Building the Muscles of Posture (Part 2)

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. Our Kindle E-Books.

We have over a dozen e-books available on
Amazon's Kindle site, and they're very popular.
Almost all of them have been in one or more
Top 10 Lists for Kindle books in their category,
and about half of them have been No. 1 in
their category.

Here are two of our most popular Kindle e-books:

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

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_01.html

You can find links to the others at our products
page:

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

We'll continue to put more material up there on
Kindle throughout the year. Be looking for it!

Important -- note that you can download a free
app to read Kindle books on any device -- so
you can read our books even if you don't
have a Kindle device.

2.  Another great e-book!

My buddy John Wood has a terrific e-book on
Kindle -- a modern reprint of Sig Klein's very
rare hand-balancing course. Klein was one of
the best hand-balancers of all time, and it
contributed mightily to his world record in
the military press -- so this is a gold mine
mine for Dinos:

http://www.amazon.com/Try-Hand-Balancing-Updated-Annotated-Edition-ebook/dp/B00LYM5I6E

3. The July Dino Files.

Is available in PDF format right here:

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurfiles_july2016.html

We'll get the Kindle edition up  as soon as
we can. I'll send an email when it's ready.

4. Building the Muscles of Posture (Part 2).

On the training front, let's continue our
discussion of how to build the muscles of
posture.

The Hise shrug is excellent for the traps --
and for all of the muscles of posture.

You'll work up to heavy weights in this
one, but form is more important than
weight -- especially at the beginning!

Do it in a power rack.

Set the pins so you can dip down and get
under the bar in the quarter squat position.
Flat back is very important, of course.

Get set, and stand up with the bar high
on your shoulders -- as if you were going to
do high bar squats.

Stand straight. Don't round the shoulders.
Don't look down. Don't bend forward. All
of that defeats the entire purpose of the
exercise.

Now stand tall -- and take a huge, enormous,
rib-stretching breath -- and expand your lungs
to the utmost -- and as you do so, shrug your
shoulders as h-i-g-h as you can.

Try to touch your shoulders to your ears.
You won't be able to do it -- but try!

Pause in the top position with the lungs expanded
to the max and the shoulders as high as possible.

Slowly exhale, lowering the shoulders as you
do so.

Pause at the bottom -- and then repeat.

Make each rep a slow, deliberate, perfect
movement.

Try 5 x 5, 3 x 10 or 1 x 20. 10/8/6 also is
good.

If you want to do rest-pause reps, that's fine.

If you prefer to do singles, that's fine, too.

They all work -- and they're all good.

Do very light breathing pullovers after each
set (or series) of shrugs.

Joe Hise originated this neat little exercise.
He used it for chest expansion and gaining
weight -- but it's a terrific exercise for the
traps and other muscles of the upper back.
For some trainees, it's the best possible
exercise for the traps.

Start light and learn the movement -- add
weight slowly and sensibly -- gradually work
up to some serious iron.

Let me repeat that - START LIGHT! You
can work up to heavy iron in this exercise,
but do it gradually and progressively.

Have fun, and report on your results!

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. Any of the 20 leg and back specialization
programs in Chalk and Sweat would be great
for the muscles of posture:

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

P.S. 2. My other books and courses -- and
the Dinosaur Files quarterly -- and Dinosaur
Training DVD's -- are available right here at Dino
Headquarters:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Train for latitude as
well as longitude." -- Brooks Kubik

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

Training the Muscles of Posture (Part 2)

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

1. Our New E-Books

We have two e-books available on Amazon's
Kindle site, and they're getting great reviews.

Both are certified top 10 best-sellers in their
category at the Amazon site, which is more
than a little amazing. Go here to grab the
little monsters -- and please post a review:

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

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_01.html

Important -- note that you can download a free
app to read Kindle books on any device -- so
you can read our courses even if you don't
have a Kindle device.

2. Dinosaur Podcast Today!

I'll be a guest on Ken O'Neill's Trans-Evolutionary
Fitness Radio today. Listen live at 12:00 EST, or
catch the download later on:

http://superhumanradio.com/

3. Another great e-book

My buddy John Wood has a terrific e-book on
Kindle -- a modern reprint of Sig Klein's very
rare hand-balancing course. Klein was one of
the best hand-balancers of all time, and it
contributed mightily to his world record in
the military press -- so this is a gold mine
mine for Dinos:

http://www.amazon.com/Try-Hand-Balancing-Updated-Annotated-Edition-ebook/dp/B00LYM5I6E

On the training front, let's continue our
discussion of how to build the muscles of
posture.

The Hise shrug is excellent for the traps --
and for all of the muscles of posture.

You'll work up to heavy weights in this
one, but form is more important than
weight -- especially at the beginning!

Do it in a power rack.

Set the pins so you can dip down and get
under the bar in the quarter squat position.

Flat back is very important, of course.

Get set, and stand up with the bar high
on your shoulders -- as if you were going to
do high bar squats.

Stand straight. Don't round the shoulders.
Don't look down. Don't bend forward. All
of that defeats the entire purpose of the
exercise.

Now stand tall -- and take a huge, enormous,
rib-stretching breath -- and expand your lungs
to the utmost -- and as you do so, shrug your
shoulders as h-i-g-h as you can.

Try to touch your shoulders to your ears.

You won't be able to do it -- but try!

Pause in the top position with the lungs expanded
to the max and the shoulders as high as possible.

Slowly exhale, lowering the shoulders as you
do so.

Pause at the bottom -- and then repeat.

Make each rep a slow, deliberate, perfect
movement.

Try 5 x 5, 3 x 10 or 1 x 20. 10/8/6 also is
good.

If you want to do rest-pause reps, that's fine.
If you prefer to do singles, that's fine, too.

They all work -- and they're all good.

Do very light breathing pullovers after each
set (or series) of shrugs.

Joe Hise originated this neat little exercise.
He used it for chest expansion and gaining
weight -- but it's a terrific exercise for the
traps and other muscles of the upper back.

For some trainees, it's the best possible
exercise for the traps.

Start light and learn the movement -- add
weight slowly and sensibly -- gradually work
up to some serious iron.

Have fun, and report on your results!

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Any of the 20 leg and back specialization
programs in Chalk and Sweat would be great
for the muscles of posture:

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

P.S. 2. My other books and courses -- and
the Dinosaur Files quarterly -- and Dinosaur
Training DVD's -- and shirts and sweatshirts
and hoodies -- are available right here at Dino
Headquarters:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Train for lattitude as
well as longitude." -- Brooks Kubik

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

Try this Old-School Exercise for Big Gains!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

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

First -- I am working full-time seven
days a week to finish my book on diet
and nutrition for Dinos.

As in -- research and writing and editing
the current manuscript all day long. The
other day it was 8:00 in the morning until
8:00 at night, not counting meal breaks.

It's a big project, and I've been working
on it off and on for years -- but we're now
in the Big Push stage -- so it's getting
close. Stay tuned for further updates.

Second -- because the book is taking so
much time I am falling way behind on emails.
If you email and I don't respond eight away,
that's why. I'll try to catch up on them
when I can.

And now, on the training front --

Yesterday we talked about heavy partials
and heavy supports, and which was"better."

Here's an interesting point in that regard --
and an exercise you may want to try (assuming
you have access to a power rack).

Big Joe Hise helped popularize the 20-rep
breathing squat for weight gaining way back
in the 1930's.

He always said that the BREATHING in-between
reps was the most important part of the
exercise.

The key is to take deep, huge, enormous
breaths of air in-between every rep --
five or six of them -- and on every breath,
you raise your chest and shoulders as high
as possible.

Later on, Hise experimented with the breathing
part only -- without the squat!

You loaded the bar, took it off the rack as
if you were going to do a set of squats --
but instead of squatting you shrugged the bar
upward as high as possible, while raising your
chest and shoulders and breathing as deeply as
possible.

The idea was to do forced deep breathing against
the weight of the bar -- and to lift the bar as
high as possible with a combination of trap
strength and lung power.

After the set, you immediately do a set of
VERY LIGHT breathing pullovers (20 reps) to
stretch the rib-cage even more.

It's a very interesting exercise.

It combines a heavy support with a limited
range movement -- and it works the heart, lungs
and rib-case in a very interesting manner.

It's a good all-around strength builder --
and a bone, tendon and ligament builder.

You can do 20 or even 30 reps for chest
expansion and weight gaining.

Do five to ten reps for strength and bone
building.

And yes, Hise was a firm believer in the
idea that building your skeleton was the
very best way to pack on strength and
muscle.

As I mentioned before, ALWAYS do these in a
power rack. You're handling big weights
here, and you don't want to take any
chances.

An added benefit of the Hise shrug is that
it helps thicken your traps and neck. That
makes it a very good exercise for football
players and anyone else who engages in a
sport where a strong neck might save your
life (or help prevent a concussion).

So there's the update -- and the tip of
the day. And it's a good one.

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. You can learn more about the Hise shrug
other old-school exercises in Strength, Muscle
and Power:

http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.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: "Old-school
exercises build real world strength and
power." -- Brooks Kubik

The Mysterious Hise Shrug!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

A reader asked me how to perform the
Hise Shrug.

It was the 7,983rd time someone has
asked me that question (and yes, I keep
track of all questions from readers!).

So, with that many readers wondering
about it, I thought I'd cover it in a
post.

The Hise Shrug was invented by -- you
guessed it -- Joseph Curtis Hise, the
man who made the big gains on the
breathing squat program "back in the
day" -- which were reported by Mark
Berry in Strength magazine --- and
which pretty much turned the lifting
world into a bunch of squat
fanatics.

Imagine that -- a world of squat
fanatics. Not curl fanatics. Squat
fanatics. Times have changed, haven't
they?

Anyhow, the Hise shrug is a heavy
shrug performed with the barbell on
the upper back and shoulders, just
the same as if you were going to
perform a set of squats.

You get set, focus -- and take a huge
deep breath. Fill your lungs to the
max -- and as you do, you perform a
shoulder shrug.

In other words, it's a combination
of huge, deep breath and shoulder
shrug. The idea is to lift the bar
with a combination of lung power
and trap power.

Pause in the top position, lower slowly
and under control, pause and repeat.

Breathe out as you lower the bar.

It's a short movement on each rep --
just an inch or two. The real idea is
to work your breathing muscles against
heavy weight resistance.

You can do sets of 3 to 5 reps for super
strength -- or sets of 20 to 30 reps for
weight gaining.

One word of caution -- do these in a power
rack, with the pins set to catch the bar
at the end of the set. Hise shrugs are like
quarter squats. There's too much weight on
the bar to do them safely unless you use a
power rack.

After each set of shrugs, do a set of 15
to 30 reps in the breathing pullover with
very light weights -- no more than 20 or 25
pound dumbbells.

Hise shrugs are a GREAT exercise -- and a
great way to work the breathing muscles,
which are more or less neglected in most
training programs.

Give them a try and see what they do for you!

Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik

P.S. For more great secrets of old-school
strength training and muscle building, grab
these classics:

Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength
and Development

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

Strength, Muscle and Power

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

Gray Hair and Black Iron

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

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

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Breathing exercises
work best with a barbell on your shoulders."
-- Brooks Kubik

Three Great Exercises for Strength and Vitality!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Yesterday, we talked about the T
thing and I suggested that diet
and exercise are the most important
factors in maintaining high levels
throughout your entire life.

Not pills.

Not creams.

Not shots.

Nothing you get in a bottle, a jar
or a tube.

Nothing you get from your doctor.

No, it's something entirely different.

Something you get by putting on your
sweats, pulling on your lifting shoes,
walking out into the garage or the
basement (or into the gym), and
grabbing and lifting some heavy
iron.

It's called exercise.

And when it's the right kind of exercise,
it makes all the difference in the world.

Yesterday, I gave you some suggestions
on good exercises -- and on sets and
reps -- to get your body producing as
much male hormone as possible.

Here are some more ideas:

1. The farmer's walk

Hard to beat for combined leg and back
training -- and for getting you breathing
hard and heavy.

Go as far as you can -- rest and repeat.

Rest a bit, then do it again.

Distance varies depending on how heavy
you go. Don't worry about doing it
"right." It's all good.

2. The Hise shrug

This is the old Joe Hise shrug with the
bar posiitoned as if you were going to
do a set of squats. Once again, a great
exercise for the legs and hips and back,
and one of the very best for the breathing
muscles. 

The classic is 1 x 20 or 1 x 30. Three times
five or ten works well for major strength
gains.

Remember to breathe DEEP on each rep. Lift
the chest and the rib cage as high as possible.

And, of course, do these in a power rack,
since you'll be supporting a super heavy
weight.

3. High pulls

Do these for sets of five or sets of three.
Start light and work up, adding weight on
each set.

You can use a snatch grip or a clean grip.

These work the back and hips super hard --
and they also get you breathing like a
runaway locomotive -- all of which is
very good for you.

By the way, note that all three exercises
mentioned in this message work the traps
extremely hard. The traps are a BIG muscle
and they need a lot of work -- and when you
build them, they help make you strong like
a bull. There's a link between big traps
and super vitality. George Jowett used to
write about this back in the day -- and as
always, he was right on the money.

So when you train -- think legs, hips and
back -- and shoulders -- and traps -- and
work them hard!

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. You can hit your back muscles -- including
your traps -- very effectively with the old
school exercises in Dinosaur Dumbbell
Training:

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: "Specialize on
your legs, hips and back -- and on your traps --
and on your shoulders. Focus your efforts where
your training does you the most good."
-- Brooks Kubik