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06-26-22 03:55 AM - Post#920104
I just finished up a round of Easy Strength with a focus on increasing the back squat and bench press, two exercises that I know don’t always work well on this program. The last time I did easy strength, my numbers went up a lot on the deadlift, and a bit on bench and squat. In that regard, I was successful, but I noticed a few things that were in line with some of the other things that have been pointed out here, which I’ll summarize below.
Goals for this period:
1. Get stronger. This was the ultimate goal. I wanted to move more weight in the power lifts and loaded carries while feeling comfortable doing so. I had strained my back a while back due to not being tight during a 20 min set of long cycle clean and jerks (2 x 24 kg), so I felt it was time to start light and build back up. Overall, I did succeed, but not as much across the board as I would have hoped.
2. Reduce some bodyweight. I started the program with my weight having crept up to about 178#, and I wanted to drop some weight, ideally down to about 165lbs. Partial success, down to about 172#.
3. Find a way to reasonably squeeze in some cardio work. This failed, especially as time went along.
Exercise Methodology:
1. For squat and bench press, add 10 lbs every week to the work sets (e.g. if the weight called for during a week was 175# for my sets of 2 x 5, the following week would be 185# for the 2 x 5. I know forced progression is kind of contrary to the spirit of easy strength, but I had a hunch that this might help to increase bench and squat. If I struggled with an increase, I
2. Strictly stick to the rule of 10s. Previously, when I’d done easy strength, I had sometimes gotten overzealous and added an extra set of 5 or a few other reps. My rule was if I felt good enough to do an extra set, I should add weight. I know this is just restating an easy strength axiom, but it was a point of emphasis.
3. On sub optimal days, I would maintain the desired working weight. For example, if the weight called for 2 x 5 at 185# but I didn’t feel good, I would do 3 x 3 or 5,3,2 or 5 x 2, or 10 singles if I needed to.
4. Exercise selection was as follows: bench press (2 x 5), back squat (2 x 5), deadlift (2 x 5), farmer carry (100 ish steps, generally broken into two sets) , KB swing (50 reps), ab wheel (1 x 10) and some sort of row variation (1 x 15, loads were generally very light as a practice of the movement).
5. If I had energy, I would do 30 minutes of some sort of easy cardio (row, run, swim), never to interfere with the lifts. Occasionally would go for a walk.
6. I know the guidance is to vary the loaded carries, but I kept focusing on heavy farmer walks and heavy zercher carries.
7. Mobility work consisted of Limber 11, some other Joe DeFranco stuff, the occasional hanging from a bar and extra foam rolling.
Nutrition Methodology
1. 6 days a week, I would eat only protein, veggies, and fruit. Standard food routine was like this:
Morning: 2 scoops of protein upon rising
Lunch: 6 boiled eggs, either 1-2 oz beef jerky or some center cut bacon, a cup of raw veggies, and a cup of fruit.
Snack: 1 oz of cheese and maybe a cup of fruit.
Dinner: Some sort of lean protein (fish, chicken, or beef), and about 1-2 cup of cooked veggies.
Pre-bedtime: 2 scoops of protein, zma, fish oil, fiber.
2. Daily macros were around 1900-2000 calories with around 200 g protein, 50 g carbs, 100 g fat. This was throughout the week.
3. Once a week, I would cheat. Everything was on the table with no restrictions. The only rule was that I tried to eat at least 200 g of protein. Average cheat day meal was around 5000 calories.
Results:
1. Squat: 155 lb -> 215 lb for my working sets. Was very happy with this increase. Squats felt great, and I probably could have gone higher. This weight obviously is not equivalent to “my heaviest warmup set”, but it doesn’t feel like I’m straining too hard. Previous easy strength iteration had my squat go from 135-185.
2. Bench: 155 lb -> 185 lb for working sets. Not nearly as much of an increase as I would have liked, but still went up. Previous iteration of easy strength had my bench go from 135-185 for my work sets. Later on I started to get some pain in my shoulder, which impacted my bench performance.
3. Deadlift: 225 lb -> 255 lb for working sets. Disappointing increase, since the last time I went up from 225-295 for my work sets. Could never get that feeling where I just felt like I could lift a horse.
4. Farmer Carry: 70 lb in each hand -> 100 lb in each hand.
Insights:
1. Forced progression works for back squat. Increasing squat weight requires practicing the tension you feel from having to squat a heavy weight. To summarize, in order to squat heavy, you have to practice squatting heavy.
2. The same logic applies for bench press.
3. Hand position for back squat can make a big difference in how your shoulders feel. I had a very narrow grip for my back squat, and as the weight went up, my shoulders started to feel more wonky. I need to widen the grip on the bar, which will change my form.
4. I started off only doing one set of farmer carries, and later on, added a second set of farmer carries. I think this had a hugely positive impact. My traps got bigger, shoulders got bigger, forearms got bigger, and I felt stronger. Definitely adding this to the repertoire.
5. As the weights get heavier, be careful about the hidden volume of warmup sets. When I first started on squat, I would have a warmup set of 5 with the bar, 5 reps with 95 lb, and 5 with 135 lb. As the weight increased, I originally would just add sets of 5 reps, but if you add up the volume, if your working weight is 205 lb, sets of 5 at 45, 95, 135, 155, 185 mean I’m doing 25 reps before I even get to my work sets. So I started using larger weight jumps and then using triples, doubles, or even singles as I went through my warmup weights.
6. As others have noticed in their experience, I also ended up with one or two lifts going up a lot (squat and farmer carry in this case), one that sort of went up (bench), and one that didn’t really go up (deadlift).
7. A corollary to the previous point, from my two iterations of easy strength, the lifts that went up a lot were the ones I focused on a lot. My first iteration, I focused a lot on deadlift, and it went up a lot. This iteration, I focused a lot on squat, and it went up a lot.
8. As an add on to the previous point and an agreement with what others have said, if I wanted to focus on squat, I should have done a deadlift variation that I’m not used to doing (thick bar or snatch grip). The same goes for if I had chosen the conventional deadlift, I should pick a squat variation where I’m just exploring the movement.
9. I ended this experiment a little more beaten up than I would have liked. I pulled a calf during an easy run (though I think that might have been my running shoes being waayyyyyyyy past the replacement point (they were falling apart and not providing the support required). The shoulder issues have been mentioned here as well.
10. I think I approached this program with a bit more of a bus bench mentality than a park bench mentality. Maybe that was necessary for the squat, but I don’t think the forced progression can last much longer without a deload. Ideally, I think maybe a 4 week progression followed by a deload might be a way to program it if I was to do this again.
11. Batwings are a great rowing movement. They feel good. 2 sets of 20 holds at 40 lbs felt sufficient for me.
12. Looking back at this log and other logs have made me realize that I’ve been doing a lot of horizontal pressing and horizontal pulling over the past year while almost eschewing vertical pressing and pulling. I think it’s time to change over to vertical pulls and rows for a little while.
13. It worked best to lift during the weekdays and take both days off during the weekend. I noticed this during both times I’ve done easy strength. Normally I work best with a rotation of 2-3 training days followed by a day of rest, but on easy strength, I work best with 5 straight training days followed by 2 days off.
14. Having one big cheat day during the weekend definitely helped to recharge. It allowed for social eating if required and helped “refuel” me for the next week.
15. 50 swings is enough, especially when you’re going heavy. I generally used the 32 kg or 40 kg and did these at the end of workouts. I started with 75 since I had read some older guidance stating 75, but reduced it to 50. Then afterwards I found the updated guidance stating as much.
16. Fat gripz allow for the bar to not hurt your arms as much during zercher carries.
What’s next:
I’m going to take a week off and then I think I’m going to do Dan John’s Post Deployment program. It’s been over a year since I came back from my last one, but I think there are little aches and pains and some residual effects from my last one that I’m hoping the post deployment program can address. I have been addressing mobility issues a bit, but I think I need to do more and I like the emphasis on them in the program. I also think 3 days a week will allow for better recovery. Let’s see how it goes.
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