Brooks Kubik-The Lost Art Of Dumbbell Training

Brooks Kubik-The Lost Art Of Dumbbell Training

Brooks Kubik-The Lost Art Of Dumbbell Training

Hail to the Dinosaurs!

We’ve been getting a ton of questions
about dumbbell training and dumbbell
workouts, so I thought I’d share my
all-time favorite dumbbell workout
with you.

I used this 20 years ago, when I was
preparing to film The Lost Art of
Dumbbell Training.

It worked pretty well. I got up to doing
the two dumbbell clean and press with
a pair of 126 pound dumbbells, a one
hand clean and push press with a 151
pound dumbbell, a one hand swing with
a 151 pound dumbbell, and a two hand
clean and push press with a pair of 131
pound thick handled dumbbells. Those
were done at a bodyweight of 225 or
so, and I was 40 or 41 years old.

I trained three times per week, alternating
between two workouts. Workout A was
nothing but squats. I did bottom position
squats in the power rack, and either worked
up to a top single, or worked up to 5, 10 or
20 singles with a little less weight.

That was all I did in Workout A. Nothing
but squats.

Workout B was the dumbbell program. On
the one arm exercises, I would do one set
with each arm at each weight. On the two
dumbbell exercises, I would do one set at
each weight.

I trained all singles. I started light, and
worked up in 10 pound jumps to my top
weight in each exercise. Of course, the
program would work fine with doubles,
triples, fives or any other number of
low to medium reps. Or you could
start with sets of five and work up
to singles. There are many ways to
do the job.

To keep from having to spend the whole
workout changing weights, I would do one
set of all the exercises for each weight, and
then add weight and repeat the process.

As the weight increased and I maxed out
on different exercises, I would drop them
out of the rotation. Thus, at the end, with
the very heaviest weights, I would do only
the one hand swing and the one hand
clean.

I did the following exercises:

1. Two hand dumbbell clean and press
(with two dumbbells)

2. One hand dumbbell clean and press

3. One hand dumbbell swing

4. Two hand dumbbell clean and push
press (with two dumbbells)

5. One hand dumbbell clean and push
press

6. One hand dumbbell clean (optional)

And that was it. Five or six big exercises.

Fast, fun and furious — and very effective.