Posts: 20261
Liyon -ufc98newb -Atomic -ufc98newb -Darth Potato -ufc98newb -going for the dan john 40 day challenge. anybody ever done it?
wrecked my shoulder a couple months back, and have just been doing maintenance stuff since then. Ready to go at it.
The program in a nutshell is:
5 days per week
same 5 exercises everyday. 2 sets of 5 most days. some days of singles. a day of 5/3/2. but never more than 10 reps of each exercise.
the movements i chose are:
flat barbell bench. i haven't done it in over a year
deadlift
barbell curl
squat
loaded carries (type of carry can vary daily)
Not supposed to go real heavy. should never miss a rep. not even close.
looking forward to seeing if there are any results to this.
im about to get real busy, so the 20 minute commitment makes it very doable.
Whats the purpose of this program?
i don't know but the guy who writes about it says hes had some of his biggest gains on it. And there are several articles on it, so clearly there is interest in it.
I don't know if i trust it, but ive got nothing to lose and it's only 2 months. Starting in September, im working 55 to 60 hour weeks, so it's a good fit timewise, as well.
It's a Pavel workout that was popularized by Dan. I don't have any idea how well it works. Progressive overload is the goal and I imagine you could get the same results with a little adjustment and not need to be in the gym 40 days straight.
its not 40 days straight. most of what i have read goes by 5 days a week for 8 weeks. 40 total days lifting.
I thought the same thing before looking more into it.
I would not do a program that was 7 days per week, unless i actually had the equipment in my house.
IIRC, the idea of the program is to break up the usual overly strict progression of most workout programs and just to go by feel.
So if you're feeling really strong and energized one day, then go for singles. If you want to back off, then do one relatively easy set of 10 reps, etc...
He gives you various set/rep schemes to use, like 5x1, 2x5, 5-3-2, 1x10, etc... and you can just pick from them based on how you feel. Nothing is set in stone except for your exercise selection and the fact that you will ideally be training 5 days a week straight (which will obvious affect your set/rep selection). You're supposed to feel energized after each workout. And the program is meant to be a break between your normal workout routines.
im guessing there are multiple interpretations of it. the article that i finally landed on and went with has a 2 week structure that has a set rep scheme that goes as follows:
5/5 5/5 5/3/2 5/5 5/5
5/5 1/1/1/1/1/1 10 5/5 5/3/2
or something really close to this....
and then you will do that 2 week structure 3 more times.
I'm gonna do it for 2 months. no expectations. just something way different than ive ever done. kind of interested to see how the body responds to bench 5 days in a row, etc.
