80lb weighted vest fat grip d-ring chain carries
Lockout walk
See-saw press walk
Various racked walks
Drags
Transition immediately to 80lb weighted vest walk for 1.75 miles
Notes:
With my schedule today, this was going to be my only chance to get in a walk, so made it work. The sky opened up and we got a bunch of lightening so soon as I was done, so timing was solid. Tomorrow will be a MMS day, and the next day I can get in some loading/carrying, and that might be the way forward. Chaos is the plan.
Documenting my current level of leanness. Itās hard for me to look so small, but I feel like itās worth throwing up the photo to showcase that Iām doing exactly as Dan John prescribes in MMS: leaning out BEFORE starting a mass gaining phase. Coincides perfectly with the Feast and Famine approach as well. Now I just need to actually eat enough.
The carries were not super challenging, but I threw enough variety in there that I was huffing and puffing toward the end. The heavier vest went a long way. It was also a bear going on that walk. An 80lb vest is much more significant at 170lbs vs 200lbs.
Was able to up the weight on just about everything today. Skill is improving.
Tang Soo Do tonight, assuming we donāt get rained out.
Iām so blown away at how effective such a simple diet is. Even Jaimes book over complicates what youāre documenting. Well done and well written bro.
@simo74 It was definitely an effort. Running it RX is even worse, haha.
@TrainForPain Itās wild man: this is my āwalk aroundā leanness. Itās not taking any special effort. Youāve seen the meals Iām putting away, haha. Jon Andersen talks about the difference between a body surviving and one thatās thriving, and I feel like Iām really āgettingā it now. A body thatās thriving will just take on this role, shed the fluff, and not suffer under the load.
@tlgains I appreciate that dude! I donāt think the diet would hold me back at this point: itās all the imbalances and tears that would be the limiter.
@bjiral Thanks man! I honestly think Jamie MADE it more complicated for those readers who CANāT deal with nuance. From his own writing, he doesnāt count, measure or use any complex strategies, but you try to tell someone how to do that and they get SO miffed. Same way Dan John can write a 300+ page book on a 5 sentence program. Some people NEED a prescription, but for me, I LIVE in the intuitive, especially now.
@wiseman83 Realized I forgot to respond to you, but hoping that you get something out of that exchange! Always the value in reading and learning what others are doing, and similarly, also why I love to discuss this stuff. I often learn about what IāM doing when Iām talking it through, haha.
AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm) FASTED
MESS (Mass-Easy, Strength-Simple) Day 7: Mass Made Simple Day 3
EASY STRENGTH WORK
Axle continental and strict press away/weighted chin superset
3x3x151
3x3x30
COMPLEX A (row-clean-front squat-press-squat-good morning
2x5 (only 3 reps of press on the second round) 1 min strict rests
Squat
30x102
30x122 (1 min strict rests)
1 mile weighted vest walk w/40lb vest
Conan Curls
10 full ROM lateral raises w/20lb DBs
Notes:
Feeling strong again. Upped the weight on press and deadlift. Was running into grip issues with the deadlift, so on the final set I learned the lesson my body was teaching: pull FASTER so you can outrun your grip. Thatās a valuable lesson for me to learn on deadlifts in general. Iām super slow twitch in general, and too reliant on grinding. Moving quickly will have a good payoff.
Being more intentional on the continental as the weights get heavier. Not letting it accidentally happen.
Could up the weight on chins. Theyāre getting easier. The programās logic is making sense.
Next time on the complexes, if I run into a press issue, Iāll push press to get through the barrier. The 1 minute rest was a player there, but Iād rather keep that and not strict press as much vs rest longer so I can strict press more. Iām getting enough of it on the ES stuff.
The squats were absolutely awful, but used a similar lesson as I did with the deads on the second set and just sped through it as much as I could.
Good to get in a walk at the end. 40lb vest feels like nothing, especially compared to the 80lbs I used yesterday.
Forgot to log yesterday that I did some Conan Curls, and I got in a little more this morning. I need to get in just a little bit of detail work. That said, my physique is really shinning through, which one wouldnāt expect on ES, but something I realize is that rep QUALITY is really high when youāre doing so little volume per day. And with enough time under the bar, you can make a lot out of so few reps. Once again: the logic of the program shines through.
I was 167.8 this morning. Weight is going in the wrong direction while strength is going up. That is 10lbs lighter than what I THOUGHT was the leanest and lightest Iād ever be back in 2020. Again: this is high school bodyweight. This is absolutely bonkers. Means I get to eat even MORE, which is awesome when what Iām eating is so amazing.
Once upon a time I used to throw gelatin packets into my shakes for that reason. Not sure it actually did anything but the idea seemed (still seems) sound.
But do you think some of it might also be due to lighter bodyweight?
@TrainForPain Hell yeah man! Meat is delicious, and it heals what ails us, haha.
AM WORKOUT (0407 natural wake up, snooze until 0410) FASTED
MESS (Mass-Easy/Strength-Simple) Day 8
EASY STRENGTH WORK
Axle clean and strict press away/weighted chin superset
3x3x141
3x3x35
(3) Axle deficit deadlift
3x3x231+chains
Standing ab wheel
1x10
Stone trainer carries w/20lb weighted vest
STRONGMAN WORK
15 rounds EMOM of
Stone trainer carry to reverse hyper, load, carry back
1 devil press
1 American KB swing
1 burpee chin
At round 15, was beat by clock
Off camera: 50 burpee chins w/20lb weighted vest in 10 mins
BREAKFAST
2 mile walk w/dog
Notes:
Was feeling pretty beat up and fatigued starting the morning, so dropped the weights a touch. Itās good that my āfatiguedā weights are heavier than my starting weights were for Easy Strength. Program is working.
Learning that lesson about pulling the deads faster is really paying off.
Trying to carry the stone trainer while wearing a vest is a new kind of suck. The extra circumference on the torso really changes thingsā¦which is why I took it off for the medley.
Medley was absolutely killer. Held on until I got killed by the clock. Trying to use that American swing to build up my throwing ability, and on a few rounds I actually remembered to try to be explosive. Rest of it was just some extra suck.
Originally was gonna go for a weighted vest walk after the medley, but remembered that these days were meant to be hard, so I went for the weighted burpee chins. Glad I made that decision. Redeemed the day. Got big eating plans ahead.
Just some random training thoughts, but Iām so happy I finally bit the bullet and tried out Easy Strength after having read about it so much, because itās making so much sense now that Iām actually DOING it vs reading about it. Itās also making OTHER programs and authors make sense too, as I was listening to Jim Wendler on a podast during my morning walk this morning, and he was discussing his āBerserker sets vs Beefcake setsā on 5/3/1ā¦and I realized thatās just Easy Strength too. Jim has always talked about āowning the repā when it comes to the main work, and thatās exactly what youāre doing with Easy Strength as well. The main work ISNāT about going to failure and trying to generate maximal muscle stimulus: thatās what the assistance stuff is for. The main work is for getting strong. Getting strong is about āpracticing strengthā. Thatās why Jim talks about using a light training max: so that you can get in good strength practice. Just like how Easy Strength is SUPPOSED to be Easy: hence the name.
It all just clicks. And just like how in Easy Strength you practice the strength and then move on to āeverything elseā, which can INCLUDE hypertrophy work, you do the same with 5/3/1.
Manā¦23 years of lifting and Iām still so stupid sometimes, haha.
Manā¦23 years of lifting and Iām still so stupid sometimes, haha.
I feel like this is so trueā¦ I think 5/3/1 for me always āfailedā in the end because I just couldnt understand how āeasyā the main work was and how that was supposed to work, and I always ended up pushing it, or pushing the hypertrophy work too heavy.
You ever do or see CTās Indigo Training programs? They have a High Frequency Strength Work component at the top of every workout thats similar to Easy Strength in concept (a few sets of non-grinding reps for 3 big lifts you want to bring up) then you do Main hypertrophy work, then supplemental workā¦
I might be smart enough finally to make that program work after this Easy Strength runā¦
I donāt want to change the topic, but Iām sitting here chuckling and had to get it out. Iām reading your latest blog article, which remains fantastic, and your opening paragraph explaining mixtapes in the CD era to your younger readers is hilarious because there were (obviously) mixtapes in the cassette era and we had to wrap our brains around those being CDs but still being tapes. It was quite confusing during the transition when one was to court a damsel, the offering of a mixtape being the only chivalric method, but not sure which player she had.
What youād do is listen to the top 40 countdown on Saturday morning on the radio (which was a thing), and then hit record on the cassette real quick when the song you wanted came on. So every song on every mixtape is either missing the first couple seconds or (if you were a sleuth) has a couple seconds of the end of Casey Kasem introducing it.
The girls in my grade were more serious about it. They had dual cassette players, so they could play from one and record on the other. This way you could further refine your mixtape down to a purity that really set their creative capabilities apart from us amateurs.
Will reply soon and post more stuff, but once again itās a wild weekend. Summary of yesterday
Woke up, tabata squats and push ups, epic breakfast, chores, lawn work for 90 minutes, which I kicked off with some 100lb keg carries in various positions to get heart rate up, then speed mow, during breaks between parts of lawn more keg carries. Stealing from āEasy Strengthā and just getting in short quick workouts where I can. Immediately post mowing 56.5 burpee chins in 5 minutes (couldnāt finish the chin in time), then did painting in the kitchen for about 12 hours with a few push ups here and there.
Fantastic dinner of air fried beef ribs and chicken wings. Never air fried ribs before: theyāre amazing! Smoked 3lbs of grassfed steak tips and have a bunch of scrambled eggs made up for lunches next week (steak and eggs week! I have arrived). Photo dump to come.
