Easy Strength
Do you want a very simple and straight forward way to increase your strength? I have just the protocol for you then. The concept I will be talking about is called “Easy Strength” also commonly known as “The 40 Day Program” and was first introduced to me in a book written by Dan John and Pavel Tsatsouline called Easy Strength. Simply put, easy strength boils down to lifting and setting personal bests without ever maxing out on any of your lifts. By the time you are done reading this you will be able to easily implement this protocol into your own life and increase your strength greatly.
Why easy strength?
There are many different ways to get strong. I love the easy strength method because it is short and sweet. When it comes down to it, easy strength means lift heavy, keep your repetitions and sets low, and stop before you get fatigued. The easy strength method is well equipped to get most people to or beyond where they want to be when it comes to strength. When it comes down to it, it is much easier to make someone exhausted than it is to make them stronger. Anyone can put together a program that can completely kill someone. It takes skill to put together a program that can make someone stronger without making them sore, injured, or burnt out after sessions. The beauty of easy strength is creating a program that does just that, it produces improvement without soreness, injury, or burnout.
The rules of easy strength
Below I will go through the different rules of easy strength.
1.) For the next 40 days, do the exact same program for every lift. It is important to note that Coach Dan John says he often finds that when using this program, his goals are met by day 20 or 22, so you can opt for a shorter period than 40 days if you would like. It is also recommended that you do this program about 5 days per week. Split this up however you would like, but I will give you a few different suggestions. I usually don’t like to lift more than two or three days in a row.
Three days on, one day off, two days on, one day off
Two days on, one day off, three days on, one day off
Two days on, one day off, two days on, one day off, one day on
One day on, one day off, two days on, one day off, two days on
2.) Pick 5 exercises/movements.
3.) Focus on these 5 movements:
A simple full body explosive movement (kettlebell swings or snatches). This could also very well be a squat pattern movement (back squat, front squat, rear-foot elevated split squat, or a single leg box squat). I would suggest that if you do use a squat pattern and not a full body explosive movement, moving the squat to be the second exercise of your lift.
A large posterior chain movement (hinge movement) – the deadlift is the best option here but could also be something like a Romanian deadlift.
An upper body push movement (bench press, incline bench press, or military press).
An upper body pull movement (pull-ups, rows, or even heavy bicep curls).
What Coach Dan John calls an anterior chain movement or an abdominal exercise (ab wheel is king here, but you could also do hanging leg raises or L-sits). Whatever core exercise you choose, make sure they are well suited for lower reps.
4.) Only do 2 sets of 5 reps per workout for the deadlifts, upper body push, upper body pull, and squat pattern if you choose this over the explosive full body movement. Do 1 set of 20-50 reps for the full body explosive move and do a solid single set of 5 reps for the core movement (this can also be 2 set of 5 reps if you would like or 1 set of 10 reps).
5.) Never plan or worry about the weight or load that you will be working with each day. Always stay within yourself and go heavy “naturally”. Do not miss reps, don’t even begin to struggle during you sets. The weight shouldn’t ever be getting heavier than 80% of your max and shouldn’t feel bad at all. Coax up your 80% efforts in order to improve your maxes. Lifting small percentages of your max can absolutely increase your max. Finally, when the weights feel light, add more weight.
6.) Don’t scream or pound walls before or at any point during your lift. Do your lift without any emotion or excitement, striving for perfect technique overall. The goals is to keep your nervous system as calm as possible throughout your workouts. This will help with recovery during sets and recovery after your lifts through not taxing your nervous system as much.
Here are a few examples of how one of the easy strength workouts may look:
No Squat Pattern –
Kettlebell Swings – 1x20-50
Trap Bar Deadlift - 2x5
Dumbbell Bench Press – 2x5
Hammer Row – 2x5
Ab Wheel – 1x5 (could also be 2x5 or 1x10)
Squat Pattern Instead of Full Body Explosive Movement –
Trap Bar Deadlift – 2x5
Rear-Foot Elevated Split Squat – 2x5ea
Dumbbell Bench Press – 2x5
Hammer Row – 2x5
Ab Wheel – 1x5 (could also be 2x5 or 1x10)
how it works
The reason this program works is because you end up getting a total of 10 sets for most exercises per week. Although you are only doing one or two sets per lift, by the end of the week the volume has added up. It is normal for your strength to fluctuate up and down throughout the week as well. Coach Dan John mentions that some days the weight will feel so easy that you will need to stop yourself from doing more reps and sets out of excitement. Other days you might feel a little taxed and will want to decrease the weight a little (which is totally fine). The key to this program is listening to your body and finding a weight that feels heavy but isn’t going to be a struggle to do at any point during your sets. The easy strength program also works because it puts a premium on recovery, whether that’s within the session or between sessions. Nothing promotes improvement or is more important when it comes to improvement than recovery.
in conclusion
This program is so easy that it might seem like there is no way it will work. I promise though, if you stick to the guidelines, you will be very pleasantly surprised. The hardest part will be sticking to the plan and holding yourself to only what you have planned and not doing more. You will often want to do more because it feels so easy, but you will see great gains in strength if you follow the easy strength program, I can promise you this. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can find my email on this website, and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
References:
John, D., & Tsatsouline, P. (2011). Easy Strength (1st ed., pp. 87-95). Dragon Door Publications.
