So, I think I need to write an article about this again. The original 40 Day program was my prep for 2004 and the discus year from a conversation with Pavel. In hindsight, I would have done many things different, but, really, the template was outstanding. I still laugh at how complex people make it as I just some simple stuff.
The book, "Easy Strength" gives some help, but clutters it up. So, in "Intervention" and my blog post, "Even Easier Strength," I gave everyone the program we were using for the Olympic build up of 2011 (for London '12). The issue was that most people still come in going too hard on the easy days and missing reps on the harder days. I think Pat Flynn nails the thinking here:
http://www.chroniclesofstrength.com/the-secret-to-a-good-exercise-program/
The key:
"Simplify: The Secret to a Good Exercise Program
Minimalism, applied directly to fitness, it might look something like this:
Frequent, low rep, high-quality strength work + Less frequent, high-intensity metabolic conditioning + As much joint mobility and low-intensity cardiovascular activity as possible.
Strength train 5 days a week, frequently, low-rep, constant load. Here’s what I mean: pick a couple of lifts—actually, use my friend Dan John’s fundamental human movement blueprint: push, pull, hinge, squat, loaded carry.
Example:
Military Press (push)
Pull Up (pull)
Swing (hinge)
Goblet Squat (squat)
Get Up (loaded carry).
Work each lift, each day, and in the manner of 1,2,3,1,2,3 (ladder format). Because the frequency is high, the volume is low, and so is the density, too. The intensity, in my book, should not be waved—meaning, start your cycle with a “heavy” load, say, your 5 rep max, work that for three months, in the manner just mentioned, or until it starts to feel “light.” Then, reassess, bump the weight up to what is hopefully your new 5 rep max, and repeat the operation.
In effect, the load has been waved by not waving it at all—no calculating percentages, none of that hooey. You just get strong instead, which, to me, is far more appealing than having to deal with the inconvenience of math. This is strength training in the extremest simplicity.
Two to three days a week, perhaps a bit less or a bit more, depending upon your sport, recovery, and other such etceteras, add in some high-intensity metabolic work. I like sprints and kettlebell complexes, because they are simple, and metabolics should be simple."
1-2-3-1-2-3 with the SAME weight is probably easier to follow than the original 2 x 5 or my EES method. Pat's work can be found here:
<iframe src="http://rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?t=danjohnnet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1118657918&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>
Note that in the 90 Day Program, he adds Power A and Power B...a concept I like a lot. I just have simply added Vertical Jumps with a target, but keep it simple. Note, too, that in his 90 approach you don't do every movement every day...you certainly touch on everything, though...but you slide through them as you march through the weeks.
The reason I always add either an ab wheel or Hanging Leg Raise or L Sit Hold to this should be obvious: if you are doing deadlifts as you core hinge...maybe swings or swings in the warm up...you might (might!) need something to go the other way. I called it "anterior chain" once as kind of a joke, but it stuck and I think it makes a lot of sense a decade later still.
So, If you are doing a 40 day template, rule one is this: do the 40 days. Right or wrong, finish it, then, come back and make it better. I do 21, 40 and 90 day workouts all the time. I just get into them and follow it along and don't judge it. Then, after you finish, ask those big questions about too much or too little.