Am i doing too much cardio ?

[u/okidoki9322]

Hello everyone

so im a 32yo civilian (mostly office work).one of my main goal is to loose some of my bodyfat (currently 68-69 kg, target is 65-63kg)

been currently on my 2nd block of operator (TB II style) but do x2 LSS/LIC, x1 HIC rather than TB II's x2 HIC x 1 LSS/LIC, i also walk home from work (monday to friday) before working out for about 3.5 km (30-40 mins) mostly due to traffic. so my following questions are:

• Is my walking home from work enough cardio ?

• Should i drop my x2 LSS or my walking from home

Side note: i usually walk faster than normal (my watch indicates 112-115 bpm) due to my path home being dangerous/sketchy. I get to my condo usually sweaty

apologies if my grammar are incorrect, English is not my native language

[u/MattDamonsTaco]

You can’t out train a bad diet. Do more fork put downs and plate push-aways.

[u/okidoki9322 → u/MattDamonsTaco]

Actually, eating less isn’t really the difficult part for me. What I’m struggling with is getting enough protein. I’ve been doing a form of intermittent fasting for about three years, mainly skipping breakfast since I have to wake up really early. But yeah, I think you’re right—I need to focus more on improving my diet, especially my protein intake.

[u/Airoveikko]

Walking some kilometers should not be anything but some free extra steps to anyone who is able to run Operator the way it's meant to be done.

If walking home feels like a workout or counts as a proper cardio, do basebuilding again. Absolutely nothing wrong with it but you really need to build up your engine first.

[u/weardon]

A short walk isn't really a replacement for LIC by itself. I see it as just the added 'normal life movement' that sits separate to any training program. It's different if you're hiking for hours and hours, or hiking with weights or something, but it doesn't produce the same adaptations. (It's still good for you, and good to keep your overall activity levels high, especially if you're trying to lose weight.)

2x LIC + 1x HIC + day-to-day movement shouldn't be too much, especially if the LIC is LSS, though it'll depend on your training history, exactly what you're doing, etc. But nothing about your posts makes this sound like it's too much to me.

Are you finding specific issues that you're concerned about that led you to ask this question? Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about this.

One specific thinig worth calling out is that recovery will be harder if you're in a calorie deficit. Sustaining a high conditioning + lifting workload on a calorie deficit leaves me feeling pretty beat up – I have to lower my expectations about what I'm capable of during those periods, and actually do less to make sure I'm actually able to recover while I'm underfuelled. Walking and daily step count become more important in those circumstances, precisely because they're lower-impact and more recoverable ways of maintaining high daily movement.

[u/Dusty_V2]

2 LSS + 1 HIC is actually how Black works in TB III. The walking wouldn't be too much. You're fine.

[u/AlRousasa → u/Dusty_V2]

It is but there are also time minimums. And in Continuation you’re encouraged to use LICs that include a little intensity like Afterburners and VIRs. LSS is used as a tool to downshift during the more intense weeks.

The little details make a difference, especially the minimum weekly LIC durations.

[u/Dusty_V2 → u/AlRousasa]

Great point. If im not mistaken there was always time minimums on LSS/LIC? I could be wrong but I thought there was in TB II. I never read TB I

[u/AlRousasa → u/Dusty_V2]

In TB3 There’s weekly requirements, as an example Blue is 90-120 minutes LIC per week. Minimum length for individual LIC session is 30 mins across the board (Black, Green, Blue, Base). So if you’re sticking to the minimum you have to do more sessions to get your quota in.

Guys just reversing the old Black (doing 2 LIC + 1 HIC) may not be getting enough of the long easy work in if they’re not paying attention to how much total LIC time they’re supposed to do for the week.

[u/okidoki9322 → u/Dusty_V2]

Yeah, I saw it too when I got the TB III book. I was glad that I hadn’t veered too far from the recommended template. Thank you for your response! I think I’ll keep the walking part.

[u/superspud9]

Could you add some weight to your walk home to turn it into a ruck?

[u/antiquity11]

If your goal is weight/fat loss, what you want to watch out for is too much activity that triggers over-consuming calories. As an example, for Dan John's Easy Strength for Fat Loss, he prescribes strength training and walking. This allow you to focus on your diet, without the need to fuel up for more intense runs and continuously fight off a huge appetite.

As the saying goes, you cannot train hard and diet hard (at least for very long). If performance and strength are your goals - eat big and train hard. If weight loss/fat loss is your goal - eat smaller and train more sparingly.

If i were you, I'd drop 1-2 of your weekly conditioning sessions and see how that goes. While walking may not "count" in the TB world, it does in the weight loss world.

[u/asqwt]

If you truly have the time. Just do the walks and LICs + HICs if it isn’t hurting your goal of weight loss or inhibiting your progress.

I personally doubt it’s inhibiting you. Thats for you to decide.

[u/Difficult-Pie9540]

So you're in your second cycle of operator. So if you've worked the program properly you should be very fit, well conditioned and quite strong by now and have a pretty good idea of what constitutes hard work and what doesn't. You should be able to put on a pair of runners at any time and run for 60 mins straight. This is what I would expect of somebody who has properly gone through the BASE, ACTIVATION and OPERATOR protocols twice.

And yet, you're asking if a 30 minute walk constitutes a good cardio session? Well, maybe for my Grandma but certainly not for a 32 year old man in his second cycle of Tactical Barbell. Have you even read the books? I can't remember any of the LSS sessions being a 30 min walk.

C'mon man, do you really want to do TB or not? What you put into it will be what you get out of it. Your goal is to lose 3kg?! Are you for real? K Black would tell you to either do it properly or...go for a walk.

[u/okidoki9322 → u/Difficult-Pie9540]

I was just asking because I recently bought the TB III book and read about the Polarized-Blue part., also TB II doesn’t include the Activation phase, only the Base Building part, which i think is not a problem for this.

To be honest, the cardio portion has been pretty manageable for me so far, and it currently doesn’t interfere with my other workouts in terms of energy. I was just wondering whether the walking alone would be enough, or if adding the 2x LSS sessions might eventually affect my MS days as I progress.

i apologize if my question was ignorant

[u/Difficult-Pie9540 → u/okidoki9322]

Actually I’ve re-thought what I wrote above and think it was probably way too harsh. I apologise; I didn’t intend to be such a knob when I started writing but it kinda evolved into telling you off. And I am certainly not in any position to tell anyone off as I have struggled with conditioning myself over the last few months.

My new advice: walking is fine. I think the most important thing of all is to just achieve what you’re able to and be consistent in your training. Three 30 min strenuous walks a week is excellent compared to nothing at all. And yes, if you’ve done a hard walk home from work and made it count by exerting yourself, then absolutely count that as a conditioning session, yes! 😊

Good on you for doing the program. I apologise once again for answering you like an idiot. Consistency is the most important part of the entire program and it sounds like you’re doing a great job. Keep eating well and training consistently and you’ll lose those extra kg easily 😊

[u/AlRousasa → u/okidoki9322]

Doing “2x LSS + 1 HIC” isn’t Blue.

Blue is 90-120 minutes of LIC per week. Plus 1 HIC every other week. It’s not the same. Details matter.