baby and the bathwater

I won't erase blog posts even when I directly contradict myself. After I got back from vacation, I had an awesome idea. End easy strength with 10min EMOM of bodyweight movements. Increase the reps week by week until the volume is low key bonkers. And it IS a good idea. It felt so good, I tossed the baby out with the bathwater. 

Hey, instead of easy strength how about I just do this 10min emom! I can do press (squat and press) and pull (row and nordic) days. Oh joy! How quickly this fell apart. Because now the goal of increasing volume instead of load is mixed with movements that depend heavily on load via barbells. Am I training for strength or hypertrophy? Do I increase weight on non bodyweight and increase weight on barbell? What a pickle i created via a bad program no one asked for.

I tossed the baby out with the bathwater because I had a good idea for one aspect - hypertrophy - at the tail end of strength.

When I find myself in endless toil for sets and reps and load and movement selection, I know i am proper fucked.

Follow the program. Easy strength allows for 'everything else' so this is well within guidelines. But Easy strength still needs to exist as a base.

progress through accumulation

Resetting my training to an old standby - 10 sets of low reps + step loading. I used this successfully for YEARS. It really never stopped working, but I didnt have the wherewithal to replace exercises as I grew stale to boredom or overuse. Some 16yrs later, im slightly slightly slightly less stupid and majorly less strong. 

This doesn't mean that training to failure or fatigue doesn't work. It 100% works and works very well. It means that there are many routes to the goal of size and strength. One of those routes is accumulation. There is no special exercise or weight where things clicked (note: at the time, I 100% thought there was). Just spending enough time with the same exercises progressed in weight or reps was enough.

To be clear, this method is not great for bodybuilding or max strength. It is awesome for better than average of both for a surprisingly small time and risk investment. The other gaps in training - Mobility, athleticism, rotational strength - can all be done on its own.

easy strength and adding hypertrophy/conditioning

After easy strength is 'everything else'. This can mean sports practice, bodybuilding, whatever.

After easy strength, hypertrophy.

10 emom sets of bodyweight

Afternoon, conditioning.

20-30min of rounds

easy strength and giant sets

There is no right way to do this. In dan John's easy strength omnibook, he suggests taking as much rest as you can manage, but the program also lends itself very well to short (15min) workouts. 

Giant setting can get the best of both worlds - reasonable rest between sets of the same muscle group + keeping the overall time investment low.

Example

[Giant set1]

Inc press 1x3

Single leg rdl 1x3

Rope climb 1x3

Repeat x3

[Super set1]

Palloff press 1x5

Carry x1

Repeat x2

This is a lot of high quality of work with little to no rest between rounds required. By the same token, working other movement patterns (especially the first Giant set) introduces reasonable rest periods before the next set without having to gage readiness.

This works.

easy strength: little and often. FOR A LONG TIME

The caps are caps are caps are caps for a reason.

This doesn't necessarily apply to easy strength either. The absolute best progress i made was when I stuck with a training method for a LONG TIME that used slow progression. I.e. step loading. And here is the deal. It is not that training to failure, linear progression, basic periodization, rest pause, etc does not work. Far far from it. These methods all work great for me. The problem for me with failure training is I generally feel like dogshit most of the time. The visual and strength progress comes quickly but leaves just as quick. There is definite value to physical transformation with these methodologies but it just isn't my bag. I want to feel good MOST OF THE TIME. Training to failure for the sake of muscle growth does not support that goal.

I want to see how much a non hypertrophy program - easy strength - can introduce hypertrophy over a long period of time. Even given the low daily volume, the weekly volumes (50-70 reps per movement) with high intent and effort are not anything to sneeze at. 

Part of the secret sauce I was missing in the last round due to injury were loaded carries and mobility - both during and after easy strength. I fucking love carries, and i think they are underrated as mass/cardio supplements to a basic strength program. 

Use case on carries was my old power calisthenics program. I.e. 3x a week bodyweight only movements to failure and 2-3x a week farmers walks. I got weirdly big from this shit in my arms, traps, and legs despite the only weights used being the farmers walks (typically around bodyweight carries for 30min). I retired the same program a long time later with only the calisthenics. And wouldn't you know, I didnt gain shit for size. The strength in reps still increased at the same rate, but nothing grew and I found the actual contractions of motions didnt feel as solid. 

The camp that is carries are bad for hypertrophy are looking at them from a stimulus fatigue ratio compared to classic lifting (i cant argue there) or using them as a just do this movement. Team carries are great for hypertrophy use them to compliment other lifting. Do your carries. Just do everything else too.

you dont get it for free

Precursor, mobility has been going great. The way I move and feel now is crazy compared to juat a few months back. I want to affirm what I've always believed. You didnt get old, you just stopped getting benefits for free.

Think about this. What positions are you usually in on a regular basis? Standing, sitting, lying down. Then you want to put your body under load???? Lawd. You didnt suddenly have a bad back or bad knees at 30-40. You got 30+ years of free pain free movement. Chances are, you also gained weight without height over this time. It isn't that your body sucks now, but you dont get to feel good for free. This is where mobility rocks. And mobility does not need to be boring, or even unweighted. Mobility is low gear strength training.

Think about your body like a corporation. Anything that isn't being used gets tossed. I.e. if you never move your spine, or sprint, or sit in a squat do you really think there is any incentive to spend resources with that upkeep? Fuck no. Mobility is slowly nudging your body to spend resources building strength in full ranges of motion. Keep in mind this process is SLOW. Do not expect to see reasonable changes until 6 weeks of consistent work in pain free ranges of motion.

A fun side benefit of mobility (besides generally feeling pretty damn good) is increased blood flow and demand for food. My appetite is through the god damn roof and im not getting fatter. I wish past me knew about this so future me could benefit.

minimalist gym

Again with the thought experiments. These are just for fun, but i like to parse through in the case I move or have to give advice to a friend.

If I rebuilt my gym, what would I do?

3 sets of Olympic rings

- dips, rows

- pullups, hangs

- pushups 

1 rope for climbing, rows

Back extension or applicable rig

Nordic or applicable rig

Adjustable bench. Way more useful than what I bought it for.

A few maces and sandbags 

done 

Kratos dominoose- further in the Kratos hole

This has been going GREAT. Small tweaks have been made but otherwise we gucci.

METHOD

- daily calisthenics base.

- emphasize strength endurance.

- rest periods are mobility for the limbs that are not being used.

- EMOM 30min with progression via volume cycles.

Each upper day ends with juarez valley arms. Lower day ends with juarez valley back extension.

I want to build back to where afternoon kettlebell, mace, and sandbag work (same EMOM structure) is in the cards.

inefficiency is the goal

Are weighted dips better than bodyweight dips for size and strength? Absolutely. No contest. IF you are trying to take the fastest route to size and strength. What if efficiency is not the goal? What do you get by doing more work for less progress? Ill tell ya.

First off, endurance and cardio benefits. The ability to do more for longer. If you stack advanced calisthenics movements (note: or add basic intensity techniques) into this equation, this takes care of the strength aspect without ever having to add weight.

Second, fatigue doesn't slap the same way. Quite the opposite, I feel fucking great all the time. 

Third, tendon strength. Expanding on the 2nd benefit, less fatigue means i can hit the same muscle groups very often. Having mobile joints is great. Having mobile joints with extremely tough tendons? OP.

Kratos dominoose, moves plugged in

PULL FOCUS 

Rack pullup 

Ring row

Parallel pike pushup

Mace

Rope row climb

Rope row

Straight Pike pushup 

Mace

PRESS FOCUS

Ring Dip

Dip

Bar row

Mace

Psuedo pushup

Close pushup 

Rope row

Mace

ARMS

Close tri ext, tri ext

Ring pelican, ring hammer

Pike shorties top, pike shorties bottom

Every training day ends with one arm movement. Use juarez valley rep schemes and vary volume/intensity/control. Mace stands for ab dominant movements.

All normal rep schemes are 5/3/2 per cycle. Add intensity to the lighter movements (ex: 8/6/4) first before adding reps to harder movement. Intensity may also be injected using pause reps, 1.5 reps, etc.

I dont want to know the weights

When i know the weights, I get obsessed. What is too much or too little? What is the right rep and set scheme etc?

No thanks.

With a static weight you can get better at moving it faster, move it for more reps, or find a way to make it harder to move. Kind of a grand step loading.

I think this is why I gravitate towards implements where the weight is static or hard to change - bodyweight, sandbags. Am I bigger when I add weight? Absolutely. For a LITTLE WHILE. The tradeoff is i invariably get hurt or feel run down.

this feels fucking good

A few weeks in of calisthenics circuits and mobility. I. Feel. GREAT!

Joints feel fantastic because im never quite going to failure or repeating the same movement pattern too often. My cardio is in a place its never been before lol. Physique likewise is doing good. Injuries slowly healing. 

I like that there is no plan for weight, just difficulty. Can I do X progression today? If only for a few reps, I can pivot to something else easily. 

The easy secondary push or pull is a great lever for progression as I can increase the reps there first without burying myself.

All in all, stellar.

My personal trainer noticed how much improvement im making in basic mobility and my ability to not gas out. All this in a few weeks.

Kratos dominoose revisited

PILLARS

- Strength endurance

- Move yourself

- Move other things 

- Freedom of movement 

CALISTHENICS - AM DAILY 

- Press focus row+dip+abs

- Mobility+lower juarez+back ext

- Press focus pullup+pushup+abs

- Calves+tibs+lower juarez+back ext

- Pull focus row+dip+abs

- Mobility+lower juarez+back ext

- Pull focus pullup+pushup+abs

- Calves+tibs+lower juarez

CALISTHENICS NOTES

- ladders (5/3/2) for rep schemes.

- progression: 5 sets in 30min, increase reps of easy movement, increase main movement reps, change to harder variations.

- avoid failure.

- rest in full squat.

- sub in mace for ab work.

MOVE OTHER THINGS

- carries for time.

- get some sun.

GGBB revisited

I keep coming back to the general gains body building (GGBB) concept. Its a great progression model that takes autoregulation into account while respecting the need for both body building and conditioning as a base. What always rubbed me wrong were two aspects:

- t3 (light sets)

- t2 half sets

I had a lightbulb moment yesterday and needed to write it down.

T3 sets

How I've treated these in the past is their own individual exercise. I cant emphasize this enough, THAT ISNT HOW THE PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN LOL. T3 exercises were meant to be part of a super set with T2 - either the same or opposing muscle group is up to the user.

This can drive a set deeper into stimulation without feeling like i have to go to failure on these Tricep extensions and oh god what am I doing with my life.

Example

T2: Ring dips x11

T3: tricep extension x20 or planche lean x20s

Rest 60-90s

T2 secondary sets with T3 super set

T2 Half Sets

These are exactly what they sound like. After the initial T2 set, the following secondary sets use half volume until the overall volume has doubled. Using the example above:

Ring dips x 11

Ring dips x 5

Ring dips x 5

Ring dips x 5 

Ring dips x 5

If in subsequent sessions the primary set is still 11 reps, progression can be made through adding secondary volume. 

These secondary sets always felt too far from failure to be useful. Ideas:

- do nothing but how it is written. Adding the t3 into the mix could easily bridge the gap. do this first!

- go for 1 rep in reserve every set regardless of the rep count. The positive here is the increase in failure proximity. The negative is definitely the fatigue and blurry lines in progression. How many sets or volume does one add if the first set fails to move? By default this could be '1xhalf set reps'.

Example

Ring dips x 11 (failure to get 12)

Ring dips x 5

Ring dips x 5

Ring dips x 5 

Ring dips x 5

Ring dips x 3-5 (progression set)

the back problem, always have a plan

Yesterday, was bad. Very bad. I did back mobility and nordic curls thinking my dosc herniations would play nice.

Ron Howard VO: they didn't

Bad sleep and many pain pills later, im brought back to a YouTube channel lower back ability - a sister channel to knees over toes. Sometimes you see the right thing at the right time and NOW is the right time. 

Do i have any right to work my abs, legs, and back like I dont have nerve damage and live in low to medium pain? Fucccck no. This is my mistake. Keeping my eye so hard on the prize (lifting sandbags, kettlebells, maces outside) I've ignored the stepping stones to get me there. What we need is a plan. And I fucking love plans.

The plan

Upper body: keep doing what you're doing. This rules. No need for us to give up a jacked upper body while we work on the middle and lower.

The legs: keep doing mobility. Add in vertical bodyweight movements to ease back into deeper ranges of motion. Take it SLOW. Sled work outside is how we spend our lunch.

The abs: not sure. The McGill big 3 dead ass does NOT feel good right now. I tried standing landmine tosses for obliques and they felt pretty rad.

The back: getting schwifty. 

May-June: NOTHING! And answer on a low back ability video had to do with someone asking how soon they could start after a herniated disc. Homeboy said we'll if you just injured yourself 3 weeks ago then no. Thats a YIKES from me dog. Id like to see my daily pain be at his regular 3/10 before setting off on step 2.

July: buy a back extension. Begin static holds. 

August: consider dropping PT and starting a low back ability sub.

what does mobility look like?

Here's an example that works for me.

Knees over toes

Tib raise x20 + calf raise x20

Tib raise x20 + knees over toes calf raise x20

Tib raise x20 + Jefferson step 2x20

Mobilize spine

Bent over QL reaches 2x12 + upper isometric

Cat cow 2x10 + upper isometric 

Glute bridge (bridge progression) 3x50. Do not push until failure.

Stretches

Adductor + upper isometric

Hamstring + upper isometric

Hips

Downward dog into forward step

This is easy, repeatable, and offers movement to stiff joints. The upper isometric offers a way to flush blood into areas that were worked the day prior.

bulldozer rest pause

AM push/pull

Press x5

Press x5

Press x6

Tricep x6

Rear x6

Pull x5

Pull x5

Pull x6

Biceps x6

Rear x6

Rest 2-3min between exercises

Rest pause

- x5: 30,30,45,60

- X6: 15,15,30,30,40

PM

Work up to carries

OFF

Mobility, rope flow, calves, neck, glute bridges 

calisthenics kelso shrugs build commective tissue

For the life of me, I cant find evidence of kelso shrugs on YouTube unless its a literal shrug with weight. In kelsos actual book of shrugs, he expanded the core concept (barbell row shrug) into any kind of movement. This being said, I think kelso shrugs are horribly misrepresented when it comes to building connective tissue where it matters.

Take my current 6 week block of movements:

Ring dip, ring row 

Dip, side row

After these are all done, knocking out 2 sets of kelso shrugs with the ring row and dip can both be done under fatigue and build tissue where the movement is initiated. This lays bricks for future workouts like gangbusters.

train what you can. build what you cant

Going to use my current situation at a lever here. My right knee is an ongoing situation, and my back is a new situation. I can probably squat and deadlift a barbell or light kettlebell without discomfort or pain but that's about it. Knowing that, does it really make sense to stress building strength with damaged body parts using weights that would have been considered way too light the first time I touched a weight? Fuckkkkk no.

One of my big regrets from when I built my home gym in 2020 was i lamented my inability to squat and deadlift - movement patterns all of my programming has always encircled. In retrospect, by now I could have had 5 years of pullup and dip mastery with what i had at the time. All the while working on fixing my injuries in parallel to 'real' training. I won't make the same mistake twice.

My upper body feels awesome if slightly uncomfortable due to the constant ebb of back sciatica. Assuming this current back injury lasts nearly as long as its 2 brethren, I can dig in years of quality upper body hypertrophy. In parallel, there is no reason why back safe work cant be in progress via nordics, hamstring curls, lunges, etc. 

This injury is a gift.

its only 30min

This is a stick to the plan post.

Easy strength + mobility only takes about 30min. If you just do the lifting its easily just 20min. It doesn't wear you down for the rest of the day, and its rare my next day of lifting feels wrong.

Other programs have a large advantage on size no doubt, but the fatigue can be absolutely brutal. We dont even know the possibility of size increases on this program because we haven't seen results of long term adherence. There is no way that moving from a daily 150x2x5 to a daily 200x2x5 does not increase size.

Stick to the plan.

the long way is the short cut

Again, watching lower back ability videos. Homeboy is talking about taking 2yrs to build up progressions of this basic movements to the point where your back has the tissue build that it needs. Sounds like a lot right? Wrong.

I've been in cycles of pain for the last 12yrs. That is 6 two year cycles. My back will get better for a bit, I think im fine, then I get hurt again. When im hurt, im not making progress. Things like Jefferson curls and back extensions are developmental exercises for a reason. They are developing armor that allows you to do whack shit. 

Take the long road because its the short cut. Jumping back into exercises that push weight because that's how you will get bigger and stronger before you're ready isn't the hack you need it to be.

why fasting

My wife gets weirded out when I engage in daily fasts. It isn't because she thinks I have an eating disorder. Its because her body reacts the polar opposite when she goes without food.

Me without food: energized. 

Her without food: angry. Low energy. 

I thought through more of my why's.

- when I do eat, I feel more efficient. There is no 'low energy' period unless I eat garbage.

- better food choices are easier. Like it or not, some days fasting is more work than others. Do you really want to do the work to throw it away on a glorified protein candy bar? Thats definitely a choice, but the draw is MUCH less pronounced.

- weight loss without morning lifting shitting the bed. Weight loss is a foregone conclusion if fasting reaches 24hrs or more (note: younger really got to try to mess this up). That being said, if all of my calories are dropping between 5-8p, then more 630a weight training sessions still feel fed. 

- more efficient disposal. Poops have been great. Nuff said

5-3-2 : favorite easy strength rep scheme

Dan John proposes a ton of rep schemes to use with easy strength (note: also an even easier strength). They ALL work, but I've found the more static rep schemes dont allow for bad days as much as 5/3/2.

Why 5-3-2? The 5 is more or less the warmup. Easy to moderate difficulty that you have proven you can do sick dying or dead. You should be able to walk in and do this with 0 warmup for the actual movement minus joint prep. The 5 is also where the magic is:

- easy? Press on.

- feels moderately difficult? Do another 3-5 at the same weight and call it. Removing weight is also an option.

- didn't get 5 reps? Dont move up weight until all 5 are cake.

You can always fake a 2-3 rep set even if the 5 is difficult. Don't do it! If the 5 is tough, use this as a tonic day. Come back tomorrow and try again. Frequency drives progress, not pounding yourself into the ground.

easy strength and eccentrics

Eccentrics have a place in easy strength! Unlike normal strength exercises where you quit before fatigue sets in, with eccentrics you quit before your ability to control the rep sets in. 

This works really well with movements where you can easily reset the rep. I.e. bench press bad. Chinups good. Nordic good. 

lightbulb: lower back the big 3 and starting strength

Watching a video by channel lower back ability and heard something that resonated. When I first read the gift of injury, I looked at the big 3 within as something I juat DO from now on. And it certainly did help my initial injury calm down, but I soon found myself hurt again. And again. And again. I didn't understand. I was, doing the thing. Why isn't this working? Heres the thing, it was working great. But not at the level I needed it to.

Here is the idea. The big 3 is starting strength for back rehab. It is meant to take a beginner and give them the fundamentals to move onward and upwards. From there, the concepts are kept BUT THE PROGRAM IS LEFT BEHIND. You wouldn't ask why isn't starting strength preparing me for contact sports, gpp, powerlifting whatever. Why would you expect the same of something meant to help you recover from injury?

The big 3

Go from sub human to human. Teaching your hips, abs, and back to work together. 

Actual back programming

Build strength athleticism and resilience.

weight 4/30 208.4

April set point 208.4

where does mobility fit?

Another lightbulb moment. Everyone hates doing mobility work (note: minus the weird bendy people who make it their living). Everyone needs mobility work. Fitting it into a schedule without losing your mind? Thats tough. This morning, it's no longer tough. 

I've been using short range sled work and stretching as a super set to my morning easy strength and body building exercise. Make no mistake, i like it, but i think we can do better. Sled is best when you are getting a wicked fucking pumped in the targeted muscles. The runway i have is too short to make it happen, so this is a glorified strength exercise.

What's the better option? Mother fucking mobility as a super set. Specifically, knees over toes level 0. I.e. the shit i am weak at. Sled can be relegated to afternoon carries.

Example:

1. Ez strength

Klokov press, l sit, tib raise, calf raise

Klokov press, l sit, tib raise, kot calf

Klokov press, l sit, Peterson step

(Chinup, nordic, atg split squat) x 3

2. Body building

Archer row, elephant walk

Archer row, butterfly stretch

Archer row, couch stretch

easy strength + bb + carries: how its going

Fucking great, why thanks.

Combines the best of all worlds.

Easy strength

build strength in basic movements. Frequency builds the nervous machine engine.

Bodybuilding

weird combination of general gains body building reps and sets + one lift a day. Fatigue builds the engine. Choosing movements from a pool of upper push, upper pull, legs, biceps, or triceps. Progression in 3 waves:

- rep goal (12-20)

- one and a half reps to the same rep goal

- then, increase weight

Its fine if this takes months per movement. The goal is progressive overload of the muscles, not just the nervous system.

Carries

This is a great turn off your brain + build conditioning and get some sun. Carries include mace practice, kettlebell, sandbag, and Keg carries of all types. Like bodybuilding there is no expected pathway or timeline for improvement.

choosing EZ Strength movements

This is not right out of Dan's books although there is overlap between the concepts. 

Dan breaks easy strength movements into patterns:

- push (suggests vertical)

- pull (suggests vertical)

- hinge 

- ab (suggests wheel)

- carry (suggests varied load and type) or swing

Within each of these patterns there is nigh infinite variability. Even though you might be choosing a variation for 2-6 weeks, where do you start? The following parameters might help as they helped me.

Param inputs

What is scalable

What is easily adjustable 

What are body restrictions

What is stable

Scalable

Im going to use this example thrice, but i started this round on incline kettlebell bench press. At BEST, ill max out at 70lbs a hand. That is a very low bar to cross for something not geared towards hypertrophy. For strength this won't last the program without some creativity or deliberate difficulty additions.

Adjustable 

Also inc kb bench! EZ Strength is meant to increase the weight in the bar over time but leave room to take it off if it ever feels heavy. You know what is not quick to adjust? Adjustable kettlebells. They are fine until a bad day happens. Then everything grinds to a halt. 

Body restrictions 

My back isn't necessarily fucked, but it ain't great either. The idea of hinges or squats at any level feel a little sketch. Apply the same to any other body part that is not cooperating.

Stable

Thrice kb bench! Non barbell or bar movements are amazing. What we are trying to do is build strength in every pattern independent of stabilizers. We dont want stabilizing muscles to be the reason we fail first.

Example that fits all params

Klokov press

Parallel chinup

Nordic curl 

Ab wheel 

more on easy strength: 4 physical pillars

Morning: Set a 30min timer

Non negotiable 

1. Easy strength 2-5x a week

As written.

2. Calisthenics and sled pulls 

Use remainder of 30min not used by easy strength

Sled pulls are rest time from calisthenics 

Change angle and stability of calisthenics daily

Explore deep ranges of motion over rep speed

Afternoon

When time and energy allows

Get some sun bro

3. Carries

Vary weight and implement 

Build the engine

4. Mobility

This is always an available option to get outside without hammering the body into the ground.

its the combination that counts

What bugs me are articles or videos stating one of the following: 

- the only X exercises you will ever need!

- dont do Y because its useless.

Because. It's. Useless. This statement in particular brings me to a Dr Mike video around strongman and loaded carries for hypertrophy. And if looked at in a bodybuilding sphere, ya I get it. But to say loaded carries arent good for hypertrophy and a myriad of other benefits? 

If you just did curls, I would say you were leaving a ton on the table. If your curls come at the tail end of weighted chinups, cleans, and rows? Every rep you do is going to be money in the bank. A lot of the prime movers are fatigued from compound lifts and can settle into a hypertrophic range without losing any ability to move weight. The combination of big and small movements is where the magic is. There is no 'just do X' because it doesn't make sense.

You know who does a lot of farmers walks? Farmers. Movers. People that need to get bulky odd objects from point A to B. I dont know about you, but i tend to not think of most of these people on the job as massive.  Strong? Absolutely. But in isolation carries are not necessarily a mass builder. Add them to a program though? Bro. The biggest and strongest I've been in the last 10yrs is when I focused 2-3 days a week on Keg carries and farmers carries. No program needed. Just pick it up and walk until it sucks. Try to move fast. Everything got better at the same time which was WILD. One of the strangest parts is weight increase on the bar was not always a good barometer for success. Just carrying around bodyweight or slightly more was money in the bank.

why EZ strength

I've made this comment in lots of posts, but I'm on a roll today with EZ Strength praise. Let's fucking go!

If you find yourself endlessly tweaking workout plans, you fucked up. There is no magic program, set, and rep scheme. There is no greatest combination of conventional and unconventional methods. There is only way you can stick to long term. What drives you. And what allows you to progress. 

EZ Strength is a great conduit to that goal. 

10-15min EZ Strength. Bare minimum effort.

10-15min calisthenics a la Juarez valley method after easy strength.

Afternoon mace and loaded carries. Optional but great for building the engine. 

a not so bad 30 year plan

Bruh. 70yr old me is gonna look back on this post and say ya, this worked man.

40-55: build strength and engine

Easy strength. Carries. 

Sled. Calisthenics.

55-70: body build

Higher emphasis on Calisthenics but otherwise same thing.

This is repeatable. It removes the illusion of choice while still allowing for endless variety. This is so great that im gonna have to remember to do it.

EZ Strength with Squats and carries

My biggest sticking point with easy strength is always always always the hinge. Its a matter of time before my back says no more. And personally I've always felt the squat drive my hinges and not the other way around.

The EZ Strength omnibook has you believe 2 things are once:

- squats dont worn for easy strength

- dan is a hinge/presser, so there is some bias in why squats dont work

If I'm more so a squat pull man, I dont see why I cant make this work. There is plenty of hinge and spinal electorate work when you take Carries into account.

AM

5x easy strength 

2x calves, tibs, mobility 

PM

Mace

Carries

Easy strength example

Set 30min timer

Warmup: pushups and goblet squats 

Inc kb press + rope chinups

Front squat + hollow body

Every set above ends with a sled pull

Remaining time used for calisthenics circuits + sled

Carries and mace

Farmers, Keg, kettlebell, sandbag 

Mace varies

musings on mobility

When you're younger

Mobility is a dirty word. You move freely already. The idea of doing things specifically for mobility is a waste of time.

When you're middle aged

Mobility seems like a good idea. Your positions are generally walking, sitting, or lying down. Things like crawling, jumping, etc feel out of reach. But also, society isn't making you do them.

When you're old

Mobility is everything

I've been thinking this morning a lot on this topic. When I try to approach mobility I get a potpourri of ads. Take my class! Don't do it at all! Do it, but exactly these exercises!

Fuck off with that. These voices all have a point and all have value. That's the problem, they're all kind of right and all kind of wrong. 

When I think of mobility, I think of when I used to go caving when I was in college. I wasn't a regular caver. I also didn't train specifically for caving. The experience wasn't a cakewalk either, but I did it. And each time I did it, I had no doubt going in that I could and I would emerge unhurt. That, is mobility. I had confidence in any weird position I had to crawl, jump, climb without thought of well what about my back or knees or neck.

Mobility should be a focus on, well, moving. Moving in weird positions. Moving in positions the world doesn't force us to move in anymore. It has less to do with an ass to grass split squat, but that is ALSO in the same sphere. 

whelp, new plan

All my shit hurts. I've got topve furniture today and I'm genuinely afraid I'm going to herniate a disc. This is not ok.

The entire point of strength training is to get stronger. To be pliable and resilient. This isn't it fam. I followed a new kettlebell dude on insta yesterday (kettlebell grant) and saw a post that hit home. If what you did in your 20s doesn't work today or you are constantly hurt, then your long term plan failed. It pisses me off. It's right and it pisses me off.

The plan I was following gave me a few weeks of bliss. I not only felt strong, but also I could move how I wanted to move. I was STABLE. Fuck bro, even my knees stopped hurting to the point where I felt like I was on the right path. And then kablooey. It's unclear if it's because I added more shit or the timeline where things work ran out, but it ran out.

I spent yesterday feeling bad and sorry for myself. That was yesterday. Today is today.

The new plan

Step1: small deload. 

- bodyweight or light kettlebell goblet squats.

- lower leg training.

- lots of walking and light sled work.

Step2: dre kettlebell program.

- use the program I've already purchased. This focuses on mobility and stability.

- continue lower leg training.

- continue walking and sled work.

Step 3: not sure.

After step2 (8 weeks) it might be apt to rerun at a higher weight. Find a new program. Or find new ways to incorporate calisthenics and kettlebells. It would make sense to replace some pressing movements with ring presses 

Dre himself breaks up his kb training:

Lower press, upper pull x2

Lower pull, upper press x2

Mobility

Full press

Full pull

don't blame the equipment

When I was in college, I wanted to become a film maker. Its all I wanted to do. And I stopped making movies because I had a shit camera from the time I was 16. It wasn't good enough to be taken seriously I would think. And even when I saved up enough to buy a massive upgrade, I moved the goalposts to a new and better camera.

Years later, I didn't leave the same lesson when it came to training equipment. My first purchase was a 20kg kettlebell. I thought, this is a good start, but I can't do anything amazing until I get a full barbell set. Jokes on me. If I put in serious chops with that bell, I could have accomplished great things. Hindsight and all that. 

I'm.not saying I don't appreciate my barbell. Or my rack. Or any of the other things I've accumulated over the past few years. But the more you move goalposts, the less you will accomplish with the tools at hand. People have always been able to make due without cutting edge anything. Idolizing a symbol at the mountain to climb is at best procrastination.

training calves in a home gym

I avoided calf training my entire life. Early on, it was because I had an excessive amount of calf work between marching band, karate, and just generally sprinting all the god damn time. This continued into college where I was break dancing 4x a week for 4 years.

Adult me thought calves were stupid. I don't care how they look. And barring basic athletic function, I didn't care how well they worked. At least part of me was also bit by the 'calves are genetic' bug and said why bother. Fast forward to today, part of the reason my knees got hurt was because of weak ass calves. They are now a priority. 

The giant surprise I've gotten is I love training them. You can mash them into dust and they just jump back. it fits great into an OFF day on daily training. Finding out the how on training has been a joy too. The answer is it doesn't really matter. I'll usually opt for easy setup and less weight over anything else, so keep that in mind with the following choices.

Top 2

1)Seated calf raises

Do one leg at a time. Place a pillow between you and the weight. Use plates or kettlebells. Flex your calf before any rep. For an additional stimulus, you can change the angle of your foot compared to your knee, and bring the foot in closer as a mechanical drop set.

Making light weight harder:

Press down into the weight during the eccentric (negative) and fight the resistance. This shit is HARD.

Pull up on the weight when you can no longer complete a rep, flex to the top of the rep, and perform a small negative.

2)knees over toes calf raises

Lean against a wall, rack, etc. bend your knees in so they are over your toes. Do calf raises. Increase tension by holding a weight or wearing a vest.

Afterwards

Stretch your calves after every day and every session. Do this for longer than you think you need (2+min).

easy strength example slow progression

A big question Dan gets often is - how do you know when you are ready to increase weight. The answer is disappointing - when it's easy. And ya, that is the right answer. But the problem is that what is easy today might be a fluke, better rest, better food, etc. when you bump up the pounds all of a sudden it's heavy again.

Try this instead.

Day1: start 2x5

Day2: start 2x5

Day3: start 1x5, start+5-10 1x3, start +10-20 1x2

Day4: OFF

Day5: start 2x5

Day6: start 1x5, start+5 1x5

Day7: OFF

If the last set on day6 is easy. That is your new start weight. This can increase what feels dogshit east by 25lbs per cycle. 

don't add more shit

 The dumb thought goes - well a little is good, so a lot must be better!

I struggle with this EVERY WEEK. Obviously. I wanted to expand my bodybuilding days to have more work. And shit man it isn't like I can't handle more. BUT. Vastly increasing volume via the kitchen sink works for a very short amount of time. What I'm doing is working. All lifts are slowly increasing. My joints feel great. Body composition is improving. Why the fuck would I dump an extra 40% volume into the plan? Ridiculous. 

corrective intro

It's been a week of corrective exercise. Some thoughts.

Back

Jefferson curls are very uncomfortable right now. BUT. After a few sets of full range of motion with a very small amount of weight (2-5lbs) I felt soreness in my erectors and hamstrings. There is value to this exercise. If I can build up my resilience to the point where it is a comfortable position with a decent amount of weight, I feel like we can do great things for future me.

Knees

Backwards walking is boring but whatever. Considering adding kettlebell squats to my Jefferson curl days. Really would enjoy some larger legs overall.

Neck

A small child hung from my neck yesterday, and my left hand went numb ish for a few min. Not entirely surprising given my past, but this is concerning. Calves and tibs day may get a neck/traps partner in crime.

a week after not alright

Things are going better. Removing deadlifts from easy strength has let the lower back fatigue bleed off. I no longer feel like I'm a day away from injury. Honestly, with the kb swings and squats in my warmup, my lower body feels taken care of to the same capacity. Side benefit is I noticed my knee health also doing better without daily pulls from the ground.

Walking backwards sucked at first but I'm acclimating. I found it's actually a good 'rest period' from daily conditioning outside in addition to a standalone activity. Going to continue for a few months before attempting single leg work and sled pulls.

Current plan

EZ 5x

Pull

Press

Ab

Bb 2x

Bi 3x12

Tri 3x12

Shoulders 3x15

*Moved to barbell presses behind the back for shoulders instead of rear delt raises.

Off 2x

Calves, tibs, hip flexors

Erectors 2x

Jefferson curl

Rdl or sandbags 

Conditioning

Mace every other day

Backwards walking daily

Goals of like to reach

- Jefferson curls 100lbs for easy reps.

- conditioning includes keg carries and sled walks.

Curiosity

Am I not - as Dan states - a hinge guy? I always thought I was, but the lack of ability to hinge daily says otherwise. As I build my erectors, I would like to introduce one of 2 things to EZ strength.

- squats. Dan says no but cmonnnn legs are cool and I'd be far from the first person to squat daily.

- or, kb hinges. More so on the dynamic side.

not alright. not gonna back out previous post.

My last couple of posts have been sunshine and rainbows. If I'm being honest, it's not because shit is great. It's not. It's because I'm trying to maintain a positive attitude while things are not looking my way. In my angst last night, I explored something outside of EZ strength via density training. All of a sudden, I remember why I abandoned this method. It's borrrrrrring. Ooo look at me! Doing X work in Y minutes. This works baller for some movements, but others (see: ring chinups) I wanted to die of boredom. The one good thing about last night is I discovered an ab exercise that is not limited by my knee health. More on that later.

What is not going well

- my lower back is giving warning signs of fatigue before a major injury. Part of this is the daily deadlifts,  but I think the lions share is not being able to incorporate ab wheel after my knee went tits up again. Ab wheel is a god damn godsend. I can link every period of my life where my back was solid up to periods where I was pushing the ab wheel hard. 

- extension of the ab wheel issues. I've had problems finding a hinge that doesn't hurt. This may have more to do with fatigue than movement selection. It's still be upsetting as I'm supposed to be building general strength. And here I am struggling with a 50lb sandbag clean.

- my knees aren't feeling great. Plural. This is after I tried doing sled drags and hip thrusts. I'm always a little down in the dumps when I do things that are heralded as gentle and they wreck me.

Word vomit

- I have to really decide whether density is a viable method forward or not. I like the idea that I can help manage lower back fatigue better by having days where I'm not putting it to hard work. This works under the context of being able to lift heavier and incorporate abs daily to reinforce my weaknesses. But if everything is as boring as yesterday it's a stretch.

- lower back is off limits for a few days. Even if we continue with easy strength.

- ab movements variation is going to keep me healthy. Using the wheel in the first round of EZ was clutch, buty abs where also the first body part to feel overuse creep in. 

- knee health needs to regress. If sled drags are no good, we start at backwards walking. Yes this sucks, but it has worked for others and could work for us. Swallow pride and do it. 

- revisit Jefferson curls. If spinal erectors and mobility is a limitation, deal with it! Unclear whether this would work better with density over EZ.

Comparing methods

(Density)

5 mornings 

20min movement super set abs 

5min minor isolation 

Basically one lift a day and abs 

Allows for more movement variation and volume

(Easy strength)

5 mornings 

20min 5 movements

2 days also include minor isolation

More specificity. Changes what feels easy in any given movement 

easy strength week 8 feedback

Things are still going well! The plan is to keep up what I'm doing until I'm sick of it.

Comments 

- conditioning daily is $$$. I don't always want to do it but always glad that I do.

- lower back fatigue is becoming a problem. Nothing hurts but it's always low grade sore. Very different than the first few weeks. Possible deload required.

- stretching daily is also $$$. I need to get more creative with what I'm doing.

- less complex movements > more complex. Maybe it's because I'm lifting in the morning, but hinges like cleans or sandbag cleans don't feel great daily.

- more protein is needed than I'm taking in. Always a good idea so whatever.

Adjustments

- I'm back on wave loading weekly weights. 2x5 for extended periods works but it's BORING. The key difference with this period is dropping some days way below.my easy threshold before ramping back to a new difficult day. 

- ab movements still in flux. I love ab wheel as the mainstay. Lord knows my back feels way way better when ab wheel is my jam. Near the end of week 6 I started feeling irritation in my right dick root muscle (technical name) and had to back off. Soon after I deviated from the plan and was unable to put pressure on my right knee. 

- hinge movement also in flux. Testing the waters with more kettlebell swings (i.e. conditioning plus heavier). The nice part about this setup is swings don't use a barbell, so setup time is non existent.

Everything else

- alternating mace and sled days as my afternoon break is awesome. Great work breaks without digging into recovery.

- the day before an easy strength off day is still arm and shoulder hypertrophy day. Not changing this. I'm finding my strength in isolation movements is slowly creeping up, and my arms are looking sexy AF. Shoulders on the other hand, don't look super different post isolation. I'm going to make my next easy strength push exercise more shoulder biased to address this.

Possible future ventures 

- landmine movements have an entire world of movements I've never messed with.

- easy presses: dips, ring dips, high incline bench.

- easy pulls: ring chinup, chest supported rows.

- arms shit: easy bar will be my friend for both sides of the guns.

success is stringing good days

I wrote this title thinking about injury recovery, but it applies to any desired skill acquisition as well. Getting better or better at something isn't the result of one really good day just as failing isn't the result of one really bad day. Consistency of effort is what gathers momentum.

Where injuries are applicable. Two weeks ago I decided I was better than the plan I was running (call back to previous posts). I added a shitton of new stuff in - going heavier, doing squats I had never tried, adding full range of motion lateral squats. Once I felt the numbness creep back in my knee, I knew I had fucked up. 

Fast forward to today. My knee feels...fine. it's fine. But the anxiety over whether or not it can get better is gone. I already did this once, and recently at that. If every day I can strive to be pain free and hit the plan (humane burpee + ez strength + stretching) the signals will be heard. It can't not.

membuh: hip contact and kettlebells

I have no idea what correct kettlebell form is. So, grains of salt. I do know that when my hips make contact with my forearms on the up swing that I actually get to push my hips into the kettlebell. The resulting contraction and power is WAY more than of the kettlebell is on its own.

Good stuff. Membuh.

training is communication

Dumb dumb thoughts today. Why is it important that we repeat the same training or training pattern until it doesn't work? That's because we can't just tell our tendons, ligaments, bones, muscles, and nervous system to...do stuff. The way we communicate a need is by training. 

Say you sell muffins. Every day people come in and buy muffins and all is well. It's what you do. Then one day, someone comes in and asks for an egg muffin. Fuck. We don't have eggs. Homeboy is going to get a muffin and walk away without what they asked for. Then over the course of the next few days, more customers come in and ask for egg muffins. Whelp, it doesn't make sense to not provide a growing demand with no supply. You start buying some eggs to feed the customers who specifically want egg muffins. But the demand only grows. Soon, you're the egg muffin shop. It's what you do. 

If only one person came in and requested an egg muffin one time, there would be no need to change. It's a one off. Repetition is communicating a need.

Get it?

This does not mean that you stick with the same movements forever. It means you stick with them until progress stalls.

first day back on the plan, solid day

As I said yesterday, the plan is solid. The plan going forward is to keep following the plan. 

First day back was fucking solid. I can already feel my knee loosening up and feeling better. A few more days and I'll be sitting pretty.

The plan

Warmup: humane burpee.

Puts blood back in my bum. This gets daily squatting practice in. The magic here is the weight will increase so slowly the tissues have no choice but to acclimate even when sick dying or dead.

The workout: easy strength

The plan is work up to an easy 2x5 and maintain it before weight increases. 1-2 weeks ain't shit here. The speed and ease should be increasing and not decreasing. Easy days or weight acclimation can be via 3x3 instead.

The goal is to slowly bump up the easy baseline.

The fun: mace work

Strength and flow. Not either. Both.

if the plan is working, follow the plan

Experiencing a minor setback with my right knee. For weeks it was feeling awesome. I overall felt like a fucking tank. And it was because I had a plan, and I was following the plan. But then I thought, maybe I can do better.

Bad. Idea.

What was the plan?

- easy strength, 2x5, stick with a weight and keep working on speed for a week.

- daily humane burpee.

- daily mace or kettlebell work when work time allows 

What did I add?

- armor building. First via kettlebells then via barbells 

- Cossack squats. 

- Nordic curls till death.

- increase weight when possible. Ramp up to 5/3/2 days.

The top three things above were added in the last week. The fourth I've sprinkled in. More on the fourth later.

The new additions were sudden jolts into tissue health I didn't have in ranges of motion I havent touched. Adding one of these would have been ok. Kind of. Adding 3 was stupid. The Nordic curls in particular to failure is where I started feeling numbness again. This is my fault. I am error.

The fourth item isnt 'bad.' it's one of the actual programs after all. But if I'm doing this to feel good and not necessarily focus on the weight lifted, building a set progression ain't the best idea. Dan's original comment of increase weight when too easy is a great guidelin, vague as it is.

I will get back to where I was. I have to remember that 6 weeks ago I was in worse shape than I am now. Follow the fucking plan. You can't keep busting your head against a wall.

armor building and the barbell clean

Time is funny. You do something that works, then you stop to chase the new shiny. Years and many injuries later, you come across your old love and oh ya this was always great.

The cornerstone of my old productive training was power cleans and snatch high pulls. Those 2 movements covered SO many bases it was ridiculous. My biggest sin with them was continually pushing weight, never taking time off, and never swapping for variations. The movements themselves are excellent.

Fast forward to present. I'm reading and rereading Dan John's armor building formula. Honestly I bought the book to support the guy. After all, I'm running easy strength and feeling better and stronger than I have in years with little effort other than consistency. The book is a fun read, but after dipping my toe briefly back into kettlebell training I remember I really don't enjoy that stuff (note: other than the daily humane burpee warmup, that shit is OP). For whatever reason, I found myself reading the part2 of the program which is an option for barbell armor building. The format is very similar -cleans and presses - the biggest difference being the amount of squats included. But this shit is my JAM. A set of 8 clean and press left me gasping for air. It works EVERYTHING and makes me feel like a god damn tank. 

This post is a love letter to Dan. Thank you for giving me my life back! Thank you for helping me work past injuries I wasn't sure I'd overcome. And thank you for showing me the barbell is not off limits. I swear my Instagram feed is jam fucking packed with anti barbell and pro kettlebell and odd objects. Those things are fine. And shit man I love me some sandbags. But I have permission to say this isn't for me if I genuinely have 0 love for an implement.

coding your tissue: this is what we are doing

Connective tissue joints and tendons are weird. they don't give you the same feedback of improvment like anything else you train so it's easy to think my X is fucked. It isn't going to get better.

This isn't true. It just takes 2 things:

- repeated pain free movement.

- more time than you'd think.

Every rep you perform that is pain free is money in the bank. This is why full range of motion but regressed stress (see: major band assistance) can be such a boon when it comes to building connective tissue strength. This applies regardless of whether you are recovering from an injury or trying to build a new skill that requires amazing tissue health.

As for the time aspect, I started seeing major improvements in my knees after 3 weeks of daily squats and swings. After 6 weeks, my joints are feeling great all the time. I can venture that continuing down this path will unlock more dynamic and difficult movement that would have been a pipe dream a year ago.

easy strength worked so well I stopped doing it

Adding a quote from Dan john on easy strength

When you get to a certain age, you can not keep throwing yourself into the wall.

Reigning myself back in from a bad week of training lol. I was feeling awesome and strong and stable after weeks of easy strength, so of course I try to 'improve' it. 

Here is what I did

- add a flailing 5/3/1 day. It went poorly and put my recovery in a hole for the rest of the week.

- add a deadlift only day. This actually went really well (+50lbs over easy strength base while still feeling easy) and spiraled me towards reworking my program into a one lift a day type deal 

The second option honestly wouldn't be super bad, but it flies along the same thing Dan says is a pitfall for his atheletes. I don't 'feel' this working. Or it was working so well I stopped. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

The truth is I've got diet to keep my weight down and conditioning to cover the 'everything else'. Looking good isn't a matter of finding the right training magic bullet to overcome a diet infraction.

Tldr keep doing easy strength. Slowly nudge the baseline UP.