@Bauer
Here is something I wrote for somebody on ETK+. It is long sorry, you may be interested. Regards,
Eric
5 / 9
Documented below are some details on how the ETK+ program has evolved for me (below is the final evolution, to date). I recognize that I am changing the program quite a bit and some people would have issue with this, technically it is no longer ETK+. I am OK with this. I must do what works for me. Biologically, we are all practically the same, so if it works for me there is a good chance it will work for you, right? Disclaimer: One final comment. I am not a qualified coach or trainer. I am not in the fitness business. I am really not qualified to give any advice, so be careful when reading this. I am a 40 year old who has been training, somewhat seriously, since age 18. Also, I have spent a significantly more time and energy educating myself on Strength and Conditioning training vs the general population.
GOALS: I typically do this after a Bus Bench training program, in recent years, this means following a physically demanding powerlifting cycle. Primary goal is to recapture health and mobility (and give my body a break from heavy weights), secure a healthy body weight (if need be), improve conditioning/endurance, and still build general strength. My other primary goal is having a life outside the gym. When I am powerlifting, sometimes I have multi hour training days. I really hate this! I want to minimize my time in the gym. Secondary goal is powerlifting.
Typically on Saturday or Sunday I practice my sport, powerlifting. I’ll write that program below in case you care about it. But this is optional. Other activities could be added. Or even using this time to practice new exercises. The beauty of powerlifting is that you can still gain progress doing an American cycle, 1 day per week. I like to immediately do a ETK+ Grind day, the following day, to help combat/prevent DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) from the barbell lifts.
In recent years, Pavel and Strongfirst have put out a lot of articles on Lactic vs Alactic endurance training. In fact, I believe Pavel’s new book Q&D will likely touch on this topic (I am looking forward to reading it). I have adapted ETK+, for myself, to follow this training methodology. Therefore, I have thrown out the clock. I no longer worry about time. I roll the dice for how heavy a bell I will be using, and I roll the dice to determine my volume for the workout. Because of this, I now favor heavier weights than I would have lifted in my first example above. CAUTION: I find that I will unconsciously choose lighter kettlebells if I know my volume first. So I recommend rolling the dice, and let’s pretend you roll a 6, which is supposed to be HEAVY RPE. Choose your kettlebell(s) before rolling the dice for your volume (otherwise you may be tempted to choose a lighter bell if your volume is high). NOTE: For single arm lifts, if the volume is 30 lifts, I mean for this to be 30 lifts per arm, not 30 lifts total.
A note on exercise variability. Originally, this variability is what attracted to me to this program. However, in recent years I have been minimizing the number of exercises to improve and I like this better. In fact, the last time I ran this program, I did not vary the exercises at all! I like this best! You don’t have to choose these exercises, but I find these to be the best. For Grind Day, I do Single Arm C&P in parallel with Tactical Pullups (just like the Right of Passage), alternating between each exercise. Then I do Double Kettlebell Front Squats, followed by Double Kbell Military Press. If it isn’t obvious, the difference between C&P and military press is that the former has a clean in between each press.
6 / 9
In terms of the weight, I no longer set a weight for each roll of the die, as in my example, above. This is too cumbersome and difficult to document. Instead I use RPE (rate of perceived exertion). If I roll a 1 or 2, it is Light. A 3 or 4 is Medium. A 5 or 6 is Heavy. So this is very dependent upon you, how strong you are, and how you are feeling that particular day. If I was doing a single arm press, Light would be 24 or 28 kg, Medium would be 28 or 32 kg, and Heavy would be 36 or 40 kg. I don’t own a 44 kg. On a rare occasion If I rolled a 5 or 6 I may use the 48 kg (but likely not, this is supposed to be Park Bench for me). I hope this example makes sense.
My current modified ETK+ inspired program:
- · Warmup (for each of these Grind and Ballistic days)
- o A few goblet squats
- o Halo’s
- o A couple light TGU’s
- o Some light 2 arm swings
- · Grind Day
- o Press #1
- § Double Military Press
- · 1 à RPE Light
- · 2 à RPE Light
- · 3 à RPE Medium
- · 4 à RPE Medium
- · 5 à RPE Heavy
- · 6 à RPE Heavy
- § Volume (Ladders 1,2,3,4,5, for Heavy weights I may stop at 3 on the ladders)
- · 1 à 15 reps
- · 2 à 15 reps
- · 3 à 30 reps
- · 4 à 30 reps
- · 5 à 45 reps
- · 6 à 45 reps
- o Squat
- § Double Front Squats
- · 1 à RPE Light
- · 2 à RPE Light
- · 3 à RPE Medium
- · 4 à RPE Medium
- · 5 à RPE Heavy
- · 6 à RPE Heavy
- § Volume (Ladders 1,2,3,4,5)
7 / 9
- · 1 à 15 reps
- · 2 à 15 reps
- · 3 à 30 reps
- · 4 à 30 reps
- · 5 à 45 reps
- · 6 à 45 reps
- o Press #2
- § Single Arm C&P
- · 1 à RPE Light
- · 2 à RPE Light
- · 3 à RPE Medium
- · 4 à RPE Medium
- · 5 à RPE Heavy
- · 6 à RPE Heavy
- § Volume (Ladders 1,2,3,4,5, for Heavy weights I may stop at 3 on the ladders)
- · 1 à 15 reps
- · 2 à 15 reps
- · 3 à 30 reps
- · 4 à 30 reps
- · 5 à 45 reps
- · 6 à 45 reps
- o Pullup
- § Tactical pullups
- · 1 à RPE Light
- · 2 à RPE Light
- · 3 à RPE Medium
- · 4 à RPE Medium
- · 5 à RPE Heavy
- · 6 à RPE Heavy
- § Volume (Ladders 1,2,3,4,5, for Heavy weights I may stop at 3 on the ladders)
- · 1 à 15 reps
- · 2 à 15 reps
- · 3 à 30 reps
- · 4 à 30 reps
- · 5 à 45 reps
- · 6 à 45 reps
- · Ballistic
- o Pull
- § Heavy Single Arm Snatches (I favor heavier weights and lower reps)
- · 1 à RPE Light
- · 2 à RPE Light
- · 3 à RPE Medium
- · 4 à RPE Medium
8 / 9
- · 5 à RPE Heavy
- · 6 à RPE Heavy
- § Volume (Ladders 5,10 for Heavy weights I only do 5 reps rungs
- · 1 à 15 reps
- · 2 à 15 reps
- · 3 à 30 reps
- · 4 à 30 reps
- · 5 à 45 reps
- · 6 à 45 reps
- o Push Press / Jerk
- § 5 à Double Clean & Jerk
- · 1 à RPE Light
- · 2 à RPE Light
- · 3 à RPE Medium
- · 4 à RPE Medium
- · 5 à RPE Heavy
- · 6 à RPE Heavy
- § Volume (Ladders 2,4,6,8,10 for Heavy weights I may stop at 6 and sometimes even 4 on the ladders [sometimes I like to go really heavy on these])
- · 1 à 20 reps
- · 2 à 20 reps
- · 3 à 40 reps
- · 4 à 40 reps
- · 5 à 60 reps
- · 6 à 60 reps
9 / 9
1 day per week Powerlifting Program (inspired by Brian Carroll’s 10/20/Life Program, “Jumbo Day” & “Combo Day”). Keep in mind this is meant to be as minimalistic as possible, but still build strength.
- · Week 1
- o Squat 5sx5r (1 top set of 60% of max)
- o Bench 5sx5r (1 top set of 60% of max)
- o Deadlift 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- · Week 2
- o Squat 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- o Bench 4sx4r (1 top set of 65% of max)
- o Deadlift 5sx5r (1 top set of 60% of max)
- · Week 3
- o Squat 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- o Bench 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- o Deadlift 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- · Week 4
- o Squat 3sx3r (1 top set of 70% of max)
- o Bench 3sx3r (1 top set of 70% of max)
- o Deadlift 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- · Week 5
- o Squat 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- o Bench 3sx3r (1 top set of 72.5% of max)
- o Deadlift 3sx3r (1 top set of 70% of max)
- · Week 6
- o Squat 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- o Bench 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- o Deadlift 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- · Week 7
- o Squat 3sx3r (1 top set of 72.5% of max)
- o Bench 3sx3r (1 top set of 75% of max)
- o Deadlift 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- · Week 8
- o Squat 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- o Bench 3sx3r (1 top set of 77.5% of max)
- o Deadlift 3sx3r (1 top set of 72.5% of max)
- · Week 9
- o Squat 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- o Bench 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- o Deadlift 5sx1r (5 singles at 50% of max)
- · Week 10
- o Squat work up to 1 rep at 90% of max (should be capable of 2 reps but only do 1)
- o Bench work up to 1 rep at 90% of max (should be capable of 2 reps but only do 1)
- o Deadlift work up to 1 rep at 90% of max (should be capable of 2 reps but only do 1)