How I Train -- And Why

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

My daughter hates -- no, that's not the
right word -- LOATHES -- no, that's not
right either -- DESPISES -- that's it --
DESPISES the soundtrack to ROCKY BALBOA.

All because I play the soundtrack out in
the garage when I train -- and if the door
is open, you can hear it in the house --
and so she's heard it hundreds and hundreds
of times.

"Why don't you play something else?" she
asked me.

Well, there's a reason.

I'm a creature of habit.

When I train, I use the same exercises, and
I perform them in exactly the same manner.

I use the same bar.

I wear the same workout clothes, and the same
lifting shoes.

I use the same stainless steel water bottle.

I train at the same time and on the same days
(Tues, Thurs and Sun).

I dry my hands and face with the same towel,
and I sit in the same chair when I rest between
sets.

And I listen to the same music.

I also do the same exercises. There's my snatch
workout where I do warm-ups and then hit split
style snatches -- and there's my clean and jerk
workout where I do warm-up and then hit the clean
and jerk.

In the past, on other programs, I trained
different exercises (e.g., bottom position squat,
bottom position bench press, deadlifts or Trap
Bar deadlifts, etc.), but the exercises were
always the same for long periods of time. And
the idea was always the same -- strive for
improvement from workout to workout.

I try to make all the different variables THE
SAME -- except for one variable.

In every workout, I try to do BETTER than I did
in the previous workout.

Better form. Faster and smoother lifting. Deeper
and deeper concentration and focus. More weight.
More reps. More sets.

Of course, you can't add weight every time you
train (if you are an advanced lifter). But
somehow or other, you can make each workout
BETTER than the one before.

Even a lighter workout can be BETTER than the
last light workout. The weight on the bar may
be the same, but your form and focus can (and
should) be better.

In contrast to my approach, many guys always do
something different every time they train. Some
guys never train the same in any two workouts.
It's always different.

That may work better for some. For me, it works
better to keep all the variables the same -- but
try to make each workout BETTER.

That's the inside story on my workout music --
and the inside story on how I train.

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 watch one of my workouts (two of
them, in fact) on DVD. I filmed it on my 54th
b'day, and it's a big hit with Dinos. The name
says it all -- GOING STRONG AT 54:

http://brookskubik.com/goingstrong.html

P.S 2. DINOSAUR ARM TRAINING is getting rave reviews.
You can grab your copy right here:

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

P.S. 3. My other books and courses -- the Dinosaur
Files newsletter -- and Dinosaur Training t-shirts,
muscle shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies -- are right
here:

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

The "Have Your Heard About?" Question

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

I'm not sure why, but over the past 10 days
I've been getting a ton of questions from
readers about training programs. I thought
I'd share some of the common questions, and
my responses to them. Let's begin with this
one:

1. What do you think about such and so?

"Such and so" is code for any super program you
see on the internet or in the muscle mags. You
know, the high volume, supposed super program
that is guaranteed to add 20 or 30 or 40 pounds
of muscle to your frame in six short weeks --
or add 100 pounds to your favorite lift (or
to each of your lifts) in six short weeks --
or make you look EXACTLY like Joe Superstar in
six short weeks. ("Joe Superstar" being code for
whoever is the star of the month in the muscle
mags and internet forums.)

And here's my answer:

DON'T DO IT.

The super programs are always way too high in
volume for the average lifter. They don't build
you up. They tear you down.

The super programs are ultra-advanced specialization
programs. Most of them are programs designed not to
build you up, but to burn calories so you get "cut"
or "ripped" or (if you really get into it) "shredded."

You build up -- as in, you build strength and muscle --
on 3x per week programs. Beginners should do total
body workouts and ONE set of each of 8 to 12 different
exercises.

Intermediates can do 2 or even 3 sets -- and may find
that they gain best on abbreviated training and divided
workouts.

Advanced men do best on abbreviated training and divided
workouts.

The super programs came into prominence in the 50's and
60's, when bodybuilding started to become more popular
than lifting.

The bodybuilders would train on short, heavy "mass
building" programs for much of the year -- and then
switch to a special pre-contest program for the last
6 or 8 weeks before a contest.

The purpose of the pre-contest program was NOT to
build muscle. Instead, the programs were designed for
deliberate over-training to burn as much body-fat as
possible in order to create maximum definition on
the day of the contest.

That was fine as far as it went -- but the problem was,
the writers would ask the bodybuilders to give their
training program after the contest -- and instead of
saying, "Well, I train 3x a week and do the usual stuff:
squats, presses, rowing, etc." -- the bodybuilder would
give his special pre-contest super program.

And the writer would go back home and do an article about
how Mr. Whatever built huge muscular size by training for
four hours a day six days a week.

And then the kids would read the muscle magazines, and
they'd all run out and start training four hours a day
six days a week because that's how the "champs" did it.

And of course, they never built an ounce of muscle on
the super programs. How could they? The super programs
didn't even build muscle for the champions. All they
did was burn fat. The biggest problems the champions
had was MAINTAINING muscle size when they were on the
pre-contest super program.

So how in the world could poor little Johnny use the
champs pre-contest DEFINITION program to build his
11 inch upper arms into the BIG GUNS he so desperately
wanted?

And that's how people got hooked on the idea of super
programs.

So when someone asks, "Have you heard about Such and So?"
the answer is always the same.

Yeah, I hard about it. Don't do it. It's a waste of time.

Train the right way. Hard. heavy. Abbreviated. Concentrated.
Focused. Compound exercises. Progressive poundages. The stuff
I cover in all of my books and courses, and in each issue of
the Dinosaur Files newsletter. If you want to build strength
and muscle, it's the only way to go.

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. For more information about serious, productive, effective
training to build strength, power and muscle mass, grab any of
my books and courses. You can find them right here -- and if
you're not sure which one to order first, send me an email and
we'll sort it out for you:

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

Real World Training Advice for Dinos!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

This morning's post will cover another
question from a reader. This one comes
from Michael Houghton:

"I have a question for you. How often
do you skip a workout due to activities
that are very strenuous? I am building
a new garden and was removing roots with
an 8 pound ax on Monday and then a large
stump grinder last night. My back,
shoulders and arms were aching this
morning (Wed.) so I skipped my deadlifts.
I'll get back to them probably Friday."

Michael -- thanks for your excellent
question!

Let me begin by saying GOOD JOB on building
the garden. As I've said repeatedly,
gardening is good exercise -- and what in
the world could be more fun and more
functional for an in-between heavy iron
training session than building a garden
that grows plenty of fresh, healthy,
100% natural and organic veggies for the
family table?

As for your question, of course I miss
workouts from time to time due to that
big old meanie called LIFE!

I mean, seriously -- if you work for living
(and some of you work two or even three jobs),
if you're married, if you have kids, if you
have crazy bad weather emergencies, if you
go to school and you're studying for finals
or cramming for a big test or doing a big
paper, or whatever -- sometimes you end up
missing a workout.

It's unavoidable unless you live at Muscle
Beach (and someone else supports you) and all
you do is train all day and lie around in the
sun when you're not training.

But forget about Muscle Beach.Let's talk about
the real world.

From time to time EVERYONE misses a workout.
If it happens, you just hit it the next day or
the day after that. And don't worry about losing
all your strength and muscle if you miss a workout.
It's not going to happen. In fact, the extra day
of rest may allow you to come back stronger than
ever.

And in the real world, sometimes you do things
like building a garden, and you're sore and stiff
and tired as heck the next day.

If that happens, and it's a day when you're going
to do something like squats or deadlifts or heavy
Olympic lifting, you might very well want to take
a day off and come back when you're at 100%. There's
no sense having a bad workout because you're stiff
and sore.

And remember Dizzy Dean.

Dizzy Dean was a flame-throwing fast-ball pitcher
who burst into the major leagues out of nowhere
and became the fastest and most-feared pitcher in
baseball.

One day, a batter actually got some wood on the
ball and hit a low line drive that hit Dean in the
foot.

It broke or sprained his toe, I forget which.

The injury caused him to alter his throwing
pattern in a very minor, very subtle way.

And that made him throw out his arm.

He crashed and burned, and just like that, his
career was over.

And that's what can happen if LIFE steps up and
hits a hard line drive that bounces off your foot --
or if you spend all day in the garden and then try
a heavy deadlift workout the next day. Or a heavy
whatever workout.

And yes, all of the above goes double for lifters
over the age of 40, and triple for lifters over
the age of 50.

Remember, you're in this for the long haul. Your
entire life. So train with your brain, not your ego.

As always, thanks for reading and have a great day.
I'm hitting the iron at about 6:00 or 6:30 today --
if you train today, we can train together and have
a terrific workout. If you train tomorrow, you can
have a great workout with Michael as he hits those
heavy deadlifts.

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Real world training advice. No nonsense stuff.
Truth instead of fiction. Stuff that works. You can
find it right here at Dinosaur Training Headquarters:

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

P.S. The new Dinosaur Training muscle shirts are
flying out the door -- take a look and see:

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

Food for Thought!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

This morning I was reading NEANDERTHIN
by Ray Audette -- one of the first books
on what is now known as the Paleo Diet --
and the following jumped out at me.

Audette was discussing the modern-day,
mechanistic approach to health and
nutrition, which typiclaly involves
massive reliance on synthetic vitamins,
synthetic foods (e.g., margerine),
and synthetic drugs combined with a
program of what could be labeled as
synthetic exercise -- such as the typical
"workout" followed by the typical member
of any typical gym anywhere in the world.

He contrasted that approach with what he
termed "chaotic nutrition."

Audette stated:

"A chaotic nutrition and fitness program
doesn't add new variables [such as
synthetic supplements, synthetic foods or
drugs] to the equation.

Instead, a chaotic approach stresses the
REMOVAL of variables (agricultural diet,
sedentary lifestyle) that aren't part of
the body's initial conditions -- naked with
a sharp stick on the African savanna."

Now, I'm not going to debate the merits of
a Paleo Diet -- but I want to explore the
concept of REMOVING variables from your
training rather than adding them.

In a very real sense, that's what Dinosaur
Training is all about.

Do you want to get big and strong?

Start by getting rid of the chrome plated
exercise machines that force you to move in
artificial and non-functional ways.

Drop the muscle pumping. It's the epitome of an
artificial training method.

Stop trying to get bigger and stronger by doing
longer and longer and more and more frequent
workouts. That's not how the human body was
designed to grow bigger and stronger.

Think about how early humans lived.

They were wanderers. Nomads. They followed the
game trails, and they lived by hunting and
killing some really enormous (and now extinct)
animals: mammoths, mastodons, huge bears, huge
wild pigs, deer the size of a moose, and birds
the size of a small truck.

The pattern of days was something like this --
a day or two of hiking and hunting and
tracking.

A day or two of stalking.

And when the moment was right -- the attack.
A ferocious fight -- a life and death struggle
which pitted the muscles of the early humans
against the muscles of their prey. It involved
sprinting, jumping, dodging, lifting rocks and
logs, throwing rocks, logs, clubs and spears --
and often a final, all or nothing struggle.

Picture early humans armed with simple spears
going head to head with a mastodon -- or with
a cave bear.

It was a heck of a workout. Had to be. No way
around it.

Then there was the skinning and the
butchering -- more hard, heavy work.
Picture how you would skin and butcher
a mastodon with a stone knife. What kind
of workout would that be? (Picture the
grip it would build!)

Then, the small tribe stayed by the kill
until the meat was gone -- and rested --
and then the entire sequence started all
over again.

It was exactly the same as the Irregular
Training concept that Bob Hoffman taught
(which we covered in last week's emails --
see the Dinosaur Training Blog if you missed
them).

Dinosaur Training takes you back to training
methods that work the way the human body was
designed to work: short, hard, infrequent and
diverse workouts followed by enough time for
rest and recuperation.

To get there, you need to REDUCE what you are
doing, not add to it. Cut out the fluff. Get
rid of the modern day stuff you see in the
magazines. Stick to the basics. Train for
STRENGTH -- not for any sort of modern-day
"look" pushed by the muscle media and its
munchkin armed ad-men.

Remember, being strong is a survival skill.
It's how your ancestors managed to stay alive.
And training for strength is the ultimate
all-Natural way to train. It's what your body
was built to do.

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 back to basics
strength training in any of my books and courses:

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

The Problem with Super Programs

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

In yesterday's radio interview on SuperHuman
Radio I answered training questions from
readers and listeners. It was a pretty good
show. If you missed it, head over to the
SuperHuman radio (or my Facebook page -- or
Carl Lanore's Facebook page) and listen to
the download.

One of the questions was from a reader who
did a Bulgarian style program where he did
a max in the squat, deadlift and overhead
press TWICE every day for five or six days
a week.

He said he did well for about five weeks,
and then he crashed and burned.

And that's a story that I've seen and heard
so many times over the past 30 or 40 years
that if I had a penny for every time I heard
it I could pile them up one on top of the
other until they reached the moon -- or
possibly even Mars.

EVERYBODY has done it. EVERYBODY has tried
some variation of the latest and greatest
super program -- and it worked great for a
short period of time and then they burned
out.

It's even happened to guys who know better.

I know a man who wrote great training articles,
with real world, no-nonsense training advice.
Lots of basic exercises, squats, deadlifts,
presses, bench presses, rowing, etc. 3x per
week programs using divided workout schedules.
For the most part, multiple sets of low reps.
Good stuff. Much like Dino training. (No, it
wasn't me -- I've made plenty of mistakes over
the years, but this story is about someone
else.)

Anyhow, when he was younger, he corresponded
(by letter -- this was before the days of
email) -- with ANOTHER top writer and expert --
and this man suggested that he train five or
six days per week on a program that included
some form of heavy pressing every day.

My friend tried that program as a young lifter.
He did standing presses, presses from eye-level
in the rack, lockout presses in the rack, incline
presses, bench presses, behind the neck presses,
close grip bench presses, dumbbell presses,
dumbbell bench presses -- you name it, if it
was a heavy duty pressing movement, he did it.

And remember -- he trained 5 or 6 days per
week -- he hit a pressing movement every day --
and he worked really hard and really heavy.

It worked great for about five weeks.

And then he crashed and burned.

Big time crash and burn. he was so stale and
burnt out that it took months to work back up
to his top lifts.

He went back to a more sensible program -- with
rest days -- and he started to feel better, and
then he started to grow again, and he started to
get bigger and stronger -- and finally, after a
number of months, he was back to where he had
been BEFORE he started the super program.

A couple of years later, he hit a plateau in his
training and remembered the super program -- so
he tried it again.

Same result. Five weeks of good progress -- and
then the crash and burn -- and then massive
staleness -- and he lost everything he had
worked so hard to gain.

Believe it or not, this happened to him
several more times.

You see, that super program SOUNDED so perfect --
so compelling -- so "It's got to work!" -- that he
kept on trying it over and over again -- even
AFTER he had tried it and failed, tried it and
failed, tried it and failed.

And that's what happens with the super programs.

They SOUND great.

But they don't work. They don't deliver. They
just burn you out.

In all of my books and courses I emphasize HARD
WORK and PROGRESSIVE POUNDAGES. I advocate the
use of the BIG exercises. There's nothing EASY
about my training methods.

But I also do something else. I give you training
programs that allow plenty of time for recovery
and recuperation. They're not super programs --
they're real world, real life training programs
for real people.

And unlike the super programs, Dino programs really
work.

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. For more about hard, heavy but SENSIBLE strength
training and muscle building, grab any of my books and
courses -- and subscribe to the Dinosaur Files
newsletter:

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

P.S. 2 The new Dino Training muscle shirts have been
flying out the door. You can grab yours right here:

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

Knife, Fork, Elephant!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

There's a really bad joke that's been
around for years. It contains an important
message for lifters, so I thought I'd share
it with you.

Q. How do you eat an elephant?

A. One bite at a time.

In strength training, the question and answer
is different, but the message is ALWAYS the
same.

It might go like this:

Q. How do you squat 500 pounds?

A. One pound at a time.

Or this:

Q. How do you 20 reps in the squat with 300
pounds?

A. One rep at a time.

Or like this:

Q. How do I carry this heavy sandbag all the way
around the block and back?

A. One step at a time.

There are countless variations, but I'm sure you
get the idea.

Now, here's the important part.

That very first step is always the most important.

Not the final step. Not the day you hit that 500
pound squat. It's the day you START.

And if you started awhile back but you've been
drifting along and not really going anywhere, do this.

Start over.

Make today the very first day of your training career.

Elephant. Knife. Fork. Start now.

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

Yours in strength,

Brooks Kubik

P.S. Get started with Chalk and Sweat. You can find it
right here:

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

5 x 5 for Strength and Mass!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

Ever since I wrote about the 5 x 5 system in
Dinosaur Training -- which was way back in 1996 --
I've gotten questions about it.

And the questions are always the same.

They go something like this:

"Which is better?

1. TWO progressively heavier warmup sets and THREE
work sets?

2. THREE progressively heavier warmup sets and TWO
work sets?

3. FOUR progressively heavier warmup sets and ONE
work set?"

So here's the answer: They all work. They're all good.
They all build strength and muscle. BUT -- they are
different, and what works best for one lifter may not
work best for another lifter.

The benefit of doing three work sets is that it forces
you to stay at the same weight until you have fully
mastered it before you add more plates to the bar.

That can be a very good thing, especially for the
impatient types who try to force progress by adding
weight before they're really ready for it. Then they
end up gutting the weight up in lousy form, cutting
depth on squats, bouncing their deadlifts, arching
on their bench presses, swinging their curls, etc.

If you catch yourself doing that, you're a good
candidate for doing three work sets.

Older lifters with stiffer joints and lower recovery
ability often do best by performing five progressively
heavier sets and a single work set.

Also note that there's no magic about 5 x 5. If you need
to start really light and do more warmup sets, then feel
free to do 6 x 5 or 7 x 5. That's what I do -- and it's
what many older lifters NEED to do.

Two more quick points -- and again, these are in
response to common questions.

First, don't get hung up on percentages. There's no magic
number to use to determine the "best" weight on each set
in the series.

Second, 5 rep sets WILL build muscle mass. Don't ever listen
to anyone who says you need to do "high reps for muscle mass."
You can get seriously big and strong and thick with low rep
training.

By the way, did you know that Reg Park built up on five rep
sets?

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 effective training for strength and
mass in any of my books and courses:

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

Make Your Training Progressive!

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

One of the most important things
you can do is to make your training
progressive. Progression is the key
to getting great results from your
training.

To make your training progressive,
you can do any of the following:

1. Add weight to the bar.

2. Do more reps.

3. Do more sets.

4. Do your exercises in better form.

Or -- and this my favorite -- you can
combine several of the above "progression
techniques."

But you don't do all of them at
once. That would be more than your mind
and body can manage. You might do okay
for awhile, but soon you'll either burn
out, start doing your reps in bad form, or
hurt yourself. It's better to use a slow,
controlled progression, earn your weight
increases, and make steady long-term
progress.

So try something like this.

Let's say you're doing the Trap Bar
Deadlift once a week, and your current
top weight is 300 pounds for 5 reps.

In workout no. 1, do a series of
four or five progressively heavier
warm-up sets, and then do 1 x 5 with
300 pounds.

In your next deadlift workout, do the
same exact workout, but perform your
reps in tighter, better form. In other
words make the workout more progressive
by doing the reps in better form.

In your third workout, add a second set
of 5 reps. So you would do your warm-up
sets, and then do 2 x 5 with 300 pounds.

In your next session, do 2 x 5 working
sets with 300 pounds. Once again, endeavor
to make each rep absolutely perfect.

Next, do 3 x 5 work sets. (Do your warm-up
sets first, of course -- I won't keep saying
that, but always do them.)

In the next workout, do 3 x 5 work sets but
strive for even better form.

Keep going like that until you are doing
5 x 5 in your work sets.

At that point, add weight (10 or 20 pounds),
drop back to 1 x 5 work sets, and build back
up to 5 x 5.

That's an example of how to progress by
focusing on (1) better form, (2) more work
sets, and (3) more weight.

There are other ways to progress by adding
reps, and we'll cover them another time.

The point is -- always, always, ALWAYS strive
to show some sort of progress in your workouts.
But don't just throw weight on the bar and start
tossing it around in random fashion. Follow a
more systematic approach. It will work far better
for you.

In short, make haste slowly -- but progressively.

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 cover many more methods of training progression
in my books and courses. You can find them right here
at Dino Central:

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