05-22-12 01:24 AM - Post#734530    

I'm on day 10 of the 40 day workout as written on Tnation. Loving it so far. Read this whole thread and seems like some people are doing 40days with the even easier strength template. I'm assuming you don't change exercises every 2 weeks?

I was also thinking after 40 days, I might do another 40 days but change the deadlift to a squat or a powerclean. And change the bench to a press. Is this something that makes sense?

05-22-12 02:46 AM - Post#734533    

I don't change exercises every 2 weeks, no. That's because some fortnights I might get 8 workouts in, another only 4. I'm not sure there'd be much benefit doing a particular workout just 4 times.

Yes, that makes sense - to me anyway.

Athletic Club East Strength in numbers

40 Day workout users...
05-23-12 03:01 PM - Post#734718    

I finished workout 40 this evening. I’m 38 (soon 39) and my bodyweight was this morning 73,8kg (163lb).

Front Squat: Started 2x5 sets at 60kg (132lb) and finished at 75kg (165lb). Before this program I did 90kg (198lb) x 3 (3RM) in early March. During this program I did 93,5kg (206lb) x 2 (2RM) and 97,5kg (215lb) x 1 (1RM). Both are lifetime PRs. I pushed myself quite hard before and during this program, I was trying to break 100kg, but it didn’t happen (I tried 100kg once, but it stayed firmly on the safety racks). I’d like to think my technique has improved slightly, it feels more solid. I’m not sure why I didn’t improve more, perhaps I was testing my max too often. If I would do this again, I would either change the movement slightly every 10 days (e.g., pause squat or bottom-up FS) or forget about breaking PRs. I had two other “big lifts” in the program, Military Press and RDL, which may have taken their toll. Never the less, squat is my weakest lift in general, so I’m quite happy I managed to improve it slightly.

Military Press: Started 2x5 sets at 40kg (88lb) and finished at 60kg (132lb). In mid-March I pressed 55kg (121lb) x 8. During this program I did 65kg (143lb) x 3 (3RM), 70kg (154lb) x 2 (2RM) and 72,5kg (160lb) x 1 (1RM). These are among the best presses I’ve done since my mid- and late-20s.

RDL: Started 2x5 sets at 70kg (154lb) and finished at 105kg (231lb). I have never done RDL this seriously. I was going through some old workout logs briefly and I have done an RDL with 130kg in 2005, but I also tweaked my back then! This time I did a solid 125kg (276lb) x 2 (2RM) without too much trouble. I didn’t test 1RM. Oh, and I deadlifted each set from the floor before doing the RDL reps (which didn’t touch the floor).

Pull-ups: Started 2x5 sets without any additional weight and finished at +5kg (11lb). I did +15kg x 2 (33lb) and +17,5kg x 1 (39lb). Both were pretty easy. I think I’ve done +24kg x 1 previously some years ago, but I wasn’t really trying to break records in pull-ups this time around. They were done as supersets with the Military Press.

Farmer Walk: This was a completely new experience for me. I started with 2 x 32kg dumbbells (141lb) and moved up to 2 x 37kg (163lb) dumbbells. It was “fun” lugging your bodyweight around in the back garden. The best distance I did was 120 meters with 4 stops. The best distance without stopping was 40 meters. This is a true “armor building” exercise, a definite keeper for me. My forearms must have grown an inch.

Thoughts:

- It can get pretty tough with 3 “big lifts”. I’m a bit stupid and hard-headed, so whenever I reached a new 2x5 weight, I refused to back down to a lighter weight. I wouldn’t recommend this approach, you’d probably make better gains by truly listening to your body. I seem to be bit deaf in that department, I cannot really tell whether I’m having a good day or not. If I do the first set of 5 and it feels a bit hard, well... I might has well do the second one and get it over with!
- When the weights were light, I could do the workout in 45 minutes. Then it went up to 1 hour. Finally I was doing 1,5 hour workouts (including warmup and cooldown). Perhaps that is a good meter for noticing when you’ve nudged the weights up a bit too much. I found myself sitting around towards the end of the program.
- When I first looked at the EES layout, I thought the “5-3-2” and "6 singles” days were few and far apart. When I was actually doing the program, it felt like there were too many days when I was testing my max. Next time around, I would try to forget about maxes and just do the reps. It’s a double-edged sword for me. If I don’t push myself pretty hard in the previous workouts, I don’t have the courage or the “feel” for big weights (if this makes any sense to you). I tried using 65kg in Front Squat 2x5, but I immediately noticed that 90kg x 2 felt extremely hard on the next 5-3-2 day, so I started pushing the 2x5 weight to 70kg and 75kg eventually. I had a simple rule (I think it’s in Easy Strength or somewhere else); if I can do 75kg x 5, I can do 80kg x 4, 85kg x 3, 90kg x 2 and 95kg x 1 (this was very exact for me). I tried pushing for the 80kg x 5 to get the 100kg x 1 in theory, but I ran out of days.
- I didn’t get injured during the program, which is a big bonus for me. My knees did feel a bit overused at one point when I tried using 77,5kg as the Front Squat 2x5 weight. I have a history of overuse injuries, so first I was bit worried. It went away pretty quickly though, I didn’t even use cold once.
- I probably didn’t invest enough time in recovery. It’s been busy two months in my life, so unfortunately recovery suffered a bit. I got 8 hours of sleep most nights, took my fish oil, flossed my teeth and wore a seatbelt. I had a protein drink every morning, probably should have had more...

Thanks for reading.

My workout log

05-23-12 04:07 PM - Post#734729    

Fine report, Ville. Congratulations. You did a great job.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

05-23-12 05:22 PM - Post#734732    

Fantastic work Ville!

Owen Brown, a Biomedical Scientist from Pontyclun, Wales.

05-23-12 06:49 PM - Post#734740    

Good work and congratulations on the results!

05-24-12 02:15 AM - Post#734780    

Excellent, Ville... We live and learn.

05-24-12 02:31 AM - Post#734782    

Thanks a lot guys! Others have made such enormous gains on this program that I felt slightly apprehensive sending my report in. I thought I would get a rap across the knuckles...

My workout log

05-24-12 03:13 AM - Post#734786    

I think you made excellent gains, and your report was detailed and thoughtful, thanks!

Athletic Club East Strength in numbers

05-24-12 08:40 AM - Post#734805    

• nat72sherman Said:

If you check out the training logs of those who have posted here, you'll see some do and others don't.

• Quoting:

That's a good question. It's not for me (because of my meet schedule), but I'd be interested in hearing what Dan and the others think.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

40 Day workout users...
05-30-12 07:59 AM - Post#735324    

Guys,

What changes, if any, did you note in your weight over the course of the forty days? If your weight changed in either direction, do you think you gained or lost muscle, or gained or lost fat? Where did you start, in terms of weight, and where did you finish?

Work does things. Hard things take time to do. Impossible things take a little longer. -Percy Cerutty

Edited by Robert_Benck on 05-30-12 08:00 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

05-30-12 04:51 PM - Post#735382    

Only on Day #32, but I've seen basically no change in body composition. Started at 197 and weighed this morning at 198. I believe I am getting stronger, so maybe replacing some fat with muscle.

It's a good thing I'm in this for the long haul, 'cause it just might take longer than I thought!

05-30-12 05:44 PM - Post#735389    

Lab Rat, you could just be getting better at the lifts, as well.

Robert,

This has been stated before, but I really think this is a weight agnostic program. If your long term goal is muscle gain, this program will help, by allowing use of heavier loads in hypertrophy ranges. If you goal is short term muscle gain, this is will not support it.

This is very much a 'strength as skill' program. Yes, there is progressive overload with volume, but it's quite low. And, as you've noticed, fatigue is also quite low.

The one thing I've noticed with hypertrophy programs with staying power (I'm 6' 205#, and my sport is rugby flanker <at well below national level>, so I'm not looking much, if any, bigger), is they seek a virtuous cycle of creating a desire for lots of calories while also creating an internal environment to conducive to using those calories in reconstruction, which seems to require quite a bit of acute fatigue/daily volume. Whether this is MMS (two days a week of brutal work, one day of hard, four of none), or the indoc period at Pacifica Barbell (which might only be tolerable for people not confined to an office 40 hours/week <plus commute>, and an understanding mother/wife to fix you 50 sandwiches each week).

Even if you condensed all the work in ES to two days, considering most of the work is not that high/fatiguing, it would likely not meet the qualification for a hypertrophy plan.

05-30-12 06:37 PM - Post#735391    

Thanks for your input everyone.

Work does things. Hard things take time to do. Impossible things take a little longer. -Percy Cerutty

05-31-12 06:19 AM - Post#735424    

Good stuff, Ville!
I missed 10 days of work out due to hips problem
! :-(
30 days done!

My training log

06-05-12 11:17 AM - Post#735875    

I had great success with the 40 day program.

http://blackstonevalleyke ttlebells.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/40-day-pro gram-finished-its-on-with -metc...

06-05-12 11:38 AM - Post#735876    

Half way through (20 days) and what I've learned so far:

1) more deconditioned than I thought
2) and related, I can do decent numbers with 16, 20, and 24kg bells, but not for long
3) Conclusion: reign in the ego and back off even more
4) for me I plan to go back to bodyweight work, meanin pullups, pushups, and planks mostly, with some dips
5) stick with front squats and dbl 16kg sumo dls

All this is complicated by being the full-time caregiver to a 4-month old, which cuts back on sleep and the ability to regularly schedule training sessions. I love the job, but at my age if sleep and nutrition aren't dialed in things break down fast.

So, bodyweight plus try for the long, slow stuff. If I'm lucky I'll get to the pool once a week for sprints (former competitive swimmer).

"I can't imagine how it WON'T work...save you not doing it. -- Dan John"

40 Day workout users...
06-11-12 02:14 AM - Post#736432    

Final Report: (long)

M/43yo/70"/195#

Final Cycle PR's
OHS: 175x1 (20# PR) - easy, nothing like reps 5x week to improve this, crazy, I know.
DL: 405x1 (20# PR) - easy, but form still suspect
DB Row: 120x2 ea. arm - super easy, but that's my biggest bell.

Overall Impressions:
I actually finished on the 7th, but it's taken me this long to get my mind around it. I said at the outset that if I got my 405# deadlift, something I've been unable to do for a year and half, that would make or break the program. I did it. Even though I was disappointed that my form broke down, I was on cloud 9 for a good three days.

But what is insane is that it was easy. I definitely could have pulled 425, and if my form was clean maybe 455. The only time I approached that weight was 365x2 done once. The rest of the time was 2x5 with 225. I feel like the food critic in Ratatouille. My mind is blown. Everything I though I knew about programming has been shaken.

Another gym member just did the program and SHE pulled her old PR DL 275x2 easily and squatted 225x1 for a 20# PR. Obviously these are not novice gains.

Tweaks:
In spite of the crazy success I had there were some issues I had to deal with.

One problem is that my knees got pretty tender. There was just a lot of reps. I usually did 30 goblet squats in my warmup. Then another 30 or so doing the 2x5 plus warmups. I don't think my knees were ready for 300 squats/week.

In my back squat, snatch grip DL cycle it ended up being squatting with more squatting since the SGDL starts so low. It wasn't a problem at first since I was so bad at SGDLs, but I rapidly improved to the point where I was handling similar loads in each. Not a good combo for this program.

The very last cycle kind of went off the rails a little even though I ended it on a high note. I irritated my left piriformis muscle (a long-standing issue I have) so I couldn't follow the EES schedule anymore. I ended up taking days off combined with 2x5 days if I felt up to it. This set me back about a week.

This "problem" also highlights a great feature of the program. Since the 2x5 days are "easy" I don't have to be 100% to do them. I was able to "tread water" until my hip felt better and then make my PR's.

I was a little cavalier with the farmer walks. Not quite sure how to handle them, but going hard every w/o was beating me up. I tried to vary them up a little more and skipped them every once in a while.

Lastly, getting after it on every lift on a 5-3-2 or 6x1 day was too much for me. I ended up picking one or two lifts to push on and sandbagged or even skipped the others.

Final thoughts:
If I can make such great gains on an "easy" program why would I do a "hard" one? I'm really curious to see how long this can be milked.

Edited by Matt Lentzner on 06-12-12 05:46 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

40 Day workout users...
06-11-12 01:21 PM - Post#736488    

• Matt Lentzner Said:

This has pretty much shaken my beliefs, too. Who'da thunk?

Very impressive gains, Matt, and a great report. Congratulations.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

Edited by AAnnunz on 06-11-12 04:22 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

40 Day workout users...
06-12-12 10:28 AM - Post#736579    

Kinda 40-days review

I'm a 41 year old guy who works 50+ hours a week behind a desk.  I manage compromises by squeezing training in around work and family.

Since November 2011, I've worked through:
- cycles of 2 weeks of Easy Strength and 2 weeks of Coyote Point/DMPM 
- 6-weeks of MMS Lite
- 40 days

Other than to  pick exercises that I could do at home with kettlebells, I did the programs as they were written or, at least, as best I understood them. I didn't kid myself that I knew the dark arts of program design better than the learned author or that I was some genetic freak demanding a unique program.

I did what I said I was going to do for how long the program said I was going to do it. I didn't make excuses.  I didn't do more than was asked.  When I was tired and flat, I trained light.

Along the way I ratcheted up my protein intake and started taking multi-vitamins and fish oil. 

And in 7 months, I went from doing:
- 1 x 32k sumo deadlift to 1 x 68k/68k double suitcase deadlifts
- 1 x 5k pullup to 1 x 40k pullup 
- 1 x 36k goblet squat to 2 x 32k/36k double kettlebell front squat
- 1 x 24k get-up to 1 x 36k get-up

My observations ( just sayin!):
- stick with the program stupid!
- I made better progress when I stopped trying to constantly progress (maddeningly zen!).  It worked best when I kept lifting the same weights for the same reps until they got easy.
- following MMS grinds with 40-days felt very productive.  Someone more knowledgeable than me might want to play with different combinations of these two workouts. 
 - I find tonic sessions of light 1 x 10's really assist my recovery.  
- I did my 40-days with every 3rd week being a deloading week followed by same but different variations of upper body exercises. Every 3rd week deloading will become a regular part of my training. 
- there some very knowledgeable people on this website, starting with Dan, I am only too happy to have the benefit of that knowledge and experience!
- it's probably pretty hard for most of us to go far wrong if we build our routines around a squat, hinge, upper body push, upper body pull, whole body explosive move and a weighted carry


Edited by AusDaz on 06-12-12 10:44 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

06-12-12 11:14 AM - Post#736587    

These are fabulous reads...

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. Reread great books. Say thank you

06-13-12 09:58 PM - Post#736809    

Completed day 21 of the 40 day plan. I had been going to 24 hour fitness, without much motivation, for the last 2 years and hadn't lost a pound. My wife had suggested that we try to exercise together so I got her a copy of P90X, don't laugh, and I made tremendous progress in weight loss, 22 lbs. in 8 weeks, and GPP, but wasn't really gaining any strength from the push ups and lunges. It did however give me a whole lot more energy to find something more serious for strength. In the last three months I've devoured almost all the books from Dan John, Pavel, and Mark Rippetoe. I dusted off the barbell and 250lbs of iron plates and hit the following exercises 5 days a week: Press, chinup, standard deadlift, back squat, and farmer carries/waiter carries. I had never done military press or deadlifts before because of all the previous bad advice I had heard, "military press doesn't isolate the deltoid," "don't lift with your back." I had also never learned a real ass-in-the-grass squat before, and of course I had always been told "deep squats will hurt your knees," so I started off at 95lbs or less on all the lifts.

My progress has been great. At 5'8", I went from a 197lb 40-something Dad, to 175lb and needing to buy all new pants and belts.

Last week I was able to press 135lb for one rep, full squat 205lb for 5 reps, do full chinups with +45lbs, do carries with 85lbs in each hand, and deadlifted the full 250lbs for 5 reps. I need to buy some more iron.

I think I've convinced my wife to do ETK with me next since we're both able to do all the cardio workouts from P90X without getting our heart rates above 115 now and need a new challenge. I ready to quit my gym membership as I never have made such good progress as I am now training with real strength exercises at home.

06-14-12 03:49 AM - Post#736822    

Outstanding results guys!

Owen Brown, a Biomedical Scientist from Pontyclun, Wales.

06-14-12 04:01 AM - Post#736823    

Agreed, well done Matt, AusDaz and Tim! Amazing results. It's great to read everyone's thoughts on the program.

My workout log

06-14-12 11:15 AM - Post#736874    

Very impressive stuff. Great writeups.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

40 Day workout users...
06-17-12 05:22 AM - Post#737181    

I finished my second run of 40 days from Apr 27 to June 06 after having done 18 workouts. The "test myself" workout of June 06 was the 19th. I was a bit under the weather on the day, my son's childcare is apparently a disease collection and redistribution service.

Barbell back squat
80kg 3x3 ---> 95kg x2
The heaviest I lifted during the 40 days was 70kg 5x5. I think with a bit of encouragement and company I could have done 100kg for a double, but I'm still fairly pleased with it.

Dips
12 unweighted ---> 18 unweighted and 15kg x5
Dips are something I've never worked on before, I had no idea where I could go with them. I could have done more unweighted but was saving myself for the weighted dips.

Heaves
8 unweighted ---> 12 unweighted, 15kg x5, 20kg x1
I used a shoulder-width overhand full grip for these while testing, but a variety of grips while building up. I was cautious of my elbow during these as the big chinners I've known all end up with elbow issues, but everything seemed fine, never any twinges.

Barbell deadlift,
110kg x1 ----> 150kg x1
The first DL was only a "sorta max" so was an underestimate, and I think I went too far on the second one, it was more of a "max max". I'd set 90kg as the most I'd lift, broke that rule just once (95kg), the thing was that unlike all the rest it almost always felt too easy.

So I overextended myself while testing the deadlift on the last day. I did the last pull and lowered it, and threw up - and while throwing up pulled a muscle in my back.

Farmer's walk
no tested max ---> 40kg each dumbbells, lap of the gym (about 50m)
Because I'd hurt myself, I didn't test this until two days later, so was quite fresh.

Over the 40 days I tried to eat more meat and vegies and my body changed a bit.

Bodyweight 77kg ---> 79kg
Biceps 36cm ---> 38cm
Chest 105cm ---> 109cm
Waist 93cm ---> 93cm
Thighs 50cm ---> 52cm

Given that the programme makes no mention of physique changes, I thought this was pretty good. Of course it probably reflects a fairly runty guy's newbie gains, but still.

Unfortunately in this last week I got sick, I had to take Wed-Fri off work, and lost 3kg.

My general thoughts are as before. It actually takes a lot of self-discipline to hold yourself back with the weights. I haven't found it to be as sometimes advertised, a workout you can do in just half an hour - maybe other people don't bother with warmup sets, or maybe I was lifting too heavy (for me).

Nonetheless I was never sore after a workout, so it was something I could do every day. And it didn't need ideal nutrition or rest to give me gains.

Athletic Club East Strength in numbers

Edited by Kyle Aaron on 06-17-12 05:25 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

40 Day workout users...
06-17-12 07:11 AM - Post#737186    

Great results, Kyle! I'm pleasantly surprised by the physique improvements. Did your "correctives" inlcude any single joint work or prehab/flushing that might have contributed?

You're not alone with the warmup sets. Even though the recommended swings & goblet squats and a rotator complex get my lower back, joints & shoulders well lubed, I still do one or two warmup sets for the primary exercises. If your 2x5 work sets are done with what would normally be your second or third warmup (per Dan's instructions), I would think that approach makes sense.

With the dips, did you use 2x5 or 15-25 total reps?

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

Edited by AAnnunz on 06-17-12 07:45 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

40 Day workout users...
06-18-12 01:32 AM - Post#737263    

I did zero correctives. I sometimes foam-rolled.

I normally do quite a lot of warmup sets. If I were to go for work sets of squatting 70kg for 5s, I'd do 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60kg first. I just don't feel comfortable with the lifts otherwise. This could perhaps be due my big muscular asymmetries with my scoliosis - I need a lot of work before the weight feels "balanced."

Putting the weight on my back or standing up with it, I become very very aware of the imbalances, little twinges here and there, so for me the long warmup is setting myself as straight as possible.

I don't mind that the workout took a while, it was just an observation.

With the dips, I mostly did 5,5 except for a couple of times when I did 3,3,3. This was usually pretty easy as I used the same weight I did on the chins.

Dips and heaves were almost always 10 total reps, squats 10-25, and deadlifts were supposed to be 10 total but I often wussed out and only did 5. I'm not convinced you really need 10 deadlift reps a session to progress, but perhaps that's the influence of Rippetoe.

Athletic Club East Strength in numbers

Edited by Kyle Aaron on 06-18-12 01:34 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

06-18-12 03:12 AM - Post#737265    

Great work mate.

Owen Brown, a Biomedical Scientist from Pontyclun, Wales.

06-18-12 10:03 AM - Post#737290    

Great effort, Kyle! Impressive physique changes as well.

My workout log

06-18-12 06:36 PM - Post#737326    

Good job, Kyle. Great results!

40 Day workout users...
06-19-12 03:27 AM - Post#737358    

Well I am on my second round of 40 day workout, thought I would post my first round here(It's posted somewhere already but thought it would be good if I posted it in this thread.). I started it at 14th february 2011 and finished at 15th april

My first workout looked like this:


Warm up
Wall squat 10x1
Halos 10x1
Pumps 10x1
Goblet squats with 16kg kb 10x1
75lbs barbell snatch 5x2
30lbs overhead squats 10x1

Started light

Zercher
120lbs x 5
120lbs x 5

Military press
75lbs x 5
75lbs x 5

Pull ups
Bodyweight x 5
Bodyweight x 5

Ab roll-out
I don't know if it matters but i used 75lbs x 5

Swings 16kg x 50

So the lift I used was the Zercher, military press, pull ups, ab roll-out and swings.

As you can see I started the mainlifts at the following numbers
Zercher 120lbs x 2 x 5
Military Press 75lbs x 2 x 5
Pull-ups BW x 2 x 5

My last 5 x 2 workout was at these numbers:
Zercher 132lbs x 2 x 5
Military Press 93lbs x 2 x 5
Pullups 22lbs x 2 x 5

My last workout went like this:

Warmup
Halos 1 x 10
goblet squats 1 x 20
pumps 1 x 10
Turkish get up 2L/2R

Zercher (I know you are supposed to do 2 at the last set, but it was so easy and the last day.)
132lbs x 5
160lbs x 3
170lbs x 5

Military press (Did one extra in the last set, it felt easy..but when I tried a forth rep I couldnt do it...still I am very happy.)
93lbs x 5
100lbs x 3
110lbs x 3

Chins
5 x bodyweight + 22lbs
3 x bodyweight + 38.5lbs
2 x bodyweight + 55lbs

Ab roll out
5 x 2

Swings
16kg x 50

Suitcase walk
68lbs 60 L/R
68lbs 50 L/R
68lbs 40 L/R
68lbs 30 L/R
68lbs 20 L/R
68lbs 10 L/R

210 meters per hand total.

Zercher lift:
I don't know my zercher lift max before the 40 day workout, but my 5 rep max was a shaky 143lbs
Now I did a strong five rep set at 170 lbs.

Military Press:
My max before 40 day workout was a shaky 99lbs rep, my max now is probably around 115lbs...I don't know...But now in my last workout I did a solid 3 rep set with 110lbs. Thats 11lbs more then my max for 3 reps :D

Chins: lol, I thought a set with 11 lbs was kinda heavy when I started, I now do 5 rep easy with 22lbs and my one rep max is 66lbs(Tried that in the 6 x 1 workout), I tried a 1rm the first week and that time I did a 26.5lbs rep. I think my max was around 26-30lbs when I started.
So a 36 lbs increase here :D

Ab roll:
I can't do one from standing yet, But I can almost do a full negative. I was nowhere close that when I started.

Bridges:
Something I added to the program, My neck is alot stronger and my back feels great when I do this stuff.

Swings:
I don't know if my higher rep swinging has become worse, but doing 50 swings now is easy and just feels good.

Loaded carries:
I didn't do them the whole program, It wasn't in the original article I read...but they are just awesome. Haven't done them alot in training the last weeks because Ive been doing "farmer walks" with heavy wheels and tires in each hand all day long at work.


So I was pretty happy with the results of this program.

My funky training log! http://www.davedraper.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/26288/tp/1/ (inactive) My new improved log! http://www.davedraper.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/30146/

Edited by Funky on 06-19-12 03:28 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

06-25-12 02:31 PM - Post#737883    

Nice gains, Funky!

I did my first 2x5 with Zerchers this morning. Hate them, but they do get the job done.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

06-25-12 02:54 PM - Post#737886    

• AAnnunz Said:

So you just started? What are your exercises?

40 Day workout users...
06-25-12 03:54 PM - Post#737892    

• Matt Lentzner Said:

I'm on my second two-week segment. Segment 1 was paused close (shoulder width) grip BP and SQ, SLDL, and DB row. Segment 2 is paused close (thumbs on clear) grip BP, Zercher, pullup, and deficit DL.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

Edited by AAnnunz on 06-27-12 07:33 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

40 Day workout users...
06-26-12 03:05 AM - Post#737951    

Hi to all!

I've been spying on this forum quite awhile and finally I have something to post here also.

My experiences with the 40 day.

First time I did this I got PRs in TGU (40kg L/R), sort of PR in conventional DL (170kg(375lbs)and KB Floor Press (40kg x2). Also I did rep PR with pistols by doing 10 with both legs.

The second time I was way busier and did deficit DL only. I didnt test the max in conventional or deficit DL, I did it in Rack DL because I didnt want that big nervous overload.

Did a huge PR! Just below knee level double overhand 203kg(447bs) and mixed grip 248kg(546lbs)! Both over 30kg PRs!

Considering that my best full ROM DL in two years has been 165kg x 5 and 170kg x 1 I'm taking this as a promise of something great...

BTW, 248kg had all of my barbell weights...

"To rest is to rust."

Edited by POFS on 06-26-12 03:07 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

06-26-12 07:04 AM - Post#737959    

Nice pulls!

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

40 Day workout users...
06-28-12 08:58 AM - Post#738253    

Well just finished my second time on 40 day easy strength.
This time I started 30th april and just finished the last workout today.

I decided to do the following lifts
Front squat
Bench
Deadlift
Pullups

My first 2 x 5 workout I used the following weights
Front squat 2 x 5 x 88lbs (40kg)
Bench 2 x 5 x 88lbs (40kg)
Deadlift 2 x 5 x 132lbs (60kg)
Pullups 2 x 5 x BW

for farmerwalks I used 55lbs dumbells. I also did a warmup that included goblet squats, swings and overhead squats. And after my main lifts I did some lying leg raises, farmer walks and swings.

My last 2 x 5 workout looked like this
Front squat: 2 x 5 x 121lbs (55kg)
Bench 2 x 5 x 121lbs (55kg)
Deadlift 2 x 5 x 187lbs (85kg)
Pullups 2 x 5 x 17.6lbs (8kg)

used 77lbs(35kg) dumbells for farmer walks 130meters total.

My first 5-3-2 workout was as following
Front squat: 5 x 88lbs(40kg) 3 x 99lbs (45kg) 2 x 110lbs(50kg)
Bench: 5 x 88lbs(40kg) 3 x 99lbs (45kg) 2 x 110lbs(50kg)
Deadlift: 5 x 132lbs(60kg) 3 x 154(70kg) 2 x 176lbs(80kg)
Pullups: 5 x BW 3 x 17.6lbs (8kg) 2 x 26.4lbs (12kg)

Did a total of 120 meters with 66lbs dumbells in farmer walks.

My last 5-3-2 workout wich I did today:
Front squats: 5 x 121lbs (55kg) 3 x 143lbs(65kg) 2 x 176lbs(80kg)
Bench 5 x 121lbs(55kg) 3 x 143lbs(65kg) 2 x 154lbs(70kg)
Deadlift 5 x 187lbs (85kg) 3 x 231lbs (105kg) 2 x 258.5lbs(117.5kg)

Pullups 5 x 17.6lbs (8kg) 3 x 26.4lbs (12kg) 2 x 44lbs(20kg)

Farmer walks 120 meters with 82.5lbs dumbells

I am very pleased with my results. My bodyweight went from 149 lbs up to 158lbs at 5'11

My funky training log! http://www.davedraper.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/26288/tp/1/ (inactive) My new improved log! http://www.davedraper.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/30146/

Edited by Funky on 06-28-12 09:03 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

06-29-12 07:29 AM - Post#738323    

Oh and another thing, I stopped working out in november last year due to life and decided that the 40 day easy strength was the way to go when I started again this year in the end of april.

It was a great and gentle way to get back to training and I did Pr's in both the front squat and deadlift. My bench is back to where I left it in november.

My funky training log! http://www.davedraper.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/26288/tp/1/ (inactive) My new improved log! http://www.davedraper.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/30146/

06-29-12 02:26 PM - Post#738347    

Here's a snippet from my training log that briefly describes the '40th' workout, which I used as a bit of a test.

• Quoting:

07-02-12 03:23 AM - Post#738492    

Great improvement in the deadlift, Jason. Well done!

My workout log

07-02-12 02:33 PM - Post#738546    

• Ville Said:

Thanks, I'm really pleased. What I'm more pleased with though is what I've learned by doing the ROP and Easy Strength over the last few months... they certainly weren't worked through perfectly, but will definitely be better the next time through!
Thank you, Dan.

40 Day workout users...
07-09-12 08:31 AM - Post#739153    

Hi,

So I'm coming off Wendler's 5-3-1. (Actually I am kinda burnt out after doing that for 18 months. So I took about two weeks off). Now I would like to give 40-day a shot. Since I have a nice base, I figured I'd stick with the basic four lifts: DL, SQ, OP and BP and add pullups and either dips or farmer's carries.

If I plan on doing Olympic lifts in the near future, should I do overhead or front squats instead (I have only tried back squats up to this point)?

Some points of reference:
age 47 wt 81k ht 173cm
1RM's
OP 75k
BP 100k
SQ 175k
DL 205k

One more thing, I'm a judo athlete who trains 2-3X/week in the dojo.


Thoughts anyone?

Edited by sukeroku on 07-11-12 01:34 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

07-09-12 03:06 PM - Post#739203    

What an interesting thread this turned out to be. I, too, set prs in most of the lifts I included in the 40 Day program. Right now I am currently doing another Dan John program, OLAD, and will run with that for a while. Then, maybe another 40 Days.

This program allows you to be successful without beating yourself up physically or mentally. Nice!

It's a good thing I'm in this for the long haul, 'cause it just might take longer than I thought!

Re: 40 Day workout users...
07-09-12 04:56 PM - Post#739222    

• sukeroku Said:

I wouldn't do the overhead press and bench press in the same segment. Why not alternate every two weeks? You can also change your squat every two weeks, if you want to try different variations.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

Edited by AAnnunz on 07-09-12 04:58 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

Re: 40 Day workout users...
07-09-12 07:18 PM - Post#739232    

So, if I have never done a front squat or an overhead squat, what weight do I start with?

Re: 40 Day workout users...
07-10-12 08:06 AM - Post#739266    

• sukeroku Said:

The bar. Actually, the first time I tried overheads I could only use a broomstick.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

Re: 40 Day workout users...
07-10-12 09:10 AM - Post#739272    

• sukeroku Said:

I think that those lifts combined with 2-3 sessions per week of judo is a huge amount of work. You may want to try lifting 3 days per week or even 1 session every 4th day (3 sessions one week 2 the next).

Re: 40 Day workout users...
07-10-12 11:19 PM - Post#739379    

• AusDaz Said:

I read about the 40-day in "Easy Strength." My impression was that by using low easy weights, I could grease the groove (train the nervous system) without straining the muscles too much leaving me with plenty "in the tank" for my main sport of judo. Did I read this wrong?

07-10-12 11:32 PM - Post#739381    

It depends on what "low easy weights" are for you. It's not just percentages.

Let's say your squat is 60kg. You can lift 20-30kg every days for a stack of reps without it affecting anything else. But 40-50kg is more intense and you'll need more recovery.

But let's say your squat is 180kg. Doing 60-90kg every day is going to be quite draining. It's the same percentage as the 60kg squatter, but the sheer weight is more stressful to your system even so - even though it's a "low easy weight" for you. But then, maybe you've a hardcore mindset and 120-150kg are going to feel "low easy" to you.

Percentages, absolute weight, and mindset. All things to consider. Which comes back to the traditional advice, "try it and see." It's only 40 days, so long as you don't go crazy and injure yourself, worst thing happens is you wasted 40 days. Just short of 6 weeks.

Athletic Club East Strength in numbers