Dan John has coached for more than 30 years. He's helped hundreds of athletes pack on double-digit pounds of rock-solid muscle. As an athlete, John broke the American record in the Weight Pentathlon. He is the author of several books, including Intervention.

How has Dan’s 2020 been? (0:57)

• Dan does believe in the COVID virus. He says he is one of the few people who trust science lately. His whole career has always been a dance between technology and theology. 
• Just the other day, Dan was at a cafe, and a young 30 something-year-old white American couple were refusing to wear masks and giving the waitress trying to reinforce the state of Utah’s law a tough time because of it. 
• Dan believes the problem lies with ignorance. Which is to ignore, and many people are choosing to ignore common decency to take care of the elderly. Dan himself is 63 with a history of a severe lung disease called pleurisy.
• Dan finds it increasingly frustrating that he knows so many people taken by the virus, and yet it is still so hard to get people to wear their masks. Dan says it goes back to Dicken’s A Christmas Carol where you know the girl has wanted and the boy has ignorance and Dicken tells us that we were both but mostly the boy, which is the most disappointing thing about 202 to Dan. 
• Dan has had an online presence since 1998. His new project Brian Walton has a thing called Workout Generator. You do not need any plug-in equipment; you don’t even need equipment. It will spring out workouts for you based on what you need and have available. 
• Dan has been able to finish writing a book this year, and he is working on Powell’s set sleeves and redoing EZ Strenght. They are deep in the project currently. He says it has been a good year, but he feels that they could do better. 

What is Dan’s routine? (5:36)

• Monday through to Friday, at 9:30, he opens his garage, which is his gym, and people from all around the world will come and workout with Dan. When Dan was getting ready for the Olympic lifting meet three days a week, he would snatch overhead squat. 
• Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are whole-body workouts, so push, pull, hinge, squat, and some loaded cores. Tuesdays are ‘buns and guns’ where they do hip thrusts, many deadlifts and arm workouts, etc. 
• Thursday is for doing Tim Anderson’s original strength workout. That is more or less the big picture of Dan’s Monday to Friday. He does not generally work out on the weekends because it is how life has worked out for him. 
• Almost every day, Mike leads them through the training. They have suspension trainers, and they use their body weight to stretch and move things around. They do original strength almost every single day. 
• They try to do good workouts. Many days Dan will strap on ankle weights of 5 pounds each and grab 3-pound dumbbells before going for a run of a few miles. The work of Leonard Shorts works Back in from the ’80s. Dan believes heavy hands are the gentlest, which means if you put weights in your hands while you walk or run, you pump them subconsciously. 
• His legs counter his hands during these exercises, and he pumps slightly higher than his shoulders. It gets his heart rate where it needs to be in his target zone, and if he does it correctly, they can have a fantastic conversation. 

How does Dan track his heart rate? (8:49)

• He bought the Phil Maffetone heart rate tracker. It is the one that connects to the IRS, and it gives you GPS tracking. He has been using it every three or so weeks and, during his testing of the product, has found that he is quite happy with it. 
• Whenever Dan feels like testing his heart rate or feels strange, he likes monitoring his heart rate to ensure it stays in his targeted zone. Dan always has a target zone where he can still talk, but his breathing is stable and within his target zone. 
• Dan also utilizes a chest strap. The strap is excellent, but you have to keep looking down at it. You have to open your phone while you are swinging weights, and it becomes a bit of a hassle. 
• For most lesson centers, Dan believes in the talk test. Say, for instance, you are walking with your 89-year-old grandma, and you’re walking with her, and suddenly she gets quiet. You might feel fine, but you have blown off her walking talk. 
• Another point that Dan uses it for is, for example, when he does the 0.2-mile loop around his block 15 times, all he has to do is what is called the MAF test, which is the max aerobic function. 

Dan John University

Here you will find Dan's most famous programs along with a customizable workout generator built to suit your needs. You pick the equipment you have, the schedule you want, and the appropriate difficulty. Along with the custom workout generator, you'll also have access to Mass Made Simple, the Humane Burpee, and many other popular programs.

Resources

Connect with Dan: Website

Dan John University: Website

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