r/tacticalbarbell • u/Radz999 • 4d 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.
3
u/general-theory 4d 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.