Are You a Squatter or a Deadlifter?

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

One of the most popular questions
on the Internet is the ever popular
"which is better" question.

As in, "Which is better, squats or
deadlifts?"

It's a great way to drive traffic to
a forum or discussion board because
you get about a zillion answers.

Half of them are from guys who say
that squats are better -- and half of
them are from guys who say that
deadlifts are better.

And for some reason, people get all
worked up about this question. I've
actually seen people get mad at each
other because they disagree about it.
It's probably caused more flame
wars than the dragons on Game
of Thrones, and that's saying
a lot.

Anyhow, here's my answer to the
aforementioned Riddle of the Ages.
And I'll probably make everyone
mad by saying it. So bear with me
and read the answer AND the
explanation.

The answer:

"It depends on whether you're a
squatter or a deadlifter."

Whoa! Stop! Put back the knives.

Listen to me for a second. Remember
what I said about reading the
explanation.

The explanation:

People are built differently, and
that can make a big difference
in the exercises that work best
for them. What works best for
me may or may not work best
for you.

Some people are built for squatting.
The exercise feels natural to them,
and they're strong and powerful in
it. They lift with great confidence
when they do squats, they like the
feel of the movement, and it doesn't
cause any kind of problem for them.

In contrast, deadlifts may be a
much more difficult exercise for
them -- and may even be painful
or may cause nagging aches and
pains over time.

For these people -- people who are
squatters -- the squat is the better
exercise.

Many famous Iron Game champions
have been squatters -- and these men
used the squat much more than they
used the deadlift. Examples include
such legends as:

1. Reg Park

2. John Grimek (although he liked
doing stiff legged deadlifts)

3. Paul Anderson

4. Doug Hepburn

5. Peary Rader

Other people are built differently. The
squat doesn't seem as comfortable for
them. It's not a natural movement.
They don't enjoy it. It may even cause
knee, hip, back or shoulder pain.

In contrast, deadlifts feel like the
most comfortable thing in the world.
They LOVE deadlifting -- and they
feel confident and strong when they
do deadlifts -- and deadlifts don't
cause them any kind of pain.

These people are deadlifters -- and for
them, the deadlift is the better of the
two movements.

Bob Peoples is a great example of a
natural deadlifter. He pulled over 700
pounds back in the 1940s -- at a weight
of about 180 pounds.

John Terry, the York champion of the
1930's and early 1940's, was a deadlifter.
He pulled 600 pounds at a weight of 132
pounds.

Now, this is NOT to say that squatters
should not do deadlifts -- or that dead-
lifters should not do squats.

It just means that some people do better
on one of the two movements than on
the other -- and that's something you
need to take into account when you
ask the infamous "which is better"
question.

Of course, some people are extremely
strong in both exercises.

John Davis was a natural squatter, but he
could deadlift 700 pounds without any
training on the exercise.

Joe Hise and William Boone were famous for
their heavy, high rep squatting -- but each
man also deadlifted 700 pounds back in the
1940's.

So instead of asking, "Which is better?" ask
yourself, "Which am I -- a squatter or a
deadlifter?"

After all, what matters is the most is what
works best for YOU!

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Whichever category you fall into, heavy
leg and back work is the Royal Road to Muscle
and Might. For some great strength and mass
workouts featuring leg and back work, grab
a copy of Chalk and Sweat:

http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.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: "Hard work and
heavy iron is more than hard to beat -- it's
pretty much impossible to beat." -- Brooks
Kubik

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The Stand On Your Feet Workout

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Back in the day, trainees had barbells,
dumbbells and kettlebells.

For many of them, that was all they
had.

It was all that many gyms had, too.

And it was all that anybody needed.

The most popular exercises were
pressing movements.

You stood on your feet and lifted
heavy stuff over your head.

It was simple, easy to learn, and it
built plenty of rugged strength from
head to toe.

It also built plenty of rugged muscle.
Consider this -- John Grimek was the
best developed man of his generation
in the entire world -- and he also was
a weightlifting champion who set an
official American record in the Military
press.

On two occasions he set a WORLD Record
in the press -- but the record was not
submitted to the international lifting
authorities, so it never ended up in
the record books.

But still, he lifted the weight.

A WORLD RECORD weight.

That's the kind of strength and power
you build with old-school, stand on
your feet training.

The Dinosaur Military Press and Shoulder
Power Course teaches you how to train
like the old-time champions -- and how
to build plenty of real world, stand on
your feet strength.

It's available in your choice of hard copy or
Kindle e-book -- and it's one of our most
popular courses.

Go here to grab a copy -- and start building
some serious, stand on your feet strength
and power:

Hard copy edition

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

Kindle e-book edition

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

And yes, that's John Grimek on the cover --
because no one is a better example of old
school strength and muscle.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. If you already have a copy of the
course, please go to our Kindle page and
rate the reviews. If you purchased the
Kindle e-book, please post a review of
your own. Thanks!

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: "Nothing beats
old-school, stand on your feet training - and
nothing ever will!" - Brooks Kubik

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The Trouble with Pterodactyl Mail

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We ship books, courses and DVDs
all around the world, and it works
pretty well.

Readers often write in and say, "I
just got my books. Wow, that was
fast!"

And I tell them, "That's because we
ship by Pterodactyl Mail."

Pterodactyl Mail has been our mainstay
ever since I began a mail order business
20 years ago (when I published the first
edition of Dinosaur Training).

But there's one problem with it.

Over the years, the cost of international
postage has gone higher and higher. It's
very high right now - so high that it makes
it difficult for many overseas Dinos to afford
our books and courses.

So we've started to move to alternative
ways of publishing and getting our material
to you.

We're still doing hard-copy books and
courses, but we're also doing Kindle
e-book versions of many of them. You
can find links to them on our products
page, under the Kindle E-Books section.

These have been very popular. Many
older Dinos LOVE them because they
can increase the font size to make the
books easier to read. And you can store
a heck of a lot of Kindle e-books in your
Kindle reader.

And, of course, there's no shipping cost
for a Kindle book.

We released the April and May-June issues
of the Dinosaur Files on Kindle, and they
were big hits. (We'll release the July issue
as soon as we get it formatted and loaded.)

We're also releasing many products in
PDF format. Many readers prefer PDF
because they can save them to their
computer, print them off, and save
them.

That gives you an ink on paper
product to hold in your hand and
save for re-reading or collecting -
without any shipping cost.

Our PDF books and courses are
available in a special section on the
products page. Look for "Electronic
PDF Courses" at the bottom of the
page.

Right now, we have all of the Dinosaur
Files monthly issues from December
2015 thru July 2016 in the PDF section.

We also have a special mini-course -
Dinosaur Mini-Course No. 1 - in the PDF
section. It's for older trainees, and it's
a great little course. If you don't have a
copy, I strongly urge you to grab it. It's
excellent.

Dinosaur Training Secrets, Vol 1, Vol. 2
and Vol. 3 are all available in PDF editions.
And you can even grab all 3 with one push
of the button. That's good, because it leaves
more time for training.

We'll continue to add more Kindle and PDF
products as we move forward. That will allow
everyone to continue to follow what we're
doing and to stay current with the latest
tips and updates from Dino Headquarters.

Anyhow, here's the link to the products
page - with the sections for hard-copy
books and courses, Kindle books and
courses, and PDF books and courses:

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

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

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12 Tips for Building Muscle Mass

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

On the Q and A front, I've been getting
lots of questions about building muscle
mass. So let's cover some of the high
points:

1. Basic, compound exercises.

1a. This means squats, deadlifts, presses,
etc.

1b. Himalayan curls are not basics -- 
not even if you do them for 8 x 8, 10 x 10 
or 50 x 50.

1c. Neither are triceps kickbacks, french
presses, pec deck work, flies, lateral
raises, leg extensions, leg curls, hack
squats or bunny blasters. 

2. Focus on your legs and hips, your back 
and your shoulder girdle.

2a. In other words, do squats, deadlifts, and
presses -- oops, I already said that.

3. Train progressively -- which means, always
try to improve your performance.

3a. More weight, more reps, more sets or 
better form.

5. To make significant gains in muscle mass,
you need to make equally significant gains
in strength.

5a. Sorry, that's the way it is. Don't bother to
send me hate mail about it. 

5b. Even if you just want to look good, you 
might as well be strong, too. (Heck, it might
come in handy some day. Being strong, I 
mean.)

6. If you add 100 pounds to your top weights 
in the squat and the deadlift, and 50 pounds to
your top weights in upper body movements, you
won't have any more problems with muscle mass.

6a. See point 5, above.

6b. In his prime, Reg Park was the biggest and
most massively developed bodybuilder in the
entire world. He was also the strongest 
bodybuilder in the world. Maybe, just maybe,
the two were related.

7. You need to eat more, and better food --
with an emphasis on protein. You do NOT need 
supplements, and you do not need any sort of 
special diet or eating plan. Your workouts will
create a need for high quality food, and will
increase your appetite. So TRAIN -- and then
EAT!

7a. Force-feeding is a mistake.

7b. Chugging gallons and gallons of milk is
a mistake.

7c. The Get Big Drink is the worst mistake of
all, unless you enjoy a three day belly-ache.

8. Yes, older trainees CAN build muscle mass. 
Don't listen to the folks who try to tell you
it's impossible.

8A. The key to gains for older trainees is to
limit the amount of training you do, cycle the 
intensity of your training, follow a simplified 
cycling system and avoid overtraining. See 
Gray Hair and Black Iron for details and
for workouts. (It has more than 50 of them.)

9. Contrary to popular belief, you can build 
serious mass with bodyweight exercises -- but
they have to be the right kind of exercises, 
meaning they have to be difficult, demanding
and progressive in nature. See Dinosaur
Bodyweight Training for details.

9A. The old George Jowett idea of training
progressively by moving from easy exercises to 
more difficult exercises works very well for 
bodyweight training. 

9B. Bodyweight training and weight training 
make an excellent mass building program.

10. Rest and recovery are critical. It is
impossible to make good gains in muscle mass
if you are over-trained.

11. Sleep is so important they ought to bottle
the stuff and sell it. Seriously.

11a. See my new book, Dinosaur Sleeping,
for details.

11b. Sorry, just kidding about the new book.
But it's actually a good idea -- because sleep 
is super important when you're training hard
and heavy -- and when your body is in gaining 
mode.

12. John Grimek said it best: Skinny guys worry
too much. To build muscle, you need to slow
down, chill out, stop stressing, and RELAX a
little. 

12A. As Bradley J. Steiner put it, MAINTAIN 
A TRANQUIL MIND! That's way more important than
most people realize.

12B. Spending all day on internet forums arguing
about strength training and muscle building does 
NOT promote tranquility.  

So there you have it. Some very simple, but very
important, keys to muscle mass.

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. I mentioned that bodyweight training and
weight training is a good combination to pack 
on the pounds. I detail how to to do it in a 
special report that you'll get when you order
Dinosaur Bodyweight Training:

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

P.S. 2. For all other Dinosaur Training books
and courses, including Gray Hair and Black Iron,
go here:

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "If you're gonna be
a bear, you might as well be a grizzly. And if you 
want to be a grizzly, you need to train hard,
heavy and serious." -- Brooks Kubik

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Warning - Chicken Legs Can Kill You!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Yes, you read the title correctly.

Chicken legs can kill you.

And no, I'm not talking about the kind of
fast-food, deep-fried, batter-covered food
bombs that people eat. Those are bad, but
I'm talking about something else.

I'm talking about one of the leading causes
of death in the United States.

It's the slip and fall.

It happens to older people all the time. They
have a slip -- they fall -- and they break a leg
or a hip. Usually a hip.

That sends them to the hospital, and from there,
it's all-too-often a steady downward death spiral.

It used to happen to people of relatively advanced
years, but now it happens to people that many of
us would consider to be relatively young. Lots of
folks just five or ten years older than me have
had a slip and fall. And as I noted, it kills many
of them. If it doesn't kill them, it often leads to
a very low quality of life for the rest of their
years.

And many folks my age or younger -- sometimes
much younger -- have had a slip and fall or a
similar accident that caused a severe knee or hip
injury -- that often leads to joint replacement
surgery.

Sometimes, an accident is unavoidable -- just a
case of bad luck.

But many times, the problem is a lack of leg and
hip strength -- and poor balance. And that's not a
matter of bad luck. It's a matter of bad training --
or the result of no training -- or the result of no
leg training.

Of course, that doesn't have to happen to you.
You can control your destiny. You can take action
and help make yourself injury-proof.

You do it by leg training.

The bigger and stronger your legs, the less risk
you have of a slip and fall. And if you do take a
tumble, strong legs and plenty of muscle may
help you avoid a serious injury.

As far as the details go, here are some key
points about effective leg training:

1. Strengthen your ankles.

Work your entire leg and hip structure,
including the ankles. Many slip and fall accidents
occur when someone loses their balance and their
foot twists at the ankle -- and their ankle isn't
strong enough to bear the strain -- and down
they go.

So include calf training in your workouts. Calf
exercises help strengthen the ankles.

To work the ankles even more, lie a barbell
plate on the floor and push it around with
sweeping movements of your foot. Train both
sides of the ankle when you do this. Left to
right, right to left, etc.

2. Train your toes and feet.

Try picking up marbles or pencils with your
toes. Strong toes help you maintain your
balance, and working the toes also helps
to strengthen the ankles.

Or try this. Soak a small towel in water,
lay it outside on the ground, and then try
to wring the water out of the towel by
picking the edge of the towel up between
your toes and squeezing the water out.

Work your way down the entire towel.

This is a variation of the old towel-wringing
exercise for grip training, and it will work
your toes and feet into the ground.

Another good exercise is one that Trudi
does. It's a 45 degree leg press with the
weight resting on her toes and the upper
part of her foot. She includes a toe press
on each rep. It's one of her favorite
exercises for strong toes and feet.

Trudi also uses Theraband exercises for
her toes, feet and ankles. You can find
many exercises on the interwebs. The
simplest movement is to sit in a chair,
loop the Theraband around your foot,
and hold the ends while you perform
toe presses or ankle rotations.

3. Do lugging and loading drills.

Including lugging and loading drills, where you
carry heavy weights. They work the feet and the
ankles on every step.

It doesn't matter what you do, how far you
go, or what you carry. Just be sure to walk
with heavy stuff as a regular part of your
training.

I cover lugging and loading drills in Gray
Hair and Black Iron. Check them out:

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

4. Do some weightlifting.

If you can, do some weightlifting. You don't have
to do squat style lifts. Power cleans and power
snatches will work fine. Every rep includes ankle
extension to complete the lift -- and every time
you extend your ankles against weight resistance,
you make them bigger, stronger and thicker --
and more resistant to injury.

Weightlifting exercises also build better balance,
coordination and athleticism -- and help strengthen
your neurological system -- all of which helps you
avoid a bad slip and fall.

If you prefer, use dumbbells. For many trainees,
they are easier to master, and they provide all
of the benefits of barbell cleans and snatches.
See Dinosaur Dumbbell Training for details on
how to perform dumbbell cleans, swings, and
snatches:

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

5. Do squats and front squats.

Squats and front squats are the best leg exercises
out there -- and they should always be part of your
training program.

If possible, do full squats. The greater the range
of motion, the better.

Use perfect form when you squat. Dropping and
bouncing, leaning forward, or rounding your back
can cause big problems -- and they all amount to
a form of cheating.

Wear Olympic lifting shoes when you squat. They
help you maintain the correct upright position --
which in turn places the work on your legs and
hips, which is where you want it to be.

You don't have to use World record weights in
your squats -- but you do need to do them on
a regular basis. See Dinosaur Training Secrets,
Vol. 2, the "How Strong Are You Course?" for
some key points on how much weight you
should be using in your leg exercises:

Kindle e-book

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets2_kindle.html

Hard-copy

http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_secrets_02.html

Note: It's also available in PDF format  - see the
section on of Products Page where we list all
of our PDF products.

6. Include some auxiliary leg exercises for
improved balance and mobility.

Overhead squats with a barbell or a pair of
dumbbells build a nice combination of strength
and muscle, along with improved balance and
coordination.

So does the one-arm overhead squat with a single
dumbbell or a kettlebell.

For other unique leg exercises, see Dinosaur
Dumbbell Training. The dumbbell complexes in
the book are particularly good for older trainees.
They will greatly improve your balance, your
coordination, and your mobility.

If you want to include some bodyweight exercises
for the legs and hips, try the movements featured
in Dinosaur Bodyweight Training. They're fast, fun
and effective:

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

7.  Get out the rope!

Start and finish each workout with some basic
rope-jumping. It's a terrific exercise for the feet
and ankles -- and a good way to build your balance
and coordination.

Invest in the kind of high-quality jump rope that
boxers use -- and include a couple of rounds of
rope work every day.

Jumping rope is also a good cardiovascular
exercise, and helps burn unwanted fat, so it's
got plenty of benefits.

To summarize, expand your concept of leg
training. Squats are the starting point, but it's
more than that. Train the feet and the ankles --
and do exercises that build balance, mobility,
and coordination.

And, of course, build the muscles of your legs
and hips.

In short -- stay strong, train your legs and punch
those chicken legs right in the kisser!

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 is the best book
ever written for older trainees -- and will help
enormously to make you injury-proof:

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

P.S. Go here to grab Dinosaur Dumbbell
Training and Dinosaur Bodyweight Training:

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

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

P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Stand strong, walk
strong and live strong." -- Brooks Kubik

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Here's the Complete List!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Here's a complete list of our
e-books on Kindle - along with
some killer photos of some
great old-time champions.

Take a look:

http://dinosaurtraining.blogspot.com/2015/10/dinosaur-training-e-books-complete-list.html

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

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

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