This is long overdue.
After reading Strength Shortcuts 2.0 when he released it, I started asking
@Geoff Neupert if he would consider writing up the Easy Muscle plan he described within. So when he produced this product, I was definitely going to buy it. Unfortunately he released just as I was scheduled for surgery, and it was uncertain what limitations I would face afterwards. Waiting was forced upon me. After regaining most functionality, but still having some limitations, I gave Schedule B a run.
Not going to cite my stats. Between age and lifting age (plus yeah, the last year), this was all about regaining, not new gains. But I did keep data and make notes to report.
The good:
VERY sustainable. Never got to the point of feeling like a deload would be a good idea.
Spine health felt very good - those B days work.
Upper body strength was regained as well as any other program I've tried, including for lifts not done.
Fat mass and waist decreased - not needed, but still a positive.
LBM was increased.
The acceptable:
LBM (re)gains were not as not as great as with certain other programs used in recent years. This is not surprising, as lower body loading was less. This was tied to the sustainability. The programs which had greater LBM gains were not as sustainable, and were in any case not realistic options for me at that point.
I suspected that my results had been somewhat limited by not having regained more strength and functionality prior to starting the program. Following a week off, I did a few weeks dedicated to regaining both, and simply doing squats and deadlifts resulted in more LBM (re)gain than the recent run through EM. Time to try EM again.
I made a second run through Schedule B, this time with a heavier KB for C&P and using regular squats, for a heavier lower body loading. The results:
Still very sustainable, though at the end it became clear that a deload was going to be needed. That may just be me needing an extra guard rail on squats, or it may be normal.
Spine health still felt very good, with the B days seeming even more valuable.
LBM (re)gains were 50% to 100% better than the first time through. (There is so much potential error in measurements and calculations.) Still not as great as for others but certainly good.
Geoff, thank you for putting out this quality product.