Dinosaur Training

by Jason F. Keen

So-called "dinosaur" training is one of my favorite types of training. I believe the name of this comes from Brooks Kubik, who wrote the book of the same name, and this is where I got the wealth of my information on dinosaur training. (check this book out; it is well worth the price and I can't tell you how much better it is than most lifting books I have read) The main premise to this book is that in order to see results drug-free, when you are lifting weights you need to work as hard as you can. And, as I am sure you have heard before, you can work hard or you can work for a long time, but you can't do both. This is not necessarily your regular "High Intensity Training" routine. In fact, it isn't much like what you've probably seen from the HIT people (Jones, Mentzer, Darden) at all. It does call for abbreviated training, though, and most importantly it requires that you not only work hard, but do exercises that are very demanding and intense.

Here is a sample workout that I have used a lot in the past, although oftentimes I will choose to make the DL day Friday and bench Wednesday:

Monday: Squats, Front Squats, Zercher Squats, Farmer's Lunge/Walk, Donkey Calf Raises, Seated Calf Raises

Wednesday: Dead Lift, Reverse Hyperextensions supersetted with Leg Curls, Chins, Dumbbell Rows, Barbell Curls, COC grippers, Pinch Grips

Friday: Bench Press, Weighted Dips, Clean and Press, Thick Bar Shoulder Press, Rotator Cuff Exercise, DB Tricep Extensions, Abs

This looks a lot like the typical, one-day-a-week periodized schedule that has been around for a while, and although I do implement different rep ranges with this routine, it is a little different from all that. The key with this routine is to substitute a real "dinosaur" exercise for a couple of weeks every so often. For example, I will sometimes work on clean and press with a keg partly filled with water instead of with a barbell, do curls with a partly filled sandbag, push a car (in neutral, of course) as fast as I can for about 50 yards up and back instead of the farmer's walk, etc.

This kind of training is very demanding and with the above workout I use different rep ranges, as mentioned above. For a few weeks, I will do one "warm-up" set of each exercise with a weight that I should get 12 reps with and I do 10. I then do two work sets per exercise where I do two sets with 8 reps as my goal. Once I get 8 reps for two sets with a given weight, I up the weight 5 or 10 pounds, whichever I feel is appropriate. After I have upped the weight a couple of times (gauged by the bench , squat and dead lift), I will change my routine and aim for 5 reps on each work set. After I have upped the weight a few times at 5 reps, I go down to 3. After upping the weight on three reps a few times I usually have a new PR and will hit a new maximum single (if you want, you can work singles for a few weeks) before taking a week or so off. At that point I either use an alternate routine for a month or so (in order not to adapt too much to this one) or start this one over at 8 or 10 rep work sets and proceed down in reps and up in weight again.

One more thing that can keep you from going stale (as much mentally as physically) is to do a couple of weeks with totally different exercises near in the middle of your 5 rep weeks. For example, your Friday might be as follows: dumbbell bench press, incline flyes, dumbbell shoulder press, and close-grip bench press. Working these different (but still demanding) exercises will often be just what you need to break out of (or better yet, avoid falling into) a rut.

These are all examples of 'beginner' Dinosaur training routines, where you work into using the odd objects. As you progress, you might want to make more of your exercises the 'odd lifts', or you can change things up so that one of your days is strictly odd lifts. For example, the workout I most often do sees me with 3 workout days. One of them has me doing the deadlift, bench press, dips and some rows, while the second day sees me doing the squat, front squats, and lots of overhead work. The third is strictly "Dinosaur" work, like heavy farmer's walks, tire flips, log pressing, carry and drag, and thick bar lifting.

As you progress, you might also work into lifting more and more heavy, with less frequency. This will not be necessary for a while though, and hopefully you will be able to track your progress and learn how your body responds well enough that you will realize when to change things. For the real bottom line on this system, definitely check out the book "Dinosaur Training" by Brooks Kubik.