Combining the words “strength” and “easy” sounds like an oxymoron. Whether demonstrating, showing, or practicing strength, the word ‘easy’ doesn’t usually come to mind. Necessary, yes; easy, no. The Easy Strength 40-day program was created by Pavel Tsatsouline and popularized by Dan John, both of whom suggest that strength is easy to achieve.
How can strength be easy? The easy parts of this 40-day program are choosing the exercises and weights you will use. You pick only five exercises: a hinge, a press, a pull, a power move, and a core exercise. Then you select a weight you can lift easily because the goal here is to never miss a rep throughout these 40 days.
But is it really that easy? Here, I’ll delve into the details of the Easy Strength program to determine if it is the right fit for you.
Easy Strength Program Origins
When Dan John first contemplated Easy Strength, it wasn’t a fancy new system; it was a return to the basics. The idea originates from the Russian approach, which views strength as a trainable skill. Instead of maxing out, you repeat the same handful of big lifts often, keep the reps low, and always leave the gym feeling like you could’ve done more.
John teamed up with Pavel Tsatsouline, the kettlebell legend, to put these ideas into the book Easy Strength: How to Get a Lot Stronger Than Your Competition—and Dominate in Your Sport—published in 2011.
This book popularized the “40 workouts” approach: pick five movements, train them almost daily, never grind to failure, and watch your numbers creep up almost effortlessly. The beauty of it? You get stronger without crushing yourself. That’s why the two strength icons designed Easy Strength for athletes who needed more horsepower in the weight room but couldn’t afford to limp into practice. Now it is a go-to for lifters who want a sustainable strength program.
Easy Strength Program Guidelines
You do five movements in straight set fashion for five workouts per week over eight weeks. The exercise choice is as follows.
- The Hinge: You choose from a Conventional deadlift, Romanian deadlift, Trap bar deadlift, or Suitcase deadlift.
- The Press: Your choices are from these barbell bench press variation, dumbbell floor press, overhead press, or push press.
- The Pull: The following choices are available—pull-up or chin-up, inverted row, face pull, cable row, and lat pulldown.
- Power movements: Include the kettlebell swing, kb snatch, jump squat, jump lunges, and med-ball slams.
- Core: Ab rollouts, Russian twists, dead bugs, and hanging knee raises.
The exercise order is as follows:
- Hinge
- Press
- Pull
- Power
- Core
You do two sets of five reps for the first three exercises, resting at least two minutes between sets. The point is to choose your weight conservatively and not work as hard as possible, because you’ll repeat it again and again. Yes, you want to lift with effort, but there are no missing reps or lifting to failure.
For the power movements, you’ll perform 20 to 50 reps, breaking it up as you see fit. For example, if you do kettlebell swings, you’ll perform either two sets of 10,15, 20, or 25 reps. The core movement consists of one set of five repetitions.
Who is Easy Strength Program For?
If your primary goal is building muscle, or if you love chasing PRs, Easy Strength is not for you. It’s about steady, almost boring progress, not big pumps or ego-lifting.
Here’s who benefits most from this program:
Lifters Who Need a Break From The Grind
If you’ve already built a strength base but feel burned out by high-volume training, Easy Strength is a breath of fresh air. The low reps and submaximal loading allow you to rebuild your strength groove without frying your nervous system.
Athletes With Competing Demands
The program helps athletes build strength while staying fresh for practice. Football players, grapplers, or anyone involved in sport-specific training will find the daily, low-fatigue routine keeps them sharp in the weight room and prepared for game day.
Busy Adults Who Want Strength
Not everyone has time or recovery capacity for hour-long workouts. Easy Strength is well-suited for lifters with demanding jobs, families, or unpredictable schedules, as it delivers consistent progress with workouts that rarely exceed 40 minutes.
Older Lifters Looking for Longevity
Because the program avoids grinding sets, failure, and unnecessary fatigue, it’s joint-friendly and sustainable. Lifters in their 40s and 50s, often excel in this style, achieving steady strength gains without overexertion.
Pros & Cons of Easy Strength
There is no such thing as the perfect program; just a better time to do the program, depending on where you are on your lifting journey. Here’s a pro and con list so you can enter this program with eyes wide open.
Pros of Easy Strength
- Conservative Loading: You only increase weight when it feels easy. There’s no grind, no missed reps, and no ego lifting. This no-grind approach keeps recovery smooth while still stacking steady progress.
- Decision-Free Training: Once you lock in your five movements, there’s no mental energy wasted on “what should I do today?” You walk in, get it done, and move on with your day.
- Grooves Good Technique: Repeating the same movements for 40 sessions sharpens form. If something feels off, you’ll notice—and fix it, because you know exactly what good reps feel like.
- Short, Manageable Sessions: Most workouts clock in around 35–40 minutes. Compared to long hypertrophy or powerlifting sessions, that’s a time win.
Cons of Easy Strength
- Frequency Barrier: Training five days per week for eight weeks isn’t realistic for everyone. Even if sessions are short, that’s still a significant time commitment.
- Beginners May Struggle with Load Selection: Knowing how much weight to start with and when to increase it is a skill that requires practice and experience. Advanced lifters usually nail this. Beginners? Not so much.
- Lack of Variety: Performing the same five lifts for 40 workouts can lock in technique, but it can also become stale. If you thrive on variety, the monotony may turn training into a grind.
- Risk of Overuse: While the loads are conservative, repeating the same movement patterns often carries a small risk of overuse irritation—especially if your recovery isn’t on point.
40-Day Easy Strength Workout Example
Having completed this program last year, choosing your starting weight on day one can be tricky. My advice is to set aside your ego and not think about what you usually lift for five reps. If there’s the slightest struggle with your first set of five, take some weight off the bar. There is plenty of time to put it back on again.
Ensure you keep track of the loads you lift and how they feel, so you know when to increase the weight. Happy lifting.
- Trap-Bar Deadlift
- Barbell Bench Press
- Weighted Chin Ups
- KB Swings Or Med Ball Slams
- Ab Rollout
That wasn’t so hard, was it?
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