Every year, before I go on vacation, I train myself into the ground. It’s my little way of “earning” the laziness, partying, and eating that ensues. But another reason why is supercomensation, which basically means the bigger hole you dig the longer it takes to climb out.
The moon was the only thing keeping me company when I woke up at 3am to lift the day I left for vacation.
It’s a risky strategy if you aren’t in tune with yourself. I can’t say that I always am. Last year I tweaked my back, back firing the entire process. But this year I nailed it thanks to Dan John and The 40 Day program and Even Easier Strength. I have to also thank Bret Contreras for releasing some good articles on daily training such as his interview with John Broz. But if you take note of both forms of training, Dan’s is much “easier” and suited for the “average” human.
Training everyday was something I’ve always wanted to try out. Not like bodybuilding split rotations, but rather doing the same thing day in and day out. I never went for it because it isn’t optimal for hypertrophy.
My ten day stint, however, impressed me so much that when I came back from vacation I knew that I had to keep doing it. Truthfully, I’m in love with the simplicity and inherent boredom that accompanies falling into a daily routine. To spice things up, I add kip-ups, handstands, and other gymnastics elements to my routine. I’m having a lot of fun.
The biggest surprise of training daily is how insightful it is, as Tim Anderson can attest to. Monday marked day one of my attempt to train for forty days with no rest. The previous twenty days of training nearly every day haven’t gone by without notice, however. Here’s what it has taught me so far.
- It teaches you work capacity. You’re not that guy that deadlifts on Monday and still feels it on Thursday anymore
- It teaches you the importance of leaving the gym fresh. Your joints thank for you this.
- It teaches you strength. Somehow. But it does.
- It teaches you strong. It’s no longer lifting 495 while your eyeballs pop out of your head. It’s about making 225 easier to lift on day five than on day one. Despite what you want to think, that’s because you’re stronger.
- It teaches you discipline. Forcing out extra reps easily pushes you across a boundary. But you’ll learn that it’s unnecessary. You’ll be back tomorrow.
- It teaches you real autoregulation. You’ll be able to finely tune in on your body’s performance.
- It teaches you to forget the small plates. 45’s, 25’s and 10’s. That’s all.
- It teaches permanent change. Doing something every day leaves a greater impression than doing something once a week, regardless of volume or intensity.
- It teaches you that the warm up is the workout. Fifteen minutes of chin-ups, swings, goblet squats, pushups, and bat wings is a solid workout, regardless of the five exercises you choose.
- It teaches you health. Using smaller loads makes injury less likely.
- It teaches you how to live to fight another day. Leaving reps in the tank isn’t frowned upon.
- It teaches you patience. You don’t win or lose in one day.
- It teaches you the importance of showing up. Some days, weight on the bar won’t matter as much as going through the process.
- It teaches you that you are what you repeatedly do.
- It teaches you simplicity. Pick five things and that’s your only focus. Forget the variations, volumes, intensities, and schemes.
- It teaches you mastery. You’ll never look at your choice lifts the same again. If you thought they were easy before…
- It teaches you recovery. You’ll know if you really deserved the day off, of if you just thought you did. A day off won’t always mean feeling better the next day. If you feel worse, you didn’t really need the day off.
- It teaches you efficiency. Nothing is wasted.
- It teaches you love. Because if you enjoy every second of every movement, showing up on a daily basis can be difficult.
- It teaches you the importance of what Dan Gable said. “If it is important, do it every day. If it’s not important, don’t do it at all.”
Could you extrapolate on number 17 please? Specifically the part about feeling better or worse the day after.
This would actually make for a great video blog on Friday. Hang in there.
21. It teaches you awareness. Of the movements, your capabilities, your discipline, your excuses, your strengths, your weaknesses, your mobility, your patterns, your schedule, your wasted time, your junk exercises, your body and your mind.
22. It teaches you the that “consistency trumps intensity.” -Mark Reifkind
23. It teaches you that intent is matters, but in the end you are just your habits.
Great stuff Stevo! Keep them coming if you want. Love #22.
Hey. Great article. I’ve been training everyday using the PLP scheme modified to my likings with curls, tricep extensions, lateral raises, etc.
My joints feel super. I have actually learned to listen to my body (as cliché as it sounds).
For example, when I would practice unweighted squats, I would notice that the motion would agitate my right knee. I would make a mental note and promptly go to work out the kinks the next day. My knee almost never bugs me during squats anymore. On an unrelated note, I can also balance on one foot (I tend to tie my shoes like this often) better as opposed to when I would do assisted pistols hah.
The wrists would ache during push ups. I worked on that as well.
Interestingly enough, I also learned to use a fuller range of motion on chin ups in my garage. Compared to before when I would do weighted chin ups, now I bang my head on the garage door when the garage is open. Apparently, I wasn’t taking advantage of all the space haha.
Working with the same few motions day in and day out really helped me familiarize myself with them.
Awesome. Good to hear it has helped you sort out some painful issues you had. Funny you mention banging your head on chins because I do the same thing. I can’t wait until I get a more user friendly garage area. Perhaps something to hang rings from? Yeah, I dream about that stuff.
Hello. I don’t mean to burden you with more questions, but I felt this would be the appropriate place to ask you questions about training everyday.
In a couple of days, I will be done with the PLP program, which was excellent I don’t regret it at all. I was planning to run another cycle of the program that consisted of clap push ups, jump squats, and explosive chin ups, including some accessories.
Upon reading Dan John’s works, I was excited at giving the 40 day program a run. What I was wondering is whether you believe it would aid one in terms of body recomposition (as the prior program does) in addition to the easier strength it primarily emphasizes.
Thanks,
Traindom
I wouldn’t do a modified PLP with explosive exercises unless your keeping the volume low. You would be too fatigued for them to have a meaningful effect.
Dan John’s 40 Day Program is primarily strength work. That’s not to say you won’t notice any recomposition effects because that depends on your food intake. But it’s not your traditional hypertrophy program, nor is it intended to be. I’m in the midst of modifying his Even Easier Strength for this reason.
Thanks for the reply! I’ll be sure to stick around for when you finish modifying that program.
In the meantime, I think I’ll give Dan John’s program a run.
Also, I take it you successfully have completed the PLP program as well?
Oh and one last question I wanted to ask of you of the 40 day program. They say it increases your max for the lifts? So if I’m following this correctly, if I lift at around 40% of my best for 40 days and progress, the max automatically increases?
I wouldn’t say automatically. And you don’t lift the same weight daily, but around the same weight based upon how you feel. 40-70% is a good range. It’s all about making those lifts feel easier, which makes heavier lifts feel easier. I will say, however, that after finishing the 40 day program I’d do one day of a near max out, rest 3 days, and then come back and max out again. Helps the nervous system get back into shape with heavier weights.
I see. Thanks for the clarification!
Hello. I’ve thought about it, and I thought I would go through the 40 day program, or as long as it takes to get my lifts nice and up. I’d like to train three times a week again eventually and do carb refeeds again. After the program,I would just train for hypertrophy. I believe this is the way he intended his program to be followed. He wanted people to gain strength and then work on hypertrophy.
The question I have is, will the gains I made from the PLP program fade away if I don’t keep training it? I’m afraid I might shrink a little during the 40 day program (which I know isn’t exactly outfitted for muscle gains). Have you been able to retain the muscle and definition you gained on PLP?
This is a GREAT question. So great that I’ve got a blog post that touches on this very subject coming up soon that deals with this. Hang in there for a week, because I’ve been struggling with this too.
Fantastic! I can’t wait until Thursday then. It’s good to know I’m not alone in this dilemma. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this. In the meantime, I think I’ll just keep training everyday until then. Thank you for always being so diligent regarding comments and questions!
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