All together now...

I do one of these posts every few months. I sift through my archives to compare my latest regimen with past programs, and then do a little reminiscing. This time, however, I'm going to put it all in one place on the sidebar. I'll also be pretty terse with the reminiscing (aren't you lucky).

One of my earlier and larger recon-and-reminisce posts is here, wherein I explain why I stayed with what I call the Even Keel regimen. This article says it all, bluntly.

Not too long before that, I laid out what the Even Keel regimen is. In this post I want to present, on one sheet, as it were, all the permutations of it that I've used so far, so I can draw upon them as I advance with the regimen. I had forgotten some of my favorite exercises, the fruit of much research, until tonight's recollection!

Oh, and here's an entirely different scheme I devised a while ago, based on a floating three-day split. Considering how highly Dan John praises the 5-3-1 program, I have a feeling that my inspiration from Dan John on this point is due in part to the 5-3-1 program, which, yes, I also want to give a try when the time comes. 

Lastly, I find very much to agree with in this video by Elliott Hulse. Such simplicity is all I really have in mind with my Even Keel program (though, this program is intriguing in a similar way all over again!).



In any event, here are the various elements of any Even Keel regimen I would want to do, with some "Tens" mixed in on occasion.

Even Keel 1A: SQ: 5x5 db (D)BP: 5x5 SDL/RDL/suitcase DL/CL/SN: 6,4,2 - PU: reps x 3 (unilateral) db MP: 12,9,6 db hammer/ Zottman/spider curl 12,9,6

Even Keel 1B: DL: 5,3,2,1 pullover-press/Gironda dips: reps x 3 FSQ/HSQ/BSQ/ZSQ/ one-shoulder-SQ: 5x5 - Kroc/Pendlay row (or Cobra pulldown): 5x5 db guillotine: 12,9,6 spider/hammer/Zottman curl 12,9,6

Or...

Even Keel 2A  SQ :  db DBP :  SDL : - db MP : Squeeze-press : PU (neutral grip) :

Even Keel 2B HSQ/ZSQ/BSQ/FSQ/unilateral SQ : db guillotine/Gironda dips : DL : - Cable flye-away :  Kroc/Pendlay row :  db curl :

Or...

EVEN KEEL 3A Warm-up & Stretch (I) DBP: 2-3-5, 2-3-5 # (II) CX: 8-6-4 # (III) [F]SQ: 10, 6, 2 # (IV) PU: # bdw reps db-P: 10, 10, 10 #

EVEN KEEL 3B Warm-up & Stretch (I) Dips: # bdw (II) DL: 6, 4, 2 # (III) FSQ: 10, 6, 2 # (IV) Chin-ups: # bdw reps db-P: 10, 10, 10 #

Hypothetical week (practice neck bridging, headstands, hand balancing every day): 

Mo: Even Keel 1A [gym]

Tu: Grip Day! [home] 

W: Shrug Day! [gym] 

Th: walk/jog/box/kb/mb/dino-db [home]

Fr: Even Keel 1B [gym] 

Sa/Su: rest/whatever [home]

If I needed more rest, the pattern would simply be shifted that many days later. I want to incorporate more unilateral versions of the above, by the way. I'm going to make little tickets for all my favorite exercises (cf. 1A/1B), divided into little buckets for each kind of movement they achieve, and, except for fixed lifts in every workout (e.g. SQ, DL, etc.), I'll just pull out tickets at random from one workout to the next. I'm excited!