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Strong Endurance A+A and Strength work

Travis Sisco

Level 5 Valued Member
Has anyone experimented with doing A+A and strength work on the same day? For example do your typical 5x5 on Squats and an upper body lift then finish with Pavel’s C&J A+A after? I’m trying to consolidate work into just a few workouts a week during fall as time and energy is going to be a little limited. This can be with Q&D as well as I love rotating them. Usually A+A is on separate days but I’m limited to 2 maybe 3 strength days this fall
 
Last time I tried something like this my schedule was too dense, and it did not go well to run my pttp style deadlifting in parallel with Q&D Snatches.

If your recovery is going well, then good.
But if I tried it again I'd do it more spread out


MWF
ABA
BAB

Or...

MTThF
ABAB
 
I was running the A+A swing protocol from newsletter (1 heavy swings every 20sec) and finishing the session with some heavy military press singles

How are your A+A days setup?

I would definitely do the A+A before strength work... Typically best practices are power -> strength -> endurance when done in the same session

So C&J up to maybe 20-30min... Rest 5-6min then hit 4-7 moderately heavy deadlifts
 
Honestly the best way I've found doing both within the same session is using the original A+A protocols from Al Ciampa using swings or snatches... Those protocols are waved using plan strong %s so you have a more structured H-L-M setup and can plan your strength days accordingly

So on the L A+A days you do your more intense strength work and on the H A+A days you use a lighter strength session etc
 
Justin_M said:
I routinely do A+A followed by strength work 2-3 days per week. I prefer to step progress the A+A volume instead of daily undulation though so it doesn't awkwardly impact my strength program progression.
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This just had me imagine an A+A/IC type of split: Something like Heavy A+A and Light IC, Light A+A and Heavy IC, Medium A+A and Medium IC.
 
I recall @Brett Jones sometimes finishing his IC sessions with some A+A-like OTM heavy swings. IC is more strength oriented, and there seems to be plenty in the tank for a 15-20 min swing session afterward. However, if power is your main focus then I agree with previous comments that it should come first. The "why" will dictate the "what".
 
Yes, I do the strength work first though and finish with the conditioning. I'm squatting heavy a couple times a week and deadlift a third day. Finishing with Iron Cardio, A+A, S&S. On days where I have no barbell programmed I may do a double KB chain or complex then sled work. On those days I'll maybe finish with some otm pull ups, dips, double unders or hardstyle burpees. Having a lot of fun with volume for another 2 months the will have to cut back to shorter sessions during my heavy work season.
 
Travis Sisco said:
Has anyone experimented with doing A+A and strength work on the same day? For example do your typical 5x5 on Squats and an upper body lift then finish with Pavel’s C&J A+A after? I’m trying to consolidate work into just a few workouts a week during fall as time and energy is going to be a little limited. This can be with Q&D as well as I love rotating them. Usually A+A is on separate days but I’m limited to 2 maybe 3 strength days this fall
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No, I have not. I will offer that, if I was to do this, I'd do the A+A work first, and adjust the balance between the two things so that either the A+A was easy enough to have good strength training afterwards or the strength training was easy enough to be performed in a slightly fatigued state from the A+A training. Specifically I would not do what you mention, which is A+A after strength training. Explosive work should come first - you can do it after, but then it becomes something else, a sort of strength-endurance training rather than power endurance.

There are a few articles on this site about doing very small amounts of kettlebell ballistics alongside strength training. It won't be A+A but such an approach may be what's best for you if strength training is your most important thing.

TL;DR

I do swings, a powerful set every 1:20 at the moment, for a total of about 80 reps. This is, in my mind Q&D/A+A-ish. My typical schedule, which I did do as below this past week is:

Sun: SQ
Mon: swing
Tue: BP
Wed: swing
Thu: off
Fri: DL
Sat: swing

On SQ/BP/DL days, if I have time and energy, I'll do a little of the other two lifts in competition order, e.g., on SQ day I followed it up with a few easy BP, and on DL day, I started with a few easy SQ and a few easy BP before going into heavy DL. So it's strength training alternated with A+A-ish training.

If something's gotta give, I'll cut out one swing day.

The day off is before DL day because my DL is my best lift and the weights are heavy and systemically tiring, and I've found I need the rest day before in order to have a good heavy DL day.

-S-
 
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