Brooks Kubik - Nuggets

Nuggets by Brooks D. Kubik The following is a collection of random "Strength Training Notes" from my all-time favorite Iron Game author. 1. Triceps...Nov-99 Heavy benches, especially when performed with a shoulder width grip, will build enormous triceps--and tremendous power. Ditto for standing presses. The isolation exercises will NOT build significant levels of strength and power and OFTEN injure the elbow joint. 2. ...on Back Strength...Nov-99 Lats are fine, but it's far more important to build the spinal erectors and the traps. The best back programs are built around heavy pulling movements: power cleans, power snatches, high pulls, dumbbell cleans, one arm dumbbell swings, squat cleans (if you know how to do them), squat snatches (if you know how to do them), and deadlifts. Add some barbell bent over rows and you don't need anything else. The cleans and similar moves work the entire back, including the lats, VERY hard. 3. Hey Brooks--What does your routine look like now?--Nov-99 Train three times per week. Many heavy singles in the squat, power clean and press or push press, power snatch and one hand snatch...heavy curls (sets of 5 reps), grip work, weighted leg raises, neck work...and some other goodies that I am working on in order to feature them in a "how to" tape in the future. Training has been a bit limited over the past few months due to a heavy workload and lots of business travel. 4. Ab workouts--Oct 99 Steiner advises the high rep ab workouts for guys who really need to lose weight and inches from the middle. He also is careful to note that it is VERY HARD or IMPOSSIBLE to specialize on waist reduction and strength train at the same time...so the waist reduction program is a short term project. For everyone else, he recommends one or two hard sets of heavy resistance gut work (situps, leg raises or side bends). The [high rep ab workouts]program will work if you combine it with a reasonable diet, especially if you add some road work to the mix...but don't do it as a regular thing on top of heavy weight training. 5. Thick Bar Work...Oct-99 The people who say to avoid thick bar work until you are an advanced guy are usually typical arm chair experts who have no clue what they are talking about. If you use thick bar work from day one, your hands will grow and thicken enormously over the years. If you wait five or six years until you are "advanced," all you have done is lose that many years worth of grip training. Remember, there are lots of people out there who write things that are intended to discouarage people from doing dinosaur style exercises simply because dinosaur training doesn't "fit" their preconceived (usually wimpy) concept of what constitutes proper training...Ignore them 6. "Dinosaur wants to incorporate O-lifts...any suggestions?"...Sept--99 Here's some gneral guidelines 1. Train three times per week 2. Do your Squats and your Olympic Lifting moves and nothing else 3. Do many, many reps to get the form down...not high rep sets, but many sets of singles, doubles or triples. 4. Study books and tapes on Olympic Lifting 5. Work hard on your flexibility 6. Form and technique are more important than poundage at the beginning.

7. Bent Pressing...Sep--99 The bent press was a one arm overhead lift that involved shouldering the bar with one or two hands, then leaning forward and to the side away from the bar, very slowly, and gradually going into a full squat with the weight overhead...then standing erect (with the weight overhead) to complete the lfit. It was really more of a support...the lfiter did not "lift" the bar, but rather, lowered his body beneath it very slowly...To learn how to do the bent press, order either of Arthur Saxon's books from Bill Hinbern, along with "Weight-

Lifting Made Easy and Interesting" by Bill Pullum. These have detailed photos and a good explanation of the finer points of the lift. A very few men could do 300 pounds or more...very impressive. The lift build tremendous lower back, side, wist and hip strength. The great waist development of the old-timers was largely the result of this lift. 8. Bulking...July--99 The real key to adding muscle is to train HARDER and HEAVIER than ever during a "bulking" phase. Lots and lots of heavy leg and lower back work, heavy presses, heavy rows, etc...If you work hard to build strength, the added weight WILL be muscle. 9. Sample Beginner's Workout...July--99 Three Times per week, for six weeks, then a one week layoff, then repeat the program, at least one more time before moving on Monday/Wednesday/Friday 1. Light Power Clean and Press (warmup)...1 x 10-12 2. Standing Press...5 x 5 (use a light weight on first set, add more weight for a medium heavy set, then do 3 sets of 5 reps with your "working weight"). 3. Parallel or Full Squats...5 x 5 4. Barbell Bent-Over Rowing...5 x 5 5. Stiff-legged Deadlifts...5 x 5 6. Situps or Leg Raises...one set until tired 10. Back Exercises...Aug--99 The most important part of the back is the lower back. Stiff-legged deadlifts work great, but in my book, Olympic lifting moves are the very best: power cleans, high pulls, power snatches, etc...Dumbbell cleans and one-hand swings are also great. You need to learn how to do them, of course...post on the discussion board if you hvae questions and we can direct you to good resources (Hinbern, IronMind, my dino videos, various sites on the web, etc.). And you can learn a LOT, just by hanging around [the Old School Board] and catching technique tips from guys like Dan John and Gary Valentine. For the upper back, bent over rowing is very effective. Usa a barbell--not dumbbells. Drop the chins; barbell movements where you stand on your feet and PULL are the key to back development 11. Overhead Lifting...Aug--99 In my experience you can train the overhead stuff HARD three time per week. I think you'll find it less taxing on your joints than overhead presses once per week and benches on an other day. Back in the pre-steroid days when the press was included in the Olympic lifts, guys trained overhead presses 3 to 5 times per week, plus the clean and jerk once or twice a week--and they did fine. 12. Lower Back Again--Aug 99 TRAIN YOUR LOWER BACK!!! Train it hard...make it bullet-proof...bomb proof...The lower back is the most critical part of the body. Most guys ignore the lower back because they can't flex it in the mirror...BIG MISTAKE. TRAIN THE LOWER BACK--HARD! (End of Sermon) 13. Assistance Exercises...A TRUE STORY...Aug--99 Rookie lifter sees Norb Schemansky at York Barbell Company Picnic. Spends a half hour workign up the courage to go up and talk to Skee. Finally does so... Ask Skee what to do to increase his press. Skee turns to the Rookie in astonishment. "PRESS, YOU IDIOT!!!" he shouts. Well, he didn't really say "idiot"...it was somehting a little stronger...actually, a lot stronger... Rookie lifter runs off in terror and hides behind the cartons of Hi Proteen Powder. Moral of the story: Don't waste time on assistance exercises. To become a better presser, press. To become a better puller, pull. To become a better squatter, squat.

By the way, I heard this story from the rookie lifter in question...Some of you guys might even know him, but that's beside the point. 14. More Finishers...Aug--99 Here are four more possibilities: 1. Barbell or dumbbell clean adn press for HIGH reps...20 to 30 reps 2. Barbell Squat for 30 to 50 reps followed by barbell or dumbbell deadlift or stiff-legged deadlifts for 30 to 50 reps 3. Carry large stone as far as possible 4. Clean and press large rock for high reps...20 to 30 reps 15. Captains of Crush--Aug--99 Here's one. Smart alec young yuppie lawyer in my firm sees the IronMind catalog on my desk...thumbs through it...decides to order COC, Trainer Model. Gets it, starts showing off how storng he is by closing it. Keeps it on his desk, closes it while on the phone. Says to his petite 105 pound secretary, "Here's 420.00...it's yours if you can close this with one hand." She of course can't do it. "Watch this!" he says, (puffind his chest and flexing his lats). And he closes it. "You need to work on your grip," he tells her. Obviously something had to be done... I brought in my COC No. 2, cleaned it up so it looked brand new, and early in the morning swapped it for his Trainer. Of course he didn't notice the difference...and couldn't budge the thing...Doubtless wondered what had happened to his "superhuman grip strength." After an hour or two, his secretary (who ws in on the joke) went in and asked him if he was ill. "You look kinda green and puny" she siad. "Yeah, I have been feeling sort of weak..." An hour later he went home to go to bed for the rest of the day, convinced he was coiming down with the flu. 16. What is happening?--Aug-99 It is ridiculous how much information we are LOSING...in another 20 years, NO ONE will know how to do a power clean, standing press, squat, etc...Look at what happened to the bent press...no on eknows what it is anymore, let alone how to do it. Will the same be true of virtually all barbell exercises in a fiarly short period of time? 17. The 5 x 5 system...July-99 The 5 x 5 system is detailed more thoroughly in Dinosaur Training, along with the reasons for the sytem. You do NOT to five sets with the same weight. You do two progressively heavier warmup sets, then three sets of five reps with your working weight. When you can get five reps on each set with the working weight, add more weight in the next session. The system is time tested and effective; it has a good track record and it works very well. It is an ideal way for a guy who has been doing one set of medium reps to start to get used to handling heavy weights for multiple sets. The warmup sets and the total number of reps help build form and technique. The "stabilizing principle"--not adding weight until you can do three sets of five reps--assures that you do not add weight too quickly, and those of you who are interested in starting to explore lower rep strength training should give it a try. The system is not new, it is not trendy, and it runs counter to what many do or advocate...but it works...Give it a try. 18. My Olympic Lifting Basics Tape...Aug-99 The OL tape is designed for someone who needs to see the BASICS...someone who has never seen a power clean, power snatch, high pull, push press or push jerk. It does not cover the competitive Olympic lifts, nor was it done for that purpose. I think it is an excellent training tape for a martial artist who has not been exposed to OL work; the OL moves shown on the tape will be a terrific way to expand your current program. Plus, the heavy lifting sequences in the tape will get you all fired up for some hard training...AND...you see Sam and Spencer on the tape

19. Olympic Lifts and Muscular Development...Aug-99 There is a terrific article on the genral topic of OL training and physique development: "The Greatest Physique Sotry." by Joe Berg, originally published in June, 1953, Strength and Health, and reprinted with the permission of the York Barbell Company in the February, 199 Dinosaur Files. It details the extensive use of heavy weight lifting by none other than John Grimek...In the article Berg notes that from 1932 to 1940, Grimek did no bodybuilding, but rather concentrated on Olympic lifting...cleans, presses, snatches...He became enormously strong, and of course, was tremendously well built...probably the best developed man in the history of the world if we exclude the later generations of steroid users. 20. Waist size and overall body...Aug 99 Back to Grimek again...the man was tremendously strong...and had an incredibly powerful waist. He once trained to beat the world record in the weighted sit-up, and actually did so in training, but Hoffman did not let him break the record officially for fear it woult affect his amateur status. He did VERY HEAVY bent presses and side presses, and once tried a 400 pound bent press--just getting under the weight and not trying to stand up with it--just to "see how it felt." So his abs and obliques were enormously strong, but in physique shows he had a temendous differential between his waist and chest/shoulders. Food for thought 21. Overall comment on Olympic Lifting...Aug 99 If you train power cleans, power snatches, front squats, back squats, high pulls, standing presses, and push presses hard and heavy you will develop a massive, thickly muscled physiuqe that will both LOOK strong and BE strong 22. Best Exercises for Traps...July-99 Let me put it this way. I did heavy basic exercise for powerlifting for many years...pushed my strenth to the level where I won five national championships in the bench prss (submaster's division, drug free comps)...and then I started to do power cleans, etc...with barbells and dumbbells. THAT was what made my back grow so THICK that I had to get all custom made dress shirts and suits to wear to work. For my money, the Olympic style pulling movements and the heavy dumbbell cleans are about 20 zillion times more effective than shrugs. Try them and see for yourself. 23. Cycling...July--99 I used to think cycling was ok because it at least got guys focused on adding weight to the bar. But then I saw that guys abused cycling by taking way too many light workouts and not nearly enough hard ones. The bottom line is this: Train HARD. Train HEAVY. If work, school, or other responsibilities make you miss a workout or two, drop back a bit and ease back into things for a session or two, then go after it hard and heavy. If you have a "down" day, when you know that you are not at 100%, drop some weight and coast a little. But just do that once in a while. That's really all anyone needs to know about "cycling." 24. More on Olympic Lifting...July 99 You can train much like an Olympic lifter and build greath strength, power and muscular size, without bumper plates or special coaching. All you need is a barbell and squat stands. Do squtas, power cleans, power pulls, power snatches, presses and push presses...low reps or singles...multiple sets. Add some situps/leg raises/side bends and you've got a very complete program. Brad Steiner mentions this kind of approach in an upcoming issue of The Dinosaur Files; look for it. 25. Why am I weaker?--July--99 Note by Andy...A poster at the Old School Board had increased his clean and presses by 50 lbs in a short period. He was disappointed when he tried the Trap Bar Deadlift and could not do his previous best of 300 .-You increase your strength by nearly 50 pounds in the clean and press and call it a strength loss?! C'mon, get real. YOU ARE STRONGER! Now convert the strength to a BIGGER TRAP BAR DEADLIFT. Your mistake was in trying to jump right back to the weight you were using 2 months ago. Build back up to it. In your next owkrout, do the clena and press as before, but afterwards, do trap bar deads up to 225. The following workout, ditto, but trap bar up to 235. Next workout, 245. Then drop to adding 5 pounds each workout. When you get to 270 or 275 start doing multiple singles in the trap bar deadlift and drop the clean and press--or start alternating the two moves in different sessions. You should easily keep going until you hit 300 on the trap bar. All that is going on is that you need to re-learn the groove. Also ,did you train your legs whil you were doing the clean dn press? If not, you need to let the leg strength come back to match the increase in back strength...remember, trap bar deads are a leg lift more than a

back lift for most guys. 26. Squatting for Beginners...July 99 One set of squats, once per week will not train your body to squat. Beginners and intermediates need more sets, more often. ADVANCED men are different...but for beinners and intermediates, 2 times or 3 times per week squatting is the way to go 27. 100 singles in the squat...Nov 99 These are BRUTAL. On 100 singles in the squat, I have done them bottom position style to avoid the time and energy associated with racking on each rep. My best on these was 300 for 100 singles, and walking was "an experience" for several days after...but hey, doing crazy stuff once in a while is good for you 28. My current training...Nov 99 Just about every session now is devoted to one exercise, for many, many singles...15 to 35...starting light and working up in weight. Sticking to clean and press or clean and push press, snatch and squats are the key movments. This is a very interesting way to train. 29. Hill Sprints Alternative?...Aug 99 1. Sprint 20-40 yards with weights in your hands...five to ten times... 2. Push cars or trucks. 3. Use a blocking sled for heavy pushing. 30. Best Exercises for Strength and Size?..Oct-99 Squats, deadlifts, bench presses, standing presses and push presses, power cleans, power pulls, power snatches, the clean and press (or push press or jerk), barbell bent-over rowing, sandbag carries, the farmer's walk, car pulling or pushing, sled pulling or dragging and hill sprints. The stuff the bunny crowd never even DREAMS of doing 31. Squat Explosiveness...Attention New Squatters! You just started to clean up your squat form, and you are going deeper and with greater control and better balance. That's great. You are also adding weight on a regular basis. That's great, too. Keep it going, slowly and steadily, and g-r-a-d-u-a-l-l-y work on incrreasing explosiveness from the bottom. It will come to you over time. If you try a quick fix such as pause squats, box squats or (my personal favoirte) bottom poition squats at this stage of the game you probably will hurt yourself. (This is in no way disrespectful of those who do or advocate these exercises--heck, you guys KNOW I love the bottom position squat. It's just a matter of building the foundation. You are still building the foundation.) Also, one quick note...explosiveness is MENTAL...as you train, work on your powers of concentration. Reread the chapters in Dinosaur Training on the mental aspects, especially, the chapter on concentration. Work very hard to develop your powers of concentration. As you learn to focus and channel, you will atuomatically become more explosive. If you have one of my videos, go back and watch the tapea t a point where I do a heavy lift and you will see how the mental focus results in a fast, explosive life. Also, buy one of the IronMind training hall tapes and watch how those guys squat...that's the speed and tempo you want to emulate eventually. Good Luck! 32. One-arm Barbell Presses...Oct 99 I used to play with these and a year ago hit 125 or 135, I forget which, perhaps with a bit of knee drive. I like them with a one hand clean, bar resting on chest and across the shoulder of the non-lifting arm, which is raised and held out to the side for balance. This is the way Saxon did this lift. It is a tough lift, but very rewarding. By the way, I believe I saw a photo once of Goerner pressing two 135 pound Olympic bars, one in each hand, bars facing parallel to each other like a pair of big dumbbells 33. A Tip on Two Dumbbell Cleaning---Nov-99 You need to finish with a really hard and fast elbow hip...end the lift with the elbows high, pointing to the 10:00 position (left elbow) and 2:00 position (right elbow.) 34. Training for the Power Rack Video--Oct-99 1. I specialized on the Push Press for the tape, doing them three times per week, in each training session. After the push press, I would do either squats or high pulls, alternating squats and high pulls from session to session. 2. If I do push presses, I do not do overhead presses

3. My current squedule is mostly Olympic lifting moves and squats, so all I do is overhead work, pulling work, and squats. Often only one lift per session for many, many heavy singles. Usually no more than two liftes, e.g., clean and push press and squat...or power snatch and squat...or power snatch and power clean and press...3 times per week unless work and travel make that impossible. I have not trained heavy awkward objects for a while and will work those back in just for fun, along with farmer's wallk or other heavy grip work...and in the winter, will get back to some partials in the rack...The trick is to do a limited number of moves at any one time, and after a few months, change to other moves...This keeps you motivated and "hungry" without overdoing things. 35. On Hise Shrugs...July-99 Talked to Kim Wood the other night and he mentioned how much he like this...uses a Magic Circle to do it...really believes in this exercise for bulking the traps and upper back 36...On Ab work...Aug 99 Save the Gut work for the very last thing you do 37. John Lemm--Sep-99 There's a photo of Lemm and his massive thighs in The Wrestling Physical Conditioning Encyclopedia (which is a GREAT book for strength trainers...VERY well done, with lots of photos of old time strongemn and wrestlers). Lemm was born in 1883. He came to be known as THE SWISS HERCULES. Won a major International Wrestling Tournament in London termed "The Battle of the Giants." Defeated many great wrestlers of the day, including the famous French Strongman, Appollon, who stood 6'1 1/2" and weighed 276 pounds-and has ben rated by some experts as one of the very strongest men who ever lived and as having the strongest hands and arms in history. (Yeah, this is the guy who had the railroad wheels--the Appollon Axle...) Lemm stood 5'8" and weighed only 216 at the time. Lemm wrestled Frank Gotch to a draw, which is further testament of his wrestling ability. He set a world record in the squat by placing 517 pounds on his shoulders unassisted and then performing a squat with it. The record stood for over 20 years...I believe Milo Steinborn is the man who broke it. To shoulder the bar, Lemm would stand it on end, then very slowly and steadily get under the bar and allow it to rock up and off the round, as he dropped into a deep, full squat. (Don't try this at home, boys and girls!) Supposedly, Lemm was a mountain guide in the Alps and built his tremendous leg and hip power by going up the mountains all day long. 38. Going from 20-reps to 5 x 5--Jan-2000 Any time you make a dramatic change in reps (from low to high or vice-versa) you should use a careful break-in period. Same applies when trying a new exercise. In most cases, I would suggest a one-week lay-off, followed by a 6-8 week "break-in period" on the 5 x 5 work. Some of the younger guys may think this is overly cautious, but you need to make haste slowly once you are over a certain age (30-40 for most guys, and for anyone over 50) 39. "The Fact of the Matter is This: "--Feb 2000 1. The best thing in the world to do is OL type stuff with a barbell...plus heavy db stuff as on my dumbbell tape...plus finishers...Train for strength. Do low reps with heavy wts. Use abbreviated programs. Train hard. Be consistent. Be confident. When you train, train HARD...attack the wts. 2. Train at home... 3. Train by yourself; you'll never find someone who is into it the way you are... 4. Screw the drug users and everything about them. 5. Diet = eat plenty of good food.

That's about the whole message.

Nuggets 2: 1. Nov 13—2000 Setting Goals My own training has always been about going after a particular poundage related goal. When I started training as an 11 year old kid, my goal was to bench press 65 pounds—a 15 pound bar and collars and a pair of (then seemingly huge) 25 pound “monsters” on each side of the bar. I worked and worked and worked and finally made it. The next goal was 100 pounds...because it was a “magic number”...then 135 pounds (Olympic bar and a 45 on each side)...then 220 pounds on one of the old Universal Gym bench press stations that we all knew and loved 30 years ago (magic number, entire weight stack)...then 270 on the UG machine (220 pound stack plus a 50 pound plate on top of it—very magic and a surefire way— NOT—to impress the chicks)...then back to the barbell, 200 pounds on the barbell (magic number again)...225 (O bar and two 45s on each side)...then 300 pounds (magic number)...then 315 (3 45’s on each side)...then 350 (magic number)...then 365 (double bodyweight)...then 396 (NASA submaster’s american record at 19 ...then 400 (big magic number)...then 405 (submaster’s american and world record in another drug free lifting organization)...then 407 (to beat my 405 competition best)...and finally on up to a thick bar 420 starting from the bottom position in the rack, no bench shirt, in my basement (magic number—much more magic than 415 would have been, for example). And that little lifting sequence spanned about 25 or 26 years of pretty continuous lifting, with many goals and many challenges met and mastered over the years. I love lifting. I love the idea of setting a challenge for myself and working slowly and steadily to achieve it. I use the same approach I used on the bench press in every lift I do. I’m always aiming at a new goal—a new personal best. It may be based on a magic number, on a certain size or number of plates, on a percentage of bodyweight, on an old chart of lifts or records, on a particular lift done by one of the old timers, on current results in master’s competition, on something a friend has done, on something someone has posted about, on old competition results—it doesn’t matter. What matters is setting a goal for yourself and then GOING AFTER IT! This is the whole essence of our activity, and what it teaches you about yourself is one of the greatest benefits of the Iron Game. Learn to set goals. And when you set them, nail yourself to them. Attack them. Be aggressive. Never set a goal and later walk away from it. Make it a point of pride to meet and master every goal you set for yourself. When you do, you will have achieved one of the most important things you can achieve through strength training. You will have developed an IRON WILL. You will have learned the power of persistence. You will have discovered that you do indeed have the stuff that champions are made of. Good luck...and as Dan John says, “Never let go.” 2. Nov 10, 2000 Low Rep Training Personally, I favor low reps for my training, but I also adhere to the principle of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” In other words, if you are doing well on your current program (and it sounds like you are), perhaps now is not the time for a change. It might be better to keep training as you are doing, and then, if and when the gains slow down, give lower reps a try. As for how to implement lower reps, most guys use too much weight at first when they drop reps. That often leads to injuries. I’d suggest this: use the same weight you use for your current high rep program, but do two sets of five reps for two or three workouts. For the next two or three workouts, do three sets of five reps with that weight. NOW add weight—five or ten pounds only—and do three sets of five reps for the next two or three sessions. Assuming you can do three sets of five reps in every session, add more weight—five or ten pounds tops—and again shoot for several training sessions where you do three sets of five reps. Eventually, you’ll be hitting a weight where you cannot get three sets of five reps. At that point, keep at the same weight until you get three times five for two consecutive training sessions, then add a little more weight and build back up to three sets of five reps...and continue to add weight whenever you can do three sets of five reps in two consecutive training sessions.

This is more of a “slow cooking” approach, but in the long run, it would work best for you, I believe. Also, please note that many old timers build good size and muscularity on low reps. Reg Park is the classic example—a HUGE 3x Mr. Universe winner in the 50’s and 60’s, who trained 5 x 5 almost exclusively. He was the biggest and most muscular bodybuilder of his era. So pay no attention to anyone who says that low reps will not build size and muscle. Good luck! 3. Nov 11, 2000 Park suggested adding weight whenever you could do 3 x 5. He called it “the stabilization principle” and really emphasized it. He wanted lifters to add weight ONLY after they had mastered the weight. I am taking this one step further by suggesting that you hold back until you can do 3 x 5 with a given weight for two sessions in a row—just to make sure that you really have mastered the weight. Too many guys will hit 3 x 5 one day when they are at peak energy, feeling really good (and perhaps “cheating” just a bit to get the reps on each set)...and then they add weight and can only do three reps and crash and burn. Slow and steady is the way to go. (File this under the category of “things I wish I had heard AND LISTENED TO 30 years ago...) 4. October 1, 2000 York Courses You can follow one course 3x per week, or do one course one day and the other course the next time you train (alternating them)...or do course no. 1 on Tues, course no. 2 on Thurs and BOTH courses on Sat. Hoffman liked to do this sort of thing on the weekend; sometimes he’d even do course no. 3, the repetition weightlifting course and the HARDEST of the courses, THAN do course no. 1 and THEN do course no. 2...all in one day. You mentioned that course no. 1 “wiped you out” so you can imagine how tough it must have been for Hoffman to do all three courses in one session 5. October 8, 2000 Personal Results with York Courses I followed York Course No. 3 in May, June, July and early August, 3x per week, with an occasional session where I did nothing but heavy clean and press or power snatch or rack squats. Had very good results. Started at a low bodyweight of 210, due to a very busy Spring, much work related travel, missed workouts, little sleep and missed meals...the York program took my weight up to 225 very quickly as a result of all the puffing and panting, increased heart and metabolic activity, from all of the repetition weightlifting movements. I was very impressed with this aspect of the program, and would recommend the schedule to anyone. Be warned, though—it is a ball buster of a program. 6. October 5, 2000 Singles Training Many of my workouts consist of multiple singles in a good, all around movement: squat, front squat, bottom position rack squat, power clean and press or push press, power snatch, power clean/front squat/push press...followed by neck bridges and either situps, leg raises or side bends. You get a terrific workout in well under an hour, and feel great afterwards. I usually start light and work up in small jumps to a max weight or close to max, but sometimes I use “waves”—it all depends on what I am doing and how I feel. These workouts build plenty of strength, power and size, so don’t let their simplicity and brevity fool you 7. October 15, 2000 York 3 This course is amazingly, amazingly hard...It’s too bad more people don’t give it a try to see just how KILLER a workout can be with just a barbell and a set of squat stands. In many issues of The Dinosaur Files I run old success stories from Strength & Health from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. You will note that the guys who reported in back then were making huge gains using the York courses exactly as they were written, including lots of work on courses 3 and 4. The puffing, panting and perspiring is the key. It’s another way of getting a very similar training effect to doing heavy, high rep squats.

8. October 16, 2000 Were York Courses used for Lifters AND Bodybuilders? Back then, there was not nearly as big a gap between lifters and bodybuilders. The courses were

intended to mold beginning trainees into powerful, well proportioned athletes who both looked strong and were strong. Remember, Hoffman was trying to overcome a public perception of weightlifters as huge, muscle-bound mastadons (Louis Cyr, etc.), so even though he favored lifting and was keenly interested in developing good lifters, he always emphasized shape and proportion. This is a primary reason why he disliked Joe Hise and disfavored limited exercise breathing squat programs. I ran a reprint of an old article in The Dinosaur Files that talked about how Grimek’s weightlifting training (including long periods when he did nothing at all but snatch and clean and press) made him the greatest bodybuilder in history. That article was not written by Hoffman, but it distilled Hoffman’s approach to things. The idea was that the same basic courses were best for laying the foundation for lifters, bodybuilders and athletes. 9. November 11, 2000 The Old Breed They don’t make lifters like they used to. Take the case of former World Olympic Weightlifting Champion Stan Stanczyk. Not only was he an incredibly gifted lifter, he was one of the most honest men who ever stepped onto the platform. At the 1948 Olympic Games in London, Stan won the light-heavyweight class with a 259 pound military press, a 280 snatch and a 352 ˝ clean and jerk. On his third attempt in the snatch, Stan attempted a world record of 292 pounds, using his “greased lightning” split style. Picture the lift. Stan approaches the bar...sets himself...gives a mighty pull...and explodes under the bar faster than the eye can follow. The three judges pass the lift unanimously. It’s a new world and Olympic record! The audience goes wild! But wait! Stan is shaking his head. He turns to the head official. “The lift was no good,” he says. “My knee touched the platform.” 10. November 10, 2000: GRIMEK ON ARMS: HOW HE DID IT, IN HIS OWN WORDS Someone asked how Grimek trained arms. Here is the answer, in his own words, from the October, 1940 Strength & Health: Those who wish to specialize in arm development only should follow a program somewhat like this: Choose three exercises with apparatus [i.e., barbells, dumbbells, etc.] for the biceps and two without apparatus; also four different exercises for the triceps with barbells and dumbbells; and three with lighter apparatus, such as crusher grip, cables, iron shoe and one or two without any apparatus at all. Practice these every other day and then, if possible, have someone massage the entire arms and shoulders. Follow this program for two weeks. Then rest two or three days and again resume training. But this time exercise five days in succession and then rest for two days, and then repeat for another week, returning back to the former schedule. This program supplies plenty of exercise and rest periods. Some of you may find that resting a day or two more won’t hurt but proves best for you. In that case, allow more rest in your laying off period, giving the muscles sufficient time to recuperate.... If these principles are adhered to over a period of several months, the results will astound you...This is the method I followed in building for myself the arms that have been judged “The Best Developed in America.”... 11. November 10, 2000 Willoughby on Handstand Pushups In SUPER ATHLETES, David Willoughby lists some all time records in handstand pushups: 1. Eddie Harrison, 148 pounds, did 15 consecutive handstand pushups on the edge of a table, touching his chest on each rep.

2. Sig Klein, 148 pounds, did 19 consecutive handstand pushups on a bench, touching his chest on each rep...even at age 67 he could do 12 or 13 of these! 3. Joe Nordquest, 168 pounds, did 28 handstand pushups on the floor. 4. Ed Theriault, 132 pounds, did 18 of them between chairs. 5. John Davis, at a bodyweight of 200 pounds, age 18, did 10 of them on a set of high parallel bars. 6. Maxick, 145 pounds, was estimated by Willoughby to be able to do 22 of them on the high parallel bars or 34 on the floor. 7. First Sgt. Burko, USMC, bodyweight unknown, 27 on the floor. 8. Jack LaLanne, 178 pounds, 15 on pedestals, 40 on the floor. Willoughby said that a handstand pushup on the floor was the equivalent of doing a two hand MILITARY press with a bb weighing 79% of the lifter’s bodyweight...ditto on low parallel bars was the equivalent of a 2HMP with 90% bodyweight...high parallel bars, 96%. In DEVELOPMENT OF STRENGTH, Harry B. Paschall said that if you can do 10 consecutive handstand presses on low parallel bars you “were strong,” and if you could do 20, you were “super-strong.” 12. November 7, 2000 Grimek Workout I reprinted a terrific article on Grimek’s training in an early issue of the Dinosaur Files. The author was Joe Berg, and the article was titled, I believe, “The Greatest Physique Story Ever Told.” It originally ran in S&H in the early 50’s. The premise of the article was as follows: (1) Grimek had a unique look that other bodybuilders and lifters did not have: athletic, well balanced, well proportioned, and with excellent posture. (2) Grimek not only looked strong, he was strong. (3) Grimek looked the way he did in part because of the wide variety of basic, stand on your feet barbell exercises he did as a young man, including OL work, continental presses, one hand snatches, presses in the bridge position, squats, straddle lifts, side presses, one hand swings and bent presses...all exercises that hit the low back, hips and spine very, very hard. The old Mark Berry books and courses are illustrated by Grimek and you can see in them the incredible development that these exercises produced. (Bill Hinbern sells reprints, guys...hint, hint...) (3a) Note that Joe Hise also commented on Grimek’s carriage and posture. This led Hise to suggest programs that contributed to erect carriage and posture as part of a basic foundation for aspiring lifters. In turn, this led him to the Hise shrug. (3b) Harry Paschall always noted that Grimek never did flat bench presses, and that doing so would have marred his physique. (4) During the 30’s, Grimek had long periods of time where he just did OL work...and never looked better. (5) The isolation style bodybuilding methods that came into vogue in the 50’s (and that continue to be in vogue today) did not and cannot build a body like Grimek’s. As a further note, Hoffman reported that Grimek’s favorite exercise was the continental press. He regularly handled 300 plus pounds in this exercise. 12. November 8, 2000 More on Grimek According to Hoffman and Paschall, Grimek did incline dumbbell presses and incline dumbbell flies. When he was editor of MD later in his life, Grimek said he did lots of decline presses and that he preferred them to incline presses. I have never heard or read about Grimek doing dips, although he did

lots of gymnastics and hand balancing. Really, what Grimek did for his chest is not important. What matters is how he built his foundation: heavy barbell exercises, including lots of squats, cleans, snatches, military presses, continental presses, side presses, bent presses, presses while in a high neck bridge, stiff legged deadlifts, straddle lifts, heavy db presses, one hand swings and one hand snatches. That sort of training was the key to the Grimek physique. Don’t ask “What did JCG do for arms?” or “what did JCG do for chest?” What matters is what he did to build his foundation. As a further note, Grimek once wrote an article in S&H (late 50’s or early 60’s) in which he labeled the clean and press as the best single exercise a man can do. 13. November 8, 2000 Hinbern’s Lifting Tape w/ Grimek It’s a great tape. One of JCG’s interesting stunts is to press a heavy barbell—I’m going by memory, but I think it was 200 pounds plus—and then casually toss it up and let it fall—and catch it EASILY in the crook of the elbows, right below the biceps. He laughs and smiles as he does this. Grimek was just incredible. He was fearless when it came to heavy lifting. He once put a 400 pound bar on his shoulder and tried to bent press it, just to see what it felt like. He said he actually pressed it, arm fully extended, as he dropped into a squatting position, but could not stand up to complete the lift. Think of that. “Gosh, I wonder what it feels like to bent press 400 pounds. Think I’ll give it a try.” Good Lord! 14. November 8, 2000 Barbell Rows Overhand grip...back flat, legs bent. The exact position varies from lifter to lifter depending on body structure. Grip width also varies from lifter to lifter. The real key, though, is to pull the bar up right along the legs and into the lower belly, not the chest. It’s like a power clean—keep the bar close to the legs, not out in front of you. 15. November 8, 2000 More on Rows I reprinted an old article by Peary Rader on the bb row in the Dino Files; check the back issue list that Andy put up and order it if you are interested. Greg Pickett also did an excellent article on the bb row in an early issue of the Files. Peary’s advice on the row is very similar to my own. He did NOT suggest one grip or another...he said that different grips work the muscles differently. In “The Rader Master Bodybuilding and weight Gaining System” and in “Ironman Barbell Course No. 1,” Peary does not even reference the width of the hands— because it is not very important. The critical point, which Peary always referenced, was to “pull the bar to the lower belly, NOT to the chest.” Also, be sure to train your lower back hard before you start doing the bb row and while you are training them. Too many modern guys don’t do heavy lower back work, and then they try to do bb rowing, and they get hurt because their lower backs are too weak to do the exercise. Such injuries are NOT the result of the bb row, they are the result of not training the lower back. If, for example, you have been doing seated presses instead of standing presses...leg press, Tru-Squat, ball squat, hack squat, leg extensions or Smith Machine squats instead of regular squats...and no low back work or poor quality low back work....then you are not ready for bb rowing. 16. October 23, 2000 Charles Atlas: Only Bodyweight Exercise? Here are Atlas’ own words, quoted from an article in the April-May, 1955 Iron Man—you decide if you believe him. With reference to the 150 pound one hand overhead lift, note that Atlas weighed 180 in his prime: “At no time in my career did I use barbells or iron dumbbells to increase my development. On several occasions I have accepted a challenge to lift a weight, as a test, and once pushed up 150 pounds with one hand from the shoulder. People who witnessed these rare attempts have made much of the fact that they saw Atlas ‘lifting.’ No one, however, can truthfully state that they have known me to exercise with weights of any kind.” In the same article, it is stated that Atlas did lots of handstand press-ups, which are more or less a weightlifting exercise in any event...bent lots of strap iron and spikes...did lots of running in the sand...tore decks of cards and phone directories...wrestled...did hand balancing with a partner (presumably as the

bottom man)...did loads of ocean swimming...did tons of hand balancing...and would do a pullover and press with a 200 pound man while in the wrestler’s bridge position. So even while claiming not to lift “weights”, Atlas admittedly did far more than “dynamic tension.” 17. November 20, 2000 Building Pressing Power The May, 1947 issue of an old British magazine, VIGOUR, has a long article by Bob Hoffman about pressing power and how to build it. (This is probably a reprint of an S&H article.) Anyhow, Hoffman summarized the philosophy of the day as folows: “THE SECRET OF SUCCESS IN TWO-HANDS PRESSING IS PERSISTENT PRACTICE, PRES, PRESS, PRESS. Pressing is one exercise you can do a lot of....Five times a week and several times each training day is not too much for the press. The best pressers, the really ambitious fellows, practice some pressing every time they get near a barbell.” It’s interesting to compare the old Hoffman method of very frequent heavy pressing to some of the modern systems where many of us train a lift only once a week or even less frequently. Has anyone tried a program where they press three, four or five times a week, and if so, how did it work for you? 18. November 13, 2000 Long Term Expectations Take the case of John Davis. At age 18, he clean and jerked 300 pounds at 181 at the 1939 National Championships, hit 330 at the next year’s nationals and hit 370 at the 1940 nationals (as a heavyweight). It then took him over 10 years to add a measly 32 pounds and break the 400 pound barrier. Many guys make really good gains at first, but then have to keep hammering away for many, many years to add that extra 10% or so to their top lifts. That’s where perseverance, tenacity and good old fashioned “guts” come into play. 19. November 25, 2000 Training of John Davis : In the May, 1952 S&H, Davis said he did the following four days per week (M/T/W/F): Warmup press 135 x 2 sets of 6 reps press 185 x 3 press 205 x 3 press 255 x two sets of 3 reps press 280 x 1 press 300 x 8 sets of 2 reps supine press 330 for 5 sets of 3 squat 450 5 x 5 At this period of his career I believe Davis would train each lift for a two week period of specialization, so he’d do two weeks of the foregoing, then two weeks where he specialized on clean and jerk or snatch. 20. November 14, 2000 More on Grimek’s Arms The conventional pre-steroid wisdom always linked upper arm size to wrist size. For example, in Muscle Molding, Harry B. Paschall (a personal friend of JCG), referenced JCG’s 18 ˝” upper arms, 14” forearms, 27” thighs, 10 ˝” ankles and 8” wrists. Harry wrote: “Are you willing to accept the Grimek standard? Personally, I am more than satisfied, but I should like to call your attention to a couple of important Grimek girths before you sue me for not making you an exact duplicate of John. Cast your optics on those wrists and ankles. Big bones, hey, kid? If you are like me, with 7 inch wrists and 9 inch ankles, you’re gonna have a tough time getting those 18 inch biceps and 27 inch thighs. ... “ Nowadays, steroids and muscle pumping have changed things around, and you see lots of huge upper arms tapering down to non-existent wrists, but if you look back to the guys who did it with heavy exercise

and NO DRUGS—such as Grimek—Harry’s observation seems to hold up pretty well. And if you consider that most guys with thick wrists are going to be able to build thick forearms, you pretty much have to agree with Joe. Also, for the record, Grimek had STRONG forearms and wrists and a STRONG grip. He was able to clean the famous, thick handled Cyr Dumbbell with one hand—and then bent press it—whereas most lifters cannot one hand deadlift the bell. (In fact, Grimek got so good at handling this dumbbell that he decided to make it heavier—so he took the lead plates that had been typeset with Jowett’s The Key to Might and Muscle, the rights to which York had acquired from the Milo Barbell Co., chopped them up and used them to load the bell to a heavier weight. That’s why the book remained out of print for so long!) And Grimek still holds the world record in the weaver stick lift, a classic test of wrist strength. BTW...re JCG’s arms...his favorite triceps exercise was a close grip military press (close meaning perhaps shoulder width or just a bt closer), beginning the lift with a SLOW start. After a certain point in his career he developed elbow problems and stopped doing curls; thereafter, he trained his biceps exclusively with close grip supinated pulldowns to the chest. Before that, though, he was a heck of a curler—Oscar Heidenstam reports seeing him knock out reps with 190 pounds in the warmup room at the Mr. Universe contest. His favorite forearm exercise was the good old fashioned wrist roller exercise. He would do these with 25 pounds, holding the wrist roller at arm’s length in front of him (the hard way to do them). Paschall ran a photo of JCG in his little booklet, Muscular Arms and Shoulders, where Grimek is doing this exercise and laughing as he does it. For anyone not familiar with the Grimek physique, his best photo ever is reproduced on the cover of Muscletown USA...there are lots of photos of him in Paschall’s books (available thru Bill Hinbern)...and there are some great photos of a young and incredibly muscular Grimek demonstrating lots of different exercises in the old Mark Berry courses that Bill Hinbern reprinted last year. (See the link to Hinbern’s materials on this website.) Yet another compilation of old tips and tricks from Brooks--Nuggets Part III… 1. Training the Press Nov. 14 2000 Personally, I train the press 3x per week and it has been working well. In the past, I trained the lift once per week and that worked well also, as did twice a week. I’ve never done 5x per week, but know of others who have had good success with such a schedule. I think Hoffman’s point is worth thinking about, at least if it convinces a guy who presses once per week or once every ten days to try 2x or 3x per week. Also, note that Hoffman is talking only about THE PRESS...not about other lifts. And remember, Hoffman always said you can train on your nerve (his term for a max workout) no more often than once per week...so when he says press 5x per week, he is referring to a mixture of light and medium days, with one heavy day, not five heavy days. 2. Hermann Goerner’s 727 lbs. One hand Deadlift Nov. 14, 2000 This was a full one hand dead lift, with the bar in front of the lifter (as in a regular dead lift), NOT “straddle” style, with an overhand hook grip. According to his biographer, Edgar Mueller, in Goerner The Mighty (yet another great book available in reprint form from Bill Hinbern—and folks, I don’t get one red cent from plugging Bill’s books), “The bar was lifted correctly from the floor to the full erect position of the body.” Mueller also wrote: “Hermann practiced all his Dead Lifts on straight bars with regular plates, using mostly the Berg-type and sometimes the Scwedler-type revolving barbell. At no time was the bar higher from the floor than 8.25 inches (21 cms). When he trained the lift, Goerner did 529, 551 ˝, 617.25, and then 661.25 pounds. 3. “Optimum ROM” November 18, 2000 I will say this: the older you get, the more you understand the importance of full range exercise when you are young. The kids out there who are hammering away at partial movements—power style squats, bench presses, and sumo dead lifts—are setting themselves up for problems as they get older. It took me a LONG time to figure it out, but the truly full range movements are enormously better. (This means Olympic style squats, full front squats, full overhead squats, and anything where you lift the bar from the floor to overhead.)

4. Bad Advice November 18, 2000 Here’s my list of mistakes: 1. Training on exercise machines. 2. Not doing enough Olympic Lift work when younger. 3. Using food supplements when younger. 4. Doing power-lifting style squats rather than OL squats. 5. Training the low back with dead lifts. (OL moves and heavy dumbbell moves work much better for me.) 6. Not doing enough heavy grip work as a young man. 7. Not doing enough bridging once I stopped wrestling after I graduated from high school. 8. Doing seated overhead presses instead of standing presses. 9. Too much bench pressing. 10. Training (when younger) at commercial gyms. 11. Reading the glossies (when I was younger). 12. Not using the old York courses to build an overall foundation. 5. Bob Peoples November 18-00 Peoples was an amazing man. Lived in the middle of the mountain country along the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Lived on a farm, worked at a rayon plant and then came home and worked on the farm. Still found time not only to train, but to develop world record power (set a world record in the deadlift at 181 that stood for something like 20 years until a 300 pounder finally beat the record). Trained in a root cellar—something like 10 x 10 or 15 x 15...high dirt walls...a rough wooden floor...used lots of home-made equipment, including home-made power racks and barbells made of two 55 gallon drums filled with rocks and scrap metal, with a thick wooden bar (did Ľ squats and leg presses with this). Sometimes trained heavy deads five days per week. Discovered “negatives” all by himself. Did lots of heavy singles. Was introduced to Paul Anderson when PA was a very young man and helped get PA off on the right foot. Had incredible lower back development—one of the photos in the Hinbern book shows him completing a heavy deadlift from the back, no shirt, and you see a huge Xmas tree effect from the low back muscles as they knot and bulge. Designed many home-made exercise machines, including special machines for negative resistance. All in all, a remarkable man. 6. Overhead press. November 18, 2000 The overhead press has more carryover to sports or other activities, works your torso and lower back in ways that the bench cannot approach, and does not wear down your shoulders. Over time, the bench press causes rotator cuff problems. I don’t bench any more and I don’t miss it at all. For the chest, do 45 degree dumbbell inclines. 7. Low Back Specialization November 21, 2000 Try this. Note that 5/4/3/2/1 can be EITHER one set of five reps, add weight, one set of four reps, etc...OR it can be five quick singles (30-60 seconds between lifts), add weight, do four quick singles, etc. It’s your choice. MON 1. Power snatch 5/4/3/2/1

2. Power clean and press or push press 5/4/3/2/1 3. One arm db swings 5/4/3/2/1 OR DB clean and press 5/4/3/2/1 OR one hand snatch 5/4/3/2/1 4. Leg raise or bent legged situps 2 x 12-20 WED 1. Front squats 5/4/3/2/1 2. Overhead squats 5/4/3/2/1 3. Side presses 5/4/3/2/1 4. Barbell bent over rowing 4 x 5 (add wt each set) 5. Side bends 2 x 12-20 FRI or SAT REPEAT MON PROGRAM; add one finisher if time and energy permit. Good luck! 8. Lying Leg Raises Nov 21, 2000 Lying leg raise: Lie on back (on floor or bench). If on bench, let the legs hang over the edge of the bench. With legs straight or slightly bent, raise both legs until legs are at a 90 degree angle to the floor, lower until heels touch floor, then repeat. You also can do these while hanging from a chinning bar. As you get stronger, use iron boots or chains wrapped around ankles to add weight. PDA carries a little harness to hook your feet into, with a plate attached, and that would be well worth trying. 9. General Advice Nov. 21, 2000 1. Use a barbell. 2. Do cleans, snatches, overhead work, etc. 3. Do one arm overhead lifts. 4. Train for health as well as strength 5. The older you get, the more important and more enjoyable this stuff really is. 6. This stuff is incredibly simple. 7. The real rewards from training are mental, not physical. 8. The old York courses are solid gold. 9. Train your lower back, legs, shoulders and midsection HARD and everything else will be fine. 10. Bridging is an incredibly under-rated and misunderstood exercise. 11. Single reps are incredibly productive.

12. One of the most important things is to just keep training. Be persistent. 13. As Dan said, just show up. 14. To learn how to train for real, study the great pre-steroid lifters from the past. 10. Training Olympic Lifts w/Exercise Bar November 22, 2000 I usually train all of my OL stuff on a regular exercise bar because the ceiling in my basement is too low for the OL bar and plates. It works fine. As JV noted, be sure to give the plates a little bit of room to “roll” ... if you make everything too tight, it’s like lifting an old-fashioned solid barbell. Also, remember that in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s thousands of guys got great results training w/ exercise barbells purchased through the mail from York...and most of them did lots of OL work and similar moves. In addition to Clyde Emrich, John Davis did most of his training w/ an exercise bar, and he did ok. 11. The “Ideal Man” November 22, 2000 The Alan Calvert “ideal” (which Bob Hoffman adopted in great part as the York “ideal”) was built by training programs similar to those most of us on this board advocate and follow. Ditto for the Harry Paschall “ideal”—just look at the courses outlined in his books. Calvert, Hoffman and Paschall all advocated schedules that involve lots of heavy lifting for 45 to 60 minutes per session, which is exactly the same as most of us follow. I don’t see any inconsistency here. Also, the majority of those who post here are middle-aged guys with families and full-time, demanding jobs. One hour per workout, 2x or 3x per week, is about all that our schedules allow—and we get great results from these programs. 12. No Room for Standing Presses November 19, 2000 I’m not real tall (5’9”) but I have the same problem when I use an Olympic bar and the 45’s in my basement. Solution: I use a regular exercise bar and 25 pound plates for all of my overhead work. Alternative solution: Train overhead stuff outside or in the garage. Kneeling presses are not a good idea, and seated presses just won’t do for you what standing presses will do. Oh, I almost forgot—there’s a very good third possible solution: JV’s cable Bar system, where the weights hang down below the bar and therefore you don’t have to worry about the plates hitting the ceiling. As long as you have enough room to stand on your feet and extend your arms overhead, this would work great. 13. What is an Ideal Man? November 15, 2000 In Muscle Molding, Harry Paschall detailed the standards for “the ideal man” given by Alan Calvert in 1914: height 5’ 8” weight 175 pounds Neck 16 ˝ Chest 44 waist 32 hips 39 thigh 24 calf 15 ankle 9 biceps 16 forearm 13 wrist 7 According to Harry, “this was actually about the average achieved by Alan Calvert’s dozen star pupils of the era” and it was only “slightly under the Eugene sandow proportions.” (Harry noted that Sandow has biceps of 16.9 inches but that otherwise his measurements were within ˝ inch of the “ideal man” measurements that Calvert suggested. Anyhow, we look at Calvert’s vision of the ideal man, and we may or may not be very impressed. Many of us, I would suspect, would tend to sneer at a lifter with a measly 16 inch upper arm and 44 inch chest.

Ah, but wait—there’s more to the formula. Harry continued: “Now let us go further into the qualifications of the perfect man. Certainly if he is going to have so much muscle, he is going to be strong. But how fit is he, ah, that depends on you! We like to go back to an early prospectus of Calvert’s for the ideal man of strength. He said he should weigh so much, and measure so much, as we have indicated above; but then he went on and pictured such a man as we all would like to be. His finished pupil, he said, must be able to lift 150 pounds overhead with one hand; leap a five-foot fence at a bound; walk, run or swim for miles without effort or fatigue, and excel any strong laborer in any feat of lifting or strength to which the workman was accustomed. His ideal man must not only look strong, but be strong. He must be an athlete PLUS. This conception of my early teacher I accept as gospel. We must so train that we build organic strength and fitness as well as the visible muscles.” So I ask you: what is the ideal man? A huge, ripped modern day monster seemingly twice the size of the 1914 athlete ... or a muscular, but much smaller man, packaged more along the Calvert lines, who can perform all of the feats that Calvert desired of his finished pupils? And for those of you who opt for the Calvert standard, how would you go about achieving it? Is there a different standard that you would propose? What is it? Why? Who would you describe as an “ideal man”? How did he train to attain his strength and muscles? What lessons does he offer for the rest of us? 14. Overhead Press or Bench? November 18, 2000 Do the overhead press. The overhead press has more carryover to sports or other activities, works your torso and lower back in ways that the bench cannot approach, and does not wear down your shoulders. Over time, the bench press causes rotator cuff problems. I don’t bench any more and I don’t miss it at all. For the chest, do 45 degree dumbbell inclines. BTW, if you sub to the Files, I cover this issue in detail in my article for the current issue (November). If you don’t sub, email me with your mailing address and I’ll send a free copy of that issue. 15. Bob Peoples November 18, 2000 Peoples was an amazing man. Lived in the middle of the mountain country along the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Lived on a farm, worked at a rayon plant and then came home and worked on the farm. Still found time not only to train, but to develop world record power (set a world record in the deadlift at 181 that stood for something like 20 years until a 300 pounder finally beat the record). Trained in a root cellar—something like 10 x 10 or 15 x 15...high dirt walls...a rough wooden floor...used lots of home-made equipment, including home-made power racks and barbells made of two 55 gallon drum filled with rocks and scrap metal, with a thick wooden bar (did Ľ squats and leg presses with this). Sometimes trained heavy deads five days per week. Discovered “negatives” all by himself. Did lots of heavy singles. Was introduced to Paul Anderson when PA was a very young man and helped get PA off on the right foot. Had incredible lower back development—one of the photos in the Hinbern book shows him completing a heavy deadlift from the back, no shirt, and you see a huge Xmas tree effect from the low back muscles as they knot and bulge. Designed many home-made exercise machines, including special machines for negative resistance. All in all, a remarkable man. 16. Power Supersets November 29, 2000 Another option is what I refer to as power supersets: two heavy compound lifts for singles, doubles, or triples, performed back to back. For example, clean and press, followed by squat...squat followed by deadlift, trap bar deadlift or stiff legged deadlift...squat or front squat followed by high pulls with snatch or clean grip...the possibilities are endless. Three to ten of these “supersets” will knock you on your butt. I use a similar program on heavy dumbbell work: right hand swing, left hand swing, two dumbbell clean and press, right hand dumbbell clean and press, left hand dumbbell clean and press, all for one series...then add weight and repeat the series. After five or six of these “compound” sets, you are really huffing and puffing. Sometimes I’ll add squat or front squat as part of the series—and that makes it a killer. BTW, Bob Hoffman always favored compound exercises of this nature, such as squat and press behind neck. This is the whole basis of Hoffman’s “Simplified System of barbell Training.” It was good stuff then, and it is good stuff now. 17. Wrestler’s Bridge and Press December 8, 2000

I do a sort of “bench press” in the high bridge position. I start in the bridge position and pull the barbell over the face to my chest (like doing a bent arm pullover), then do a bench press type motion while holding the bridge. I’ve worked up to 202 pounds for 12 reps. IMO, this is a terrific back and neck exercise. BUT YOU NEED TO WORK UP TO THIS VERY, VERY CAREFULLY! For 99.99% of those reading this, the best place to start is the NON-WEIGHTED neck bridge, as detailed in Matt Furey’s book, Combat Conditioning. If you do judo or wrestling or football and do NOT exercise your neck hard and heavy, you are asking for trouble. If you don’t bridge, you need to do heavy work with a head strap. Iron Mind sells an excellent one. 18. Yep, It Works! December 8, 2000 I seem to recall reading somewhere recently (as in, the November, 2000 issue of The Dinosaur Files) that Bud Jeffries does “dinosaur training” and also, that he recently won a lifetime drug free world championship in powerlifting. I also seem to recall that the guy who wrote Dinosaur Training did ok in drug-free lifting—winning something like five national championships in the bench press (submaster’s division) and a dozen or more national, American or world records in the submaster’s division. Also, I’ve received many letters and e-mail messages over the years from lifters who have increased their powerlifting ability enormously by using the various ideas in Dinosaur Training. BTW, when you ask this question, what is your definition of “dinosaur training”? In the book, and in the newsletter, there are many different training ideas and suggestions. It’s sort of hard to ask “does dinosaur training work?” if you don’t define what you mean by dinosaur training. Did Doug Hepburn do “dinosaur training”? Yeah, and he was the first man in history to bench press 500 pounds. Did Reg Park do “dinosaur training”? Yeah, and he was the second man in history to bench press 500 pounds. Do Dr. Ken’s lifters (past and present) do “dinosaur training”? Yeah—and they’ve done great over the years. Dinosaur training is just plain, old fashioned hard work with heavy iron. And hard work with heavy iron is gonna make anyone a better lifter. Remember, too, that “dinosaur training” is a state of mind. There is a BIG emphasis on the mental aspects of training. I doubt that any reasonably accomplished lifter would argue that the mental aspects of training don’t matter. They do. Enormously. So if you are asking, does “dinosaur training” work for powerlifters, one answer is, “absolutely, because dinosaur training focuses on the mental aspects of training, and the mental aspects of training and competing are critical to the success of any lifter.” 19. Strength Training and Wrestling December 8, 2000 During the season, at least, you need to devote virtually all of your time and energy to wrestling practice. There will be very little left for “extra” strength training on your own. So until the end of the season, it’s not realistic to expect to focus on strength training. Besides, over the course of the season, you cannot increase your strength enough to really make a difference in your wrestling...but you CAN increase your wind and endurance (both cardiovascular and muscular endurance) enormously (by wrestling!), AND you can increase your skill, knowledge and speed on the mat enormously (by wrestling). In other words, wrestle hard and often and you will become a better wrestler. The wrestling is what will pay off for you right now, not the strength work. Also, I assume your coach has you guys on some sort of lifting program, or at least, doing calisthenics and other exercises in practice. So you need to factor that into what you are doing. Like it or not, you have to do what the coach says to do...even if you don’t like his strength training program or think you could get a better workout on your own. That’s just the way it is when you are in high school. Perhaps in the off season you will have more of a chance to train on your own. Finally, if you are training on your own (and it sounds like you are), you need to be sure you know how to do the various exercises. For example, you need to learn how to do power cleans from someone who really KNOWS...or else you will receive minimal benefit and probably hurt yourself. In that regard, the guys on the board can steer you to some good resources for learning OL moves and for hooking up with someone who knows how to do them. Final note—on bridging—please do them bodyweight only until you have truly mastered them. No weight resistance at all until you can hold a high, full bridge for three sets of three minutes each! 20. Combining Powerlifting with Olympic Style Lifting December 7, 2000 If you are interested in an OL program, a good all around OL program would be better than a combination program. Otherwise, you’re just dabbling with the OL stuff. Jim Schmitz has an excellent book (sold by Iron Mind) on Olympic Lifting for beginners and intermediates. The programs are very carefully designed to help you develop flexibility and proper movement patterns, both of which are critical to OL training. For

example, you do the front squat and the over-head squat not merely to train the legs for strength and power, but also, to learn the correct positions for the snatch and the squat clean and to develop flexibility in the shoulders, wrists, ankles and hips. So, without debating the merits of “HIT vs. OL”, I think you should go 100% OL style IF that is what interests you....and you should do so using a good guide such as Schmitz’ book....and you should not try to keep doing HIT or powerlifting or bodybuilding or anything else while you are using the OL schedules. Just focus on the OL and see what happens. In this regard, think for a minute about the squat, an exercise that is a very important part of both OL programs and HIT programs. To do OL stuff, you need to do full, Olympic style back and front squats. Parallel squats will make you too stiff and tight to do the OL stuff. BUT, how do you safely train full front or back squats to failure? The answer is, you can’t do it! Watch the Iron Mind Training Hall tapes; you’ll see top OL guys doing heavy back and front squats with no rack, no safety catch bars and no spotters. Is this because they are suicidal? No, it’s because they are in full control of every rep and because they do not train to failure. So if you combine HIT and OL work, you’d have to do OL style squatting AND HIT style squatting....and I think anyone, whether from the OL side or the HIT side, would say, “wait a minute, that’s not gonna work very well.” 1. More on Weighted Bridging December 7, 2000 The press in the wrestler’s bridge position was one of the exercises in York Barbell Course No. 2. Bob Hoffman wrote, “Start with a weight that you can comfortably handle and work up to twelve [reps]....Advanced pupils use more than 200 pounds in this exercise.” My personal best on this one is 202 pounds for 12 reps. I’ve seen pictures of old-timers handling BIG weights on this. An old issue of Strength and Health shows a 150-160 pounder doing what I believe is a 305 pound lift. This was claimed as a world record, I believe. I think the lifter’s name was Jack Kent, but I am going by memory on this. In Super Athletes, Willoughby credits George Hackenschmidt with 311 pounds for one pullover and two presses at a bodyweight of 195 pounds...Frank Dennis with 279 pounds for one pullover and press at a bodyweight of 151 pounds...Louis Chiarelli (152 pounds) with a lift of 309 pounds (but he had the weight handed to him)...and Willoughby also mentions a 315 pound lift by 215 pound Charles Davis (but we don’t know if Davis had the wt handed to him or did a pullover followed by a press). Also, John Grimek is reported to have handled 220 or so in the wrestler’s bridge press as a young man. The wrestler’s bridge is a tremendous exercise, but start out slowly and carefully, and work up very slowly and gradually in adding weight. Even a big, strong, experienced lifter should stick to bodyweight bridging at first. Add weight only when you have mastered the basic bodyweight version of the exercise. 2. Weighted Bridges AGAIN…when to add weight December 7, 2000 (1)When you can do three sets of three minutes each in the full, high bridge, try adding a little bit of weight. (2) The wrestler’s bridge and press is better than the “bridging up” motion. Most guys won’t go all the way into a full, high bridge if they do the “bridging up” motion with weight, and it’s the full, high position that is important. 3. One Arm Side Press December 7, 2000 The one arm side press is very similar to a bent press, except you keep your legs straight throughout the entire movement. It is NOT simply a press where you lean a bit to one side as the weight goes up. The old timers would lean way, way over, so that their torsos were parallel to the ground at the completion of the lift. The exercise was a back and waist strengthener, NOT an arm and shoulder exercise. There are good photos of the exercise in Pullum’s book, Weightlifting Made Easy and Interesting, which Bill Hinbern sells. Olympic Style Lifting without Bumpers December 10, 2000 I usually train with an exercise bar and iron plates, and I do almost nothing but OL stuff and squats, so yes, you can do it. And you can get darn strong training at home with an exercise bar, as JV noted. John Davis and Clyde Emrich are two examples of GREAT lifters who trained with exercise bars. The trick is, always lower the bar in stages...first to the shoulders, bending the legs and going into a Ľ squat to absorb the shock of the bar...then to the thighs, bending the legs again as the bar hits them...and then to the floor. It sounds much harder than it is. DO NOT TRY TO DO A NEGATIVE RESISTANCE “REVERSE CURL.” It won’t work. Also, you can and should use a 3’ length of 2” x 8” wood positioned so the plates start and land on the boards. This helps avoid destroying the floor. It also will position the bar at the right height to start the lift (otherwise, with 25 pound exercise plates, you’ll be way too low at the start, with a rounded back). Use a folded towel or some old carpet or rubber matting on top of the boards to keep the bar from rolling.

And I second what Mike said. Be sure your porch is solid enough to handle your weight and the weight of the bar. Good luck! 4. Dumbbell Swing and Reps December 24, 2000 It is very hard to do reps in the dumbbell swing, and impossible to do them correctly if you don’t put the bell on the floor between reps. Remember, the starting position has the bell not only on the ground but back between the legs—not simply lying below the lifter. You can’t really lower the bell to that “down and back” position, you have to put it on the floor, step back, then step forward. If you don’t do this, you start making the lift an incomplete movement where the bell starts on the ground in front of the lifter (or from the hang in front of the lifter). Also, if you do reps, you lower the bell with one hand instead of two (wrong again) and you tend to start the lift with a bent arm, shoulder not properly positioned and back not flat. This makes the reps inefficient, teaches bad habits and could lead to an injury. This is why I suggest using singles in the one hand swing. However, if you work fast, it is just the same as doing reps. If you train one hand, other hand, back and forth, you work the heck out of your back, while starting each rep from the floor in a perfect position. 5. More on the Dumbbell Swing “The Little Things” December 24, 2000 It’s the little things that count in lifting. In the dumbbell swing, it’s stuff like padding the forearm, using the right size plates, pushing off the thigh with the non-lifting hand, holding the dumbbell as close to the plates as possible, starting with the dumbbell all the way back and properly positioned, back-loading the dumbbell, etc. As the old lifts are “re-discovered” more people try to do them (which is GREAT), but they often forget the little things. That’s why the dumbbell tape is helpful, and why Hinbern’s reprints are so valuable. I mean, face it—how many of us go to gyms where we regularly see other lifters doing the one hand swing? Anyhow, good luck and good lifting! 6. “Long, Long Ago:” 20 Rep Squats and Weight Loss December 24, 2000 In one of the very first “muscle mags” I ever saw—a 1969 issue of Muscular Development (edited by John Grimek), there was an article by a guy who had exactly the same idea, gave it a try and did great losing weight a 20 rep squat program and a low cal diet. BTW, he did front squats for more ab work! (An Old School idea back in 1969...) 7. Pressing and the Three “P’s” December 23, 2000 A brief note with regard to getting your press to go up. I’ve found that any kind of overhead pressing has carry-over to anything else in the way of overhead work, but strict pressing seems to have the most carryover for me. Hopefully, it will have good results for you as well. In training the press (push press, military press or log press), remember the three P’s: (1) patience (2) poundage (3) persistence. Patience and persistence are critical because what seems to happen is that you stay at a certain weight for awhile, seemingly not getting anywhere, and then all of a sudden out of the blue you make a big jump. Poundage is critical because you need to train heavy enough to work all of the supporting muscles and any “weak links” so they hold up to a heavy overhead lift. Good luck! 8. Dinosaur Strength Training and Combat Conditioning December 23, 2000 There are several options: 1. Do dinosaur training on Monday, Combat Conditioning on Wednesday, dinosaur training on Friday, and so on, alternating back and forth. 2. Do dinosaur training on Monday, Combat Conditioning on Wednesday or Thursday and BOTH on Sat (more time to train AND to recover on the weekend). 3. Do workouts of ˝ dinosaur training and ˝ Combat Conditioning 4. Train dinosaur 2x per week and Combat Conditioning 2x per week. 5. Do dinosaur training for 6 weeks and then do Combat Conditioning for 6 weeks.

The one thing that does not work for most guys is to do TOO MUCH! You can’t do dinosaur training 3x per week and Combat Conditioning 3x per week as well. Nor can you do Combat Conditioning five or six times per week and dinosaur training 2 or 3 times per week, as some have tried. Plan out a schedule that combines both training styles, but use your head. For example, if you have a heavy squatting workout, you don’t need to do Hindu squats in the same session or the next day. Also, remember that some exercises require more recuperation time than others. In my own case, heavy power lifting and rack work requires more recovery time than Olympic lifting, and I bet the same is true for many guys. The farmer’s walk or any other finisher requires more recovery time for most guys. Going to failure on heavy compound moves requires more recovery time than other training methods. So when you combine weights with Combat Conditioning, be aware of the type of weight work you do and how much recovery you need, then work the Combat Conditioning in accordingly. 9. A One Exercise Session December 23, 2000 Try This: A one-exercise session, focusing on one hand clean and press or clean and push press. Start with ˝ of your top single (or 50 pounds) if you can do 100 or more and that’s all the wt you have. Do five singles with each hand, alternating hands. For example, clean the bell with the left hand, press it, lower it (with two hands), pause, catch your breath (15-30 seconds should do it), then repeat with the right hand. Do a total of five with each hand. Add ten pounds...repeat. Keep adding weight until you hit your top weight or 100 pounds. If you do a total of 25-30 singles with each arm, you’ll have a heck of a workout. NOTE: On the one hand clean with thick dumbbell, be sure to start with the bell between the feet, so you straddle it...you are looking straight ahead, we’ll call that 12:00. The bell is positioned so that the front plates point toward 12:00 and the rear plates point toward 6:00. BE CAREFUL OF YOUR FEET! Don’t do reps. Do singles so you can lower the bell with two hands. You cannot hold onto a heavy thick handled dumbbell when lowering it with one hand from shoulder to floor. Do NOT try. You’ll drop it on your foot and break your foot. Lift with one hand, but lower with two. Have fun! 10. York 3 Note December 23, 2000 Any program where you do lots of cleaning and pressing (barbell, two dumbbells, one dumbbell, etc.) will build size and strength throughout the body, especially the back and shoulders. Due to all of the huffing and puffing, you have the same sort of effect you get from heavy squatting, and if you eat lots of good feed, you may gain a few pounds of muscle over the next 30-60 days. But the biggest benefit will be increased strength throughout the entire body. As for number of days, try 3x per week. If that’s too much, do 2x per week. You also have the option of doing the sort of multi exercise program one day, and the next time you train, do the one exercise program that I described. You could train 3x per week and go back and forth between the two different schedules. It would be a good combination. 11. Old Time Lifting Instruction December 22, 2000 The most detailed instruction on how to perform the old time lifts is in Weightlifting Made Easy and Interesting. It has step by step instruction (with photos) on how to perform all of the old lifts, including the bent press. The author, W. A. Pullum, held literally hundreds of lifting records in the old days, and was a world champion, so he knew his stuff and was well qualified to write a book on lifting technique. Pullum wrote another, shorter book, titled How to Use a Barbell, that has lots of info on old time training programs. Arthur Saxon’s two books both have good material on the bent press, as well as info on how Saxon trained. Remember, he was the greatest bent presser in history. Super Strength, The Key to Might and Muscle and Physical Training Simplified all have info on the bent press. Super Strength has a chapter titled “The Secret of the Bent Press” which should help you a lot. Physical Training Simplified also has a chapter on the bent press. Milo Course No. 3 has good info on the bent press. 12. Note on One Hand Snatches December 21, 2000 Do the one hand snatch with a BARBELL!!! If you use a dumbbell, the plates (or bells) on the dumbbell will line up directly on top of your feet at the beginning of the lift. This means that you have to start the lift

with the dumbbell positioned too far in front for maximum efficiency (not good)...OR you have to start the lift with the dumbbell resting on the feet (also not good)...or you have to start the lift from the hang, with the dumbbell directly over the feet (extremely not good, especially if you do reps—what happens when the bell slips?). I’m not sure why we have so much interest right now in the one hand DUMBBELL snatch, but whoever started it is going to get someone hurt. It’s a BARBELL lift, NOT a dumbbell lift. 13. Variations on the 5 x 5 System December 21, 2000 There are three ways to do the 5 x 5 system. 1. The original method, as used by Reg Park in the 50’s, is to do two progressively heavier warmup sets and three “working” sets with the same weight. This is good because it allows slow but steady progress over time. You avoid the trap of having a good day, then adding weight and getting sloppy or missing the reps the next time you train. If you can do three sets of five reps with your working weight, you have MASTERED the weight...and earned the right to do more the next time you train. Reg Park called this “the stabilizing principle.” 2. The second way is to do three warmup sets and two sets with your top weight. This is a good way to go for guys who need more warmup sets. 3. The third way is to do four warm up sets and only one top set. This is a more advanced program. The benefit is that you can handle more weight for that final set. The downside is that you lose the benefit of the stabilizing principle. 14. Progression on Warmup Sets in the 5 x 5 format December 21, 2000 You can either increase the weights on the warmup sets OR take bigger jumps. It doesn’t really matter that much. Eventually, you may need to spread the warmups over three sets, so you would be doing 6 x 5 (three progressively heavier warmup sets and three working sets). 15. Starting Weight for 20 Rep Squats December 21, 2000 Start with a LIGHT weight! Doing 20 reps with your typical 10 rep poundage is foolish and unnecessary. You eventually may work up to 20 reps with a weight you once used for only 10 reps, but work up to it. I’d start with 50% of the 10 rep weight and add 5 or 10 pounds to the bar every squat session until I was up to the 10 rep weight. Peary Rader started these with 45 pounds and got up to 350 for 20. 16. The Cheating Principle December 20, 2000 Cheating” is more of a bodybuilding concept than anything else. I’d forget about “cheating” movements and train with total body movements such as squats, snatches, clean and press, clean and jerk, etc. 17. One-Hand Lifts December 20, 2000 There have been a number of posts recently about the hand swing and the one hand snatch, and I have gotten a number of email messages with questions about the two lifts. Guys, these are two different exercises. The swing is performed with a dumbbell; the one hand snatch with a barbell—NOT a dumbbell. (You cannot do a credible one hand snatch with a dumbbell because the globes of the bell would hit your feet—that’s why you use a barbell for this movement.) These are good exercises, but you have to know how to do them—and you can’t learn that from a discussion board. The best resource for BOTH lifts (and many others, such as the bent press and side press) is Pullum’s book, Weightlifting Made Easy and Interesting. Bill Hinbern sells this classic text (written by an honest to goodness old time lifting champion and world record holder) in an inexpensive modern reprint edition. You can get order info from the link on this board. If you are seriously interested in the old time lifts, PAY $20.00 AND ORDER PULLUM’S BOOK...and learn how the lifts are really done! And no, I don’t sell the book, I don’t get royalties on it, and I’m not getting a penny for posting this. I just want you guys to learn how to do the lifts the RIGHT way. 18. Powerlifting Training and Olympic Lift Training. “Can I use the Joe Mills Big 21 Program for Power Lifts?” December 15, 2000 In my own training, I’ve found that I can (and should) train OL stuff much differently than powerlifting moves or other non-OL moves (greater frequency and greater volume, also faster pace). The Big 21(Joe Mills) is an OL program. I think you’d do best if you stuck to OL moves for the program. 19. Throwing December 14, 2000

I think there are several different things to do with heavy objects: (1) Lift ‘em, which we all know and love (2) Lug ‘em, as in the farmer’s walk or carrying a sandbag or stone in a bear-hug (3) Load ‘em, as in, stacking a boulder on top of a big barrel (4) Throw ‘em. All of these basic movement patterns have different feels to them, and all help to develop the body. On my “Bags, Barrels and Beyond” tape there is a fun segment of throwing a 130 pound beer keg for height and for distance. But be sure to do this outside! 20. My Favorite Authors December 16, 2000 Peary Rader, Bradley J. Steiner, Dr. Ken Leistner, John McCallum, and Harry B. Paschall. Why do I particularly like those writers? It’s because they all are teachers, mentors and motivators in areas beyond pure physical training. And it’s because they are writing out of a sincere desire to help their readers. It’s because their love for the Iron Game and their respect for serious lifters shines through in all their writing. Also, it’s because each in his own way encourages—or rather, compels—the reader to exceed his expectations. 21. Sticking Point Work December 15, 2000 The idea of having someone watch you do a heavy lift to determine your sticking point is good. Many guys who use heavy partials in the rack get less than maximum benefit because they don’t really work their weak point. 22. What’s a Bent Press? December 15, 2000 The bent press is a very technical one hand lift. You start with the bar at the shoulder and lean far, far to the side, pushing up as hard as possible, and end up squatting under the weight while holding it overhead with one hand. Then you stand up to complete the lift. Bent press experts could lift more with one hand than they could handle in the two hand press, or even the two hand clean and jerk. To learn the lift, order Hinbern’s reprint of the Arthur Saxon and Bill Pullum books. Pullum’s “Weightlifting Made Easy and Interesting” is the best when it comes to explaining the old lifts. There also is a whole chapter on the lift in Calvert’s Super Strength. And I believe there are drawings of the lift at the Iowa Strongest Man site; these drawings are taken from old courses by George Jowett. 23. Nothing Fancy December 13, 2000 I eat four good, solid meals a day. Nothing exotic. Just plenty of good, old fashioned food. I take a multivitamin mineral tablet (Theragam M) daily. That’s it. Oh, yeah. I lift heavy weights 3x per week. That seems to be the part they forget about in “Chrome and Fern Land,” aka “Let’s Take Sissy Workouts, Buy Lots of Food Supplements and Pretend We Are Doing Something Productive Land.” Seriously, your lifting is far and away the most important thing. If you train right, you will get bigger and stronger on almost any sort of good, healthy diet. Food supps are NOT necessary, and in many cases, are counter-productive. 24. Diet Notes December 14, 2000 I don’t count calories, grams of protein or anything else, although I have a rough idea of where these are on a daily basis. I eat more or less the same thing everyday, in the same amounts, so there is no need for counting or weighing. Exactly what I eat would mean nothing to anyone else, however, unless it was someone my age, my weight, with my exact lifestyle, who did exactly the same sort of training that I do, who likes the same sort of food that I like. I do not advocate force feeding. In my experience, if you train HARD (squats, deadlifts, standing presses, push presses, OL work, heavy dumbbell work, the farmer’s walk, bent rowing, rack work, etc.) with HEAVY weights (as heavy as you can handle in good form) on a CONSISTENT basis, then you naturally will have a pretty health appetite. I will note that protein is very important if you train heavy. Many guys do not eat enough protein because they are counting calories, and then they try to make up for it with supplements. Protein is critical. You won’t grow without it, and over time, you will wear your body down if you try to train hard without eating lots of protein. (Personally, I probably eat 150 to 175 grams of protein a day, at a bodyweight of 225--as I said, I don’t count the grams, but I have a rough idea.) In this regard, let me note quickly that a vegetarian diet makes it very, very difficult to build strength, power and muscular size. Dr. Ken did a very good article in the November issue of The Dinosaur Files about diet and nutrition. His approach is very similar to mine, and I would suggest you review the article for more detail on diet.

25. Clean and Jerk Program December 13, 2000 You will surprise yourself at what a 6-10 week clean and jerk only program will do for you. You will NOT lose squatting strength or strength in any other lifts. You’ll get bigger and stronger all over. I mean, if you add 25-40 pounds on the clean and jerk, you will be MUCH stronger all over. Give it a try! Make that move your focus while you are hitting those singles. Good luck. 26. Must I Lock Out My Presses? December 13, 2000 YES! (1) Under established lifting rules, it is not a complete press if you do not lock out. So if you don’t lock out, you are not doing the lift correctly and have no basis to compare your performance to those who use the correct method. It’s like doing a cheat curl and then comparing your lift to someone else’s strict curl. (2) Locking out requires you to balance and support two heavy, unwieldy objects, one in each hand. This builds strength and power throughout the stabilizers of the back, hips and torso. Remember, you are not doing dumbbell presses to “pump the delts” like a boobybuilder. You are doing them to develop total body power. The lock out is a necessary part of the movement for maximum results. Anyone who has seen my dumbbell training tape and the heavy lifts on the tape can attest to the fact that the end of the lift—the lockout and pause—just about kills me. The lift is much easier, and its value much more diminished if you don’t lock and hold at the end of the lift. 27. Barbell Pressing versus Dumbbell Pressing December 13, 2000 They BOTH work great! Heavy barbell pressing is a great exercise. So is heavy dumbbell pressing. It’s impossible to say that either is “better.” Both are very productive. You can increase your dumbbell pressing by doing barbell pressing and vice-versa. Ditto for barbell and dumbbell cleans and similar movements 28. Apples and Oranges December 13, 2000 You can’t compare apples and oranges. Similarly, you can’t compare dumbbell lifts to barbell lifts. Dumbbells are the most fundamental kind of heavy awkward object. They are harder to balance and control than is a barbell. Hence, if you press 200 pounds you cannot press 2 100 dumbbells. The benefit to the dumbbells lies in exactly that—they are hard to balance and hard to control. The benefit of the bb is that you can handle more weight. That’s why it is best to use both of these tools. 29. Some Basic Info on John Davis’s Training December 11, 2000 John Davis trained with Olympic lifts and basic OL assistance moves, including squats. He also did benches near the end of his career. He favored the “swedish” (dead hang) snatch and the straight arm snatch to develop pulling power. There is detailed info on Davis in back issues of the Dinosaur Files. 30. The German Goose Step? December 11, 2000 The German Goose Step is a calf exercise. You hold a barbell on the shoulders and “march” in an exaggerated military style, with the weight on the toes. In my opinion, skip it and do calf raises. 31. Will Olympic Lifting improve my Powerlifts? December 10, 2000 Back in the late 60’s or early 70’s, Bill Starr wrote some fine articles on how to use OL training to increase the power lifts. He had a Deadlift program consisting of power cleans, high pulls, shrugs and good mornings, which he himself used to set a national record of (I believe) 666 at 198 in the deadlift. For the bench press, he suggested an OL style pressing program, with lots of rack presses at different heights. Back then, it was much more common for guys to do both OL and PL, and the training for OL always seemed to have a good effect on the PL comps. 32. Powerlift Training Note December 10, 2000 When I was competing I trained squats, deads and benches exclusively with heavy singles. My primary assistance exercise for bench press was the 70-80 degree incline press. I trained that for singles as well. I trained a couple of other auxiliary exercises with sets of five reps. 33. Simple Workouts October 5, 2000.

Many of my workouts consist of multiple singles in a good, all around movement: squat, front squat, bottom position rack squat, power clean and press or push press, power snatch, power clean/front squat/push press...followed by neck bridges and either situps, leg raises or side bends. You get a terrific workout in well under an hour, and feel great afterwards. I usually start light and work up in small jumps to a max weight or close to max, but sometimes I use "waves"--it all depends on what I am doing and how I feel. These workouts build plenty of strength, power and size, so don't let their simplicity and brevity fool you. 34. York Program Design October 1, 2000 You can follow one course 3x per week, or do one course one day and the other course the next time you train (alternating them)...or do course no. 1 on Tues, course no. 2 on Thurs and BOTH courses on Sat. Hoffman liked to do this sort of thing on the weekend; sometimes he'd even do course no. 3, the repetition weightlifting course and the HARDEST of the courses, THAN do course no. 1 and THEN do course no. 2...all in one day. You mentioned that course no. 1 "wiped you out" so you can imagine how tough it must have been for Hoffman to do all three courses in one session. 35. Personal Results with York Course #3 October 8, 2000 I followed York Course No. 3 in May, June, July and early August, 3x per week, with an occasional session where I did nothing but heavy clean and press or power snatch or rack squats. Had very good results. Started at a low bodyweight of 210, due to a very busy Spring, much work related travel, missed workouts, little sleep and missed meals...the York program took my weight up to 225 very quickly as a result of all the puffing and panting, increased heart and metabolic activity, from all of the repetition weightlifting movements. I was very impressed with this aspect of the program, and would recomend the schedule to anyone. Be warned, though--it is a ball buster of a program