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Other/Mixed My BuiltStrong Minimalist Experience!

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
renegadenate

renegadenate

Level 6 Valued Member
I just completed six weeks of BuiltStrong Minimalist, and I love it! This has been my most favorite StrongFirst program so far.

I chose the Tough schedule as I am used to a higher training volume. In hindsight, I should have stuck with the Regular schedule as I was also performing two Murph Challenge training sessions each week (see my thread here: Bodyweight - Murph Challenge Training).

So, after I completed the first four weeks on the Tough schedule, I switched to the Regular schedule for the Medium and Light lifts but I kept the Tough schedule on the Heavy lifts as there was only a 1-2 rep difference in reps each week, and I can handle a higher volume of heavy lifts (the total number of lifts performed was 15 - I'm used to 20-30ish). That has worked great for me!

My weekly schedule and exercise choices looked like this:

Mon: BuiltStrong Minimalist (Heavy: Double Kettlebell Overhead Presses / Medium: Bulgarian Split Squats / Light: 1-Arm KB Rows)

Tues: Murph training (easy 1/2-mile run and low-volume Murph: 2/4/6 EMOM for 15-25 minutes)

Wed: BuiltStrong Minimalist (Heavy: DKBFS / Medium: BW Chin-ups / Light: BW Dips)

Thurs: Off

Fri: BuiltStrong Minimalist (Heavy: Weighted Pull-ups / Medium: DB Floor Presses / Light: Goblet Squats)

Sat: High-volume Murph training (see my thread above)

Sun: Off

My only "complaint" is that my knees (arthritis) have HATED squatting/Bulgarian split squats 3x/week. I can really only handle one squat day and one easier split squat day per week without my knees barking at me. Thus, for my next run of BuiltStrong minimalist, I will replace my Heavy squat day with Deadlifts.

Also, I quickly found out that you need to choose your "Medium" and especially your "Light" exercises wisely as they will be the exercises you're performing for the highest volume and reps (7-10). For 1-Arm KB Rows and Dips, it was fine, but Goblet Squats, DB Floor Presses, Chin-ups, and Bulgarian Split Squats (in addition to my arthritis) were brutal at higher volumes/rep ladders on some weeks.

I'm glad the volume decreases on weeks 7 and 8 as I have the Murph Challenge on Memorial day (which will be the start of Week 7).

So far, I've noticed an increase in muscle size in my biceps for the first time ever! I've literally NEVER had my biceps grow quickly or larger in the last 30 years!

I can also tell that my legs are regaining lost size (after a car accident in 2017), and my back/lats have definitely grown as my shirts have gotten tight in those areas.

In addition, I've lost 3lbs of fat (my waist has gotten loose on my shorts, and I can tighten my belt 1-2 more notches).

When I started BuiltStrong Minimalist I was trying to lose fat after gaining way too much in the last 2 1/2 years. I didn't care about gaining weight, but I'm glad to see that I've lost weight and have increased muscle in the aforementioned areas despite eating for fat loss.

I'm already designing my next 8-week BuiltStrong Minimalist plan with a few exercise changes (including Renegade Rows, Deadlifts in place of the Heavy Squat day, and 1-Arm KB Presses for all three press days). I will be running the "Tough" schedule for all Heavy lifts and the "Minimal" schedule for the Medium and Light exercises as I'll be performing two conditioning days each week for this next phase. I really need to bring up my cardio/work capacity to where I used to be.

@Fabio Zonin I'm so glad the BuiltStrong Minimalist program comes with a spreadsheet with so many options available! It allows me to get the variety I need with exercise choices (I chose 9 different exercises for my first 8-week plan) and varying volume with the different schedules.

I WISH the PlanStrong seminar included a spreadsheet like this so I could easily design strength plans for myself and my coaching clients. Even though I attended the first PlanStrong event in 2014, I still haven't figured out how to properly use all the info. It's way too confusing and time-consuming. I'm sure it's much better now (and I'm sure the manual has been revised a few times), but it really does need a spreadsheet like BuiltStrong Minimalist.
 
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Congrats ! Impressive progress!

I WISH the PlanStrong seminar included a spreadsheet like this so I could easily design strength plans for myself and my coaching clients.
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When I did the Built Strong seminar with Fabio, he said he would not include the spreadsheet because it would be too easy to copy and give away.
It s totally understandable but like you, I find it painful to design a full 8-week program without the spreadsheet. If you go for BTS 6, you need like two hours.
 
I forgot to mention:

I performed all sessions as a Circuit EMOM.

However, I took an additional 30-60 seconds of rest when needed.

All sessions (except for my Friday session on week 6) took less than 45 minutes INCLUDING my 5.5 minute warm-up (I posted the video in my Murph training thread) and 5 Rounds of a Power exercise (2-Hand Swings or Med ball Slams) performed for 5-10 reps EMOM.

I also added 1-3 warm-up sets on some exercises as needed (all Heavy lifts and some Medium lifts) still following EMOM as a Circuit.
 
Matt_lux said:
When I did the Built Strong seminar with Fabio, he said he would not include the spreadsheet because it would be too easy to copy and give away.
It s totally understandable but like you, I find it painful to design a full 8-week program without the spreadsheet. If you go for BTS 6, you need like two hours.
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You paid money to enter the seminar. It sounds like the information is good. It sounds like you are supposed to be able to use the information yourself as a personal trainer. Not giving you a straightforward way to use the information you paid for is like buying a book and then finding out you can only read in the bookstore. You have to take notes or cell phone camera images to keep the info you want to use later. It sounds like the course is shackled by a bad company policy.

If I were you I'd take the formulas to a freelancer on Fiverr and get that person to turn it into a functioning spreadsheet with all the calculation features you want. Just be specific and ask for everything, providing every formula and maybe even a dummy spreadsheet that LOOKS like what you want, even if your sample does not function the way you want. The freelancer can turn it into something useful. $5 is the tiniest fraction of your seminar's fee but would actually help you get the value of the seminar that StrongFirst charged for but refuses to provide.

I love StrongFirst's site and information but to make you pay to hear it and then hold back on paying customers like that is bad business. I doubt I'd ever pay for a seminar from them after reading about this BS. And "BS" does not stand for "Built Strong" but a description of the policy that requires customers work as hard as you described just to create a program.
 
GreenSoup said:
You have to take notes or cell phone camera images to keep the info you want to use later.
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You actually get 70+ pages of a very detailed manual + slides + worksheets.

I have built a basic spreadsheet like that and find it not hard to do. I actually did this before I attended the seminar, just based on reverse engineering plans.

However, it is not as easy to have a comprehensive spreadsheet, because there are lots of possible variations. The BTS Minimalist plan generator will always give you a certain type of waviness and percentages. Which is great and could be used for a long time. But there is much more to it and this will not be solved for a fiver. Plan Strong is even more complex and reps are assigned manually, even by Fabio who likes to play around with spreadsheets.

Anyway, there will be a BTS6 product soon, so that will be an option as well.

Btw, as far as I know Pavel does not use spreadsheets and does this stuff manually himself, so that is part of the package.

Anyway, back to the original topic: The BTS Minimalist plan is really awesome and enjoyable. I will second that you need to be honest in your testing of medium and light variations, as they are pretty tough, especially if you are not uses to sets above 5 teps :)
 
Bauer said:
However, it is not as easy to have a comprehensive spreadsheet, because there are lots of possible variations.
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I insist that if you can describe what you want someone to do with a spreadsheet, someone on Fiverr will do it for five dollars. Your writing makes it sound as though such a spreasheet would be valuable to any Plan Strong programmer.

The BTS Minimalist plan generator sounds like a welcome part of a good plan. Given the potential for complexity, it sounds like an essential part of making the plan work so well for trainees.
 
It's only a small modification but I created some additional spreadsheet sheets using cross references to generate daily training plans for the three days of the week. I did this to avoid switching between three pdf printouts on my phone.

I then got annoyed with scrolling up and down the one pdf so I now have one sheet with the three exercises split by sessions. That way I can just scroll across the set count and see the three exercise rep ladders. I have done in a superset fashion so this is easiest.

All good except for when I mistakenly used the wrong exercise and tried to do the higher rep ladders with the medium weight.

So even this way not foolproof :)
 
GreenSoup said:
I insist that if you can describe what you want someone to do with a spreadsheet, someone on Fiverr will do it for five dollars. Your writing makes it sound as though such a spreasheet would be valuable to any Plan Strong programmer.

The BTS Minimalist plan generator sounds like a welcome part of a good plan. Given the potential for complexity, it sounds like an essential part of making the plan work so well for trainees.
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Agreed!

If a spreadsheet for BuiltStrong Minimalist works, there has to be a way to do something similar for PlanStrong.
 
GreenSoup said:
You paid money to enter the seminar. It sounds like the information is good. It sounds like you are supposed to be able to use the information yourself as a personal trainer. Not giving you a straightforward way to use the information you paid for is like buying a book and then finding out you can only read in the bookstore. You have to take notes or cell phone camera images to keep the info you want to use later. It sounds like the course is shackled by a bad company policy.

If I were you I'd take the formulas to a freelancer on Fiverr and get that person to turn it into a functioning spreadsheet with all the calculation features you want. Just be specific and ask for everything, providing every formula and maybe even a dummy spreadsheet that LOOKS like what you want, even if your sample does not function the way you want. The freelancer can turn it into something useful. $5 is the tiniest fraction of your seminar's fee but would actually help you get the value of the seminar that StrongFirst charged for but refuses to provide.

I love StrongFirst's site and information but to make you pay to hear it and then hold back on paying customers like that is bad business. I doubt I'd ever pay for a seminar from them after reading about this BS. And "BS" does not stand for "Built Strong" but a description of the policy that requires customers work as hard as you described just to create a program.
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This is why I'm hesitant to ever attend another PlanStrong event (even with the past attendee discount).

I spent the money on a plane ticket from Florida to Arizona, a hotel room, and the cost of the seminar but left without being able to use the information to create PlanStrong strength plans.

Just because other people have figured out how to do it manually in two hours or more doesn't mean I have or want to spend that much time programming ONE exercise for an 8-week plan.

I wonder if someone on Fiverr could create a usable spreadsheet with the information. I'm just not sure if the information from my manual (since it was the first PlanStrong event) is up-to-date or includes all the right info.
 
Yeah, that could be done when simplifying. I think SF will probably provide us with more options in the future, as things are always evolving.

For those that want made-for-you plans, StrongFirst offers plenty of free PlanStrong plans. As they are based on 1RM they can be used with barbells quite easily. And some products like Ladders Reloaded (Milo Magazine) or Victorious offer plans as well.

However, the RM-ranges in Built Strong are much more user friendly, especially for KB users. That would be cool for PS too

Here are a few PlanStrong plans:
www.strongfirst.com

Stop Fearing Heavy Weights | StrongFirst

For decades I have heard about thousands of training related products that claimed to work magic for athletes, oftentimes supported by “abstracts” of research and clinical studies. But very few of them were ever mentioned again just a couple of years later. Similarly, the internet and social...
www.strongfirst.com
www.strongfirst.com

The 1TRM EV PS Program: Escalating Volume in the Plan Strong Style | StrongFirst

The 1TRM EV PS program is an advanced variation of the 5TRM Back Squat Program, based on the 1TRM and with Plan Strong inspired volume progression.
www.strongfirst.com
www.strongfirst.com

The 5TRM Back Squat Program | StrongFirst

Sometimes it is not appropriate to measure 1RM, but what if your back squat program is based off one? Enter the 5TRM - your five technically perfect rep max.
www.strongfirst.com
www.strongfirst.com

A Science-Based Plan to Prepare You for the SFG Level I and SFG Level II | StrongFirst

This prep guide for the SFG Level I and/or SFG Level II builds conditioning and strength using Pavel’s latest research. It is a science-based plan.
www.strongfirst.com
breakingmuscle.com

Waves of Strength: Soviet-Style Periodization - Breaking Muscle

Last week I covered a simple endurance program that creates an anabolic environment to prime you for strength training. This week we’ll cover the most powerful strength program I have used. Russel Dunning and his athletes used this program with great success in attempting the StrongFirst Level...
breakingmuscle.com breakingmuscle.com


This one is quite enlightening, too:
www.strongfirst.com

From Simple to Sinister: Waving Volume on S&S | StrongFirst

The "From Simple to Sinister" program takes the original Simple & Sinister and applies proven Soviet techniques of waving volume. Here's how to do it.
www.strongfirst.com
 
renegadenate said:
Just because other people have figured out how to do it manually in two hours or more doesn't mean I have or want to spend that much time programming ONE exercise for an 8-week plan.

I wonder if someone on Fiverr could create a usable spreadsheet with the information. I'm just not sure if the information from my manual (since it was the first PlanStrong event) is up-to-date or includes all the right info.
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Since so much of PlanStrong is said to be based on 20th Century Soviet strength training I would be surprised if any PS seminar from the first to the most recent could ever truly become out of date.

Added edit for clarity: It's an application of how specific people did a specific thing at a specific time in history, right? A book about the engineering of microphones from the 1970's would not be out of date if you want to build a historical reproduction, so if you want to reproduce the 20th century Soviet lifting strategies I suspect attendees at the first PlanStrong seminar have that information.
 
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WEEK 8: Test Week!

MONDAY:
Double Kettlebell Overhead Presses
22kg + 22kg
Previous RM: 5
New RM: 7

Prior to beginning BuiltStrong Minimalist my 1RM was 26kg + 26kg (79% of body-weight).

I'll retest that at a later time.

I'll finish my Bulgarian Split Squats and 1-Arm Rows for this session and report back Wednesday on my Double Kettlebell Front Squats.
 
Wanted to share some results of mine from my own week 8 tests. I just ran this program with two lifts, Zercher Squat and Bridge Floor Press on the “Minimal” volume. I’m going to test the Floor Press in a few days, but did the test for Zercher Squat this morning.

Started the program with 185lbs as a 5RM, but ran the numbers for the program with 185lbs as a 4TRM. 155lbs was 9TRM, and 135lbs was 13TRM. Old 1RM was 215lbs, and that felt like a stretch.

Last week I tested my 1RM and to my surprise, I got 225lbs for 2 easy reps. Tried 245lbs, easy rep. Stood up with 255lbs after that, a new 1RM which I’m super stoked about.

This morning, tested 185lbs, and got 10 reps! I couldn’t believe the improvement.

I’m definitely a squat noob, but I’m still really happy with the results, and I loved this program. Will definitely run this again, maybe with Pistol Squat and 1-arm KB Press.
 
Nick Stevens said:
Wanted to share some results of mine from my own week 8 tests. I just ran this program with two lifts, Zercher Squat and Bridge Floor Press on the “Minimal” volume. I’m going to test the Floor Press in a few days, but did the test for Zercher Squat this morning.

Started the program with 185lbs as a 5RM, but ran the numbers for the program with 185lbs as a 4TRM. 155lbs was 9TRM, and 135lbs was 13TRM. Old 1RM was 215lbs, and that felt like a stretch.

Last week I tested my 1RM and to my surprise, I got 225lbs for 2 easy reps. Tried 245lbs, easy rep. Stood up with 255lbs after that, a new 1RM which I’m super stoked about.

This morning, tested 185lbs, and got 10 reps! I couldn’t believe the improvement.

I’m definitely a squat noob, but I’m still really happy with the results, and I loved this program. Will definitely run this again, maybe with Pistol Squat and 1-arm KB Press.
Click to expand...
Niiiiiccceee! That's awesome.
 
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