The Dan John 40 Day Program runs for 40 workouts, ideally five days a week, so about eight weeks start to finish. You do the same five movements every session: a push, a pull, a hinge, a squat, and a loaded carry. Most days are just two easy sets of five, and only a handful of wave days mix in a 5-3-2, six singles, or a light set of ten.
This is Dan John’s Even Easier Strength, his free write-up of the Easy Strength method he built with Pavel Tsatsouline. The idea is to treat strength like a skill: train it often, keep the weights light, never miss a rep, and never grind. You add load only when the bar starts to feel light, so you finish each session feeling better than when you walked in.
It’s a good fit if you’re busy or in-season and want to hold or slowly build strength without the fatigue of a hard program. If you’re after size or a peak for a meet, skip it and run something like Dan John’s Mass Made Simple instead. The light, never-grind setup here is built for clean practice, not max effort.
Table of Contents
Even Easier Strength on Boostcamp
If you’d rather run it from your phone, there’s a free Even Easier Strength program on Boostcamp that tracks the same workouts for you.
Dan John 40 Day Program Spreadsheet
Spreadsheet via Dan John
On the Setup tab, pick your five movements from the dropdowns (or type your own) and enter the easy weight you’ll use for your sets of five. Set your rounding (5 for lb, 2.5 for kg). The Program tab then lists all 40 workouts with the rep scheme for each day, and you log the weight you used as you go.
How the Program Works
The program runs as a two-week wave of ten workouts, and you repeat it four times to reach 40 sessions. You train five days a week. Every workout you hit all five of your movements, and only the rep scheme changes from day to day.
The Two Week Wave
- Most days: 2 sets of 5, light and smooth
- 5-3-2 day: five reps at your easy weight, add weight for a triple, then a solid double
- 6 singles day: work up across six single reps, adding a little each time, no misses
- 1 x 10 day: one very light set of ten to flush the movement
Picking Your Five Lifts
Choose one push (like overhead press or bench), one pull (a row or chin-up), one hinge (deadlift or kettlebell swing), one squat, and one loaded carry. Every couple of weeks you can rotate to a close variation if you want, what Dan John calls “same but different.” The carry runs the whole time, so carry for distance and add load when it feels easy.
The Rules That Make It Work
Never miss a rep, and never grind. Keep every movement at ten reps or fewer in a session. When the weight starts to feel light, add a little. The whole idea is to practice strength like a skill, with clean reps and plenty left in the tank.
FAQ
How long does the program take?
Forty workouts. At five sessions a week that’s about eight weeks. Dan John says plenty of lifters hit new bests before they reach the end.
How heavy should the weights be?
Light enough to feel easy. A good gauge is your second or third warm-up set, not a max. The strength comes from frequent, clean practice, not from grinding.
Can I run it three days a week?
You can. It works best at four or five days because the frequent practice is the point, but you can run the same wave fewer days a week and just take longer to reach 40 workouts.
Is it actually free?
Yes. Dan John published Even Easier Strength for free, and our spreadsheet is free to copy. Open the sheet, then choose File then Make a Copy to save your own editable version.
