Review: One Man, One Barbell

A little while ago, I was contacted by Jerred Moon from Eo3 Fitness to try his One man One Barbell program. This program is designed to gain strength in various lifts over the course of only 3 weeks.
The principles of the program are very straightforward and simple, however, a lot of time, testing and research was invested to ensure the best results for lifters of all levels, shapes and sizes.

How it started? Jerred explains in the introduction:

This sounds promising!
However, I wondered if the program was for me. Why?

1) I'm a woman.
2) My numbers are nothing to write home about. Seriously. My weakest being the squat, I can actually push press more than I squat, how crazy is that?? Aren't you supposed to be a monster lifter already to do this? More on those numbers later.

As I kept reading, my doubts were taken away quickly, including a mention that the program has been tested on women as well (the title is simply based on how it was created) and that it's for all levels of lifters.

The only reason why this could not be for you, is 4.


The standalone part of the program was attractive to me in particular, since you can still keep training as usual, and the total training time doesn't have to be extremely long.










The training book

Jerred sent me the Deluxe version of the training book, and after the introduction, the book lays out 5 test-cases with the results, each athlete followed some variation of the training principles, which are explained at a later stage in the book.

For the program you'll need a barbell, hence the name.
So next up are the possible types of barbells you can use, the terminology and pricing. In my case, I was going to use a barbell available at my gym.

It continues with setting your training goals, explaining the principles and the cycles that are being used.
With these 3 key tools, you can define your own personal traning program, fit to your goals, level and time frame.

The program is designed for the most important lifts:

- Squat
- Press
- Deadlift
- Snatch
- Clean & Jerk

A short description for each lift is provided, but it's recommended to only do this program if you already have experience with these lifts.
Of course you can also use it for other lifts as well like bench, front squats, clean, etc.

The program basically consists out of 3 separate parts:

Ground Zero (4 weeks) - To prepare the lesser trained individual for the coming work, or to "stabilize" a more experienced athlete from their current training, since overtraining often occurs with a lot of athletes.
You can decide to do 1 or multiple cycles of Ground Zero before moving on to:

OMOB Version 1 - Training based on x % of your training max.
OMOB Version 2 - Training based on x % of your true max.

For both versions, the cycle will be 4 weeks (including a recovery week), and it's advised to train 4 lifts. However, I decided to go for 3 (it just fit better in my schedule) being:

• Squat
• Press
• Deadlift

The program I followed - OMOB Version 2
Without giving out too many details, you need to establish a 1RM for each lift, and follow the prescribed templates for 3 weeks (x sets @ x reps @ x % of True Max, followed by a EMOM session @ x % of true max, still follow?)
Then off-load on the 4th week.

The starting numbers
Like I said before, my numbers are not very impressive, so any help was more than welcome!

• (Back) Squat: 40kg (88 lbs)
• (Strict) Press: 35kg (77 lbs)
  
• Deadlift: 100kg (220 lbs)

My training week would usually look like this:
Mon - Wed - Fri: Crossfit
Tue - Thu - Sat: OMOB
Sun: Rest

The results & conclusion

• (Back) Squat: 50kg (110lbs) --> +25%
• (Strict) Press: 37,5kg (82lbs) --> +7%
• Deadlift: 100kg --> (220lbs) +0%

Have to say, I'm very happy with the results. My deadlift didn't improve, but during the program I was (still am) dealing with a lower back injury causing some issues. However, after the offload week, my 1RM is still 100kg, so no loss in strength.
My squat really improved, I could tell that the program really worked in this area.
These are results after doing 1 cycle, but I definitely plan to do a few more, and then hope to make some nice gains with my deadlift as well.

Jerred was very helpful during the program, he frequently checked in via e-mail and answered any questions I had, this was really helpful.

If you are interested in making some nice strength gains in your lifts, I highly recommend this program.

Prices & website
One Man One Barbell Basic: $39
One man One Barbell Deluxe: $49

Click here for another review of the program.

(We didn't get bribed or paid to write this review. If we think a product is shit, we'll write that too. However, if you order through any of the links provided, we'll earn a small commission. With that money, we can keep this blog going. Or buy bacon)