2/12/21
Endurance
Had planned on rucking but a cold rain this morning led me indoors again.
Did 41 total minutes on the treadmill. 5 minutes walking to warm up. Jogged for 30 and walked for 6 to cool down.
Today was the final day of Base Building. Planning on running my training week from Tuesday to Sunday with Monday as a rest day. So I have a couple of days to make final decisions on my continuation. I have been learning towards Operator along with Black Professional. But I have still been considering Fighter Bangkok with Black Professional. My cluster will be Back Squat, Inverted Rows, Two Handed Landmine Press, and Sumo Deadlift.
However, and I preface this by saying that I may be overthinking things, but I’m second guessing how I should proceed. The reason is that, while I have come a long way from when I started Base Building, I am not where I need to be yet or where the normal expectation would probably be upon completion of BB from a conditioning perspective. I had not given enough attention to conditioning prior to beginning TB anyway and I was sidelined for a solid month by a case of Covid and a couple bouts of bilateral pneumonia during November.
When I began exercising again in December I was just walking at a relaxed pace for about ten minutes. So I feel good about how far I’ve come but began at a pretty low point.
Today when I ran on the treadmill my heartrate was mostly in the 152 - 174 range, clearly above the 130-140 range that is recommended for endurance sessions. And this was on a treadmill, as noted.
So I am not sure if I should proceed, as outlined above, with the expectation that the conditioning will eventually catch up? Or should I run another Base Building phase for 8 weeks? I’d rather not do that but if it’s the best course I would. Any feedback would be appreciated.
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There is no set criteria that one must attain in order to successfully complete a BB block
You’ve completed the block and created YOUR base
If you feel your conditioning could do with more improvement then choose the appropriate templates and run them for a couple of blocks
Fighter/Green would be a good fit in this case @cisco_red .
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Nothing to say you can’t do an additional 4 week mini cycle
HIC (1-10)
E 30-40
STRENGHT FULL BODY
E 40-50
HIC (GC/crossfit style)
E 60+
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I think it’s great you’ve finished BB, and that you’re thinking longterm. I think the real question to consider is: ~8-9 weeks from now, would you value an increase in strength or an increase in conditioning more?
If you would value an increase in conditioning/endurance, you could re-do BB but use the “strength-first” option to give you a change of pace and make the BB mentally easier. (by minimizing the S/E sessions).
If you want to jump into a continuation protocol, it sounds like Fighter Bangkok with Black Pro may be a good option if you want to keep progressing on conditioning while building up some additional strength.
Whatever you pick, I would go all-in and not start/stop your continuation phase. While it’s up to you, I would recommend based on what you’ve told that Fighter Bangkok with either Black Pro or Green might be the best option. Keep us posted and best of luck! Feel good about finishing BB!
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I appreciate all of the feedback everyone. I think I’ll do Fighter Bangkok Green for at least six or maybe even 12 weeks and then assess where I am. Eventually I will shift to Black. I will probably also shift to Operator as well at some point, depending on how my strength levels respond to Bangkok.
My order during the week may be a little different than the examples in the books just to fit my schedule.
MS Cluster will remain the same. I like to do my deadlifts on the weekend when I have plenty of time to work with.
I may try out Tango protocol for SE.
Tue - Max Strength
Wed - Endurance
Thu - Strength Endurance Tango
Fri - Endurance/Recovery
Sat - Max Strength
Sun - Endurance (This will probably be a longer session like rucking or hiking)
Mon - Rest
As I get closer to transitioning to Black, I may start swapping out one E for HIC or even blend a session together.
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Whatever you do @cisco_red, just go all in. None of this dipping your toe in the water bullshit.
The magic will happen
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Good plan. Just keep your head down and keep chugging away and you’ll get to where you want to get.
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2/16/21
First Day of TB Continuation
MS
Squat 3 x 5 x 205
Inverted Rows 3 x 6 x BW
Two Handed Landmine Press 3 x 5 x 70
2/17/21
Endurance
Set treadmill for walking at a level and speed that would keep the heart rate in the 130 to 140 range, give or take. Did 45 minutes.
1/18/21
SE Tango
Warmed up and then prior to getting started I played around with a few Hang Power Cleans and Jerks.
Did two rounds of the following with a minute per exercise, except for the rows, and then roughly a minute rest in between.
Goblet Squat - 40 lbs
DB BOR - 30 per
2-Handed KB Swings - 40 lbs
One Armed Landmine Press - Bar
First time using this so I wasn’t sure where to start on the weight. Will go up on weight on the Goblet Squat and KB Swings. The one issue I ran into was that the DB Rows are such a quicker lift than some of the others that going for a minute equates to a lot of reps. I would need to drop in weight from what I used during Base Building. I may just cap those around 35-40 reps and gradually go up in weight. I may also still play around with the exercise selection here.
2/19/21
Recovery Day
Did 30 minutes on treadmill. Jogged 15 minutes continuously which brought my heart rate up to the upper 150s. Walked the other half trying to stay below 140.
2/20/21
MS
Squat - 3 x 5 x 205
2 Handed Landmine Press - 3 x 5 x 70
Sumo DL - 3 x 5 x 210
Did a little finisher of 5 ascending sets of Svend Press.
Shoulders are beginning to get a little achy. I may try to make some adjustments on a few things to address this, including skipping the one arm LM presses on the SE day and lowering the bar on the Inverted Rows so that there is no chance of over extension at the bottom of the lift. If it persists, I’ll change the cluster.
Edited to add that I have been seriously considering switching to a cluster with squat, hang power snatch, hang power clean, and sumo deadlifts. On deadlift day I would skip the hang power cleans. It would not be as balanced but would probably be a little more friendly on the arthritis in my shoulder.
I’m only a week in so I’m not too worried about shifting mid cycle if I need to.
2/21/21
E
Hiked 5 miles in about 95 minutes or so.
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2/23/21
MS
Squat - 3 x 5 x 220 lbs
Inverted Rows - 3 x 5 x BW
Hang Power Snatch - 2 x 5 x 65, 1 x 5 x 75
Later tonight I did 12 PU.
Still trying out different ways to do strength days with the shoulder issues. Came into the day with a little leftover soreness. I dropped the height of the bar on the IR so that there was no chance of overextending at the bottom. The flatter angle makes them a little more difficult so I dropped the reps per set. Wasn’t trying to push anything here until I decide how to go forward.
Skipped the Landmine Press today. Tried out the HPS. Don’t think I’ll include this on MS days going forward. I’ll probably do some KB swings on some of these days.
I’m still going to experiment with a few options, including slowly adding pushups to see how they feel.
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2/24/21
E
Ran and walked for about 45 minutes combined.
Still a ways to go but I’m definitely making progress on the conditioning. I haven’t ran in my neighborhood for a couple of weeks or so. It’s quite hilly. Previously I was running everything except for the hills. Today I ran on two of the three ascents of one of the hills. I haven’t tried tackling the larger one yet.
Need to get back on track with my eating habits though. Struggling.
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What template did you end up running with @cisco_red mate?
Fighter Bangkok Green. Will probably be for six weeks. Maybe 12.
2/25/21
SE Tango
Tweaked it a bit by adding Rack Push Ups with a Swiss Bar. Set it as low to the ground as possible. Kept the reps low to test it out on the shoulder. Did 10 per cycle.
Three cycles of…
Rack Push U8
Goblet Squat - 45 lbs
DB BOR - 35 lbs per
2 Handed KB Swings - 45 lbs
Finished with a zercher carry of a 55 lb sandbag.
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2/26/21
Opted for a rest day today. Did some stretching and foam rolling.
Was pretty worn out from a lack of sleep, some soreness, and the 2nd dose of vaccine.
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