Top Tips on Effective Warm-Ups for Dinos!

Retro lifting at Dino Headquarters always begins with a long, thorough and complete warm-up. It's a must for anyone, but a double must for an older lifter.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Last week we talked about stretching, and
whether it was good or bad for you.

I noted that when I was in high school,
stretching was the big deal in athletics.

The coaches had us do all sorts of stretches
before and after every practice and every
competition. It was supposed to prevent
injuries.

That theory has pretty much fallen by the
wayside over the years.

We've learned several important things,
and they've made coaches change what
they do.

Here's what we now know:

1. Too much stretching lowers a muscle's
strength and power potential -- so it's
NOT a good idea to do tons of stretching
before a heavy workout (or a football game
or a wrestling match or anything else
where strength and power is important).

2. Stretching can injure a "cold" muscle
or its attachments.

3. You get a better and fuller stretch when
the muscles and joints are warmed up and
looser.

For all of these reasons, most coaches
now have their athletes do stretching at
the end of a workout or a practice rather
than before.

Of course, some of us do need some
stretching before we train, usually for
a particular joint that needs extra work
to warm up and get loose. For example,
I always stretch my ankles before a
workout.

My workouts always begin with a good warm-up, followed by my first sets with an empty bar, and then gradually going up to heavier weights. Older trainees need longer warm-ups than younger trainees.

But most of my warming-up follows
these general guidelines:

1. The best way to prepare for a workout
(or a practice or a competition) is to do a
warm-up that involves light movements
rather than the static stretches we did
"back in the day".

a. For example, you might prepare for a
squatting or deadlifting workout by doing
deep knee bends with no added weight.

b. Or you might do squats, front squats
or overhead squats with a length of PVC
pipe or broomstick.

c. And you might use light Indian clubs to
loosen up your shoulders and upper back
before hitting the iron.

2. Do enough warming-up so that the joints
and the muscles are ready for the heavier
stuff, but don't do so many reps that you
start to get a pump. It's a warm-up, not
a workout. Five to ten deep knee bends (or
several sets of five to ten) may be all it
takes.

a. I usually do sets of three to five reps in
the overhead squat with a broomstick as
part of my warm-up. That's light and easy,
of course, but it does the trick.

3. Start light and perform the specific
exercise or lift you are planning to work --
and use a series of progressively heavier
warm-up sets performed in perfect form
to prepare you for the heavy stuff.

a. Remember that many or most top
weightlifters will start with the empty
bar for their first warm-up set -- even
if they work up to world-class weights
for their final sets.

4. Older trainees need more warming up
than younger trainees.

a. The older you get, the more time you
need to devote to your warm-ups.

b. At age 60, I now spend about 20
minutes on warm-ups before I even
touch the barbell -- and then I begin
with super light sets with the empty
bar and progress gradually from
there.

The barbell doesn't need a warm-up, but YOU do!

5. If you have time to train, you have time
to do a proper warm-up.

6. During the warm-up, concentrate deeply
on what you are doing. Don't just "run
through" the warm-up movements and the
warm-up sets. FOCUS on them.

a. Use the warm-up to help shift from the
everyday world we live in to the inner
universe we lift in.

7. Concentration and focus means no talking,
no goofing around, no distractions and (gasp!)
no social media.

And that's my take on warming-up. It's not
complicated, but it's not like the stuff the
coaches had us do 40 years ago.

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. We had a three way tie for our most
popular training books last week. Do YOU
have them all?

Dinosaur Bodyweight Training

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

Dinosaur Dumbbell Training

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

Knife, Fork, Muscle

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

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

Hard-copy and PDF

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

Kindle

http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool_01-kindle.html

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Train smart,
and as you grow older, train smarter."
-- Brooks Kubik

We have 23 books in the Kindle bookstore. This the latest one. You can grab it right here: http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool_01-kindle.html

Stretching - Friend or Foe?

 

It was cold but sunny, so I bundled up and moved the weights and the squat stands outside. Nothing beats squats and vitamin D.

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

When I was a kid, stretching became the
new craze in athletics training.

The coaches were told to have all of their
athletes do plenty of stretching drills before
and after every practice, and before and after
every competition.

Most of this was static stretching, where you
get into an extended position and hold it for
10 to 30 seconds -- or ballistic stretching,
where you would go close to the extended
position and then move back and forth or
up and down for 10 or 15 reps.

It was supposed to prevent injuries.

Did it work?

Darned if I know.

I remember talking to NFL Hall of Fame
coach Paul Brown one summer when I
worked a job selling popcorn and cokes
at the Cincinnati Bengals training
camp.

"I don't know about all this stretching,"
he said. "They say it's good for the players.
But I think about Jim Brown."

Jim Brown had played for Coach Brown
when he was the head coach of the
Cleveland Browns. He was the best
running back in football -- and he
finished his career with an all-time
rushing record that stood for many
years.

He also was one of the few football
players in history who ever played
his entire pro career without missing
a single game due to an injury.

He was both unstoppable and
indestructible.

"Jim Brown never did any stretching,"
said Coach Brown. "He was so tight he
couldn't put his hands any lower than
his knees when he bent over with his
legs straight."

That was interesting information -- and
it sure as heck got me thinking.

Here's something else to think about.

I've had shoulder problems since I was
in high school.

That's because I hurt my right shoulder
doing pullovers on a Nautilus Pullover
Torso machine.

Back in those days, the Pullover Torso
machine had an enormous range of
motion. Your elbows would go way
back behind your head on every rep.

They said it was good for you -- that
it would strengthen the shoulders
and help make them injury-proof.

In my case, the reverse happened.

Many trainees have similar problems
with exercises that over-stretch the
shoulder joint -- including the press
behind neck, behind the neck pull-
downs, straight arm barbell pull-
overs, flies, and bench presses with
a McDonald bench press bar.

The same thing can happen with dips.
If you go too low, you're just asking
for trouble. especially with a ton of
extra weight -- or if you bounce.

But back to the original question.

Is stretching your friend or your foe?

I'll give you my answer later in the
week.

But in the meantime, let me hear from
YOU! Shoot me an email and tell me
what you think.

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. Gray Hair and Black Iron tells you how to
train for lifelong strength and health -- and how
to preserve and protect your joints:

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

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

Hard-copy and PDF

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

Kindle

http://www.brookskubik.com/oldschool_01-kindle.html

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Start young and
keep going for the rest of your life. If you're
not young, start NOW and keep going for the
rest of your life." -- Brooks Kubik

Top Tips on Effective Warm-ups for Dinosaurs!

Bob Hoffman performing a hip lift with the World's Biggest Dumbbell, owned by legendary strongman Warren Lincoln Travis, who stands watching with interest. I hope Hoffman warmed up before trying this lift!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Last week we talked about stretching, and
whether it was good or bad for you.

I noted that when I was in high school,
stretching was the big deal in athletics.
The coaches had us to all sorts of stretches
before and after every practice and every
competition. It was supposed to prevent
injuries.

That theory has pretty much fallen by the
wayside over the years.

We've learned several important things,
and they've made coaches change what
they do.

Here's what we now know:

1. Too much stretching lowers a muscle's
strength and power potential -- so it's
NOT a good idea to do tons of stretching
before a heavy workout (or a football game
or a wrestling match or anything else
where strength and power is important).

2. Stretching can injure a "cold" muscle
or its attachments.

3. You get a better and fuller stretch when
the muscles and joints are warmed up and
looser.

For all of these reasons, most coaches
now have their athletes do stretching at
the end of a workout or a practice rather
than before.

Of course, some of us do need some
stretching before we train, usually for
a particular joint that needs extra work
to warm up and get loose. For example,
I always stretch my ankles before a
workout.

But most of my warming up follows
these general guidelines:

1. The best way to prepare for a workout
(or a practice or a competition) is to do a
warm-up that involves light movements
rather than the static stretches we did
"back in the day".

a. For example, you might prepare for a
squatting or deadlifting workout by doing
deep knee bends with no added weight.

b. Or you might do squats, front squats
or overhead squats with a length of PVC
pipe or broomstick.

c. Or you might use light Indian clubs to
loosen up your shoulders and upper back
before hitting the iron.

2. Do enough warming-up so that the joints
and the muscles are ready for the heavier
stuff, but don't do so many reps that you
start to have a pump. It's a warm-up, not
a workout. Five to ten deep knee bends (or
several sets of five to ten) may be all it
takes.

a. I usually do sets of three to five reps in
the overhead squat with a broomstick as
part of my warm-up. That's light and easy,
of course, but it does the trick.

3. Start light and perform the specific
exercise or lift you are planning to work --
and use a series of progressively heavier
warm-up sets performed in perfect form
to prepare you for the heavy stuff.

a. Remember that many or most top
weightlifters will start with the empty
bar for their first warm-up set -- even
if they work up to world-class weights
for their final sets.

4. Older trainees need more warming up
than younger trainees.

a. The older you get, the more time you
need to devote to your warm-ups.

b. At age 58, I now spend about 20
minutes on warm-ups before I even
touch the barbell -- and then I begin
with warm-up sets with the empty bar.

5. If you have time to train, you have time
to do a proper warm-up.

6. During the warm-up, concentrate deeply
on what you are doing. Don't just "run
through" the warm-up movements and the
warm-up sets. FOCUS on them.

a. Use the warm-up to help shift from the
everyday world we live in to the inner
universe we lift in.

7. Concentration and focus means no talking,
no goofing around, no distractions and (gasp!)
no social media.

And that's my take on warming-up. It's not
complicated, but it's not like the stuff the
coaches had us do 40 years ago.

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. We had a three way tie for our most
popular books last week:

Dinosaur Bodyweight Training

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

Dinosaur Dumbbell Training

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

Knife, Fork, Muscle

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

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

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Train smart,
and as you grow older, train smarter."
-- Brooks Kubik

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

Stretching -- Friend or Foe?

Dinosaur Training's Brooks Kubik

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

When I was a kid, stretching became the
new craze in athletics training.

The coaches were told to have all of their
athletes do plenty of stretching drills before
and after every practice and before and after
every competition.

Most of this was static stretching, where you
get into an extended position and hold it for
10 to 30 seconds -- or ballistic stretching,
where you would go close to the extended
position and then move back and forth or
up and down for 10 or 15 reps.

It was supposed to prevent injuries.

Did it work?

Darned if I know.

I remember talking to NFL Hall of Fame
coach Paul Brown one summer when I
worked a job selling popcorn and cokes
at the Cincinatti Bengals training
camp.

"I don't know about all this stretching,"
he said. "They say it's good for the players.
But I think about Jim Brown."

Jim Brown had played for Coach Brown
when he was the head coach of the
Cleveland Browns. He was the best
running back in football -- and he
finished his career with an all-time
rushing record that stood for many
years.

He also was one of the few football
players in history who ever played
his entire pro career without missing
a single game due to an injury.

He was both unstoppable and
indestructible.

"Jim Brown never did any stretching,"
said Coach Brown. "He was so tight he
couldn't put his hands any lower than
his knees when he bent over with his
legs straight."

That was interesting information -- and
it sure as heck got me thinking.

Here's something else to think about.

I've had shoulder problems since I was
in high school.

That's because I hurt my right shoulder
doing pullovers on a Nautilus Pullover
Torso machine.

Back in those days, the Pullover Torso
machine had an enormous range of
motion. Your elbows would go way
back behind your head on every rep.

They said it was good for you -- that
it would strengthen the shoulders
and help make them injury-proof.

In my case, the reverse happened.

Many trainees have similar problems
with exercises that over-stretch the
shoulder joint -- including the press
behind neck, behind the neck pull-
downs, straight arm barbell pull-
overs, flies, and bench presses with
a McDonald bench press bar.

The same thing can happen with dips.
If you go too low, you're just asking
for trouble. especially with a ton of
extra weight -- or if you bounce.

But back to the original question.

Is stretching your friend or your foe?

I'll give you my answer later in the week.

But in the meantime, let me hear from
YOU! Shoot me an email and tell me
what you think.

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. Gray Hair and Black Iron tells you how to
train for lifelong strength and health -- and how
to preserve and protect your joints:

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

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

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Start young and
keep going for the rest of your life. If you're
not young, start NOW and keep going for the
rest of your life." -- Brooks Kubik

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

Hitting the Iron in Three Hours!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes, and then we'll talk training.
And pay attention, because we're going to
cover some important training tips.

The Dinosaur Files Quarterly

Issue no. 3 is available in your choice of hard-
copy or Kindle e-book:

Hardcopy

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

Kindle e-book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0110V566A?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

My Interview with Bill Hinbern

Runs a little over two hours. We're cutting it
into five 20 or 25 minute segments, and will
get it loaded onto YouTube as fast as we can.

Hopefully, that will happen tonight or
tomorrow -- but it depends on my tech
guy and how soon he can get to it. I'll
email when it goes live.

Hitting the Iron in 3 Hours

As I type this, I'm about 3 hours away from
today's workout -- and I'm itching to get out
to the garage and start training.

My workouts have been going great this year,
and there are several reasons for that. In no
particular order, here are some things that are
working well and making a difference:

1. Lots of water.

I'm drinking plenty of water (especially in
hot weather) to stay as hydrated as possible.
Water is your friend -- especially if you're an
older trainee. Did you know that our muscles
start to lose water as we grow older?

2. A Good Diet

I'm very serious about diet and nutrition, and
this year, I'm working on it extra hard. The
anti-inflammation diet that I cover in Knife,
Fork, Muscle has been working very well.

3. Sensible Cycling.

I've been using the simple cycling system
that I cover in Gray Hair and Black Iron --
with some refinements that I teach in
Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol. 3.

It's been very effective -- helps me train
hard while avoiding injuries, and that's
the name of the game.

4. Stretching, Stretching and Stretching.

I've been doing MUCH more stretching,
flexibility and mobility work than ever
before. At close to age 60, it's mandatory.

The stretching includes warm-ups, in-
between sets stretching, and post workout
stretches -- as well as stretching on
non-training days.

I may need to write this up for the Dinos,
because it's really making a big difference.

5. Sticking to What Works Best for Me.

I'm sticking to a small number of exercises
that work best for me right now -- and it's
been paying big dividends.

6. Rest and Sleep.

I've been resting a bit more, and sleeping a
little longer every night.  That seems to have
made a big difference in my energy levels and
in my recovery and recuperation.

7.  Concentration and Visualization.

I've always placed great emphasis on the mental
aspects of strength training, and this year is no
different than previous years.

In fact, I've been doing more mental training than
ever before. And it's been working GREAT -- as
in, even better than I thought it would work.

Now, none of this is earth-shattering, and none
of this is top secret. But it's good to be reminded
of the things that work every once in awhile --
so consider yourself reminded, and put these
seven tips to work in your own training!

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. Be sure to grab issue no. 3 of the Dinosaur
Files Quarterly:

Hardcopy

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

Kindle e-book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0110V566A?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

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: "The things that work
are often very simple, but you need to keep on
doing them." -- Brooks Kubik

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

Gray Hair and Fast Feet!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Yesterday we talked about about speed, and
a question I received from an older Dino who
said that he lost his speed -- not his strength,
but his speed -- sometime around age 60.

He asked me if I had noticed the same thing.

The answer is -- not yet -- and I'm working
really hard to keep it that way. In fact, my
workouts focus as much on speed as on
strength development now -- although
many of the things that build one also
build the other.

Here are seven things I do in my workouts
that help keep me moving FAST.

1. Olympic lifting.

It's the best thing there is to keep you
moving FAST.

Of course, you need to know how to
perform the lifts properly. So you need
to do whatever is necessary to learn how
to perform the lifts properly. For most of
us, that means finding a good coach.

2. Perfect form.

Speed is the result of repeating a given
movement over and over until you can
perform it perfectly.

Perfect form makes for efficient lifting.

Efficient lifting lets you develop maximum
speed of movement.

So you need to drill, drill, and drill to get
your form down.

Over and over -- again and again. And you
need to try to make each lift better than the
previous lift.

3. No slow movements.

I don't do any slow, grinding movements in
my workouts.

Slow movements make you slow. You don't
need that.

That's not to say you use light weights and
fast, bouncy movements. Far from it. I train
heavy, and I do almost nothing but singles.
But there's a big difference between a slow,
grinding rep that takes forever to finish,
and a rep that's a little lighter but moves
twice as fast.

4. Keep your weight under control.

You can't move fast if you're carrying 20 or
more pounds of blubber. It's like running a
hundred yard dash while carrying  a heavy
sandbag on your back. The sandbag just
slows you down -- and so do the Lard
Lumps.

5. Don't get hurt.

This one is easier to say than to do. Older
bodies are easier to injure.

But do everything you can to avoid injuries.

The dings and dents really slow you down.
They tighten you up, reduce your range of
motion, and make you stiff.

Train smart, and keep your ego in check.

Don't baby yourself, but don't be stupid.

Find the balance between aggressive training
and reckless training.

6. Under-train.

I almost said "don't over-train," but for an
older trainee, over-training is so easy that
it's better to say: "Under-train."

If you make it a point to do a little bit less
than you feel like you could do, both in
terms of weight, effort and volume, you
may end up doing just about the right
intensity and amount of work.

Always leave something in the gas tank.
It helps your recovery enormously.

7. Follow a healthy, anti-inflammatory
diet.

Inflammation is an older trainee's worst
enemy. It makes you stiff and sore and
inflexible -- tightens your muscles -- and
slows you down.

You don't need that.

You need a body that doesn't suffer from
extreme inflammation.

You get there by under-training (see point
no. 6) -- and by following the right kind of
diet and nutrition plan.

The diet and nutrition program in Knife,
Fork, Muscle will work great. It's an anti-
inflammatory diet as well as a strength
and muscle-building diet -- and it will
help keep the excess pounds off, as well.

Go here to grab the little monster:

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

Bonus tip. I said we'd have seven, but
here's one more. Work on stretching and
flexibility -- or as they now call it, mobility.

You want freedom of movement in all the
major joints.

Freedom of movement helps your speed
enormously. Stiff and tight joints slow you
down. It's like try to move fast while
wearing a strait-jacket. It doesn't happen.

So work on staying loose and flexible and
supple.

There's one more tip -- and it's a big one.
We'll cover it tomorrow. But those seven --
sorry, EIGHT -- tips will really help. They
work great for me.

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. Here's the number one book about
effective training for older Dinos:

http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.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: "Stay strong, stay
lean, stay loose, stay fast." -- Brooks Kubik

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

Stay Loose and Stay Strong!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol. 1
It's my new course, and you can find
it right here:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_01.html

Note: for the first time ever, we are offering
the course in your choice of e-book or
hard-copy. Many of you have been
asking for e-book options, so we're
going to give it a try.

You can order the e-book on Amazon's
Kindle site, or order the hard-copy directly
from Dino Headquarters. The above link
has order buttons for both options.

2. Reviews for Dinosaur Training Secrets
Please post reviews for the new course on
the order pages at the Amazon.com and
Amazon.co.uk sites. The reviews really
help us.

Also, if you ordered the e-book, please
shoot me an email and let me know --
otherwise, I don't know who ordered the
e-book. I'm trying to see how many of
our long-time Dinos have grabbed the
e-book.

3. The Dinosaur Files quarterly

Issue no. 2 of the Dinosaur Files quarterly
should be ready to mail next week. It's a
great issue, and you're really going to like
it. We'll put up an order page soon -- I'll
send a link when it's ready.

On the training front, one of our long-time
Dinos asked about how to maintain good
mobility for weightlifting when you are an
older lifter (age 50 or up).

And another Dino asked if I do any sort of
stretching or flexibility work -- and if I think
it's important for older trainees.

Those are somewhat related questions, so
let me cover them together.

I'm almost 60 now, and I still do full-range
squat snatches and squat cleans. I'm more
flexible and more mobile now than when I
was 50 -- but I've had to work at it alot.

I do 10 - 15 minutes of stretching and very
light lifting drills (broomstick only) before
lifting -- and then I begin with the empty
bar and do even more drilling. It's the only
to get loose and supple after sitting at my
desk all day long.

I pay particular attention to my ankles,
knees, hips, lower back, shoulders and
wrists.

I include Indian club drills as part of my
warm-up. They're great for loosening up
the hsoulders and the upper back.

I also do stretching in-between sets of
my various exercises and lifts.

If anything, I should do even more of this
kind of work than I do. I may try doing 20
or 30 mins per day on non-lifting days and
see what happens.

For specific stretches for weightlifters, see
the Catalyst Athletics website.

One of the other very important things is
to work to perfect your technique and make
all of your lifts as smooth and as perfect as
possible. You need to avoid jerking the weight
or arm pulling or powering it up. Bad technique
makes you tight -- and, of course, it can also
lead to an injury.

Tommy Kono talks about this in his books.
He believes that power cleans and power
snatches tighten the shoulders, so if you
are an older trainee and you do them, you
make yourself too tight and too stiff to do
squat snatches and squat cleans.

I've found that Tommy is correct, and so
I stick to the full lifts exclusively. (Full lifts
meaning squat style.)

Tommy also says you need to avoid going
too heavy if you are an older lifter. Save the
truly heavy attempts for competiiton.

Again, I've found that this is very good
advice. Sometimes it's hard to follow,
but it's very good advice.

And, of course -- you need to be sure you
avoid over-training. It's the kiss of death
for an older lifter. See Gray hair and Black
Iron for detailed information about effective
training for older Dinos.

Diet and nutrition also comes into play. The
right kind of diet will keep you lean and
strong, which helps your mobility and is
good for your joints. Carying extra weight
puts extra stress on your knees and ankles,
and over time, it adds up.

Also, the right kind of diet -- the kind I cover
in Knife, Fork, Muscle -- is an anti-inflammatory
diet. It helps reduce inflammation throughout
the body -- which in turn helps you stay mobile
and flexible.

As far as supplements go, I think that a high-
quality fish oil product is great for older lifters.

I've answered these questions in the context
of training for older weightlifters. But the same
points apply to all older trainees -- regardless of
how you train.

I hope that helps -- and I hope it encourages our
older Dinos to stay loose, flexible, and mobile
as well as strong and powerful. All of these
qualities are important. Work to build and
maintain all of 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. Here's the order page for the new Dinosaur
Training course:

http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_01.html

P.S. 2. Go here to grab Knife, Fork, Muscle and
Gray Hair and Black Iron:

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

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

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

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

P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "Stay loose and stay
strong!" -- Brooks Kubik

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

A New Twist in My Training

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Last night I trained in the Fortress of
Strength, a/k/a The Dinosaur Dungeon
(although I actually train in the garage
now, so it's not really a dungeon).

I did a 15 minute general warm-up to get
loose and limber, and then did power
snatches, followed by dumbbell snatches
dumbbell swings.

It took about 90 minutes. That's a long
workout for me, but I've been training
extra hard lately. I guess the Olympics
have got me fired up!

I've been doing something interesting,
and I wanted to share it with you. I'm
training every day now -- sort of.

I hit the iron 3 times a week, on Tues,
Thurs and Sun. But on the other days,
I go out to the F of S, a/k/a the D D,
a/k/a the garage, and do 30 to 45
minutes of stretching and mobility
work, focusing on the muscle groups
that are tightest and on the parts of
the body that need to be as loose and
limber as possible for Olympic style
weightlifting.

For example, I need loose, limber
shoulders to do snatches, cleans and
jerks, so I do a combination of static
and dynamic stretches for my shoulders,
along with five or ten minutes of Indian
club work.

This is actually similar to something
I did as a high school wrestler. Back
then (don't ask me how long ago) I
would do up to an hour of stretching
and flexibility work every day.

It worked pretty well. I was so flexible
that I could get out of holds by going
into weird positions that the other guy
had never seen before because he'd never
wrestled anyone as flexible.

My only problem was that the referee
would stop the action sometimes right
when I was about to reverse a guy or
score a take-down because he thought
I was going to hurt myself.

I used to say, "I'm fine, ref -- let me
wrestle!"

Anyhow, at age 55, I'm not going to
turn back into the Junior Rubber Man
that I was when I was 17 -- but I bet
I can improve my current levels of
flexibility pretty significantly.

Anyhow, yesterday was a lifting day.
Today will be a stretching and mobility
day. And I'll also do plenty of form and
technique work with a broomstick. That
will set things up nicely for Thursday,
when I hit the iron again.

By the way, my power snatches last night
went up like rockets and felt better than
they have in ages. It looks like the extra
shoulder stretches and Indian Club work
are already starting to pay off.

I'll keep you posted on my progress -- so
stay tuned to the Dino Channel!

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. Step up and reserve your copy of my
new book, Dinosaur Dumbbell training during
big pre-publication special:

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: "Review your
strengths and weaknesses, and then work hard
to turn your weaknesses into strengths."
-- Brooks Kubik