Yeah I have my little warm up where I do a few sets of KB Swings to goblet squats, then ab roll outs to push ups
The squats are only a few sets of 5 with 50lbs though so not exactly stressing the muscles
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Not too much interesting to report, just punching the clock (both in the gym and at work, had a cluster of days so my time to post dropped off)
Gauged some progress on the 5-3-2 day yesterday and it feeeeels like things are getting a bit easier, which is nice. Will continue with the plan and keep on keeping on
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Start of week 3:
Increased all the 2x5 weights by 5 pounds and everything still felt good and light. I started way light so this wasnât exactly due to massive strength gains, just kind of a reset to be where I should be.
I also did a little bit of the âirradiationâ technique he mentioned in the book for the deadlift. I didnât do it 100% as I donât want to get really hyped up or anything extreme but Iâm just dipping my (fully contracted) toe in the water for when I actually do go for a bigger lift.
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No updates for a few, Couple days of summer vacation with the fam and Iâll be back at it
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Okay, couple updates:
Disneyland was a crash and burn haha. Kids wanted to come home after only a few hours so home we went⊠win some lose some haha. Luckily we knew an employee so we got in for free so it wasnt a total bust,
Training wise I got right back to it, but I think I am going to add a liiiiitle bit to the day to flesh it out a bit. As @T3hPwnisher said, this program is only the strength portion of a training program, so Iâm going to add some ânon-interfering hypertrophyâ work in between the easy strength and the loaded carries I had been doing.
Probably just some easy single joint exercises a la a body part or push/pull/legs kind of thing. Think later raises, tricep extensions, curls, push ups, etc⊠easy stuff to not interfere with the patterns in the strength work but still get a bit more work in than the 15 minute easy strength sessions.
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Itâs funny when you read things as they are happening to you.
In the appendix of the #asy Strength omniBook Dan John lays out the â2 day lag ruleâ where the training or thing you do catches up with you two days later.
I think that Iâll dated Disneyland trip caught up to me because sure enough 2 days after I was deeeeeaaaad tired and exhausted and just a wanted to go to bed more than anything in the world.
I did just east strength work and called it a night⊠no BB work, no weighted vest wall, no loaded Carrieâs. Kind of a good thing to have a minimum to hit and still be productive.
I think having something like easy strength is a nice fall back to have
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Okay did a few days of the âadd a little BBing workâ experiement and that does make the workout feel a little more complete.
Just some very âeasyâ, light-ish movements that arent in the movement patterns from the strength lifts (tricep extensions, curls, fat man rows, lateral raises, rear raises, lunges and hamstring slides)
I do like the combo of Easy Strength ~> muscle work ~> Loaded carries.
I think I also found the weights that are good to use on the 5-3-2 day to really see how Im doing.
Started to read Mass Made Simple while I am passing the half way mark on easy strength⊠I have to say it has an overall much more ominous tone to it⊠Like Dan is really setting up the âOh you wanna gain some mass huh? Well get ready buckaroo cause your ass is about to workingâ feel of the program. Easy Strength was much more âHey, do this and youâll get stronger! See how easy that was?â this has much of a âOh boy you 'bout to put some work inâ feel to it
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Still here yall, nothing terribly exciting to report in terms of numbers or lifting accomplishments at this point but heres a few thoughts:
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Tonight was day 25/40 of the program
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Im glad I added in a bit of light BB work, just makes it feel more like a âcompleteâ training program instead of just that easy focus on strength. I dont have a sport so there isnt anything else I would be doing along side this.
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I do like the light/quick warm up of the program, it reminds me of the way @Alpha used to do his âinsertsâ and âextractsâ in his workouts, as a way to get things ready for the day and finish it up. I might keep something like them in as a way to get the necessary but boring work done first. Ab work/light movement work/explosive movement type thing.
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Looking forward to Mass Made Simple I think I might do a little something like @T3hPwnisher is doing and keep a 3x3 type scheme for a few lifts for strength, and then do the Mass Made Simple program on top of that. Will finish the book this week and should have a plan laid out by the time I start it up. Then again the article/program has a 5/3/1 type deal with the big 4 lifts, so we will see how I go
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Here was a âfunâ loaded carry session from tonight:
Weight vest 1 arm 3-2-1 KB combo:
60lb weight vest
Then 1 âroundâ (about 50 steps for my around-the-yard walk) of waiter walk, rack walk, then suitcase walk, switch arms and repeat (so 3 different loaded carries back to back)
without putting it down, do rack walk + suitcase walk with each arm (2 different carries, dropping the hardest one)
then one more round of just the suitcase walk ( just the easiest one now)
then just 3 rounds around the yard of the weight vest
Kind of a â3-2-1â principle but with the KB loaded carry walks. Shoulders and traps were torched after this.
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Life happens update:
Never thought Iâd be writing this but apparently there is a hurricane coming to Palm Springs this weekend!
Plus side is that the fire departments were giving out free sandbags so now I have 10 loaded up sand bags ready to use for training after this whole things blows over.
Funny enough I had been thinking of adding sandbag training into my work and now I have plenty of sand, Iâd probably buy a bag actually designed for working out with though.
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Todays training is probably gonna be bailing water from my yard⊠the sandbags alone didnt do much because I have a slightly sloped driveway that goes downward INTO the house⊠I was out there for an hours just bailing before I came up with a slightly better plan involving the huge garbage cans catch water and then dumping those, crazy day so far
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Hope there isnât too much damage mate.
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Looks like the worst of it is over (lol I hope)⊠but I came down with covid I found out an hour ago so hopefully that blows over quickly too. Plan is to skip training and sleep as long as I can tonight
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Been a bit neglectful here in terms of writing, but the training is still happening.
To be a bit honest Dans programs are kind of âboringâ in terms of what to share⊠âHey guys, I did the same workout Ive been doing for the last 33 days againâŠâ, there are some qualitative stuff in there to share but I workout so late and I have to get all my other stuff done in that window of time that after my workout writing about it is fairly low on the list
Having said thatâŠ
I have 1 week left of the Easy Strength program, I will definitely do a write up at that time because its much more worth while and will have something to say once I have tried to whole thing.
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sounds like my log 
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Finished up workout #40 boys and girls.
Gonna give a shot at some of those goals I set for myself back at the beginning (which I now see are pipe dreams haha, but Iâll see where I landed)
Then Iâll do a bit of a wrap up, review, and what I learned kind of post
Then itâs onward to Mass Made Simple.
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Such exciting times! Congrats on getting through it all dude.
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Upcoming this week:
Strength tests for after program check, and a write up of the program and a brief outline of what the immediate and near future holds.
Gonna take 2 days this week to check how the lifts are going and will do a more thorough report on Friday I think, with a layout of my next 6 weeks.
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Dan Johns Easy Strength Results and Review Part 1: The Numbers
Okay so Dan John program #2 is in the books, and as I look back on this program I realize I was perhaps a bit stupid when I started because I didnt actually max out prior so I didnt actually have a hard and fast number to compare to. The idea of the program is to use âlight weightsâ and grease the groove to build strength that way and I kinda knew what weights to use as a ballpark so I didnt test⊠So the weights I ended up at were a bit arbitrary based on previous numbers I had hit in the past. Oh well, it is what it is:
Original stated goals:
Military press - Strict push of 165
Ring Pull up - Lets say a set of 5 with BW+ 75lbs hanging (this is ambitious)
Snatch Grip High pull - Triple of 185
dead lift - Goal of 365
Final numbers
Ring Pull ups: Previous best was 50lbx3, and I got it for 5 reps this time and did 75x1. So not anywhere near the goal I set but as I said that was just based on kinda what I thought I would like to hit based on passed numbers. These are still PR numbers though so thats good.
Military press - 165x1 : Not exactly strict but it wasnt exactly a push press either. Not a PR for me but considering I hadnt trained the lift in a while it got me back up into PR territory.
Snatch Grip High Pull - I actually did triple 185. It wasnt pulled quite as high as the 165 set before it, but it went up. This is about what I was doing back when this was a staple lift of mine
Dead Lift - 315x 1 as easy as its ever been, and 335x1 hard rep - No speed or slow down on the rep but it was tough⊠Could probably have gone higher but I have injured myself enough time dead lifting that I called it there.
Commentary on the final lifts: So as I said I didnt test these before hand so its a bit hard to say how well the program did in lifting them, but considering I had gone away from these lifts for a LONG time getting back to PR type numbers on all the lifts I think proves this program has lots of merit.
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Dan Johns Easy Strength Results and Review Part 2: Thoughts On The Program
Does it work?
Having completed the program I think Iâd have to say it accomplishes its namesake goal very well. I do believe that this program will increase ones strength even while the lifting seems âeasyâ - Maybe not universally but the high frequency, low intensity approach holds merit based on my experience (and previous experience with a similar idea)
Pros, Cons, and Who Itâs For:
Pros - Taken as just the program, this is a very in-and-out kind of deal. Done as a circuit the main lifts are easily accomplished in about 20 minutes. It is also brain dead simple, and as I said above the goal is reached. So if you want to get stronger in a few of your lifts without thinking about it this program has your name on it.
Cons - Its not a âcompleteâ program. Reading the source material can kind of make one think that (it certainly did for me) but there are hints all over that its moreso a single piece of an athletes training program (the strength portion), and the the athlete is to focus their efforts on their actual sport rather than farting around in the gym for hours worrying about strength.
For example I started the first week of the program just doing the program⊠Only the 4 lifts for the prescribed reps and that was it. It is a bit lackluster to say the least if you are wanting more fitness qualities than JUST strength. Luckily @T3hPwnisher 's log and commentary shown some light on me and I added in a bit of other lifting to round this out in a more fully fledged training system.
Aside from lacking in every area but strength, the biggest con is that its a high frequency approach. If you truly only have 3 days a week to train this is probably not a great program to pick.
Who is it for? Well I would say if you have some lifts you would like to bring up and can make it to the gym often this fits the bill. It is not a body building program, and not a complete program for all around fitness, So if you are looking for something like that look elsewhere.
Thoughts on the rep layout - I really enjoyed cycling the repsxsets that Dan has in the book. He made comments throughout that doing 3x3 every day is actually what he thinks he should recommend the most, but I rather enjoyed the 6x1 and 5/3/2 days as they give you a chance to âspeed testâ the heavier numbers and see how they feel. I say stick with the originally given template for both variety and utilities sake.
Loaded Carries: Mention of these is ALL OVER the book, and I have added them into my training as the 3rd section, and while I cant say they have been a âGame Changerâ as DJ calls them time and time again, they are fun and certainly useful for improving a variety of qualities and I plan to keep them in my programming coming up.
Okay there it is, the Easy Strength review
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