DINOSAUR TRAINING SECRETS: VOLUME I: EXERCISES, WORKOUTS AND TRAINING PROGRAMS by Brooks D. Kubik

•  devote all or substantially all of your training time to the very best and most effective exercises. The best and most effective exercises are the basic, compound exercises such as squats, presses, bench presses, deadlifts, etc.
• There are no "secret exercises," so don't waste time looking for them. Stick to the basics.
• Of course, the sad reality is that most trainees spend almost all of their training time on isolation exercises, and some "gyms" even prohibit their members from performing some of the most important and most effective compound movements, such as squats, deadlifts, military presses and push presses.
• The basic, compound exercises are best because they allow you to work several muscle groups at the same time, and thus, to work up to substantial amounts of weight in your different exercises.
• Over time, hard work on the basic, compound exercises leads to enormous increases in strength and muscle mass.
• Your best compound exercises are squats, front squats, deadlifts, Trap Bar deadlifts, standing presses with barbells or dumbbells (or a single dumbbell), barbell and dumbbell bent-over rowing, pull-ups, chin-ups, pull-downs, weighted push-ups, bench presses (performed with barbells, dumbbells, or a single dumbbell), incline presses (performed with barbells, dumbbells, or a single dumbbell), shoulder shrugs (performed with a barbell, two dumbbells, one dumbbell or a Trap Bar), deadlifts from the knees (performed with the bar or Trap Bar elevated by resting the plates on sturdy wooden blocks), hand and thigh lifts, and Hise shrugs.
• Grip work, gut work, and neck work are all important.
• Altogether, there are about 20 basic, compound exercises.
• So do this: pick one squatting exercise, one deadlifting movement, one or two upper body pushing movements and one or two upper body pulling movements. That gives you four to six "big" exercises to focus on. Train these exercises hard for six to twelve weeks, and then, if you want some variety, switch to other movements.
• Contrary to what many mistakenly believe, there's no need to change exercises as long as they're working for you and as long as you are motivated to train hard and heavy on them.
• Many very strong and powerful men have performed the same exercises for pretty much their entire training careers.
• Your job is to train hard and heavy on the basics, and that's where the lion's share of your time and effort needs to go.
• The simplest way to train with heavy, awkward objects is to carry them as far as you can, put them down, rest, and then carry them back to where you started.
• The farmer's walk is the simplest and best of the lot, and doubles as a very effective grip builder.
• By building your back muscles and avoiding over-development of the chest muscles, you develop a tall, erect posture.
• Heavy dumbbell training is a lost secret of strength, power and muscular development.
• The two-dumbbell clean and press is an excellent dumbbell exercise.
• Over time, thick bar training will make your entire upper body much more massive and more heavily developed than would ever happen otherwise.
• The only caveat is to be careful when lifting thick-handled dumbbells. Don't hold them over your head or feet, and make sure you get out of the way fast if you drop them.
• Understand that with the right kind of training, you can make incredible gains with nothing other than a barbell.
• Unless you are an advanced trainee who plans to enter a bodybuilding contest, training for "cuts" is a waste of time.
• Instead of training for "cuts," train for strength. Strength is a positive quality. It's something you build.
• A healthy diet is one that promotes recovery from your workouts, builds muscle and keeps you from adding unwanted body-fat.
• Don't get hung up about training for "cuts" or extreme definition. Train for strength instead.
• As your strength increases, so will your muscle mass.
• There are many excellent exercises for the midsection. I've always preferred leg raises to anything else.
• Hanging knees to chest, leg scissors, leg raises, and windshield wipers are all excellent exercises.
• Planks are excellent for mid-section training.
• The gains from workout to workout are extremely small, but over time, they add up to enormous increases in strength and muscular development.
• If you train too much, too hard or too often, you outrun your body's recovery system. It's that simple.
• The biggest challenge for most older trainees is finding the right balance between training hard enough, heavy enough and often enough to build strength and muscle without training too hard, to heavy or too often.
• Abbreviated programs work far better than longer, more complicated, more demanding workouts.
• There's no magic about 5 x 5.
• Always use what works best for you in terms of sets and reps.
• The key to building great strength and muscle mass is to add weight to the bar whenever you can.
• Do gut work to finish the first workout, grip work to finish the next workout, and neck work to finish the first workout of week two.
• I've suggested that you use the 5 x 5 system. Try four progressively heavier warm-up sets and one set with your working weight for the day.
• The squat and deadlift are especially good for building all-around strength and muscle mass.
• Diet and nutrition helps you recover from hard workouts, but there quickly comes a point where diet and nutrition can’t do anything more.
• If you've been paying careful attention, you will have noticed that the primary message of this book is to train hard and heavy on sensible, low-volume training programs that focus on the basic, compound exercises.
• Devote yourself to hard, heavy training on a small number of the very best exercises.