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Hello TB Fam,

This question has always crossed my mind, but I know few tactical types personally that cross train with the TB formula of lifting + conditioning. Sort of collecting a general consensus here:

What is your preferred conditioning source?

Where does the bulk of your conditioning come from? Is it sport specific? Unit PT in the morning? Or training sessions by your own merit?

To answer my own question, personally I prefer sport specific conditioning. Or "indirect" conditioning as I call it. When you're on the mat, in the ring, or shooting hoops, chances are you're having a blast. It's competitive, the conditioning is great, and usually you've got good company with you. I use the word "indirect" in describing how your sport conditions your body, when you're having a good time, you sometimes don't realize how much you're putting out. That pick up game or sparring match just turned into an excellent conditioning session. Even in preparing your body for your sport, you put a ton of effort in the that. You want to be at the top of your game, you want to win. To you, second place and first loser are the same thing. This, mentally and physically, transfers over to your tactical lifestyle. The unrelenting need to succeed and win. For yourself, and for the team.

But as much as a love getting my conditioning through sports, they cannot be the bulk of what I do. I periodically have training sessions from TB II and other sources such as unit PT. Military fitness is a top priority for me. There are periods of time where I focus solely on improving my rucking, work capacity, or PFT. Or, Maybe an op's coming up and I have to cease conditioning for a time. It varies. Unit PT establishes a baseline physical fitness standard, but it pays to be more fit. Higher scores and, most importantly, readiness come to mind.

I've always been curious about this, that was my $0.02 on conditioning source, what about yours?!

I PREFER to go mountain biking for my conditioning, have some trails 5 min from the house. 10 mile loop or so takes 55-60min. Pure aerobic, sunshine, and its FUN. Depending on what cycle I am on, Hill sprints are Favorite for Back, E trail runs when on Green or base build

I'll run the same trails for my running work, both hills and E work. I feel like I get more out of it sometimes just being outside. Vitamin D, tuning out the world, grounding, whatever you want to chalk it up to.

The rogue slice sled in the garage is great when strapped for time, 25 min and you can get a great workout in.

This is a great question that I find myself thinking about. I would say my preferred conditioning is LSS/E cardio. I prefer this for a few reasons. One reason is that for me personally, LSS cardio really helps me relax and/or improve my mood. After a good stretch, I find myself running continuously for an extended period of time and if I do this consistently, I feel a lot better overall. My mood, the kind of day I am having, sleep, etc. are that much better. I think LSS is a great way for someone like me (unfit) to push myself and build my overall endurance. The carry overs to everyday life, rugby, and other facets of training are great.

It depends. If possible, I prefer getting my conditioning mainly doing martial arts. Sparring, pad work and heavy bag work etc. is to me the most fun way of getting it done. It's also obviously very specific, since martial arts is where I need my conditioning most. I'm a civilian and my work doesn't require much of anything, really, when it comes to physical effort.

Other than that, I like to do my HICs with kettlebells and sledgehammer work. I also really like EMOM training with barbell excercises (preferably switching between upper and lower body excercises) but can rarely fit that in anymore without compromising my strength work. My E sessions are almost always running. I'm a lousy runner, but the slow pace makes it almost enjoyable

Rucking. Gets me outside, it’s fun, good conditioning benefits, and is “sport specific” to me. Next cycle I plan to balance it out a bit more with running but I set a high mileage goal for myself and want to see if I can hit it.

I would certainly prefer that the majority of my conditioning come from sports-specific conditioning (high-level racquetball would have been my first choice). Unfortunately, that is not the case for two reasons. 1) I found that when I used to play competitive tournament racquetball, having dedicated sprint sessions helped my game tremendously as opposed to just playing racquetball. 2) I'm simply not in a place right now where I can play high-level competitive racquetball.

In reality, the vast majority of my conditioning comes from 2 (sprint-only) HICs per week and one 1-hour long Fun Run/Fobbit Interval where I get in additional strength training. While I really enjoy KBs and burpees, I use the sprint-only HICs to give my body a break from resistance training. I find that if I add in too much "full body" work on HIC days that I'm not as ready to go on strength days. (This is probably a factor of my age and recovery ability. I probably could have done more with KBs and bodyweight-resistance work 20 years ago.) The Fun Run/Fobbit Interval allows me to add in some strength training while still keeping my heart rate high for an hour. So I'm never doing "resistance" work 2 days in a row.

BJJ is my main form of conditioning at the moment, but that is out of necessity and not choice.

I want to get more mat time and need to put it before other training.
I don't have the ability to do large volumes of BJJ and maintain a heavy conditioning load on the side.
I definitely feel better conditioned when I am able to hit 2-3 conditioning sessions on top of BJJ through the week, but I can't sustain this with shiftwork.

My training at the moment involves 2-4 abbreviated strength sessions, 2-3 BJJ sessions and 1-2 conditioning sessions.
I like to use running/loaded walking as my main form of non sports conditioning. I just rotate through intervals , distance and LSS runs.
I would like to incorporate more swimming to build that skill back up.

I have a lot of favorites, conditioning routines from both TB and Ross Enamait’s books, but overall, for me, nothing beats hill sprints.