Power clean and press and lunges-
10x4 with 105lb and 20lb
Felt pretty great. Tired but speed never slowed down and I felt stronger and stronger on the power cleans.
30 DB bench with 45lbs
Short pause after 24? Felt better than last time
30 chest supported row DB row with 30lb
Short pause after 23
20 front squat with bar
Just to test it out
30 sitting hamstring curl
Went lighter.
10x5 KB snatch with 16kg
Alternated between arms. Did it as fast as possible. Felt like a fast run.
Squat and pull-up-
10x5 with 145lb and 1 pull-up
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes. Felt fine. First set felt awkward because I more or less jumped straight into it. My shoulders have been feeling achy, so I want to do less volume.
30 RDL with 155lb- 12/12/6
This feels hard.
30 BB bench with 95lb- 25/5
40 chest supported DB row with 30lb- 26/14
12 RFESS- 6/6, alternated between feet.
Hard to balance
20 walking lunges
Yesterday-
40 push-ups and 75 squats.
25 straight, then like 3-5 reps with short pauses at top.
Power clean and press and lunges-
4x5, 2x4, 4x3 with 105lb and 20lb
Felt quite rough. Had to take a very short rest before the last set so that I can get 10 sets in.
Body felt fatigued, so that probably explains this, especially since the 10x4 last week felt pretty good.
30 DB bench with 45lb- 17/13
30 chest supported DB row with 35lb- 15/15
Overhead squat with bar- 3x8
Lat pulldown- 15/15
Split all the assistance into traditional sets so as to not fatigue the body too much. Wanted to back squats but the racks were all occupied.
25/15/10 KB swings with 40kg
Def. feel these in the hamstring and glutes now.
Yesterday-
5 rounds of modified Cindy- 2/10/15
Form on the pull-ups weren’t great but at least I can do them again.
Today-
Squat and one-hand DB OHP-
10x5 with 155lb and 40lb
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes. Felt ok. Probably gonna need at least one warm-up single rep or some time holding the bar to loosen up in the future. But I’d really prefer not to spend time on warm-ups if I can.
RDL- 135/155/175/195/215/235/255lbx5
Hook grip on 235lb and 255lb.
BB bench- 95/115/125/135/145/155lbx5
BB row- 95/115/135/155/135lbx5, barx30
No rest besides changing weights and setting up for the lift.
30 walking lunges
Worked up to a good 5 rep on the main assistance movements for a change of pace and to get a rough gauge of where I’m at. Felt fine and about as expected for the most part besides the row. I thought I could do 165-175lb but the 155lb felt tougher than expected.
Power clean and press and lunges-
6x5, 4x3 with 105lb and 20lb
Felt very rough after the sixth set. Forearms and especially felt very very tired- forearms felt dead afterwards.
30 back squat with 115lb
This began to take some effort around the 20th rep.
30 DB bench with 45lbs
Short pause after 20. Slight regression from last time- triceps felt very fatigued.
Machine high row- 50lb reps, 26->35>50 It think
Weds-
Squat and pull-up-
10x5 with 165lb and singles
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes. Felt ok- tougher.
Some RDL- 175lb, 12/10/5 I think?
30 BB bench with 95lb
30 chest supported DB row with 40lb-done over 3 sets I think
30 walking lunges done as 3x10
Today-
Power clean and press and lunges-
10x3 with 115lb and 20lb
I’ve been severely undersleeping and feeling very tired + slightly sick, so I decided not to attempt 5s and just go up a weight for this session. It was a good idea because this felt hard too. Starting catching the bar with an actual dip as I got fatigued.
30 DB bench with 25lb
30 chest supported DB row with 25lb
30 goblet squat with 24kg- 24/6
Right knee felt a bit painful. Still does. Maybe because I decided to do some stretches yesterday and that aggravated things.
I realized that I’m getting overzealous with the assistance work. The point is to just get some reps in, not actually fatigue myself with these. Back to stupid light weight we go.
Tues-
Deadlift and one-hand DB OHP-
6x5, 4x4 with 185lb and 45lb
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes. Knee is feeling a bit better but not 100%- I can do very light goblet squats without feeling too much pain but I have zero confidence that I can do 50 squats without making it worse. So deadlifts it is.
BB bench- 105lb, 27/3 Felt ok.
BB row- 95lb, 30
Did some lunges and decided that it was a dumb idea.
20 minutes of on and off incline walks.
Thurs-
power clean and press away and pull-up-
5x4, 5x3 I think with 115lb and singles on the pull-up
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes. I did presses because, honestly, the last couple of power clean and press sessions felt really hard and I don’t want to feel that fatigued + the fatigue means poor form so I get really bruised up collar bones and those don’t feel good + I wanted to give my knees a break from repeatedly absorbing the power cleans.
The presses felt strong and easy for the most part. I was a bit worried that I’d have a hard time with them doing straight but that wasn’t an issue. I probably could have done 10x4 but I’ve learned that rushing for reps with great effort may not be a good way to keep this up.
30 DB bench with 25lb
30 chest supported DB row with 20lb
I think I needed a break when I did this with 25lb, so in the spirit of greatly reducing weight so that I can make 30 or close to it- I dropped the weight. I’ll try 25lb next week.
15/8/7 seated leg curl with 40lb
Leg curls are weird. I think I did 30 straight without too much effort with the 30lb, but when I went up to 40lb it felt drastically harder. So more traditional sets.
10 decline sit-ups
10 rounds of pushing a 50lb sled and dragging it back.
One of the things that I want to do is actually using equipment that I don’t have at home. I got lots of kettlebells at home but no sled, and sleds are supposed to be good for the knee and I know I got a shitty right knee judging by how it got hurt from light weight.
I’ve never pushed or dragged a sled before, so went with a really light weight and did walks instead of sprints to see how it feels. It feels good. Got my heartrate up but wasn’t fatiguing.
I want to incorporate some sort of short conditioning work and make the EDT work slightly less fatiguing, so this seems like a good fit.
Fri-
5 rounds of-
10 double KB clean with 24kgs
10 flop onto the floor and stand up. Hard to call it a burpee.
Today-
power clean and press away and pull-up-
7x4, 3x3 with 115lb and singles on the pull-up
Felt quite a bit harder than last time- probably mainly because I was trying to do them much stricter, whereas with power clean and press there’s a bit of leg going into each of them.
30 DB bench with 30lb
30 chest supported DB row with 25lb
12 decline sit-ups
10 rounds of pushing a 70lb sled and dragging it back.
Took ~14-15 min to complete. This felt tough. Legs felt it a lot.
Weds-
Deadlift and push-ups-
10x5 with 205lb and 6 push-ups
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes. Felt fine. I never felt like I had a full grip on the bar but no problem with holding it.
30 Seated DB OHP with 10lbs
A bit light. I wanted to start out with 15lb but sadly couldn’t find them anywhere. That being said- the actual pressing motion felt light as a feather but bring the DB back down and the overall stability felt off. It may have been a good thing that I started off with 10lbs.
30 Cable rows
Pushed a sled back and forth three times- 1x140lb, 2x180lb
I wanted to see what would be heavy sled pushes for me. 140lb felt fine and easy. 180lb was not easy. No problem pushing it out, but fatigued while pushing it back. So the distance is too much.
Tested my knees with some bar front squats and sporadic squat holds during the main work and it felt ok- no pain and things moved well when my body was warmed up.
Thurs-
20 minutes of KB carries with 20kg-
1 lap overhead carry, 1 lap front rack carry, 1 lap suitcase carry, then switch arms.
Felt ok. Was able to keep going until about 13 minute passed, at which point I put the KB down once or twice afterwards. Began taking note of my total combined laps after 5 min or so passed because it seemed a good idea. Counted a total of 20 or so laps.
Fri-
power clean and press away and pull-up-
9x4, 1x3, 1x1 with 115lb and singles on the pull-up
Felt much much better than last time, but that’s probably because I wasn’t being ultra strict again. Decided that it don’t matter as long as I’m getting the bar overhead and doesn’t outright become a push-press or jerk.
BB bench- 115lb, 20/10
Realized afterwards that I did not in fact do 105lb as a straight 30 rep set last time, which explains why this felt so much heavier. Was ok. I took the second set to pretty close to actual failure- the last rep was a struggle.
BB row- 115lb, 21/9
10 rounds of pushing a 70lb sled and dragging it back.
Felt pretty darned hard.
Mon-
deadlift and push-ups-
6x5, 2x4, 2x3 with 225lb and 6 push-ups
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes. Grip was the main limiter- but in general this felt much tougher than 205lb.
30 Seated DB OHP with 20lb- 20/10
I can’t find 15lbs anywhere. Oh well.
30 chest supported DB row with 30lb- 25/5
14 decline sit-ups
10 rounds of pushing a 70lb sled back and forth
Took ~12 min IIRC. Faster pace and this sucked real hard.
I took a weighted backpack with me on our family evening walks and it felt pretty good. It’s a slow-paced walk so hard to call it a conditioning session, but I suppose walking for about 30-40 min with a weighted backpack is better than no weighted backpack. Took a 20lb+6kg load.
Forgot to log the last couple of days.
Weds-
power clean and press away and pull-up-
4x5, 3x4, 3x3 with 115lb and singles on the pull-up I think.
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes.
Don’t remember upper body assistance.
95/115/135/155lbx5 back squat
Short pause at bottom. Knee feels better with that.
5 rounds of KB farmer’s carry with 40kgs back and forth.
Got better and better footspeed as it went on- was stumbling around on the first set, and had a bit of a jog going by the end.
Fri-
deadlift and push-ups-
6x5, 2x4, 1x3, 1x4 with 225lb and 6 push-ups
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes
This felt rough. Not just the grip- prepping for deadlifts every 30 seconds or so is mentally tiring.
30 Seated DB OHP with 20lb
Yay
30 machine high row
5x5 KB goblet squat with 24kg I think.
Think that was it.
Fell down the stairs like an idiot on Monday and scraped my knee. Wasn’t sure if I busted anything else up and I had stuff to do, so skipped that session.
Went walking with a 20lb+4kg load today. No baby so I could push the pace- couldn’t break a 16min/mile pace. Heart and lunges felt fine and legs simply couldn’t go faster without breaking into a jog or a shuffle.
power clean and press away and pull-up-
5x5, 1x3, 3x2, 1x3 with 115lb and singles on the pull-up.
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes.
Overextended with the 5s and sort of things fell apart afterwards. Pull-ups are feeling a bit stronger.
95/135/165/195lbx5 back squat
Short pause at bottom. Felt pretty good. Knees felt ok.
30 Incline BB bench with 75lb
Remembered that I did 65lb last week.
30 chest supported DB row with 30lb- 19/11
Felt fatigued and couldn’t push through.
10 rounds of pushing a 70lb sled and pulling it back.
Took ~14 min. This really sucked. Legs immediately felt tired, I think from the walk yesterday, and it felt really challenging to get through it.
deadlift and push-ups-
10x5 with 225lb and 6 push-ups
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes
Had to reset grip on the third set… so I said fuck it and began doing this with hook grip. Felt significantly easier. Had to reset on the last set, but besides that the rest felt good.
30 Seated DB OHP with 25lb- 28/2
30 machine high row- 19/8/3
I’m finding it hard to find the strength to push these rows after the pushes.
10 alternating forward lunge, then 10 alternating reverse lunge with 15lb.
Tested my knee and it felt ok, so I did this.
Walked with 20lb+6kg load during Saturday and Sunday family walks. Felt good.
Today-
power clean and press away and pull-up-
2x5, 8x4 with 115lb and singles on the pull-up.
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes.
Felt significantly easier than last week. Pull-ups are feeling a lot stronger now.
135/165/195/215lbx5 back squat
Short pause at bottom. The 215lb felt tough.
30 Incline BB bench with 80lb
Felt tough!
30 machine high row- 25/5
7 rounds of pushing a 90lb sled back and forth
One minute rests. This felt very hard!
Yesterday-
15 minutes of KB carries with 20kg-
1 lap overhead carry, 1 lap front rack carry, 1 lap suitcase carry, then switch arms.
Felt good. Was in the middle of my 22nd lap when I ran out of time.
Today-
deadlift and push-ups-
11x3 with 245lb and 6 push-ups
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes
Hook grip. Felt good overall- just a little out of breath and sweaty by the end.
30 Seated DB OHP with 30lb- 19/8/2 I think. Felt tough.
30 machine high row- 24/6
Did my first rep of lunge and felt a big painful stretch in my left quad area. I felt something pop in that area during the deadlifts, and apparently it showed up there. So stopped everything and went home.
Went some painful stretch when I bent forward immediately afterward the lunges, but now that an hour or so has passed it feels ok. Some bit of pain when I bend to sit down. Hopefully nothing bad.
Last Friday-
power clean and press away and pull-up-
4x5, 3x4, 3x3 I think with 115lb and singles on the pull-up.
Done in EDT format in 10 minutes.
Anything beyond 3x5 and I start to burn out. Started to get frustrated with this.
135/165lb back squat
Short pause at bottom. Left leg thing still felt weird, so I kept it light.
7 rounds of KB farmer’s carry with 40kgs back and forth.
Minute rests. Felt pretty good. I initially thought about doing 5 but it felt significantly better than the last time I tried it, so I kept at it. The left leg pain started to get aggravated unfortunately and so I had to call it.
Forget the rest.
Got sick with food poisoning and spent Monday/Tuesday sleeping most of the time. Started to feel a bit more ok on Weds and about back to normal on Thurs.
Decided that I’m going to do Easy Strength starting next week. Initially thought about Easy Strength for Fat Loss, but I realized that I can probably do the fasted training by just going to the gym first thing in the morning but I wouldn’t be able to devote 45 min just to walk in the morning, so just normal Easy Strength. I do get like 7-10k steps a day if I put my mind to it, so I will use that as a (poor) substitute.
I really hope that I can commit to waking up earlier- just need to wake up about 30 minutes earlier and head straight to the gym.
Did 5 EMOM armor-building complex with 24kgs on yesterday and today just to give myself a bit of a kick. Felt easy yesterday, but not so easy today. Probably mainly because it’s the end of a long day where I spent the majority of it walking or standing and eating very rich food.
Knee seems to feel fine now, which is good. The press is fairly easy. The cleans feel uncoordinated and off- lack of practice with KB cleans.
Way too late to the party but saw you became a dad at some point. Congratulations man! How’s it going?
Some notes before starting the program-
I am not confident in my ability to do multiple reps of pull-ups atm. I’m just too overweight- current bodyweight fitness is a far cry from when I was doing 18 straight pull-ups thanks to Recon Ron- so I’m just not going to bother for the first run of Easy Strength. Singles were getting better and better, so I’ll probably add weight when it feels good instead.
I can’t be bothered to carry my ab wheel to the gym. I’m going to substitute hand walkouts and maybe do ab wheels at home if I remember instead.
Sled pushes and pulls are also loaded carries. I figure Dan John will approve because he mentions them in the Omnibook.
Easy Strength Day 1-
Goblet Squat- 10 with 28kg
Double KB clean- 10 with 16kgs
Incline Bench- 95lb, 2x5
Deadlift- 185lb, 2x5
6 pull-ups
5 hand walkouts
8 rounds of KB farmer’s carry with 40kgs back and forth.
I wanted to do flat bench but they’re all being used. Ok. Incline bench it is.
12 deep breathes or so between most things. 45 second rests for the farmer’s carry. Everything felt easy. Wife got food poisoning on Sunday, so didn’t get to go early in the morning.
Easy Strength Day 2-
Goblet Squat- 10 with 28kg
One arm KB clean- 10 each arm with 28kg
Flat Bench- 115lb, 2x5
Deadlift- 185lb, 2x5
6 pull-ups
5 hand walkouts
10 total sled pushes with 95lb. Went down the path, 10 deep breathes, then back.
Incline bench is in use today… OK! Flat bench it is.
12 deep breathes or so between most things. Went first thing in the morning today. Everything felt easy aside from the KB cleans- I’m very out of practice with the movement.