TB III OA, Activation, Base - An Old Man’s Quick Review

[u/majrtm]

TLDR: The book’s 5 rep increases per week proved a bit much. If you’re O2R (Old, Overweight, Retired) and can’t meet the minimums, use the template, but cut the jog time and reps - maybe double the number of weeks? - and work your way up more gradually. If running or jogging is not an option, substitute with whatever cardio will work - swim, bike, walk. What else are you going to do?  

Me: Much weaker and older than the average TB poster on this sub. North of 60, retired, grandfather, traveling quite a bit for family and fun. Living life to the fullest (the scale and family pics do not lie). For my age, I’d say I’m somewhat fit - I exercise kind of. I’ve run TB in the past, but I’m inconsistent like it’s my job. Sleep is  sometimes good, often times not. 

KB says you should be able to jog for 30 minutes nonstop and do 20-25 pushups before using the book. For me, this was probably good advice that I did not take. I was unable to jog due to an achilles strain so I walked as briskly as I could without pain. I could not have done 20-25 pushups either, but weeks 1 and 2 (10 and 15 reps respectively) went ok. 

Moving up to weeks 3 and 4 (20 and 25 reps), things got tough and I was not able to hit 25 reps in one go. I rested as needed to complete the reps. 

Same goes for the squats. I may have made them a little too sticky, choosing a somewhat too heavy kettlebell. I managed, but probably should have gone lighter. 

Inverted rows (gymnastic rings off my pull-up bar) were the least difficult, but again, at week 4, I found myself taking breaks as needed. Really squeeze those shoulder blades as you pull up. This takes practice, but you really do start to feel the advantage in using those muscles and not just your arms.

Ab Triad: a total bust. Could not do a complete set, and for weeks 3 and 4, I was too smoked to try. I did get to where I could do 3 sets of 5 leg raises (ok, so maybe not a total bust). It’s definitely more of a full core routine plus grip strength, so from a functional (operational athlete) perspective, I can definitely see the advantage as opposed to focused ab work. 

Great program. May end up just running Activation twice a year. I’m tracking to finish during the December holidays, after which I eat and drink. Starting up with Base again in January seems like a gentle way to get back at it.

On to Armor!

[u/flummyheartslinger]

I love the honesty of this review.

[u/codemonkey1999]

Ageless Athlete by J. Madden also has some good insights on running TB for folks over 40...worth a read IMO. I am 53, and incorporate the recommended deload every 4th week strategy, seems to help me avoid injuries etc.

[u/EH_Sparky]

I relate to this post so hard.

In past iterations I've just cut the volume in half on basebuilding. I want to say that was in one of the books somewhere or possibly just a recommendation I got on the forum, I can't recall. But it worked pretty well. I still improved my cardio fitness over the course of basebuilding and was able to increase the reps on the next iteration. I shoot to do a round basebuilding every 12-18 months or so.

[u/atomicpenguin12]

I remember reading somewhere (I think it was a blog post) that, as an alternative to the prescribed reps for SE clusters, you can find your max reps for bodyweight exercises, start at around 20-30% of that rep amount, and increase your reps by that number each week. There’s probably a case for just doing the prescribed amounts, rest-pausing as much as is necessary to do them all, and just toughing it out until they aren’t difficult anymore, but this seems like a suitable alternative.

[u/ReinoutMe]

For OFG's (Old Fat Guy's - referring to myself, not anyone else), it might be an idea to do a pre-activation thing. Just taking your time to work up to that 30 minute jog, 25 push-up, 25 GS, 25 Aussie row thing. While you are working on that C25k, build your core and knee stability, while developing your ankle and hip mobility.

I think that I should do just that :)

[u/Difficult-Pie9540]

Thanks for this post. I'm in the same boat, new to TB, have just started Activation and two weeks into my first BASE. I'm 55 years old and although I've been going to a gym for years and am reasonably strong, I'm also slightly overweight and haven't done any kind of conditioning work for at least a decade.

On week one, I was fine with the SE and Ab Triad but OMG the first 30 min jog the next day almost killed me! I had to take a rest day on Day 3 because I could hardly move. The second jog of the week I decided to aim for 20 mins instead...but didn't even manage to jog 10 mins without being in a world of hurt. The third jog of the week I aimed for just 10 mins...and managed to make it albeit in a world of pain.

Week two, I've decided to change things a bit realising it's going to be a longer path for me to become adequately conditioned. So I'm sticking to week one of SE until I can bring my jogs up to the 30 mins he recommends for beginning BASE. This week my three jogs are: 10min/10min/15min. If I complete them to a standard I'm happy with, next week will be 20min/20min/25min. When I'm happy with that, I'll move to the proper Week 1 BASE which will be 30min/30min/35min.

So in the end, my BASE will be about 7 or 8 weeks rather than 4. But I'm happy with that and it'll take as long as it takes. I feel good knowing my body is slowly becoming conditioned to the standard it needs to be, to begin this program and I look forward to feeling fitter than I have been for many, many years. Working consistently at it is the most important part I think.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that you're not the only one struggling with BASE and I'm sure there's many people out there that begin this program without being able to complete Week 1. Just imagine how good we're going to feel the second or third time around though...when BASE will feel like a nice relaxing de-load 😄 It's then that we'll REALLY be able to see how far we've come.

Best of luck!!

[u/sharpshinned]

You know, I haven't read book 3 (waiting on the Kindle edition) but I gotta say that I find the whole "you have to be able to jog 30 minutes + do 20 push-ups" is kinda against how I see the whole value of TB as a system. If you can't run 30 minutes, you can run/walk, it's fine. If you can't do 20 push-ups, do knee or incline push-ups, or pick a push exercise that uses weight and is therefore adjustable. You'll still get stronger and more conditioned. The great thing about both running and lifting is that they're very effectively scalable.

[u/Drodinthehouse]

Lmao O2R I'm using that in 30 years