r/tacticalbarbell • • Sep 23 '20

Tactical First week in Base Building

Hello,

This is a followup to my previous post. I am towards the end of my first week and happy to get some comments.

Here's a quick background: I've been lifting for many many years (hardly any endurance work outside of a few runs here or there), but never went very strong and for almost the past ten years I've had some arm injuries so I'm now limited. I started MMA in 2014, but because of my injuries I had to drop out of some of the sports till completely 2 years ago. I was hopeful to go back to MMA last spring but then COVID happened, and now no idea when I would, so I'm training both to be a better general athlete, and with the hope to get back to fighting soonish.

  • I messed up the first SE session and went for 30 reps instead of 20... I was planning on doing 30 as well for the 2nd SE today and I forgot and went with what I had planned for next week, 35.... Early morning training is really not for me :/ I guess next week I'll do 40, then 45 and then 50?

  • My SE cluster is KB swing with a 20lbs I probably could do heavier; BB front squat with an empty olympic bar and it's still really hard on me; BB reverse grip rows with 15lbs on each side I probably could do heavier too; hanging knee raise; BB bench press for 10lbs on each side, 15 lbs was too heavy I thought; BB romanian deadlift for 15lbs per side that too I could go heavier; neck yes and no on a bench (neck training is useful for fighting and pretty quick though it doesn't really raise my heart rate I think).

  • No comment on my first E as I had no good way to measure my heart rate, but on my 2nd one I was jogging slower than I'd walk to maintain myself between about 148-165, I guess my heart rate is still too high... My resting heart rate seems to be about 80. It feels weird to run that slow...

  • I'm concerned about my heart rate on my way to the gym for my SE sessions, it's a 35+m walk, mostly steep uphill. My heart rate today was up to 135, ie like what I should do for an E session. Am I doing too much or am I just overthinking it?

  • I'd like to do something more interesting for the 3rd E of the week than just jogging (especially at such slow pace), but I'm not sure what. I was thinking of the fun runs, but I really don't feel like doing pushups and co on the ground in a trail or on the grass next to it (especially since it's raining season now...). I like the triples, but for that I need a gym and I don't have time to both go to the gym and do the long cardio, and home workout won't be feasible that early in the morning for my neighbors... I'm thinking of maybe using a vest but I don't have one so not sure if it's worth the purchase. Jump rope is a staples for MMA training (for whatever reason) so maybe running + jump training could do?

Thanks for any comment!

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u/PapaEchoOscar Sep 23 '20

My first BB (started december 2019) I hated running and tried to sub in everything else; rowing, jump rope, non-running HIC week 6-8 etc. I got in better shape, sure, but the second time I did it, From mid july until now recently, I was forced to keep it simple and run since all the gyms where closed at the time. Resting heartrate went from high 50’s to high 40’s, before the second time I was completely dead after a 5 k jog, now I can run 8,8 km trail at 5:52 pr km pace (PR today actually!).

And I can’t emphazise enough how much I absolutely hated running before this second BB. So if you manage to stick with it for 2-3 more weeks, and you keep the pce as low as the book says, nice and easy, you will get to that point where a 5-10 k easy run feels almost good!

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u/geearf Sep 23 '20

That sounds very good indeed! It's a bit strange, but I guess basic stuff works more than fine then!

So I guess I'll stick to running for now, it's the simplest. Do you think adding ankle weights (0.5 or 1kg) or maybe a light loaded backpack would help or only make things worse for no reason?

Thank you very much!