Become a Dinosaur

I got a great book in the mail yesterday. It's called Dinosaur Training , by Brooks Kubik, and it will change your life. After reading the first few chapters I realized that this book is perhaps the first truly honest, no-holds-barred book I've read about strength training. Kubik focuses on what he calls the Golden Age of strength training, which is basically the first half of the 20th century. This was the time before bodybuilding, steroids, and chrome plated weight machines became the rage of American fitness (or lack there of). This was the time where strength athletes accomplished amazing feats of physical performance through guts and a no-excuses training mentality. This was the time of the dinosaurs. Reading this book will not only inspire you and educate you with stories of the old school strongmen, but will show you how utterly ridiculous a lot of today's fitness ideas are when compared to the Golden Age. It will change the way you think and train.

Kubik shows you a lot of great ways to build strength, but he does not limit you to any training method. He focuses more on the mind set and training mentality you need to truly gain strength. You can read his book and decide to either use one of his suggested workout routines or apply his mentality to your current workouts. Either way, you'll be amazed at how awesome you'll feel and the strength gains you'll make. I personally have applied his hard core training philosophy to my CrossFit regimen, with amazing results. I didn't think CrossFit could get any better, but by tweaking it a little and focusing on very heavy weights I have taken my workouts to a whole new level.

Kubik's book isn't the only good read out there. If you want another great book, try Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. It is a great look at powerlifting and it gives in-depth lessons on how to properly perform the classic lifts. This is the book that taught me how to safely and effectively do squats, which led to great gains in total body strength. If you combine the technical expertise of Mark Rippetoe with the overall motivation and hard-core philosophy of Brooks Kubik, you will be on the right path to building gorilla strength.

I'm sure there are other old-school strength coaches out there that I don't know about. If you know of any, let me know. I am a firm believer in learning as much about the physical culture as possible. Never stop learning and never stop adding weight to the bar. huh. I like that phrase. OK, that phrase is officially mine. If you use it, you'd better quote me.