Spartan Is Best

World and Olympic champion John Davis spent much of his career training alone in the basement of a neighborhood church in Brooklyn - but he became one of the greatest lifters of all time!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. Old Strength Magazines for
Sale

I'm selling tons of old strength magazines,
including the vintage magazines on these
two lists:

Strength and Health Mags

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

Lifting News

https://dinosaurtraining.blogspot.com/2018/12/brooks-kubiks-strength-training.html

These are great mags, with tons of photos
of old-time champions - and articles on how
they trained. Good stuff, and darn near
impossible to find anywhere else.

2. The November Dino Files

Is available right here in PDF format:

Nov. Dino Files

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

It's a great issue - with an excellent
article by one of our long time Dinos,
detailing a new workout he used to
gain (get this) 25 pounds of muscle
in just a couple of months.

Meanwhile, I'm finishing up the
December issue - and it's looking
like another good one! Be looking
for it soon.

3. Spartan Is Best!

On the training front, let's talk about true
Spartan training -- and I don't mean the
so-called "300 workout" they did for the
movie.

There's a great book by Daniel Coyle called
"The Little Book of Talent." It contains 52
rules for improving your performance in
sports, business, job, school, or anything
else.

Coyle studied top performers in a wide
range of disciplines, and found a number
of similarities between the top performers.

They tended to do certain things in the
same ways.

One thing he noted about many highly
skilled, top performers was that they
trained in spartan quarters -- particularly
when they were climbing the ladder.

For example, a top tennis school might
have the future stars of the sport playing
on courts with cracks in them and grass
or weeds pushing up here and there.

A top ski school might look like a 1950s era
scout camp, with the future greats living in
very simple, almost primitive log cabins.

A top high school might have the smartest
kids on the planet studying in what looks
more or less like an old army barracks.

And I'm not making these up. They're real
life examples from Coyle's book.

In contrast, many "fancy" facilities didn't
have a very good track record when it
came to creating successful performers.

The parallel to effective strength training is
obvious. The so-called "fitness" industry
pushes high-tech training in opulent "gyms"
featuring lots of chrome, mirrors, fancy lighting,
air conditioning, aromatherapy, piped in music,
cardio theater, big screen plasma tv's, espresso
bars, donuts, pizza delivery, and row after row
of plushly padded machines.

Soft and gentle is the mantra of the day.

Spartan it is not.

It's the furthest thing in the world from
Spartan.

And that's one of the big reasons why the
Chrome and Fern Pleasure Palace Gyms
don't deliver.

They're too fancy. Too nice. Too pretty.

And fancy, nice and pretty don't work in the
Iron Game.

They never have - and they never will.

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 Training started a back to
basics, strength training revolution when
I published it back in 1996 - and it's
been going strong ever since:

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

"The best leaders live simple lives. So
do the best lifters." 

-- Brooks Kubik

Before You Leave - Check These Out! 

Brooks Kubik's Kindle Books

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

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

 
For even more Kindle books by Brooks Kubik, visit:

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

Breaking News - Here's A Great Chance to Grab Some Old School Iron!

John Grimek admiring some very old and famous iron in the Weightlifting Museum in York, Pa.The equipment in the photo isn't available - but there are some other terrific pieces of old iron that could be yours - but only if you act fast! Read the post (below) for details.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

One of our longtime Dinos passed away this
year - which hits me hard, because he bought
Dinosaur Training way back in 1996, and has
been one of the Dinosaur Elite ever since.

He had a terrific home gym with tons (literally)
of old iron.

Plenty of old York plates.

Billiard plates.

Weider plates.

Other assorted plates.

Note: I'm talking old iron plates sized to fit a
1 1/16 inch bar - NOT rubber bumper plates.

They range in size from 1 1/4 pounders to
100 pounders.

Barbells.

Dumbbells.

A pair of York iron boots.

Grippers.

Homemade bars and other homemade training
tools.

An old York curling stand.

Ankle weights.

Wrist rollers.

Old pipe, chain, and other items to use to make
your own personalized equipment if you're handy
with tools or have a friendly neighborhood welder
or machinist to help you.

And much more.

In other words, all kinds of great stuff.

Now, here's where it gets interesting - especially
for those of you anywhere close to Prince George's
County, Maryland.

You see, our Dino had a nephew named Greg.

He gave him a copy of Dinosaur Training many
years ago, and Greg's been training Dino-style
for a long time himself.

After his Uncle passed away, Greg grabbed all the
old equipment he could use - but he can't use all
of it - and he wants it to go to people who will use
and appreciate it.

So he asked me if I would spread the word to the
Dino Nation.

He's selling all of it - literally tons of wonderful
old iron - and all of the proceeds will go into the
estate.

All reasonable offers from people who will actually
use the equipment will be considered - but, of course,
it's on a first come, first served basis - and all offers
have to be reasonable offers.

Here's a Google Spreadsheet with the inventory:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HLS8OUfpUyl03R4iFiyMY75zEaZQOeBWWC5nclgToa4

Here are some pictures:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WMSjRYWJ6Cgk6SFe7

And here's how to reach Greg by email if you want to
buy some of the equipment:

weightsfordinos@gmail.com

If you want something, you need to contact Greg
by email asap - and arrange a time to meet him
and pick up the equipment - which is currently in
Prince George's Co., Maryland.

You'll need to be able to carry it out of the
basement, up the stairs, and into your vehicle.

Again, just to be clear:

1. This equipment is for sale - on a first come first
served basis - and Greg will consider all reasonable
offers for any available equipment.

2. Contact Greg to make an offer for anything
you see that interests you.

3. Don't contact me - I'm just putting out the
word.

I want to thank Greg for doing this - and for
giving some of you the opportunity to grab
some great old iron - and I know that Greg's
Uncle is looking down right now from that Big
Gym in the Sky - and that he, Grimek, Stanko,
Bob Hoffman and the rest of the York Gang
are pretty darn happy to see the old iron going
to good homes.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

As always, thanks for reading - and have a great day!

How the Old-Timers Trained

Check out some of the great old-school equipment in Harry Shafran's gym - shown here in a great photo from John Wood's Oldtime Strongman site. For more great photos of old-time strongmen and equipment, visit: https://www.oldtimestrongman.com

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes and then we'll talk iron.

1. John Grimek Shirts - and More!

John Wood's Magic Shirt Shop for Iron
Slingers (my name for it, not his) has
some great looking John Grimek shirts -
including the one shown above - and
lots of other fun swag for fans of
old-school strength training and
old-time strongmen.

Go here to check them out:

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

John also has a bunch of other great
shirts - and other fun stuff, including
hoodies, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and
posters. Sprint on over and take a
look.

2. Email Issues

Long story short, some tech company
mergers and related cyber stuff has
affected email deliverability.

So my daily emails may not always
get through to you.

For that reason - please do this as a
back-up.

Join the Strength Secrets Facebook
Group on Facebook - as well as the
Brooks Kubik - Dinosaur Training
Facebook Group:

Strength Secrets

https://www.facebook.com/groups/strengthsecrets/

Brooks Kubik - Dinosaur Training

https://www.facebook.com/groups/85968831897/

I post all of my daily emails at the
Dinosaur Training Blog - and then
link to them in posts in the Strength
Secrets Facebook Group and the
Dinosaur Training - Brooks Kubik
Facebook Group.

So this is a great way to stay up to
date with everything that's happening
at Dino Headquarters - and to make
sure you never miss a daily email
from me.

3. Training With Old Time Barbells

As I mentioned yesterday, old time barbells
were not mass produced.

They were one of a kind pieces made by
local foundries.

They came in all different shapes and
thicknesses.

Many of them were solid pieces of iron -
meaning that they were not adjustable.

So how do you train with that kind of
barbell?

I asked that question, and many of you
responded.

There were two primary suggestions.

A. Use chains to add weight.

That's a good idea, except the old time
barbells ended with a globe on each -
with no bar extending past the globe -
so there was no place to hang a chain
at each end.

So chains wouldn't have worked on
many older bells.

Plus, you couldn't use them for most
overhead lifts because the chains
would hit you in the face.

B. Increase Reps, Not Weight.

That's the obvious strategy - and it
works great if you have several fixed
weight barbells of reasonably close
weights.

And many old-timers did train this way -
by increasing reps gradually and slowly,
and tackling a heavier barbell after they
were handling the lighter one for 10, 20
or more reps.

But it doesn't work very well if you have
two or three barbells with big weight
jumps from one to the other.

If you have a 42 pound barbell, a 91
pound barbell and a 147 pound barbell,
it's going to be very tough to advance
from one to the other no matter how
many reps you do with the lighter
barbell. The jumps are just too big.

C. So what's the answer?

I think it's this:

You figure out everything you can do
with each different barbell or dumbbell
(or ring-weight or kettlebell or anything
else) that's available to you.

You include both two hand and single
hand exercises.

You do weightlifting movements with
one or two hands.

You use over grips, under grips and
reverse grips.

You do one legged and two legged
squats.

You do back squats, front squats,
overhead squats and hack squats.

You do flat-footed squats and squats
on your toes.

You do straddle lifts.

You do one arm overhead squats.

You do deadlifts and rowing.

You do presses, push presses and jerks.

You do curls and reverse curls.

And you also do leverage movements
such as the crucifix - the rectangular
fix - the barbell front raise - lateral
raises, and many more.

You do exercises where you carry the
weights - such as the farmer's walk.

You see how long you can hold the
weight in a given position.

You do exercises that allow you to use
two or more pieces of equipment at the
same time - such as a combination barbell
lift with one hand and dumbbell lift with
the other hand.

You supplement your barbell training
with bodyweight exercises, gymnastics,
handstands, handstand push-ups, chins,
pull-ups, dips, jumping and sprinting.

You use different rep counts for different
exercises - and do more reps for the easier
exercises and fewer reps for the harder
ones.

In other words, you become very, very
creative.

You learn many different lifts and many
different exercises.

You become good at heavy single rep
lifts - and you also become good at
doubles, triples, fives, sets of 10, and
sets of 20, 40 or 50 reps for leg work.

In short, you become a very well-rounded
strongman.

And frankly, that's a pretty good way to
train - and a pretty good result!

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 more about old time strongmen
and how they trained, grab these books:

Dinosaur Dumbbell Training

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

Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength and
Development

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

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

Hard-copy and PDF

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

Kindle

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:

"Necessity is the mother of invention - and a
guide to many fun and effective exercises and
workouts."

- Brooks Kubik

Brooks Kubik's Kindle Books

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

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

 
For even more Kindle books by Brooks Kubik, visit:

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

What Can We Learn from Old-Time Barbells?

Here's a classic photo of World and Olympic Champion Charles Rigoulet with an old-school, globe barbell. The photo is from John Wood and you can see it - and many more - at https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/blog - be sure to check it out!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Three quick notes and then we'll talk iron -
as in, what we can learn from old time
barbells.

Notice that I didn't say "old time strong-
men."

I said "old time barbells."

Yes, they can tell us things - sometimes,
very important things.

1. The Legacy of Iron Books 

Trudi and I are planning to move to the
Pacific Northwest in the fairly near future -
and I can't take tons of books and magazines
with me, so we're reducing our inventory.

That includes my Legacy of Iron books,
which cover weightlifting, weight training
and bodybuilding in the late 1930's and
1940's - giving you an up close and
personal look at the champions of the
era and how they trained.

There are five books in the series - and
you can grab all five for just 50 clams
plus shipping and handling. Shoot me
an email if you're interested. You can
reach me at: info@brookskubik.com -
or just PM me on FaceBook.

We don't have many left, so if you want
a set, grab them now.

2. Jowett's Progressive Barbell
Training

I still have a few copies of my modern
reprint edition of George F. Jowett's
very rare old-school training course,
Progressive Barbell Training. You
can grab one for 20 clams plus shipping
and handling. Shoot me an email if
you're interested.

3. Strength and Health

I have many issues of Strength and
Health from the 1940's for sale - if
you're interested, shoot me an email
for prices.

4. What Can We Learn from Old
Time Barbells?

Back in the old days - as in, 120 to 150
years ago, there were no mass-market
barbells.

If you wanted a barbell back then, you
had to have it made at a local foundry.

And the barbells they made were very
basic.

Instead of plates, they had globes at the
end.

Hence the term "globe barbells."

Sometimes the barbell and the globes were
one solid piece of iron.

Other times, the globes could be screwed
onto the bars. That gave you the ability to
adjust the weight on the bar by changing
from one globe to another.

Of course, you never had very many globes,
so you could only make a couple of weight
adjustments - with big jumps from one
weight to another.

The globes came in  different sizes. Most of
them were round spheres - but some were
egg-shapped.

Some were made of iron. Others were made
of other metals. Brass globes, for example.

And some globes were empty - so you could
add weight by filling them with sand or lead
shot.


But that was a time-consuming and cumber-
some process.

If you've ever tried to fill a beer keg or barrel
with sand or gravel, you know what it's like.

And getting the two globes to be the exact same
weight would have been very difficult, as well -
unless you fiddled around with them for a couple
of hours every time you loaded them up.

So the bottom line was this - your barbells
were pretty much fixed weight barbells.

If you had a couple of them, you might have,
for instance, a 60 pound barbell, a 100 pound
barbell, and a 150 pound barbell.

Or you might have a 100, 150 and 200 pound
barbell.

Or a 42 pound barbell, a 96 1/4 pound barbell,
and a 116 1/2 pound barbell.

Remember, these were essentially one of a
kind items - so there's no reason to believe
they weighed an exact amount.


And here's something else to consider.

There were no uniform specifications for the
size, thickness and length of a barbell.

So you might have barbells that were of
different lengths - and different thicknesses.

Your 80 pound barbell might be one inch
thick and four feet long.

But your 117 pound barbell might be 1 1/2
inches thick and six feet long.

In other words, every barbell was different
from every other barbell - sometimes MUCH
different.

The same was true of dumbbells.

And your dumbbells might or might not come
in pairs.

Ditto for kettlebells and ring-weights.

And if you DID have pairs, they might not
be an exact match.

In short, all your weights were more or less
unique.

And adding more weight was difficult or even
impossible.

If that were the case, what would you do with
them?

How would you train?

Think about it - and send me a short email if
you have any ideas about it.

I'll share your feedback tomorrow - and
also share what I think the answer is.

In fact, I'll share what the answer MUST
have been - and explain why it was a GOOD
thing to train with such challenging equipment.

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

My new course on heavy partials is
selling like hotcakes - and readers are loving
it - and getting get results.

One Dino added 25 pounds to his bench
press after just two weeks on the
program.

Two weeks - 25 pounds - that's pretty
good.

Go here to grab a copy:

Dinosaur Strength and Power Course
No. 2 - Heavy Partials

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

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

Hard-copy and PDF

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

Kindle

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day

"Study old time barbells and dumbbells
closely and carefully. They can teach you
a lot."

- Brooks Kubik

Brooks Kubik's Kindle Books

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

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

 
For even more Kindle books by Brooks Kubik, visit:

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