mir2017lma
New member
I recently finished a run of Geoff Neupert's "The Giant". I ran through the program with 2x32kg bells and completed 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2. Just wanted to share my experience!
Background: I ran DFW 3 times in 2022, once with 2x24kg and twice with 2x32kg. My PR for press with 2x32 was 14 reps, but my test before beginning The Giant I got 13 reps. I took the 4th week as recovery and did my own thing that week.
1.0: I was used to sets of 4 and 5 from DFW so reps of six was a bit of a surprise. Funny how one extra rep can feel so much harder, this would be a common theme on this program. Also, it was a shock to just perform C+P for the entire 30min period. During 1.0 I felt like my shoulder muscles were the limiting factor.
1.1: I was in the groove a fair bit here. Everything was going right and I kept adding sets week to week. Everything felt like the limiting factor in this phase, shoulders, grip, conditioning.
1.2: sets of 9 suck, but 7 felt like a breeze. My highest volume was on 7 days. I have always pushed Geoff's programs into metcon territory but this was taken to the extreme. Conditioning was by far the greatest bottleneck, followed by grip, then maybe hamstrings? My hamstrings got pretty sore from this phase but not so much my pressing muscles. I also got COVID after my first week on this phase so had to restart. I took a week of getting back in the groove before I hit it proper.
Results: I'm terrible at taking measurements or before and after pics. I hate reading anecdotes like "I feel like my traps and arms got bigger" but all I have are anecdotes. My forearms are bigger as measured by how tight my rolled up dress shirt sleeves have become, and my gf complimented my booty. I got a flat ass so that might be the first time I've ever got that compliment. As for weight change, I ate like pretty recklessly through the holidays (started Nov ended Jan). I cleaned it up in January and lost 7lbs that month. I feel like cleaning up the diet and losing weight may have effected my reps in 1.2 as shown in the images attached. On the 4th week of 1.1, I took a day off kettlebells to test my maxes in the barbell lifts and had been pretty pleased (S:455, B:300, DL:485,
210) considering barbell hadn't been my focus for quite some time and the Bench was a post-pandemic PR. I was not thrilled that my 2x32kg kb press rep max was 15 after the program. High reps are hard and I'm certain I cleaned the kb into a lousy grip position on my left hand but whatever.
Overall: loved the program. I'm a believer that kb c+p is the best bang for your buck exercise and high reps will be my go to conditioning. Loved the 30 min workouts. On a graph of my reps completed, the slope of the trend line was highest during 1.1, which suggests I had the greatest gains during that phase.
What's next: returning to the barbell lifts with kb sprinkled in. Pretty much want to increase my pressing strength so I can make a go at dfw or the giant with 2x40kg. I've also been practicing snatches because I suck at them.
Thanks for reading!
Background: I ran DFW 3 times in 2022, once with 2x24kg and twice with 2x32kg. My PR for press with 2x32 was 14 reps, but my test before beginning The Giant I got 13 reps. I took the 4th week as recovery and did my own thing that week.
1.0: I was used to sets of 4 and 5 from DFW so reps of six was a bit of a surprise. Funny how one extra rep can feel so much harder, this would be a common theme on this program. Also, it was a shock to just perform C+P for the entire 30min period. During 1.0 I felt like my shoulder muscles were the limiting factor.
1.1: I was in the groove a fair bit here. Everything was going right and I kept adding sets week to week. Everything felt like the limiting factor in this phase, shoulders, grip, conditioning.
1.2: sets of 9 suck, but 7 felt like a breeze. My highest volume was on 7 days. I have always pushed Geoff's programs into metcon territory but this was taken to the extreme. Conditioning was by far the greatest bottleneck, followed by grip, then maybe hamstrings? My hamstrings got pretty sore from this phase but not so much my pressing muscles. I also got COVID after my first week on this phase so had to restart. I took a week of getting back in the groove before I hit it proper.
Results: I'm terrible at taking measurements or before and after pics. I hate reading anecdotes like "I feel like my traps and arms got bigger" but all I have are anecdotes. My forearms are bigger as measured by how tight my rolled up dress shirt sleeves have become, and my gf complimented my booty. I got a flat ass so that might be the first time I've ever got that compliment. As for weight change, I ate like pretty recklessly through the holidays (started Nov ended Jan). I cleaned it up in January and lost 7lbs that month. I feel like cleaning up the diet and losing weight may have effected my reps in 1.2 as shown in the images attached. On the 4th week of 1.1, I took a day off kettlebells to test my maxes in the barbell lifts and had been pretty pleased (S:455, B:300, DL:485,
210) considering barbell hadn't been my focus for quite some time and the Bench was a post-pandemic PR. I was not thrilled that my 2x32kg kb press rep max was 15 after the program. High reps are hard and I'm certain I cleaned the kb into a lousy grip position on my left hand but whatever.Overall: loved the program. I'm a believer that kb c+p is the best bang for your buck exercise and high reps will be my go to conditioning. Loved the 30 min workouts. On a graph of my reps completed, the slope of the trend line was highest during 1.1, which suggests I had the greatest gains during that phase.
What's next: returning to the barbell lifts with kb sprinkled in. Pretty much want to increase my pressing strength so I can make a go at dfw or the giant with 2x40kg. I've also been practicing snatches because I suck at them.
Thanks for reading!