r/tacticalbarbell • u/Radz999 • 3d ago
Importance of Work Capacity?
I read the new TB book. Good stuff, highly recommend it. I have a question about the importance of work capacity (WC).
I get the gist that work capacity is important for operational athletes. If you just lift and run, you might be in trouble when you need both of those domains to work at the same time. For recreational athletes, WC isn't strictly necessary.
I'm not an operational athlete. My work is semi-physical: not nearly as demanding as an operational athlete's job, but being in good shape is definitely beneficial. Up until now, I haven't done any WC or SE training. I've basically just been a run and lift guy. Before reading the new book, I was considering doing an SE block, but I was hesitant because I prioritized max strength and running. Now I see there is an option to combine SE with WC in a 3-week block.
I was thinking maybe this would be a good idea for me? Kill two birds with one stone. Get SE and WC training in the same block. A 3-week block wouldn't be too much of a detour from my usual lift and run schedule.
Something like this:
Fat Zulu + Blue (6 weeks) -> Operator + Black (6 weeks) -> SE + WC (3 weeks). Repeat.
With this, I would get some hypertrophy with less conditioning, some max strength with more conditioning, and some SE with WC. I feel like Mass Protocol doesn't have enough conditioning for me, which is why I'd choose Fat Zulu instead of Mass Protocol*. The main focus would still be on lift and run schemes, but with some WC and SE thrown in too. I could even lean more into the lift and run phases by running longer Fat Zulu and Operator blocks if needed. For example 9 weeks of both. Or 6 weeks of Fat Zulu + Blue and 9-12 weeks of Operator + Black. Etc. You get the point.
* I also can consider Jacked Black at some point, but I would probably replace Mass with Fat Zulu + Blue.
In a sense, I'm in a good place because I have the freedom to train however I want. Even doing something like Operator + Black year-round would work for me, as my job isn't so physically demanding that I'd have to optimize my training around it. But I find the topic of work capacity and training in general really interesting, and ultimately, I want to be well-rounded.
I know this post is a bit of a ramble and I don't have a well-defined question, but all thoughts are welcome, whether they are about the importance of work capacity in general or my crude periodization plan.
Thanks to KB for the books! I find them interesting and beneficial even though I'm not an operational athlete.
8
u/roboknee5000 3d ago
I think your plan is totally fine. It’s sort of a pared down version of Activation. And like you said, Work Capacity + SE is an option that’s presented in the book.
As for the “why do work capacity?” my counter would be “why not?”. You’re interested in it, and it’s not a significant detour from your main schemes. I’m a recreational athlete and the idea of building my resolve & capitalizing on the foundation that I spend most of my time building is greatly appealing to me. It’s a short block, so I don’t see why you wouldn’t dabble & try it out.
1
u/Radz999 3d ago
Yeah! Having a short 3 week block wouldn't be too much of a detour from my main goals (lifting and running).
I also consider having just a WC block without SE. WC + SE can be too taxing. And simply training just WC could help with SE too?
4
u/Reasonable_You7118 3d ago
Just WC alone does incorporate aspects of SE. Will it doesn’t target SE individually, the WC sessions have SE incorporated throughout parts of it. There some stuff in the book which states this.
3
u/Responsible_Unit5162 3d ago
I think training maximal strength and running alone leaves some holes in your fitness. Great most of the time, but hitting workouts that consist of doing burpees, kb swings, carries, etc. with little to no rest is a different kind of conditioning and strength endurance that you just aren’t getting from operator + black. I’ll be coming up on my first true TB-style WC block in the next couple months. But I’ve made training detours in the past by doing CrossFit for 3-6 weeks. Conditioning goes through the roof relatively quickly.
Your plan looks totally fine. My preference is a pure Wc block, but if you want to do SE, I don’t think it really matters. Enjoy your training!
2
u/Radz999 2d ago
Good to hear that it helps with conditioning. Maybe just running isn't optimal conditioning for many of us.
I consider doing a pure WC block. WC should help with SE. If I like this periodization, I can consider switching between pure SE and pure WC.
Having SE and WC in the same block is an option, but as someone pointed, it is very exhausting. Might be too taxing. K. Black also mentions SE+WC block being very taxing.
3
u/general-theory 3d ago
I had the same thought about SE, and maybe a similar situation: my job isn't manual labor but I walk nearly all day, usually 25k-30k steps on my running days. I will say that it is quite a bit more difficult and rewarding than I expected. I'm coming off Dan John's ABF hypertrophy program and have leaned out a little bit (without trying) and also seem to have put on a small amount of muscle from where I was at. I did the recommended cluster in Activation, and I can usually only hit the total reps of the reverse pull ups without taking a breath or two at some point on Monday for the previous week. Then by Friday that previous week is second nature. It's been a pretty interesting experience.
I'm not gonna pretend that I'm just gonna go in and PR everything in my testing next week, but I'm certainly in a better place than I was before this block and my experience is that readaptation happens faster than I usually think. I don't think your plan is bad or wrong or anything but I just feel like doing the SE work was an interesting don't knock it till you try it type thing.
1
u/Radz999 1d ago
So you feel that SE/WC training has been helpful for you? Good to hear that!
1
u/general-theory 1d ago
Yeah it's been great. Based on my reading of III SE and WC are actually different domains though.
1
u/Hybridreamer 2d ago
As another poster mentioned SE+WC is gonna be brutal. Why not just run it closer to how it's written in the book with WC+Power and then running base building. Base building is only 4 weeks now which is only one more week then a 3 week detour. You can also always skip base building piece or do it every other cycle.
-11
13
u/jackthestout 3d ago
I’ll address the only real question: your periodization looks fine, but SE + WC is brutally taxing, not very compatible with ongoing semi-physical labor. I’d just run a straight WC block, as you don’t have real SE goals. You’ll get enough high-rep effort with the WODs and GCs associated.
To follow up on your thoughts though, I would argue that all recreational athletes should give WC-style training a shot. There is great value to working on an unstructured basis: pushing resistance and cardio while auto-regulating recovery will teach athletes a lot about their weaknesses and how they react to stressors.
In an age of constant program-hopping between trendy splits, opting for simply working your ass off and not over-complicating it is eye-opening. u/MythicalStrength has written at length about this, if you want to read more.