Other/Mixed EASY MUSCLE (Geoff Neupert)

[Pete L]

What's the recommendation for having to pause, then resume, Easy Muscle?
I've had to stop Easy Muscle, Phase 2, on week 2, third day. This is doctor's orders, due to draining a epidermoid cyst on my back.

I'm itching to get back.
Should I start over with Week 1, phase 2?
Pick up where I left off, in the days and rep scheme?
Something else?

Suggestions welcome! I should also add I am loving Easy Muscle. The subtle differences between it and (previous) The Giant are interesting and seem to work better for me, or perhaps I am just a bit stronger now.

For how long? Anything towards 2 weeks I'd be tempted to step back 2 weeks.
But then again if it's RPE driven that doesn't make sense.
What is the harm in restarting?

 

[Geoff Neupert]

What's the recommendation for having to pause, then resume, Easy Muscle?
I've had to stop Easy Muscle, Phase 2, on week 2, third day. This is doctor's orders, due to draining a epidermoid cyst on my back.
In total, I've missed three sessions so far.

I'm itching to get back.
Should I start over with Week 1, phase 2?
Pick up where I left off, in the days and rep scheme?
Something else?

Suggestions welcome! I should also add I am loving Easy Muscle. The subtle differences between it and (previous) The Giant are interesting and seem to work better for me, or perhaps I am just a bit stronger now.

How long did your doc say to stop for?

 

[Scrumdog]

So I completed Schedule A a few days ago.

I gained 5 pounds as despite my goal being to torch some fat my diet has generally been terrible. However I don't feel any fatter and in my opinion the muscles across and around my shoulder girdle have grown a decent amount so I'm going to call that a success!

In terms of strength I haven't tested my RM for the 2x16s I did the plan with yet, however I did decide to see how I'm getting on with the 2x24s that have been waiting in the wings today.

My previous best with these was 2 reps, 2 pretty shaky reps. Today I managed 5 and I'd consider only the last one as very slow rather than shaky and the others solid. I'm calling that a massive success so very pleased!

Unsure on what to do next, I'm keen to start working with the 2x24s so thinking perhaps Strong? Or maybe Giant 3.0? I certainly need to clean up my diet too.

 

[mvikred]

I wanted to do this but I have run Giant already, so wanted to try this with a barbell. Hopefully after the current round of KB Strong. Anyone run this program using Barbell C&P?

 

[lais817]

So I completed Schedule A a few days ago.

I gained 5 pounds as despite my goal being to torch some fat my diet has generally been terrible. However I don't feel any fatter and in my opinion the muscles across and around my shoulder girdle have grown a decent amount so I'm going to call that a success!

In terms of strength I haven't tested my RM for the 2x16s I did the plan with yet, however I did decide to see how I'm getting on with the 2x24s that have been waiting in the wings today.

My previous best with these was 2 reps, 2 pretty shaky reps. Today I managed 5 and I'd consider only the last one as very slow rather than shaky and the others solid. I'm calling that a massive success so very pleased!

Unsure on what to do next, I'm keen to start working with the 2x24s so thinking perhaps Strong? Or maybe Giant 3.0? I certainly need to clean up my diet too.

You could try schedule B with the 24s?

 

[Geoff Neupert]

So I completed Schedule A a few days ago.

I gained 5 pounds as despite my goal being to torch some fat my diet has generally been terrible. However I don't feel any fatter and in my opinion the muscles across and around my shoulder girdle have grown a decent amount so I'm going to call that a success!

In terms of strength I haven't tested my RM for the 2x16s I did the plan with yet, however I did decide to see how I'm getting on with the 2x24s that have been waiting in the wings today.

My previous best with these was 2 reps, 2 pretty shaky reps. Today I managed 5 and I'd consider only the last one as very slow rather than shaky and the others solid. I'm calling that a massive success so very pleased!

Unsure on what to do next, I'm keen to start working with the 2x24s so thinking perhaps Strong? Or maybe Giant 3.0? I certainly need to clean up my diet too.

Excellent, work!

You can do "Strong!", "GIANT 3.0", or even Schedule B.

 

[T T]

So I completed Schedule A a few days ago.

I gained 5 pounds as despite my goal being to torch some fat my diet has generally been terrible. However I don't feel any fatter and in my opinion the muscles across and around my shoulder girdle have grown a decent amount so I'm going to call that a success!

In terms of strength I haven't tested my RM for the 2x16s I did the plan with yet, however I did decide to see how I'm getting on with the 2x24s that have been waiting in the wings today.

My previous best with these was 2 reps, 2 pretty shaky reps. Today I managed 5 and I'd consider only the last one as very slow rather than shaky and the others solid. I'm calling that a massive success so very pleased!

Unsure on what to do next, I'm keen to start working with the 2x24s so thinking perhaps Strong? Or maybe Giant 3.0? I certainly need to clean up my diet too.

I started Strong! phase 1 back in July. I completed the 10x1 on day 1 in about 20 mins. I followed up this phase with Giant 3.0 with the same weight. I finished it last week and did 53x1 with the same weight in 25 mins. I am now doing Strong! phase 2 slow and steady.

 

[Gypsyplumber]

I haven’t reviewed all the pages yet, but who is doing this with double CP and ring dips? I recently bought rings and can do about 3-4 good ones before getting wobbley. Are the rep schemes low enough on dips for
Me to try it?

 

[Steve W.]

I haven’t reviewed all the pages yet, but who is doing this with double CP and ring dips? I recently bought rings and can do about 3-4 good ones before getting wobbley. Are the rep schemes low enough on dips for
Me to try it?

I don't know the Easy Muscle rep schemes, but I recently started ring dips (a few months) and found I progressed very fast just by my body getting used to the movement and learning to stabilize. My hypothesis is that when your nervous system feels like you're not stable, it will inhibit your strength and range of motion. I started only being able to do a partial range of motion, but quickly progressed to a full range of motion. Now I'm doing full range sets of 5 with BW+25lbs and I probably progressed a lot slower than I could have. I don't think I've gotten that much stronger at ring dips, but I've become a lot better at stabilizing myself on ring dips and more comfortable doing them.

Whatever the Easy Muscle target rep range is, you can probably work into it pretty quickly by doing partials and possibly doing shorter sets for a relatively short break in period.

I'm really enjoying ring dips after avoiding dips for most of my life, and I'm finding them a great complement to overhead pressing.

 

[Gypsyplumber]

I don't know the Easy Muscle rep schemes, but I recently started ring dips (a few months) and found I progressed very fast just by my body getting used to the movement and learning to stabilize. My hypothesis is that when your nervous system feels like you're not stable, it will inhibit your strength and range of motion. I started only being able to do a partial range of motion, but quickly progressed to a full range of motion. Now I'm doing full range sets of 5 with BW+25lbs and I probably progressed a lot slower than I could have. I don't think I've gotten that much stronger at ring dips, but I've become a lot better at stabilizing myself on ring dips and more comfortable doing them.

Whatever the Easy Muscle target rep range is, you can probably work into it pretty quickly by doing partials and possibly doing shorter sets for a relatively short break in period.

I'm really enjoying ring dips after avoiding dips for most of my life, and I'm finding them a great complement to overhead pressing.

I’ve only done them for two days. And the first day I felt so squirly and only did some holds and a half a dip . But then today I pulled the rings closer and I guess knew what to expect and was able to do 5 sets of 3. Also tried some L sits they were fun.

 

[guardian7]

Got to trust that auto regulation.

Week 2 Day 1 and I didn't manage the extra set I wanted. Week 3 Day 1 and I managed two extra sets comfortably so back on track.

Yes, that is one reason the Giant was so effective for me. It made me a convert to density training. By the third run of the Giant, I no longer counted sets. I just counted my baseline and final workout. Life gets in the way and everyone has a crappy workout now and then. Other days you feel good so you go for it.

 

[Bkb]

Yes, that is one reason the Giant was so effective for me. It made me a convert to density training. By the third run of the Giant, I no longer counted sets. I just counted my baseline and final workout. Life gets in the way and everyone has a crappy workout now and then. Other days you feel good so you go for it.

I like the idea of first and last. Trust the programming.

 

[Geoff Neupert]

Yes, that is one reason the Giant was so effective for me. It made me a convert to density training. By the third run of the Giant, I no longer counted sets. I just counted my baseline and final workout. Life gets in the way and everyone has a crappy workout now and then. Other days you feel good so you go for it.

This is the essence of autoregulation.

 

[guardian7]

I like the idea of first and last. Trust the programming.

Yes, I already had proof that it worked for me from the first run. I did it as written. After that all you need is to pay attention to your sleep, stress, recovery, diet, etc. and not think about the programming. Whenever my results dipped, it was non-exercise factors such as work or sleep that accounted for it.

It is a mistake though to not strictly test your technical RM and write down your final high rep day as your results and choice of next program are based on those metrics. I see that issue come up in the Giant thread sometimes.

 

[Hrungnir]

@guardian7 when you say run are you talking the entire 20 week program?

 

[guardian7]

@guardian7 when you say run are you talking the entire 20 week program?

I was talking about autoregulation and density in general as I experienced in the Giant. Easy Muscle especially Schedule A is similar. And both are density programs.

 

[Hrungnir]

I was talking about autoregulation and density in general as I experienced in the Giant. Easy Muscle especially Schedule A is similar. And both are density programs.

Yeah, I know. I was curious if you were talking about running four twenty week blocks of the giant when you stated you ran four blocks.

 

[guardian7]

Yeah, I know. I was curious if you were talking about running four twenty week blocks of the giant when you stated you ran four blocks.

The giant series are four week programs. I did 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2. so total 12 weeks.

@Hrungnir, I also did a weight loss focused density type program from his newsletter after that, which is also a density program.

More importantly, I kept the density template for other programs of my own but add a circuit within that time limit (example dips and inverted row). Geoff and Aleks Salkin program like this sometimes. It works best for me. I don't even count sets or reps anymore and don't need to refer to my program.

 

[Hrungnir]

The giant series are four week programs. I did 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2. so total 12 weeks.

Got it, just a semantics thing on my end. I consider them blocks of the same program so a run would be 12-20 weeks depending upon if you include 3.0 and 2.0

 

[guardian7]

Got it, just a semantics thing on my end. I consider them blocks of the same program so a run would be 12-20 weeks depending upon if you include 3.0 and 2.0

Got it, right I followed 1.0 to 1.2 for that reason. After great gains, that was the limit I could take at my age and work.