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.