Other/Mixed EASY MUSCLE (Geoff Neupert)

[shw2117]

Since you want to do Schedule A, if I were you I would take video of myself doing a single KB clean, press, and clean-and-press, then compare to the videos of Geoff and his students doing the same moves. These should be the videos provided with Easy Muscle.

Maybe write a checklist of the cues for the clean and the press, and go through the checklist as you analyze video of yourself.

If you want to do double KB C&P, I read elsewhere that Geoff advises walking with both KBs racked as part of your transition from single to double KB work.

In the FAQ the answer to "5. Can I do { INSERT EXERCISE OF CHOICE HERE } along with ‘EASY MUSCLE’?" indicates that you can do Pull Ups, Squats, or Rows along with Schedule A. But also note the warning that inserting extra exercises might impact your recovery. Your muscle growth actually happens during recovery. The exercise is just a stimulus. With your back history, OS Dead Bug might be the best choice of auxiliary exercise.

How to Train Your Core to Prevent Injury

It's easy to say that your core is strong enough, until that day when you feel a telltale "sproing" and are put out of commission. This protocol is the missing element in your big lifts!

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If you bought Manly Mobility along with Easy Muscle, you would be doing OS Dead Bug as part of the mobility routine. There, you are also advised to work up to 4 sets of 25.

Great post, thank you!

I will look into these. I couldn't get my video link to work, so I may need to email Geoff. But good idea on doing the self form checks. If I don’t see anything obvious to my own eye maybe I’ll post a form check somewhere.

I hadn't heard about the walking with the KB's racked. I've been doing farmers walks already, but not in the rack - going to add that.

Will look into the OS deadbug. Had been adding a small amount of reps of McGill’s Big 3 along that same thought process.

Thanks again for the thoughtful post, much appreciated

 

[shw2117]

Welp, tweaked my back yesterday. I'll give it 2 good weeks of core stability work and stretching, and then if I'm feeling ok jump back in and give a hard look at figuring out where my clean form is going wrong...

 

[GovernorSilver]

My condolences. Hopefully you won't have to go to physical therapy like I did for my last back injury. Although now that I think about it, my PT visits were actually pleasant, relatively speaking. 20 min. of pedaling a stationary bike while watching TV news for warmup, then the rehab exercise/stretching stuff, and sometimes chilling out with electrical stimulation to finish the visit.

Heal fast!

 

[shw2117]

My condolences. Hopefully you won't have to go to physical therapy like I did for my last back injury. Although now that I think about it, my PT visits were actually pleasant, relatively speaking. 20 min. of pedaling a stationary bike while watching TV news for warmup, then the rehab exercise/stretching stuff, and sometimes chilling out with electrical stimulation to finish the visit.

Heal fast!

Thanks! Fortunately just a tweak, and I'm back at it this week.

The modification I've gone with that seems to be working so far (and intended as a temporary solution as I build up a little more core/back strength and work capacity):

Single bell, but 2 hands on the clean (so basically adding the off-hand during the swing-like portion of the movement). So far this has allowed me to increase reps with no issues. My idea is to use this approach, following Schedule A. I'm hoping if can do this with no issues using, say a 24kg bell, maybe I can transition into double 16kg bells and progress with doubles from then on.

 

[Scrumdog]

I've had a pretty poor couple of months worth of training (or lack of it) for various reasons but have a holiday coming up in just over 3 months and I need to lose some weight, not a huge amount but I've looked at my diet and calorie intake in order to target enough of a deficit to drop a pound a week until I go so that's fine.

Training wise I want to make sure I maintain as much muscle as possible, my current rep maxes are about 10-12 reps with 2x16kg and I can do 3-5 push presses with 2x24kg.

Given I've got about 13 weeks I'm wondering whether I should attempt Strong with the 2x24s for 8 weeks and then Giant 3.0. Or whether to do Easy Muscle A again for 8 weeks and then possibly Giant 1.1 with the 2x16s.

I know from experience (1x through each) Easy Muscle/Giant always deliver however I'd like to be working with the 24kg bells more as it feels I'm on the cusp of moving up and the ultimate goal this year is Easy Muscle A and full Giant run through with 24kg bells. Though given the deficit for now should I just stick with the 16kg bells and try and smash the volume and do Strong after I get back, any thoughts?

 

[Pete L]

I've had a pretty poor couple of months worth of training (or lack of it) for various reasons but have a holiday coming up in just over 3 months and I need to lose some weight, not a huge amount but I've looked at my diet and calorie intake in order to target enough of a deficit to drop a pound a week until I go so that's fine.

Training wise I want to make sure I maintain as much muscle as possible, my current rep maxes are about 10-12 reps with 2x16kg and I can do 3-5 push presses with 2x24kg.

Given I've got about 13 weeks I'm wondering whether I should attempt Strong with the 2x24s for 8 weeks and then Giant 3.0. Or whether to do Easy Muscle A again for 8 weeks and then possibly Giant 1.1 with the 2x16s.

I know from experience (1x through each) Easy Muscle/Giant always deliver however I'd like to be working with the 24kg bells more as it feels I'm on the cusp of moving up and the ultimate goal this year is Easy Muscle A and full Giant run through with 24kg bells. Though given the deficit for now should I just stick with the 16kg bells and try and smash the volume and do Strong after I get back, any thoughts?

Easy Muscle Schedule B with push press and front squat?

 

[Scrumdog]

Easy Muscle Schedule B with push press and front squat?

That could be a good shout. I had a go at doing sets of 3 today to see how'd I'd get on. Managed 5 sets in 20 minutes so I'm going to give Giant 3.0 a bash. 4 weeks of that and I think I'll be in a better place to perhaps do Schedule B. I think for now C+P 3 times a week is what I need.

 

[Mark Limbaga]

I've had a pretty poor couple of months worth of training (or lack of it) for various reasons but have a holiday coming up in just over 3 months and I need to lose some weight, not a huge amount but I've looked at my diet and calorie intake in order to target enough of a deficit to drop a pound a week until I go so that's fine.

Training wise I want to make sure I maintain as much muscle as possible, my current rep maxes are about 10-12 reps with 2x16kg and I can do 3-5 push presses with 2x24kg.

Given I've got about 13 weeks I'm wondering whether I should attempt Strong with the 2x24s for 8 weeks and then Giant 3.0. Or whether to do Easy Muscle A again for 8 weeks and then possibly Giant 1.1 with the 2x16s.

I know from experience (1x through each) Easy Muscle/Giant always deliver however I'd like to be working with the 24kg bells more as it feels I'm on the cusp of moving up and the ultimate goal this year is Easy Muscle A and full Giant run through with 24kg bells. Though given the deficit for now should I just stick with the 16kg bells and try and smash the volume and do Strong after I get back, any thoughts?

Have you tried testing your press/push press using single 24 to give you more options??

Remember easy muscle is tool agnostic and using single bell for pressing is acceptable..

 

[Gypsyplumber]

Looking to start easy muscle soon. I have to admit, this one took some studying! Lol trying to figure out what days to do what took some reading. Thinking of starting with B and doing heavy swings instead of squats. I really want to program pull ups and ring dips into my life again.

 

[stevein7]

I very much relate to what Geoff says and writes, howeverI have a query. Of all the stuff he puts out, is anything to be considered optimum? Here he seems to be saying train your fast twitch fibres and avoid protocols which emphasise slow twitch, avoid training to failure. Well, as I see it that applies to most of his output already. It all talks about restricted workout time, building muscle and burning fat, with exercises like squats and C&P emphasised. Why should we put aside fore example, 3x3x3, and buy a new programme? Is it an advance? Is it an advance on the Giant? Is it an advance on doing the compexes in previous works?
I would imagine that the new programmes here would be good. But any better than the previous?

 

[Pete L]

I very much relate to what Geoff says and writes, howeverI have a query. Of all the stuff he puts out, is anything to be considered optimum? Here he seems to be saying train your fast twitch fibres and avoid protocols which emphasise slow twitch, avoid training to failure. Well, as I see it that applies to most of his output already. It all talks about restricted workout time, building muscle and burning fat, with exercises like squats and C&P emphasised. Why should we put aside fore example, 3x3x3, and buy a new programme? Is it an advance? Is it an advance on the Giant? Is it an advance on doing the compexes in previous works?
I would imagine that the new programmes here would be good. But any better than the previous?

It is different to The Giant.
Part of the pitch is folks kept asking "how do I add x or integrate y"; Easy Muscle shows you.
It's really good and something I will come back to once or twice this year.

 

[Hrungnir]

I very much relate to what Geoff says and writes, howeverI have a query. Of all the stuff he puts out, is anything to be considered optimum? Here he seems to be saying train your fast twitch fibres and avoid protocols which emphasise slow twitch, avoid training to failure. Well, as I see it that applies to most of his output already. It all talks about restricted workout time, building muscle and burning fat, with exercises like squats and C&P emphasised. Why should we put aside fore example, 3x3x3, and buy a new programme? Is it an advance? Is it an advance on the Giant? Is it an advance on doing the compexes in previous works?
I would imagine that the new programmes here would be good. But any better than the previous?

It has a Giant related program in it, but it’s overall different. I haven’t ran it, but I have added from it and used his advice to add movements into Giant.

Optimum is very subjective as well. If you are happy with C&P and your goal is kettlebell only, then Giant is your flavor. If you need squats, dips and chins to add variety to Giant then Easy Muscle is your flavor. Both will deliver aesthetics gains. They’re extremely different from 3x3x3, they are density based for starters.

I view Geoff’s releases like Wendler 5/3/1 volumes, the core stays the same but he learns and tweaks it slightly with years in the field. Doesn’t mean the OG is bad, it’s still very viable but you might fit into the group that the newer release is optimum. I personally find the OG Giant to work well for my goals.

 

[getterupper]

Is this program still available to purchase? After reading this thread I was really looking forward to trying Schedule B, but I can't find Easy Muscle anywhere on Geoff's website.

 

[lais817]

Is this program still available to purchase? After reading this thread I was really looking forward to trying Schedule B, but I can't find Easy Muscle anywhere on Geoff's website.

Send Geoff an email at support@chasingstrength.com and hit him up. If you aren't on his email list it's worth signing up as well

 

[Gypsyplumber]

I just bought it the other day it’s available on chasingstrength.com

 

[Pete L]

PFT Method-A - Chasing Strength

go.chasingstrength.com

 

[Cobra]

I very much relate to what Geoff says and writes, howeverI have a query. Of all the stuff he puts out, is anything to be considered optimum? Here he seems to be saying train your fast twitch fibres and avoid protocols which emphasise slow twitch, avoid training to failure. Well, as I see it that applies to most of his output already. It all talks about restricted workout time, building muscle and burning fat, with exercises like squats and C&P emphasised. Why should we put aside fore example, 3x3x3, and buy a new programme? Is it an advance? Is it an advance on the Giant? Is it an advance on doing the compexes in previous works?
I would imagine that the new programmes here would be good. But any better than the previous?

The program allows you to fill in some gaps, with more flexibility in exercise choice while feeling more well-rounded (push, pull, hinge, squat). I cobbled together something similar, way back, using the Giant as a base but with added blocks of other basic exercises (like some squatting and chins), however, I did not have Geoff's programming experience and I made it too long and taxing.

I was happy when Easy Muscle was released; it's one of the more flexible, well-rounded programs of his I've come across. Also, auto-regulation rules.

 

[Gypsyplumber]

For those who did schedule B did you do ring dips and pull ups? Or just pick one? If you did both did you alternate sets?

 

[GovernorSilver]

For those who did schedule B did you do ring dips and pull ups? Or just pick one? If you did both did you alternate sets?

My understanding is that you would do both, in alternating sets, during the prescribed time period, and following the prescribed guard rails.

I did Schedule C which has some similarities to B.

 

[Henda]

For those who did schedule B did you do ring dips and pull ups? Or just pick one? If you did both did you alternate sets?

You have to do both, perform pull ups then dips untill time is over.