was a teenager. Or at least when
was in my twenties. But, as they say,
better late than never.

And after all, 56 isn't that old. Isn't
70 the new 40?

Besides, if it were easy, why bother?

Anyhow, that's the report from Dino
headquarters. 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. Today's a great day to order a book
or course from Dino Headquarters -- and/or
a Dinosaur Training t-shirt, or hoodie --
or one of my Dino DVD's:

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

P.S. 2. Thought for the Day: "Stretching your
body keeps you young, but stretching your
limits keeps you younger." -- Brooks Kubik

The Pause that Builds Strength!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

There used to be a soft drink
commercial talking about "the
pause that refreshes."

I'm going to share something
better. I'm going to tell you
about the pause that builds
strength.

it's a little tip I got from
Greg Everett, the coach at
Catalyst Athletics. Check out
his books and DVD's -- and the
workouts he posts of lifters
from Catalyst Athletics hitting
it hard and heavy. Good stuff.

Anyhow, the pause that builds
strength goes like this.

Yesterday, I did a heavy workout
where I focused on squat snatches.
After my warm-ups, I did 70 percent
of my one rep max for 5 singles,
80 percent for 5 singles, and 90
percent for 5 singles.

The goal was to do each lift in
perfect form -- and to hit the low
position of the squat snatch -- and
to control the weight from start to
finish on each lift. I was working
for technical mastery.

The low position of the squat snatch
is tough for an older lifter. You need
to be PDF (pretty darn flexible), and
that's hard when you're 50 or older.

So here's what I did.

On every lift, I hit the low position
and sat there for a second or two before
standing up with the weight.

Remember, that's a full squat -- ATP
(Donkey to Platform) -- with the bar
at arm's length overhead.

It's a tough position -- and your
natural tendency is to stand up with
the weight as fast as possible. But
I wanted to master the low position.
I wanted to make it feel like home.
I wanted to own it. And I wanted to
strengthen all the muscles, tendons
and ligaments that help me hold the
bar overhead when I'm in a deep squat.

After I stood up with the weight, I
paused in the finish position and held
the weight overhead for a second or two
before dropping it to the platform.
That was to give the supporting
muscles a bit more work.

It wasn't just training. It was training
to master the weight. And you can't
imagine how effective it was.

You can do the same sort of thing on a
wide variety of exercises. Standing presses,
for example. Press the weight, and pause for
a second or two with the bar overhead.

Deadlift the weight and stand for a second
or two in the finish position.

Squat the weight and stand tall with it
for a second or two.

Note: Do NOT pause at the bottom position
of the squat or deadlift unless you have
perfect form and have built some serious
strength in the movement. Pausing at the
bottom requires perfect form, so it's
for advanced trainees, not for beginners
or intermediates!

Anyhow, I'm sore today -- and it feels
PDG (pretty darn good).

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 books and courses are right here:

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

P.S. 2. Here's a link to the Catalyst
Athletics site:

http://www.catalystathletics.com/

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Don't just
lift the weight. Master the weight."
-- Brooks Kubik