EVEN EASIER STRENGTH FINAL RESULTS/REVIEW

[adelita]

Few days ago I have completed Dan John Even easier strength program. Initial mindset and process day by day for those who likes to read (from day 1 to day 40) is pinned to my profile. This post will consist only of final thoughts, results and short overview. I did this program alone without any accessory work. And I am very satisfied with results.

Before posting results you should know what went wrong, what principles I disobeyed and what adjustments I made to the original program:

• Instead of squat variations I did KB DFSQ/TGU combo (1,2,5,6 weeks I did TGUs, 3,4,7,8 KB DFSQ);
• Around 6 times I managed to miss a rep (I will be fair – sometimes I went too hard when I did not suppose to);
• ~5 days out of 40 I did different main exercises than planned. Most of it was KB ROWS instead of pull ups. It happened because I had to exercise at home where I do not have a pull up bar;
• ~4 days I did snatches instead of swings and regretted it big time (strained my back on week 5);
• I did 1 week break right after 3rd week due to illness. Including that break the program took 9 weeks to complete + two additional days for test of new RMs;
• There were weeks during which I changed the set/rep sequence (for example went 2x5 2x5 6x1 1x10 532 2x5 instead of 2x5 6x1 1x10 2x5 532);
• Each week I had 5 workouts, but not always managed to make 5 consecutive exercise days – sometimes it was like 3 days of sport followed by 1day of rest than 2 days of sport and 1 day rest;
• There were ~5 days in which I did swings/loaded carries/ab roller in circles because I got bored of monotony of the same exercise sequence everyday;
• Final adjusted exercise composition looked like this:

1. 1/2 weeks: Warm up>Swings (2x20, 2x15)>1H KB strict press>Chin up>TGU>Farmer carries>LEG raises;
2. 2/4 weeks: Warm up>Swings (2x20, 2x15)>2H alternate press>Neutral grip pull up>DFSQ>Luggage carries>AB roller;
3. 5/6 weeks: Warm up>Swings (2x20, 2x15)>2H clean and press>Pull up>TGU>Farmer carries>leg raises or AB roller:
4. 7/8 weeks: Warm up>Swings (2x20, 2x15)>2H strict press>Chin up>DFSQ>Luggage/Waitress carries/leg raises or AB roller;

Note: 5/6 week I had to eliminate pull ups on 8/9/10 days and change it to chin ups. 5/6 week combination of exercises was not for me;

SOME DETAILS:

• Workouts took from 25 mins to 60 mins – there were few days when I did the main part without warm up and cooldown. On average I was able to complete workouts in 40-45 mins. The longest workout included extra rounds of stretching;
• My Highest heart rate was 186 while performing chin ups;
• 90% of workouts were done in the gym on the same pull bar with same competition kettlebells;
• I did not counted my nutrition simply “autoregulated” the callory intake. I ate more by default due to exercising daily, slept between 6-7hours a day, 8-10hours on weekends. The only things I forced myself doing – drank more water and consumed omega3;
• Rest periods: during first weeks I went with fixed time stamps between exercises (1min-2min) then changed it to autoregullation principle and finally started using heart monitor to determine when to start next set;

RESULTS:

Reminding my initial goals:

• Press 1H 32 KG with both hands;
• Increase CHIN UP weight (wanted to breach 50kg mark);
• DO 10 min TGUS EMOM W/24 KG KB.

Exercise
Start weight x reps
End weight x reps

1 H KB press (R/L)
32kg KB x 0/1
32kg KB x 3/5

Weighted CHIN UP
35kg x 1
45kg x 1

TGUs
10 x EMOM w/20kg
10 x EMOM w/32kg

Bench press (WTH)
95kg x 1
100kg x 1

DL (WTH)
130kg x 1
140kg x 1

Cannot share the recordings but I have to say that I had that Chin up with 50 kg almost in my pocket. Sick progress with the press and TGUs - at the beginning I would not even imagined myself working to such extent with 32 kg KBs. Want to note that on 39th day I managed to press the double 32kg two times. Big surprise is related with WTH exercise of my choice - bench press. I was always weak on this and have not done it for years. My all time best was 95kg when I was much more physically active than now and did bunch of chest work. To my surprise after this program it was not that hard to press 100KG - I even did pause at the bottom and took my time to breath in - it was amazing. Havent done DL test yet but will do it soon.

AESTHETIC (measurements/weight):

I gained ~3KG – went from 91 to 94 kg. Regarding measurements :

• Tights: R / L from 52.9/52.3 to 57/56
• Forearms: R / L from 30.2/29.9 to 30.3/30.3
• Chest: from 105.6 to 108.6
• Shoulders: from 126.5 to 130.1
• Stomach: from 90 to 92.4
• Biceps: from 37.5/38 to 37.9/38.3

Calves and wrists remained the same while tights were impacted most significantly. People noticed that I look different - better postured/stronger outlook.

SHORT SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS:

• Despite the increases on main lifts I think the biggest thing which developed is my grip strength – it is a lot stronger now. Wish I had measured it;
• If I will repeat the program again I will go heavier only on “heavy” days. I believe you could look at 2 week increments as to mini waves – 1st week easy with 1 heavier day and 2nd week with 2 heavier days. If on second week during 532 – 3 goes smooth with higher weight its probably time to adjust 2x5 weight on third week as well;
• I believe for highest progress exercises should not be changed significantly. I think my press increased so much because I sticked with more or less the same movement and on top of that had TGUs and waitress carries in the mix as supplementary exercises;
• Pull progression kind a stalled after week 4 – I do believe that any kind of supplementary work which engaged lats from different angles would have helped me to make a break through;
• The sequence of press exercises was lit. I would suggest trying it for everyone. Difficulty of strict press went up due to exercise not due to added weight as first. It felt very natural to change the exercises in above mentioned order;
• I believe its important to pick good composition of exercises. Despite the fact that program is minimalistic when weights increase you might feel the effect – some parts might take bigger burden than others. In my case it was mid/upper back on 5/6 weeks;
• Proper warm up really makes a big difference. I believe it saved me from bigger strains. In addition to that you truly feel more stable and powerful with all the core/shoulders activated already before the lifts. Details about the warm up routine which I used is in initial post which is pinned to my profile.
• Alcohol is progress killer for sure;
• Strict presses do not represent your capabilities of handling same size KB while performing cleans. I found it difficult to sustain crisp clean form nevertheless pressing afterwards was crisp (thing to keep in mind before hoping to complexes);
• Going 5 days to the gym even with minimallistic approach is not that easy. Nevertheless I felt that some days when I doubted whether to go or not were amazing. Psychological condition is not equal to physical for sure. Do not hesitate and remake things – simply do it and stick to it. Its easy to create a habit with this program;
• I had opportunity to experience 4 cynesio massages in the process of EE. I highly recommend to try it out for those who have not because it’s a great addition to recovery;
• Fun fact: weighted chin ups increased but the number of BW chin ups remained almost the same. Max strength training is different from strength endurance for sure;
• TGU progression worked very well (10xEMOM W/20KG on 2x5 days, 16x EMOM W/12KG on 1x10days and 6x EMOM w/24kg on 532 and 6x1 days). During 5/6 weeks I added weight, did TGUs 2x per side on easy days;
• Be carefull with snatches. I started to hesitate whether I will be able to do Maximorium :/
• There were few days when I worked out on different pull up bar and used weighted west instead of weight under my bell – it was horrible (30% weaker pulls). Some exercises are probably more one dimensional than others;
• Tried strength belt few times and I liked it a lot. Lifts feel safer;
• Working out at home is much harder for me than in a GYM. Weights feels much heavier for unknown reasons.

WHATS NEXT?

Week of vacation and after that: Moving target complex plan B + pull up ladder. I chose moving target because I like the way it is programmed (Heavy/easy days with switches between heavier and lighter bells). I believe the complex will allow me to cement the usage of 24kg KBs.

 

[marydenly]

@adelita Thorough, thoughtful analysis. Thanks!

 

[tomorrow]

@adelita Way to go, champ!

 

[adelita]

Updated. Have not done DL ~6-7 years. Today did 5x4x3x1x1x - managed to pull more than ever before 140 kg. KBs are really amazing tool to develop your body.