Ep. #787: Dan John on “Easy Strength” For Quick, Efficient Workouts That Really Work

In this podcast, I interview Dan John, and we chat all about his concept of “easy strength.”

Easy strength is a style of training Dan writes about at length in his latest book, Attempts: Essays in Fitness, Health, Longevity and Easy Strength, which I highly recommend.

We’ll get more into the nitty gritty details in the podcast, but “easy strength” is all about effective workouts done with key exercises that you can get done quickly. This gets you in and out of the gym quickly, giving you more time to recover and train for your sport. The best part is you’ll get stronger without beating up your muscles and joints, which means less soreness and joint pain.

If you’re skeptical, I understand, but Dan isn’t exactly the new kid on the block. In fact, he has quite the resume—he has competed in the Highland Games, written more than 14 books, and coached athletes and weightlifters for over 40 years now. As you can imagine, he has seen and heard it all, and knows a thing or two about coaching athletes.

In this episode, Dan and I discuss . . .

• The benefits of not “destroying” yourself in the gym
  
• Exercise as practice
  
• The importance of not missing reps
  
• How to program your workouts and progressively overload with “easy strength”
  
• And more . . .
  

So, if you want to learn how to incorporate easy strength workouts to get stronger without beating yourself up or spending hours in the gym every day, listen to this episode and let me know your thoughts!

Timestamps:

15:46 - What is easy strength?

28:57 - What does an easy strength program look like?

35:11 - How do you progressively overload?

39:44 - What is "easy" as a percentage of 1RM?

44:56 - How much weight do you add to the bar?

Mentioned on the Show:

Books by Mike Matthews: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/