Let the Magic Happen!

There's a special kind of magic that comes with old-school, drug-free progressive strength training - and I sincerely hope that everyone reading this Blog Post has a chance to experience that magic!

 
Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Two quick notes and then we'll talk iron - and talk
about magic, as well - a very special kind of magic.

1. Bosco Is Back!


John Wood has designed some brand new Bosco
t-shirts and hoodies - and they look pretty sharp.

Go here to check them out:

Bosco T-Shirts

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/bosco-tshirt.html

Bosco Hoodies (Black)

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/boscohoodie-black.html

Bosco Hoodies (Gray)

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/boscohoodie-grey.html

2. The Dino Files

Do you have the most recent issues of The
Dinosaur Files newsletter?

If not, you're missing a terrific strength
training resource - so go here to grab
them in a downloadable and printable
PDF format:

July-August Dinosaur Files

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

May-June Dinosaur Files

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

3. Let the Magic Happen!

In the Middle Ages, alchemists tried to
find a way to change iron to gold.

Some men spent their entire lives in a
fruitless search for the magic formula
that would change ordinary iron into
beautiful, shining gold -- gold that
would make them wealthier and more
powerful than the richest of kings.

They never succeeded.

Iron was iron, and gold was gold.

But hundreds of years later, other men
made a remarkable discovery.

They learned how to unleash the magic of
iron.

These were men like Alan Calvert, Mark
Berry, Harry Paschall, George F. Jowett,
Sig Klein, Bob Hoffman and Peary Rader.
The men who put barbells and dumbbells --
and the secret of how to use them --
into the hands of thousands of eager
trainees around the world.

And make no mistake about it. Barbells and
dumbbells are quite literally miracle tools.

Properly used, they can transform your
physique, adding many pounds of muscle,
and building enormous strength and power.

With the right kind of training, you can double
or even triple your starting levels of strength
and development. And some trainees do even
better than that.

To me, that's magic. Far more magic than
turning iron to gold.

But it doesn't stop there.

Barbell and dumbbell training works because it
is a form of progressive resistance training. You
start by handling weights that are manageable but
challenging -- and you gradually increase your
reps in each exercise -- and then you add weight
to the bar, drop back on the number of reps, and
build back up again.

And you repeat the process over and over.
It's a series of small steps -- but every step is a
step forward. With every step, you move forward
toward more strength, more muscle and more
power. Every step is a victory.

You end up transforming your body -- but more
than that, you end up transforming your mind,
your heart and your entire being.

You learn some of the most important lessons
a person can learn.

You learn that hard work leads to great results.
That success occurs step by step.

That whatever you can conceive and believe, you
can achieve.

That nothing can stop you.

And that you and you alone control your destiny
and your future.

Now, that's REAL magic.

If you train, you know what I'm talking about. If
you don't train, or if you stopped training, now's
the time to start (or start again) -- and to grab
some of that magic.

Do it now.

Let the magic happen!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. These books have been working their magic
for trainees around the world. Which do you need
to complete your collection?

Dinosaur Dumbbell Training

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

Gray Hair and Black Iron

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

Chalk and Sweat

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

Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength

and Development

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

Dinosaur Bodyweight Training

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

Dinosaur Strength and Power - Course No. 2 - Heavy Partials (PDF Course)

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

P.S. 2. My other books and courses are right
here at Dino Headquarters - head on over and
check them out!

Hard-copy and PDF Books and Courses

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

Kindle Books and Courses

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:

"If you're looking for magic, look no
further than the nearest barbell."

-- Brooks Kubik

Before you leave, be sure to check out our Kindle books - we have over 25 now - with more on the way!

Brooks Kubik's Kindle Books

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

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

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

A Common Sense Approach to 20 Rep Breathing Squats

20 rep breathing squats are like any other exercise - but people think you have to jump into them as hard and heavy as possible - and completely forget about the basics of common sense progression. It's a very common mistake - but YOU don't have to make it!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

One of our longtime Dinos is switching from
5 x 5 for his squats to 20 rep breathing squats.

So he asked about where to start and how to
progress.

He's read the standard advice for doing 20
rep breathing squats.

You've probably read it, too.

You take your maximum weight for 10 reps
(which is strange, because how many people
know their maximum weight for 10 all-out
reps in the squat?).

And then you start squatting - with or without
any warm-up sets (which also is strange).

And you force yourself to grind out one rep
after another until you get 20 reps with your
10 rep weight.

The goal is to work so hard your eyeballs
pop out of your head - or you cough up a
kidney - or other similar hyperbole.

Then you fall on the floor in a heap - and
lay there for 20 or 30 minutes, twitching
feebly.

And then you're incredibly sore for several
days - or perhaps a full week - after this one
set on your first "breathing squat workout."

Now, that sounds fine, and it reads well, and
it sells tons of books, courses and magazines.

But is it the best way to start doing 20 rep
breathing squats?

I don't think so.

There's absolutely no reason to kill yourself
the first time you do 20 rep breathing squats.

They're like anything else.

The best way to start is light and easy - get
the feel of the exercise - and give yourself
some time to adapt to the new movement.

That includes - very importantly - time to
rev up your cardiovascular system so you
can handle the unique demands of the 20
rep breathing squat.

I like to do this:

1. Start with 50% of your estimated 10 rep
weight - and do 20 reps with it.

If you're not sure what your 10 rep max is,
then start with something like 100 pounds
and work up from there.

It really doesn't matter where you start -
what matters is what you have on the bar
when you finish the program.

2. Train breathing squats once a week.

3. Add 5 pounds every time you do them,
and gradually and steadily work up to a
heavy weight.

That's the common sense way of doing it.

And quite frankly, it's the very best way of
doing it.

By the way, do you know about Peary
Rader?

He was one of the early pioneers of the
20 rep breathing squat - and one of its
biggest fans.

He started with an empty barbell when
he began doing his 20 rep breathing
squats.

That was good, because he didn't have
to cough up a kidney during his first
workout.

From there. over a couple of years, he
slowly worked up to some serious weight
on the bar - and he gained almost 100
pounds of muscle in two years.

For a complete review and step by step
instruction on sensible progression for
the 20-rep breathing squat - and for
many other sane, sensible, effective
old-school progression systems, grab
a copy of Dinosaur Training Secrets,
Vol. 3.

Hard-copy and Kindle editions

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

PDF edition

See the complete list of PDF books and
courses at our products page:

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

Enjoy the course - and always start light and
easy on any new exercise - and work up in
weight slowly, gradually and progressively.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

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:

"Slow cooking makes tasty meals - and it
also builds strong bodies."

- 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

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