25 Things that Dinos Do!

John Grimek shows his form in the one-hand deadlift. Very few modern trainees have ever seen someone do a one-hand deadlift, let alone tried to do one!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

One quick note and then we'll talk training.

1. My EBay Store

Since Trudi and I are planning to move to
the Pacific Northwest in the not-too-distant
future, I'm selling al of my duplicate copies
of Iron Game books and magazines.

I'm listing them on eBay now - and here are
the first three listings:

 Peary Rader's Iron Man Sept 1978

https://www.ebay.com/itm/232993590754

Peary Rader's Iron Man Jan. 1978

https://www.ebay.com/itm/232990689162

The Illustrated History of Physical
Culture

https://www.ebay.com/itm/232990985557

I also have tons of old issues of Strength
and Health magazine from the 40's, 50's
and 60's - shoot me an email if you're
interested in buying some for your
collection.

I have tons of old issues of Bob Hoffman's Strength and health for sale. Shoot me an email if you're interested.

 
2.  Great Things that Dinos Do!

When it comes to training, most people focus
on "the champions" and what the "champions"
are doing.

I tend to focus on the ordinary folks - people
like you and me who love to train - who stick
to it through thick and thin - and who end up
pretty darn strong and pretty darn impressive.

So I thought I'd make a list of some really
impressive things that Dinos do.

Here it is. See if you can spot yourself on the
list (and note that you may be there more than
once):

1. Lifting and carrying great big stones.

2. Giving a heavy sandbag the ride of its life.

3. Making great gains from your training even if
you only have time for one or two workouts a
week.

4. Doing squats -- and doing them hard and heavy.

5. Any of the advanced workouts in Dinosaur
Bodyweight Training.

 

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

6. Heavy dumbbell training -- with the emphasis
on heavy. (See Dinosaur Dumbbell Training
for details.)

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

7. Finishers.

8. Thick bar training.

9. Heavy partials in the power rack.

10. Keeping at it after age 40.

11. Keeping at it after age 50.

12. Keeping at it after age 60 and beyond.

13. Making a date with a special strength
stone somewhere in Scotland - or in Iceland.

14. Teaching your children how to train.

15. Teaching your grandchildren how to train.

16. Learning to do new stuff -- whatever your
age.

17. Using the same barbell at age 60 that you
used at age 12.

18. Growing as much of your own food as
possible.

19. Entering your first powerlifting, weightlifting
or strongman comp.

20. Saying "no" to roidskies.

21. Dropping 40 pounds and five inches off your
gut because you know it's good for your health --
and staying just as strong at your new bodyweight
as you were when you were heavier.

22. Focusing on lifelong strength and health.

23. Learning about the lives and lifting of the
great old-time champions -- and striving to
match their lifts in your own workouts.

24. Setting a good example for others.

25. Teaching someone else how to train Dino
style.

There are many more. Send in your ideas and
I'll share them with your fellow 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. No. 26 on the list is having a well-read copy
of Dinosaur Training on your bookshelf or in
your gym bag:

 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. 4. Thought for the Day:

"The only person you should be trying to
impress is YOU."

-- 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

Vintage Books and Magazines

I've got tons of old books and magazines for sale - including two killer items I just listed on eBay - as well as tons of old issues of Bob Hoffman's classic Strength and Health magazine from the 40's, 50's and 60's. See today's Blog post for links and details.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Trudi and I are planning to move to
the Pacific Northwest in the not too
distant future, so I'm selling all of
my duplicate books and magazines.

Here are two of them that I just
listed on eBay:

Peary Rader's Iron Man Jan. 1978

https://www.ebay.com/itm/232990689162

 

The Illustrated History of Physical
Culture

https://www.ebay.com/itm/232990985557

I also have tons of old issues of Strength
and Health magazine from the 40's, 50's
and 60's - shoot me an email if you're
interested in buying some for your
collection. You can reach me at:

info@brookskubik.com

I'll be listing plenty of other great stuff
on eBay, so keep an eye open for the
new listings as they go up.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

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

Where Did the Squat Racks Go?

The Dino Dungeon at our old house - out in the garage. I didn't have much equipment, but I did have squat racks - and I still do! And yes, they get lots of use in the new Dino Dungeon.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. The July-August Dinosaur Files

It's a great issue - and you can grab it
right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-julyaugust2018.html

The 30 and 35 minute workouts for
those of you who are pressed for time
are well worth reading - and so is the
article about the old-school, "break all
the rules" training program that helped
one young lifter gain 35 pounds of
muscle - drug-free and supplement-
free.

By the way - if you missed the May-June
issue, you missed another good one -
but you can still grab it - right here:

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

This one includes, among other things, Bob
Hoffman's favorite workout - which I think
you'll find very interesting. But be warned:
it's tougher than it looks!

2. Heavy Partials

My new course on heavy Partials is getting
great reviews from Dinos around the world.

Many have reported new PR's after being on
the program for a short period of time -
including one Dino who set a new PR in the
bench press in just two weeks!

Go here to grab the little monster:

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

3. Where Did the Squat Racks Go?

There's a story going around about how a
guy walked into one of those coast to coast
commercial gyms and the squat racks were
gone.

Apparently, someone decided to get rid of
them.

They were too dangerous, or too intimidating,
or too - heck, I don't know. Maybe too old-
school.

And besides, who needs to do squats when
you have 27 different leg machines to pump,
bomb, blitz, torture, finagle and bedraggle
your lower limbs from every possible angle?

I don't know if the story is true or not, but
I know for sure that the prevailing mentality
at most gyms is pretty much like that.

No squat racks.

No deadlifts.

No overhead lifting - including the good old
military press.

No heavy partials in the power rack. (And
usually no power racks.)

The original Dinosaur Dungeon featured York squat stands and a heavy duty York power rack - and they got plenty of use. That's 440 pounds going for a ride in the partial push press.

No Trap Bars.

No thick bars.

It's pretty much chrome-plated (or brightly
painted) machines and plenty of cardio
stuff.

That's why I train at home - and why many
other Dinos train at home.

It's one of the only ways to be able to use
the right kind of equipment - and to do the
exercises that give you the most bang for
the buck.

And please note - a good home gym does
NOT have to have very much in the way of
equipment.

For example, my basement gym is pretty
spartan.

The basement gym here at Dino Headquarters. Yes, we have squat racks - and I use them regularly. BTW, those towels are for front squats, not back squats. I use a Dave Draper Top Squat for back squats.

But it does have squat racks.

And they get plenty of use.

So does the Trap Bar - for both full range reps
and heavy partials.

And when the weather is good, I set up some
heavy mats out in the driveway, move the bar
and the weights outside, and do all of my over-
head lifting.

Of course, there are plenty of things I don't
have.

I don't have cardio theater.

Heck, I don't even have any cardio machines.
Or any other kind of machines - unless Trudi's
hyper-extension bench and inversion table
count as machines.

And I don't have any mirrors.

In short, my training is a heck of a lot different
than what you see at most commercial gyms -
and so is my equipment.

The outdoor workout area here at Dino Headquarters. In this photo, I'm getting set to do some front squats with those towels you saw in the earlier photo. Again, those are NOT for back squats.

And both my training and my equipment work
a heck of a lot better than the mass market
silly stuff that so many people seem to be
doing.

Anyhow, I hope that YOU train somewhere that
still has squat racks - and since you're reading
this, I'm willing to bet that you do!

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

When the weather permits, I set up shop outside so I can do overhead lifting.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Remember to grab the July-Aug issue of The
Dinosaur Files:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles-julyaugust2018.html

P.S. 2. If you're a home gym fan, you'll love
Dinosaur Training:

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

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

Hard-copy and PDF

The book that started The Dinosaur Revolution.

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

Kindle

Our Kindle books are best-sellers around the world!

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

P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: 

"It doesn't take much to get an effective
and result producing workout - but a barbell
and a set of squat racks sure as heck help!"

- Brooks Kubik

At age 61, I'm having more fun than ever in my workouts - and I plan to keep on doing them for a long time!

 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