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Kettlebell Easy Strength. Who's it for? What exercises? Should I get it?

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Harry Westgate

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Certified Instructor
Hi everyone,

Didn't know exactly what ES involved so put this in Kettlebell since it's the busiest part of the forum; apologies if I made the wrong call.

I'm just curious as to what exactly is involved with Easy Strength. Is it a set programme with particular exercises, or is it more of an approach to training that one can apply to anything (kind of like how The Naked Warrior outlines GTG; one could in theory use it with any exercise they like)? It's quite cheap to get for Kindle right now so was toying with getting it to give it a read.

As a point of reference by the way, I've just finished my first month of S&S, and in addition I GTG weighted and unweighted pistols and pull-ups. This has been working great for me as it's simple, time efficient, has got me much fitter and stronger while working well alongside training for my sport (boxing). It's just that I've seen a few people mention that they've used Easy Strength programming or whatever with pull-ups with good success, so wondered if I might benefit? Plus I always love reading Pavel's work and like to educate myself where possible.

Also, I want to build strength with no muscle mass (or minimal mass) due to being a weight-class athlete, so please let me know if I should avoid Easy Strength due to it building too much mass.

Thanks in advance!

P.S. Hope everyone had a good Christmas and has a happy New Year
 
First of all a happy new year and health and strength to you.
Who is it for? For YOU. Your first activity is boxing. You want to get stronger without putting on mass. That is exactly the intention of ES. I think Pavel and Dan John had exactly this population on focus. How should athletes strength train especially track & field and fighters.
ES is a VERY beautyful template. You can use each and every tool, the bar, kettle- and dumbbells, bodyweight, with mostly multi joint "bang for buck" exercises
The 40-Workout Strength Challenge | T Nation
Should you get it? I think you will get it anyway. It's a goldmine.

And I think it is compatible with up to 2 S&S sessions a week.
 
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Dan and Pavel co-authored the book; Dan has written enough about it on his blog that you could skip the book.

-S-
 
@Harald Motz Thank you very much for your reply. Having just read that 40-Workout Challenge article (I assume that's basically the Easy Strength program written out?), it does look like a plan I'd be interested in, however, might it be acceptable, instead of doing all five movements, to simply do one? In my case, pull-ups? Reason being that I'm currently only doing four exercises (TGUs, Swings, Pistols and Pull-ups) as I have found this to be the minimum (highly) effective dose for myself right now, and I'm considering ES pull-ups because of the fact that pull-ups can be difficult to grease-the-groove given that you need access to a bar throughout the day (most days it's not a massive issue, it's just that some days I get far fewer reps than I'd like).

Regarding what you said there about working Easy Strength alongside 2x per week S&S, assuming my idea about pull-ups would work okay, might I just be able to do S&S virtually every day with the ES pull-ups added at the end? It's just that I enjoy S&S so much and now can't imagine doing it only twice per week. It's just become part of my morning routine; whereas some might wake, shower, breakfast, brush teeth - my routine is more like wake, S&S, shower, brush teeth.

@Steve Freides Thanks for your point there, although I might still just buy the Kindle version as it's currently only about £6 on Amazon, and I find it's nice just to own the book anyway just so that I can access it any time. :)
 
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I have easy strength as a book. Changed my life. Seriously. First time I came across Dan John's quadrants. Dan has since explored the quadrants in subsequent books and articles.The quadrants, going from a Q2 as a 51 year old to where I should have been in Q3 (it'll make sense if you know the quadrants), with S&S, understanding it, applying it all together with maffetone has radically altered my mindset. There is a ton of info in the book that I've not touched on, nor have I done any other easy strength protocols. It is by Pavel and Dan and their interchanges, riffing, discussions and knowledge makes it a really interesting read, exploring many, many issues. As I said, it changed my mindset. Sure, sometimes, for whatever reason, something in life jumps out at you and hits you on the head. It's a decisive moment. Reading easy strength, for me, was one of those moments. It is a brilliant book by 2 brilliant minds.
 
@Harry Westgate: that sounds to me like an absolute reasonable aproach. Think about 10 reps, take or give a few, and in my opinion it is a good approach to wave the intensity up and down, from session to session or in one session, playing with set rep schemes, 2x5, 5x3, 3x3, 6x1... or changing grip from time to time. Same but different, you will not get bored or stale. Quality reps, avoiding fatigue you are good to go, in my opinion.
 
@Harald Motz Thanks ever so much for your help, I'll get the Kindle version and start reading tonight! I'll take note of what you've said there also. The 'same but different' attitude is how I've always liked to approach my training anyway; it's the only way I'll stick to something, give me too many different exercises and I won't stick to them. I'd much sooner have a small number of exercises (in the past, I've struggled to focus on anymore than four... maybe I'm just stupid or something lol) that take up minimal time that I can really concentrate on.

One more question if I may, how long would you say ES pull-ups would take per day? Is the prescribed rest similar to programs like PTTP (3-5mins)? I only ask because keeping the time taken to finish a workout is also a big deal in my case, i.e. I'll get fed up if it takes my morning S&S session from 20ish minutes to much more than 30mins (40ish minutes at the absolute most) with the pull-ups added on. I'm just thinking about long-term progress as I think I may have some sort of attention deficit disorder when it comes to long strength workouts... Haha :p.
 
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@Harry Westgate : assuming you do three sets, then there are two breaks in between. shake your arms out, get a bit of rest do the next set, avoid failure. I think it is no problem to have the brakes short enough to be ready for the next set. I think you,ll get your pull ups in 3-10min, depending on sets, reps, intensity, feel.
 
@Harald Motz that sounds perfect to me. Thanks very much you've been a lot of help! Hopefully I'll be able to report back with some good progress soon!
 
@Harry Westgate a MUST read. Lots of very useful info for all athletes, and lots of very useful info for fighters.
 
A bit of history:

Easy Strength idea goes back, at least in the StrongFirst world, to Pavel's "Power To The People!" It is my current training template, and in many ways bears resemblance to S & S - two lifts, performed at a level of effort that allows them to be done daily, with a very strong focus on skill. More recent Easy Strength templates have included more than two lifts - I have done three lifts with success, but personally haven't tried the five lifts I see recommended in some places. As with all things, YMMV (your mileage may vary) and good judgement trumps all else.

-S-
 
@Pavel Macek I just started reading it last night. SO much info there to take in! What I really like about it is that it talks about strength training in the context of how one should go about it whilst training alongside a sport. Whilst I had figured much of this out through trial and error, it is refreshing to read about it and learn about the finer details that I'd never thought of.

Regarding what kind of 'workouts' I'm taking from it, given that I'm doing S&S daily, I'm going to start adding ES weighted pull-ups 2-3 times per week (as described in the part on 'Easy Strength Training for Athletes') after my S&S session. Depending on how I find the timescale from starting S&S to finishing the pull-ups, I may even take out my TGUs on the days when I do pull-ups (hopefully it won't come to that, but as mentioned previously, I really do tend to struggle if a workout drags on too long - 'dragging on' in my case typically means much more than 30mins).

@Steve Freides I can see how it stems from PTTP, particularly the section on 'Even Easier Strength'. That template seems to resemble PTTP with allowance for higher reps.
 
I take it from your avatar that you're a boxer. This is my very unpopular opinion: you're being very poorly served by your coach if he's making you artificially limit your weight in order to compete in a particular weight class. You are currently in the midst of a hormonal cascade that God built into your developmental cycle so you could develop into the full-grown version of your self. If (and I said "if") you are doing as so many wrestlers and fighters do and under-eating, you'll fail to develop into your full body and you'll spend the rest of your life being limited by it. If, on the other hand, you decide you're going to become strong and as a consequence you become bigger, you'll be fighting against larger men, that's true. But even if your new strength somehow fails to translate into hitting someone in the face harder, it'll be worth it.

Coaches who con youngsters into in effect stunting their own growth during the most impactful and beneficial growth period their athletes will ever enjoy should be kicked in the nuts until they come to their senses.
 
@Bill Been Thank you for sharing your thoughts, all of which are things I've considered myself.
However, rest assured, I've weighed everything up; Last season I was boxing at 69kg/152lbs (Welterweight), finding that all my opponents were taller than myself, mostly AT LEAST 6ft tall (I'm 5'8.5), which, while not impossible, was very difficult. I always had to work harder to get inside and it was disheartening, but more importantly, at nearly all my fights I only weighed in at 67kg/147lbs, so I was a bit on the smaller end of the Welterweight spectrum anyway, with a little (only a little) flab to lose. So baring in mind that the next weight class down (Light Welterweight) is 64kg/141lbs, it didn't seem unreasonable to shed a little weight. Honestly, I'm still a bit short at 64kg; most guys average about 5'11, but I feel better for it, healthier (I cut the weight using the Warrior Diet - eating clean and never going hungry), leaner, and frankly I also like what I see in the mirror better.

If however, maintaining my 64kg self becomes difficult, there's an easy solution, accept it and move back up (hopefully more muscular than before), but for now, it's easy enough; I don't really have to think about weight at all. Also, regarding what you said about becoming stronger and as a consequence getting bigger, I've been strength training for some time now using programs which emphasise strength gains via neural development rather than fatiguing the muscles to cause growth (particularly the Naked Warrior), and so far I feel plenty strong for it having not gained much in the way of muscle mass (I'm far from bulky).
 
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