I hurt my back a couple of months ago and I’m not healthy yet. The only bilateral lift I can do for my lower body is the front squat. Dan John suggests doing the 40 day workout based on a posterior chain movement. I don’t have that option and I want to get stronger in the front squat without hurting myself again.
This is what I decided to do for the first week:
Front squat: Monday 2x5@205 Tuesday 2x5@225 Wednesday 5x2@235 Thursday 5x2@235 Friday 6x1@255
I followed the rest of the template to a T with the exception of kettlebell swings. I left them out. Oh yeah, I also do 2x5 DB split squats as heavy as I can go on monday and thursday.
Dan John says that the volume in the 40 day workout is “staggering”. It’s only 50 reps a week though. I feel like I’m barely working and I’m questioning whether or not I’ll see good results.
Also I’m a nub so I can’t handle not having a plan so I had to just write down what I wanted to do with the weight’s being picked pre workout from a range of 40-80% of 315lbs.
My question are 1)will this work 2)should I add some weight if I feel like it’s too easy? 3) the book is called easy strength. isn’t it supposed to feel easy?
It is indeed supposed to feel easy, very easy. I’ve read about a few guys that have ran the program, and they all said that it felt like they were barely working, but they all experienced gains on the program.
Dan John said a lot of the reason for success on the program is what he calls “greasing the groove”. That is, if you front squat every day for 40 days, even if it isn’t heavy, you’re going to get better at front squats.
When in doubt, start very light. Dan John says to increase the weight when it starts feeling rediculously light. Just give it time, Dan John knows his shit (he got the idea from Pavel, who also knows his shit).
I wouldn’t pre plan the weight increases, just let them come in time.
Are you going to log the program? I’d be very interested. I haven’t found anyone who actually logged the whole thing through.
[quote]Chris87 wrote:
It is indeed supposed to feel easy, very easy. I’ve read about a few guys that have ran the program, and they all said that it felt like they were barely working, but they all experienced gains on the program.
Dan John said a lot of the reason for success on the program is what he calls “greasing the groove”. That is, if you front squat every day for 40 days, even if it isn’t heavy, you’re going to get better at front squats.
When in doubt, start very light. Dan John says to increase the weight when it starts feeling rediculously light. Just give it time, Dan John knows his shit (he got the idea from Pavel, who also knows his shit).
I wouldn’t pre plan the weight increases, just let them come in time.
Are you going to log the program? I’d be very interested. I haven’t found anyone who actually logged the whole thing through.[/quote]
yeah. I can probably keep track of what I’m doing and post it when I’m finished. I won’t add weight if it’s supposed to feel really easy. I had mediocre form on a couple of sets with 255. The form is supposed to be perfect. So I’ll keep the weight the same.
Thanks for mentioning the 40 day work out. I’m going to try it now that I am coming off a powerlifting meet. I had never heard of the 40 day program but I do know that Dan John is astute in the lifting game. Thanks.
[quote]gorillavanilla wrote:
Thanks for mentioning the 40 day work out. I’m going to try it now that I am coming off a powerlifting meet. I had never heard of the 40 day program but I do know that Dan John is astute in the lifting game. Thanks.[/quote]
I can’t tell if this is sincerity or sarcasm.
I want a change in routines so I thought this program might be worth giving a try. Thanks anyway.
John suggests that you can meet your goals in 20 days out of the 40. I’m tired of doing the same thing 5 days a week.
My front squat PR is 340, but that was an anderson front squat about 6 months and a back injury ago.
I’ll put it like this:
Before doing the 40 day workout I couldn’t barebones front squat 315. After 4 weeks working out 5 days a week with the weekends off I hit three singles at 315 with decent form.
Test it out for yourself. I had doubts but it works.
I’ve been doing the program for about 3 weeks now and I like the low stress but I’m itching to lift more. I’m making some increases in my poundages but keeping things within the range of doing all the reps with good form and not so heavy as to get close to a max. My thread tracking my progress is on the over 35 forum here.
I did it with kettlebells and hit 3 personal records. It works because you are practicing strength, as Mike Mahler once said, when you play the piano are you better off practicing every day for 15 minutes or practicing one day a week for 2 hours. It gets tedious when you get in the 30 somethings, but it’s quick and you’re in and out.
Because you can’t incrementally raise weight with kettlebells, I would add reps. With double 70’s. I did front squat (up to 10 reps if I felt good) Deadlift (10-15 reps) Clean and Press (would do 2 x 5 if I felt great, but also did 3 x 3, and Rest Pause), Pullups (2 x 5) and double swings (20-30) or a single arm snatch.
Hey All … (This is not sarcasm…)
I have gone through the 40 day program, and had great results.
Darkhorse, your weight increase should float between 50%-80 at random. Because you’re coming off an injury, I would not lift higher than your 80% 1 rep max. Just keep consistent with the workouts, and the build up of the weekly reps will help you get stronger without getting daily soreness or fatigue (Which you definitely don’t need with an injury) …
Gorilla … If you’re just coming off a Meet, you might not even need all 40 days, which is around 2 months. Dan (I believe) actually has a modified of a 20 day plan as well. That might be an option to think about as a “filler month” to stay active in the Gym without losing Momentum. It’s also a good option if you’re transitioning between workout cycles (Such as a 6 week performance cycle and a Hypertrophy cycle).
Hope that helps, and email me if you have any other 40 - Day Questions.
Ben
Also … You can look up Dan on his website, and shoot him an email. He is very giving with his time and will probably answer you back in a couple days …