I am accumulating a lot of them, Lonnie.
Here (I hope):
http://www.davedraper.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?fid/73/tid/29155/pid/ 725850/post/last/#LAST
This forum discussion is a good start. I just asked everyone to post.
Peter Lakatos
• 40 days
• I have started the 40 days program right after the Easy stregth seminar. I have picked the one hand KB bench press, the pistol and the pull up. Around the 21st day started to feel the effects, as mainly without any crazy max training or even extremely intense workouts things started to work. At the end of the program I was able to 5 reps with the 48kg on the single hand bench press, 60 kg pistol and 48 kg pull up - below 80 kg bodyweight. Since then I did the program again with deadlift, pull up and military press - same remarkable results.
My thoughts on the 40 day program
At the end of December last year, I was feeling a bit ‘stuck’ with regards to my training. I’d been using the max effort method for 3 months and made great progress too with gains in strength and muscle size, but I knew something had to change.
My joints were aching, my muscles were tired and by the time Friday rolled around each week it was a struggle just to make it through the warm-up. They were not intense, motivated sessions by any means!
For Christmas I got a copy of Dan John and Pavel Tsatsouline’s book EASY STRENGTH. Instantly I was absorbed by the concept that you can build strength simply by regularly lifting 80-85% of your max without straining or excessive psyching up. One of the methods proposed was that old classic ‘the 40 day program’.
This seems to be one of those programs that we’ve all heard of, but never done. It calls for 40 days of the exact same workout; 2 ‘easy’ sets of 5 in deadlift, bench press and pull-ups, then two more exercises, one explosive, one abs, for one set each of 20-50 reps and 5 reps respectively. You lift around 85% of your max and no more.
Believe me it took a HUGE mental effort to stop lifting max effort style and move to an ‘easy strength’ style program. Wouldn’t my muscles shrink and my strength quickly drop off?!
Dan John said this program requires faith, and the first week will test your faith to the max. I was convinced that leaving the gym feeling as fresh as I was wouldn’t increase my strength at all…how wrong I was!
I used the box squat, bench press and pull-ups as my strength exercises, with kettlebell swings and Turkish get-ups for my respective explosive and ab exercises.
In 40 days this happened:
Box Squat: from 150kg-155kg (5kg/11lb increase)
Bench Press: from 120kg for 1 rep to 120kg for 2 reps
Pull-ups: 25kg for one rep to 40kg for one rep (15kg/33lb increase) AND bodyweight rep max from 12 reps to 16 reps (I lost about 4kg/9lb in bodyfat during this period which obviously helped pull-up performance…but still impressive!)
In training I never lifted heavier than 130kg in the squat and 105kg in the bench press, for what amounted to quite an ‘easy’ set. These weights also happened to be my old 5RM’s for each lift. So I worked up to using 5RM weights for EASY sets of 5!
WHY THE PROGRAM WORKS – REASON #1
To keep my faith, I first had to understand that even though each workout seemed easy, the total weekly load was what really mattered.
Using max effort training I was lifting heavy for around 15-25 total lifts per week per exercise and STRAINING HARD!
So normally I would do one max effort day for the squat each week which looked something like this: 110kgx5, 115kgx5, 120kgx5, 125kgx5, 130kgx5. Total of 25 reps and an average weight of 120kg per week.
On the 40 day method I used 2 EASY sets of 5 every day, so a weeks loading for the squat looked something like this: 105kgx5, 115kgx5, 110kgx5, 120kgx5, 100kgx5, 110kgx5, 115kgx5, 125kgx5, 110kgx5, 120kgx5. Total of 50 reps with an average weight of around 115kg per week.
So I lifted slightly less average weight but made up for it by twice as many reps per week, per exercise.
Using max effort training I did use a dynamic day of around 16 reps and used a lot of bodybuilding style assistance work to make up the daily volume, but it seems nowhere near as effective for strength gains. On the 40 day program the weekly volume with a HEAVY but ‘EASY’ weight is what counts.
WHY THE PROGRAM WORKS - REASON #2
My workouts were shorter as I had less sets to do! So I used a lot of mobility and corrective exercises to fill out the workouts. The result? My joints got healthier and felt better.
I kind of stumbled upon this by accident. I had a little bit of hip pain when squatting, and my left shoulder was nagging a bit, no doubt I had beat myself up a bit for the last 3 months on the good old max effort method.
So in my rest periods I stretched out my hip flexors, glutes, did band pull-aparts and prone T’s, foam rolled my chest, shoulder and glutes and generally did whatever I felt like doing to feel better!
This extra mobility work made my lifts smoother and easier to complete, now not only was I getting more reps per week using easy strength sets, my joints were being taken care of too!
WHY THE PROGRAM WORKS – REASON #3
The program limits you to weights no heavier than 85% of max UNLESS you’re feeling super strong, then you can do 3 sets of 3, or 6 singles. You can also have lighter days if you’re feeling weak. This means that your body dictates the pace, aiding recovery thus increasing strength.
I think the above advice from the book EASY STRENGTH is genius, here’s why;
Remember how I said that occasionally during max effort workouts I felt tired and couldn’t be bothered to train? Well here is the remedy; when you feel weak, lift lighter…when you feel strong you are allowed to push the weights above that magic 85% barrier.
Believe me, you’ll know when you feel strong, some days on my warm-up sets it felt like the bar wasn’t even on my back or in my hands! So I pushed the weights up. I also found that on Mondays, the first day of my training week, I felt weak on everything, but on Tuesday and Wednesday I felt like a machine, so I adjusted the weights accordingly.
Having a program that involves percentages as a guideline AND self-regulation is a great idea and really makes you feel good cos you can have a heavy day once in a while!
The 40 day program gives you:
1. More total reps per week
2. More time to focus on joint health and recovery
3. More control over weight selection
If you feel like you need a good change or a break from heavy lifting, don’t just stop lifting heavy, you CAN build strength and health using short, daily workouts.
Whilst it may not be the best program for gains in hypertrophy or power, it definitely builds a great foundation of strength before shifting to a different focus, and you may change your opinions of what it takes to build strength too!
Karen Smith and Delaine Ross are sending me updates.
My Experience with Dan John’s 40-Day Workout Plan
By Darren Mallette
For
www.EliteFTS.com
_________________________ _______________
The subtitle for this article could be “How I went from bombing on the bench at 315 to hitting a personal best at 345 in two months,†but that would be a bit wordy. This is my story on how I did just that.
I started lifting weights in my early teens, using the York concrete-filled plates down in my parent’s basement. I competed at football, cross-country running and skiing, and track during my high school years. I fell off the wagon so to speak in college and didn’t touch a weight again until my mid-twenties. Then I spun my wheels for several years, following the muscle magazine’s workout of the month, until I came across some articles from Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell. I was immediately hooked on lifting heavy weights for low reps, and after a couple years, I entered some local push-pull (bench press, deadlift) competitions.
The old competitive spirit was back, and I read everything I could get my hands on regarding powerlifting. Over the summer of 2003, my daughter and I would watch the Strongman shows on television. We would sit in awe watching the “monsters†flip tires, lift stones, and pull trucks like they were little toys. Finally, in June of 2005, I took the plunge and entered my first Strongman competition. I finished in the top ten of a field of over 30, and more importantly, I was hooked on competing once again!
I managed to place second in a competition later that fall and then won a competition in August of 2006. The 2007 season started slowly with the nemesis of every strength athlete—injuries. Over the winter, I developed tendonitis in both forearms, which really limited the training that I could do. At a competition in June while preparing for Ontario’s Strongest Man, I twisted my collarbone during a 275-lb farmer’s walk. That pretty much did my season in. I did one more Strongman competition, finishing fourth overall in August.
I entered a push-pull meet in early December, where I promptly bombed out on the bench press at 315. Finally, on December 29th while training with our crew, I hurt my lower back/SI joint while training Atlas stones. I knew I had to back off to let the injuries heal while still trying to maintain some semblance of strength.
I had read about the “40-Day Workout†from Dan John and filed it away deep in the folders of my computer. Since it was the start of the New Year, I decided I’d try something new. I bounced the idea off a couple training partners, and they sounded skeptical at best! You should really read the 40-Day Workout, but the premise is that you pick several exercises and for the next 40 days do the same workout. I wanted to redeem myself from the bench press bomb out in December so I picked bench press and chin-ups initially. My back was feeling ok so I also added in Romanian deadlifts. The set/rep scheme would be 2 X 5 with a starting weight that felt “too light.†If you’re a percentages guy then somewhere in the 50–70 percent range should be close. The weight would increase by five pounds when it felt right to do so. For me, this worked out to roughly every fourth session. An update to the original plan is to do a “heavy†day once per week. For me, I’d work in the 3 X 3 set/rep range. I also made a point to do every rep as perfect as possible. I had to fix the “butt off the bench†syndrome for starters.
As a baseline, my training log shows that on December 27th, I benched an “ugly†single at 325. My butt was off the bench, which is one factor that got me at the meet earlier in the month. I also did a chin-up the same day with 50 lbs attached at a body weight of 220.
My log entry on January 4th shows the following:
Bench press: 2 X 5 X 235 (felt heavy)
Chin-ups: 3 X 3 with 25 lbs
Romanian DL: 2 X 5 X 135
I also included some additional exercises whenever I felt like it including seated dumbbell cleans, kettlebell swings, blast strap push-ups, band work, and hanging leg raise holds.
After the first week, I had some conflicting thoughts on this plan. First, it seemed way too easy. I could blast through the three core lifts in less than ten minutes. However, that meant even after a long day, I knew I could get down to the basement, do what I needed to do, and get out pretty quickly.
Halfway through the plan at day 20, my log shows:
Bench press: 2 X 5 X 260
Chin-ups: 2 X 5 X 35
Romanian deadlift: 2 X 5 X 195
I travel a lot for work and luckily I didn’t have anything come up until the end of January. I managed to find a hotel in Columbus with a decent gym attached where I could stick to my plan. On the 28th, I also made my way out to London, Ohio and met Jim Wendler at EliteFTS’s world headquarters. He invited me to train that night at the Compound III, and I didn’t hesitate to accept. This place is awesome! I had a great session. I tried the new hack squat machine and pushed the Prowler back and forth until I felt my lungs coming up. Jim also coached me on my bench press (flare and push back over my face), which made an immediate improvement.
That trip took me 75 percent of the way through the plan, and the end was in sight. On day 39, my log shows:
Bench press: 2 X 3 X 225, 1 X 3 X 315, 2 X 3 X 300 (sets X reps X pounds)
Chin-ups: 5 X 45, 5 X 35 (reps X pounds)
Romanian deadlift: 2 X 5 X 245
I finished day 40 on February 9th. I had a work trip to Vegas for a couple days and then I planned to test on the 16th. I warmed up and got to work.
Bench press: 2 X 3 X 225, 1 X 275, 1 X 315, 1 X 345 (PR), missed 365 halfway up, then did a bottoms up 315 off the pins
Chin-ups: 1 X 35, 1 X 50, 1 X 65, 1 X 80, 1 X 85
So I had a 20-lb increase on the bench press over what I did in training at the end of December. However, this time my butt stayed on the bench, and I had a good pause on my chest. Compared to the December competition, I’d say it was closer to a 40- or 50-lb improvement. I think I was even more thrilled with the bottoms up 315! The chin-up with 85 lbs attached was 35 lbs over my best at the start of the program. I maintained my body weight at 220 throughout.
This is a simple program, but it’s also quite effective. The daily repetition trains your brain and muscles to fire in a specific pattern (hence my focus on near perfect reps). The increase in weight is gradual too. You don’t notice any individual jump until you look back at your log over the 40 days.
I liked this program so much that I started a second round on February 17th using the box squat, snatch grip deadlift (standing on a three-inch block), and overhead press as my core exercises. I wanted to maintain my progress in the bench press and chin-ups so I just do 2 X 5 on those every four days or so. So far at the halfway point I’ve progressed from 2 X 5 X 225 on the box squat to 3 X 3 X 335, 2 X 5 X 245 on the deadlift to 3X 3 X 345, and 2 X 5 X 135 on the overhead press to 3 X 3 X 180. As for starting percentages, that was 52 percent for the squat, 50 percent for the deadlift, and 66 percent for the press.
Once the snow melts, I’ll be ready to start training the events again with my eye on a first competition at the end of May. Wish me luck!
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at
www.EliteFTS.com.
I wrote this article for Dan John a couple of months ago...
40 Days of Life
I recently finished Dan John’s 40 day workout. The workout was said to be an easy, easy way to build strength. Dan said the program was so simple, you wouldn’t be able to trust that it would work. At the time, it sounded like a fun challenge and a fresh change of pace, so I decided to give it a try. Basically, the premise of the workout is that you pick 4 to 5 exercises that you want to focus on and you do them; roughly everyday for 40 days. Oh, and you only use 40 to 80% of your one rep max and you keep your reps at, or below 10 for each exercise! Yes, I know. It already sounds way too easy to work. Guess what? It worked. I got stronger; a lot stronger, with almost zero effort. The program is simply amazing. Not only did I grow stronger, I grew wiser as well. Let me explain, I gained wisdom because I learned several life lessons while following this fantastic, 40 day program.
I know it seems crazy. I’m talking about learning life changing lessons from a simple strength training program. But its true. For example, I leaned about having integrity. Everyday, I had my doubts about this program. But, everyday, I showed up and I did what I was supposed to do. Why? Because I made a commitment to do so. It would have been easy to say, “this is crazy, I’m going to do something else.†But I didn’t. I wanted to finish what I started. I wanted to do what I said I would do. If I can not commit to a simple 40 day workout and stick to the commitments that I make to myself, how can I expect to have integrity with anyone else? This idea, this integrity, has spilled over into my personal life and I am now more aware of my commitments. I want to be the guy who does what he says he will. I want to be the guy that his wife and kids can depend on. I want to have integrity.
I also learned about humility. I knew too much for Dan’s 40 day program to work. I’ve been training for almost 22 years. There is NO WAY dead lifting 135 lbs for 10 reps is going to help me dead lift 350 lbs. 40% of my max? Really? Yes, really. I was wrong. Lifting 40% of your max can increase your max. So, I learned a little something about humility. I don’t have all the answers, maybe I don’t have any. Maybe I should keep an open mind and realize that there are lots of people out there that have a world of possibilities to offer. Maybe I shouldn’t make opinions about ideas or concepts until I at least try them. Maybe I should think less of myself and more of others. Maybe I should strive to have humility.
A huge lesson that stood out to me from Dan John’s program is the lesson of faith. Faith is the hope for things uncertain and unseen. Believing I could get stronger even when I was unsure in the method, was an act of faith. Dan said the program would work. He said I would struggle with the idea that the program would work. But Dan said, so I did. That is faith. I know having faith in something so small as a strength training program seems trivial. But how could I have faith in something huge, like Love or God, if I can’t even have faith in something simple like a strength training program. Faith, like strength, needs to be exercised too. Faith in little things can yield faith in larger things. A man walks a mile one step at a time, all the while believing each step will take him closer to where he wants to go even when he can’t see past the horizon. We could all use a little faith. Without it, we are just staring at the horizon.
I learned some other lessons too. Perhaps not as “out there†as integrity, humility, and faith, but diamonds none the less. For instance, training to win. One of the cool things about Dan’s 40 day workout is that you are training to win. In other words, you are not training to failure. By keeping the workouts easy and always making your lifts, you are teaching your body how to win, how to succeed. So when you do lift heavy, you make your lift. I think that is an awesome lesson that should be carried much farther than simply strength training. I know we can’t always avoid failure, but we can always strive for success. We can always choose to be our best. I have to believe if I always give my best, then those around me will get my best. That is training to win and nothing bad can come from that.
Perhaps one of the most important lessons I learned following Dan’s program is this: If it is important, do it everyday. Dan John credits this saying to Dan Gable, but Dan John is the man who brought it to my attention. And I have to say, it is simply brilliant. In Dan’s 40 day workout, you are supposed to focus on 5 things you really want to improve upon; 5 important things, and you do them everyday. Then, like magic, they improve! There is a huge lesson here that goes far beyond the weight room. If it is important, do it everyday. Tell your wife you love her everyday. Hug your kids everyday. Say your prayers everyday. You get the point. I think this is so brilliant. With this one concept, a person could change the world. If it is important, do it everyday....
There it is, life lessons from Dan John’s 40 day workout. To sum it all up, you pick four to five important things like Integrity, Humility, Faith, and giving your best, and then you consistently work at them every single day. Oh wait, I think I’ve got that confused. That must be Dan’s 40 day life changing program. Come to think of it, after 40 days and 40 nights, the rains stopped and the world was forever changed...
Thank you, Dan!
Considering this is on Crossfit, it is pretty funny:
http://board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=72935
This thing is amazing…
http://www.withfit.com/scaled/log/2344/Dan+J ohn+40+Day
You see “amazing†here:
http://tucsonkettlebell.com/?p=634
And the list on this page is well worth repeating:
http://evolutionaryathlet ics.com/blogs/demarco/2011/08 /17/train-everyday-unless -you-want-to-fail/
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 |
