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11-22-19 02:58 PM - Post#890637
Easy Strength is absolutely simple in my head: “Simple, but not EASY.” We are trying to get stronger and the hardest part is dedicating 40 days to a singular focus of “get stronger.”
Most people understand the basics well. Application seems to be an issue. Let’s look at one issue, exercise selection, and then I will give you some simple templates to attempt this method.
Basically, four lifts “work perfect:”
Overhead (Vertical) Press
Vertical Pull
Deadlift
Ab Wheel
Note that these four movements have a bit of bodybuilding super setting to them: Push/Pull and Posterior Chain/Anterior Chain. Maybe that is why these four movements work the best.
Horizontal pressing (bench press) seems to be an issue due to spotting and doing horizontal pulls (barbell rows) always seems to lead to a lower back issue…mild or wild. Squats have never worked for me or anyone I have trained, but I do know that some have made it work with very light squatting daily. YMMV.
The “best” fifth exercise seems to be one of two things: swings or loaded carries. With swings, I (we) used to think that one could manage 250 a day on ES. That was wrong. The number dropped to 125 and THAT was too high. Finally, we settled on 75 reps of REAL swings. The swings can be done as a warm-up in the beginning of the program or just before the ab wheel:
Swing
Press
Pull Up
Deadlift
Ab Wheel
Or
Press
Pull Up
Deadlift
Swings
Ab Wheel
There seems (and I know the fact that I don’t use stronger “do this!” language might be frustrating but there are a lot of variations in body type and experience) to be two good ways to do swings with ES:
5 sets of 15 reps
Or
“Up to 75 reps”
This second variation is simple: do some swings aggressively with a strong plank. When the technique gets ugly or the grip goes, set the bell down. Keep a running tally of reps and just keep doing them until you get to rep 75 and stop. Occasionally, you may find 25 good reps on a set and sometimes maybe four or five; it doesn’t matter. Focus on a quality round of 75 appropriate reps.
Any way you get there is fine!
Feel free to play with load (up and down and no change) with the 40 days of 75 swings. I improved my swing by using the 48kilo bell for 75 reps in one little training experiment: basically, I could do ten reps…but the improvement in technique was stunning.
Loaded carries are the other excellent option. This is difficult to explain, but this point is true of all loaded carries training:
Strive to NEVER repeat a session.
Change load. Change distance. Add a sled. Add a backpack. Do suitcase carries one workout, rack carries the next, farmer walks the next day and waiter walks to round out a nice four-day cycle. On day five, do all four!
You want variety in LCs because they are meant to be something a little different, something unique. You want the finish of a LC challenge to be eye opening; if you repeat an LC workout over and over, you lose the insights of “wow, that was tougher than it looked on paper!”
Let me make it as simple as possible:
Swings: 5 sets of 15
Military Press: 2 sets of 5
Pull Up: 2 sets of 5
Deadlift: 2 sets of 5
Ab Wheel: 2 sets of 5
…for the next forty workouts.
Add load when the movement feels heavy, go lighter if you feel like it, too. Don’t miss. Make every lift. The volume creeps up on you (you do 375 swings a week and ten sets of big lifts).
If the weight feels too light, go reasonably heavier next time. If you simply feel like taking a lighter load, do it. When the weights feel way too light, finish that first set of five and jump up to a set of three with a heavier load. If that feels nice and easy, jump up and do a heavier double.
That simple test allowed me to destroy my personal records on an array of lifts over and over again doing ES. True, there is no rhyme or reason, but it seems to be the way of nature.
Daniel John
Just handing down what I was handed down...
Make a Difference.
Live. Love. Laugh.
Balance work, rest, play and pray (enjoy beauty and solitude)
Sleep soundly. Drink Water. Eat veggies and protein. Walk.
Wear your seat belt. Don’t smoke. Floss your teeth.
Put weights overhead. Pick weights off the floor. Carry weights.
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