Strength focused BB feedback

[Barkadion]

I have just completed strength focused BB. Just want to share my experience. To put nit simple: this is the best block I have done so far.

What I did
- 6 weeks of OP I/A 3/week: SQ/W-Dips/Seal Rows
- 3 weeks of SE Alpha 3/week: Bulgarian SQ/Half-kneeling OA Landmine Press/Half-kneeling OA Vertical Row/Body saw
- 9 weeks of E 3/week: 99% of LSS runs. Started with 30min and finished with 60min. 1% of indoor (AD rides and triples). Using HR monitor.

Pros
- Just about everything

Cons
- My own lack of attention to the form with lifts. I hurt my shoulder with dips at the last week of MS.
- No other cons. Seriously.

Benefits
- Resting HR=45
- Cardio-Vascular health. In general - have problems with how my body handles weather and air pressure changes. I am seeing a lot of improvements here. This is most valuable benefit for me personally.
- Stamina. I feel beat up right now at the end of the block. But even now my day-to-day energy level is much stronger.
- I really like running SE mini cluster after MS. My joints and tendons are loving me right now. Also, doing unilateral SE is awesome.

Nutrition
- This one is important. I almost doubled my calorie intake towards to the end. A lot of beets and bananas.
- Supplements. Creatine, BCAA (due to the early morning fasted training), Mg, Caffeine.

Notes
*I can see that i would make sense to stick with 30min runs with the block. But I wanted to get to the long runs which I did for the last 3 weeks. I am not saying that was right approach. I simply wanted to do that.
**I am 47 y.o. now and I feel awesome. I really encourage 40+ guys to give it a try. Seriously.

[Josh]

Sounds awesome, thanks for sharing your feedback!
I have a question: what is an OA vertical row? My googlefu skills failed me searching for this.

[Barkadion]

Sounds awesome, thanks for sharing your feedback!
I have a question: what is an OA vertical row? My googlefu skills failed me searching for this.

Ohhh.. OA = one arm. I attach folded resistance band to the pull-up bar and I am good to go. Makes my upper back very happy

Kinda looks like that but more vertical:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxFxFkJZZy8

[Josh]

Cool, thanks. I thought that perhaps there was some kind of operational athlete secret exercises I didn't know about.

[TangoZero]

I have just completed strength focused BB. Just want to share my experience. To put nit simple: this is the best block I have done so far.

What I did
- 6 weeks of OP I/A 3/week: SQ/W-Dips/Seal Rows
- 3 weeks of SE Alpha 3/week: Bulgarian SQ/Half-kneeling OA Landmine Press/Half-kneeling OA Vertical Row/Body saw
- 9 weeks of E 3/week: 99% of LSS runs. Started with 30min and finished with 60min. 1% of indoor (AD rides and triples). Using HR monitor.

Pros
- Just about everything

Cons
- My own lack of attention to the form with lifts. I hurt my shoulder with dips at the last week of MS.
- No other cons. Seriously.

Benefits
- Resting HR=45
- Cardio-Vascular health. In general - have problems with how my body handles weather and air pressure changes. I am seeing a lot of improvements here. This is most valuable benefit for me personally.
- Stamina. I feel beat up right now at the end of the block. But even now my day-to-day energy level is much stronger.
- I really like running SE mini cluster after MS. My joints and tendons are loving me right now. Also, doing unilateral SE is awesome.

Nutrition
- This one is important. I almost doubled my calorie intake towards to the end. A lot of beets and bananas.
- Supplements. Creatine, BCAA (due to the early morning fasted training), Mg, Caffeine.

Notes
*I can see that i would make sense to stick with 30min runs with the block. But I wanted to get to the long runs which I did for the last 3 weeks. I am not saying that was right approach. I simply wanted to do that.
**I am 47 y.o. now and I feel awesome. I really encourage 40+ guys to give it a try. Seriously.

Did you notice any negative effects with squats when you hit the 60 min runs? Also just wondering if you know what your resting hr was before the block....

[Barkadion]

I have just completed strength focused BB. Just want to share my experience. To put nit simple: this is the best block I have done so far.

What I did
- 6 weeks of OP I/A 3/week: SQ/W-Dips/Seal Rows
- 3 weeks of SE Alpha 3/week: Bulgarian SQ/Half-kneeling OA Landmine Press/Half-kneeling OA Vertical Row/Body saw
- 9 weeks of E 3/week: 99% of LSS runs. Started with 30min and finished with 60min. 1% of indoor (AD rides and triples). Using HR monitor.

Pros
- Just about everything

Cons
- My own lack of attention to the form with lifts. I hurt my shoulder with dips at the last week of MS.
- No other cons. Seriously.

Benefits
- Resting HR=45
- Cardio-Vascular health. In general - have problems with how my body handles weather and air pressure changes. I am seeing a lot of improvements here. This is most valuable benefit for me personally.
- Stamina. I feel beat up right now at the end of the block. But even now my day-to-day energy level is much stronger.
- I really like running SE mini cluster after MS. My joints and tendons are loving me right now. Also, doing unilateral SE is awesome.

Nutrition
- This one is important. I almost doubled my calorie intake towards to the end. A lot of beets and bananas.
- Supplements. Creatine, BCAA (due to the early morning fasted training), Mg, Caffeine.

Notes
*I can see that i would make sense to stick with 30min runs with the block. But I wanted to get to the long runs which I did for the last 3 weeks. I am not saying that was right approach. I simply wanted to do that.
**I am 47 y.o. now and I feel awesome. I really encourage 40+ guys to give it a try. Seriously.

Did you notice any negative effects with squats when you hit the 60 min runs? Also just wondering if you know what your resting hr was before the block....

Thank you for reading this.

I got to 60min run with last 3 weeks of SE. I have started with 30min and I was adding 2-3 min every week.

My rest HR was at high 50s close to 60s range prior to 2nd BB. It dropped significantly a year ago after my 1st BB.

[TangoZero]

I have just completed strength focused BB. Just want to share my experience. To put nit simple: this is the best block I have done so far.

What I did
- 6 weeks of OP I/A 3/week: SQ/W-Dips/Seal Rows
- 3 weeks of SE Alpha 3/week: Bulgarian SQ/Half-kneeling OA Landmine Press/Half-kneeling OA Vertical Row/Body saw
- 9 weeks of E 3/week: 99% of LSS runs. Started with 30min and finished with 60min. 1% of indoor (AD rides and triples). Using HR monitor.

Pros
- Just about everything

Cons
- My own lack of attention to the form with lifts. I hurt my shoulder with dips at the last week of MS.
- No other cons. Seriously.

Benefits
- Resting HR=45
- Cardio-Vascular health. In general - have problems with how my body handles weather and air pressure changes. I am seeing a lot of improvements here. This is most valuable benefit for me personally.
- Stamina. I feel beat up right now at the end of the block. But even now my day-to-day energy level is much stronger.
- I really like running SE mini cluster after MS. My joints and tendons are loving me right now. Also, doing unilateral SE is awesome.

Nutrition
- This one is important. I almost doubled my calorie intake towards to the end. A lot of beets and bananas.
- Supplements. Creatine, BCAA (due to the early morning fasted training), Mg, Caffeine.

Notes
*I can see that i would make sense to stick with 30min runs with the block. But I wanted to get to the long runs which I did for the last 3 weeks. I am not saying that was right approach. I simply wanted to do that.
**I am 47 y.o. now and I feel awesome. I really encourage 40+ guys to give it a try. Seriously.

Did you notice any negative effects with squats when you hit the 60 min runs? Also just wondering if you know what your resting hr was before the block....

Thank you for reading this.

I got to 60min run with last 3 weeks of SE. I have started with 30min and I was adding 2-3 min every week.

My rest HR was at high 50s close to 60s range prior to 2nd BB. It dropped significantly a year ago after my 1st BB.

Ok makes sense, good strategy. Thanks

[Maxrip13]

I like your use of unilateral exercises for the SE block. I am finding that incorporating these is a great way to make extra improvements when you step away from the "Meat and Potato" strength clusters. I also find I don't get as many niggles and injuries from training when I include these sort of movements.

Those are some excellent results for any age let alone an old warhorse
Great to hear you had that much success.

I am working my way to something similar in the coming months.

[Barkadion]

I like your use of unilateral exercises for the SE block. I am finding that incorporating these is a great way to make extra improvements when you step away from the "Meat and Potato" strength clusters. I also find I don't get as many niggles and injuries from training when I include these sort of movements.

Those are some excellent results for any age let alone an old warhorse
Great to hear you had that much success.

I am working my way to something similar in the coming months.

Thanks mate! I am thinking to incorporate single limb movements into main clusters as well in the future. I find that it really keeps you safe and contributes into the whole body strength gains.

Looking forward to see your design!!

Cheers

[nickgoldma]

This is an awesome post. Glad I re-read it. I just started a Strength Focused BB block using fighter throughout. So far so good.