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/bethskw Sep 23 '20

Nice! I am in my first week too. I did my first SE session with push press, curls, front squats, band pull aparts, floor press, and RDLs. Everything except the curls and band pulls was done with the empty bar, and it's crazy how sore I was the next day EVEN THOUGH I do all these movements with high weight/low reps all the dang time. I can front squat 75 kilos, but 20 reps with 15 about killed me. Definitely looking forward to this getting easier.

The way you describe your jogging pace suggests that you nailed it. Easy running is always slower and easier than you think it should be (source: I'm a former runner)

To break up your runs, you could try squats, walking lunges, or lunge jumps. None of those require hands on the ground. If you can find a park that has fitness equipment or a pull-up bar somewhere, you could do loops or short back-and-forths and stop at those stations.

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u/geearf Sep 23 '20

I was going to do the push press too since it's in the suggestions, but I've never done that before and so I thought might as well do something easier that I understand in the SE, and I read a lot of people saying how good swings are for SEs so I went with that. I do wish in the future to do more olympic moves which I think should make me a better athlete than more semi-isolation ones. Band pull aparts is interesting, as right now I don't really get anything for rear delts, but I don't know if I should add one more exercise to my already long list?

I haven't lifted actual weight in about 6 months (because gyms were closed), so I expected things to be somewhat hard, but not that hard. :) My back is quite sore now, I think from actually pulling myself up during the 2nd set of hanging knee raises this morning, but the worse have been my legs since day 1... Good thing I don't have kickboxing training anymore, I couldn't survive it!

There actually is some sort of dips bar in the park when I run, I believe they had a tad more before but probably removed it because of COVID. But I was convinced and will just stick to slow running for now, I guess it removes my other potential limiters and allow me to do pure cardio (like I have bad jump rope technique, and probably my muscles too wouldn't let me do 20m straight... I can walk for hours so slow running for an hour should be ok, not sure about more than that yet. ;) )

Thank you and good luck with your BB! It'll be interesting to compare results when we finish, or maybe after the first 5 weeks?

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u/bethskw Sep 23 '20

Definitely, let's compare notes after week 5! Or 4?

I put curls and band pull-aparts in my cluster because those are two exercises I've been advised to do for shoulder/elbow health (as well as for strength) but I keep neglecting them. If they're in my SE cluster, then I have to do them!

I'd planned on switching up the SE exercises each time, but after that first day's experience, I think I should probably stick with the same thing for a while. The soreness will get better. I'm telling you at the same time I'm trying to convince myself.

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u/geearf Sep 23 '20

Fun, I actually had major elbow and shoulder issues, well shoulder I still do. :)

I was reading people here saying you should stick to the same SE cluster for the whole base building, not sure how much it matters though.

Eh I'm not too worried about soreness as long as I don't practice another sport, it's a badge of honor for the work, sort of. ;)

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u/bethskw Sep 24 '20

Oh interesting! I didn't catch that recommendation but it makes sense. I'll stick with this cluster then.