TacticalBarbell.com

I currently work in trades and am looking to eventually segue into firefighting once I'm less of a sack of shit human being - right now there's a 90 pound girl in China warming up with my maxes and I won't even get started on my "conditioning".

I found out about TB and opted to start off with Base Building and eventually move onto Black Protocol (2 day strength, 1-2 Hi-C, 1 E). Keep in mind I have no previous strength training experience and the last athletic pursuits I did were in elementary school (25 now). I picked a minimalist cluster (Deadlift + Bench) along with my Endurance (E) work.

Problem is, my legs are giving out way before my lungs. They feel like tree stumps during the jogging work and eventually feel like they're about to catch fire. My question is, do I eventually acclimate to this, or should I pick a cluster with a Squat to get more "direct leg work". Then, if I were to remove deadlifts (all I hear about is how they are 'king'), how badly am I shortchanging myself by not having them as part of a cluster? Hope this makes sense.

hey man i hope i am reading you right in that your legs are giving out before your lungs during your E work. This is NORMAL.

You will get used to it, just don't get too ambitious with the mileage at the start. 30min runs with the following limitations: 1) nasal breathing only; 2) talk test: ie you can recite your favourite poem or creed or whatever; 3) HR monitor keeping your HR at 180-age MAX, in your case aim for 140-155 HR and try not to exceed this range.

For the weights, i think if you only want to do 2 MS (max strength) exercises it is perfectly fine. I personally have done DL + BP with just bodyweight squats (or pistols once u get going) + pullups, or SQT + KB Presses with KB swings + Pushups (or 1h Pushups once u get going again), all of them work.

A lot of trainees want to get fit/lose weight/get strong TODAY but everything needs a bit of time. Patience is a virtue here, just put in the work on a program that has worked for a lot of people and wait for the results to show up.

Thanks for your reply

I need to correct myself - the cluster I went with was Deadlift/Bench/Pull-ups

I'm looking into heart rate monitors to gauge my output during E sessions. In the age of Amazon and eBay we're inundated with thousands of options but the Polar H10 seems to be a popular and well-reviewed unit. Can you make any recommendations?

Michael Conley wrote:I currently work in trades and am looking to eventually segue into firefighting once I'm less of a sack of shit human being - right now there's a 90 pound girl in China warming up with my maxes and I won't even get started on my "conditioning".

I found out about TB and opted to start off with Base Building and eventually move onto Black Protocol (2 day strength, 1-2 Hi-C, 1 E). Keep in mind I have no previous strength training experience and the last athletic pursuits I did were in elementary school (25 now). I picked a minimalist cluster (Deadlift + Bench) along with my Endurance (E) work.

Problem is, my legs are giving out way before my lungs. They feel like tree stumps during the jogging work and eventually feel like they're about to catch fire. My question is, do I eventually acclimate to this, or should I pick a cluster with a Squat to get more "direct leg work". Then, if I were to remove deadlifts (all I hear about is how they are 'king'), how badly am I shortchanging myself by not having them as part of a cluster? Hope this makes sense.

Your legs will get used to the run volume. In basebuilding this is normal since the intensity is pretty low overall.

Something you can add is daily walking. I walk atleast 30 mins each day and just got back from a 60 min walk following my Strength Session. Adding in walking has been the single best thing I have done for my training in the last 12 months. I basically get extra volume in with no recovery cost. It actually improves my recovery.

I use it as my active cooldown after all my strength and run sessions.

I'll echo what they said. Here is my example: When I started base building, I had a max rep on squat of about 525 and about 635 on deadlift. And daily jogging still wrecked my thighs (and lower legs, and heart ...). Now, 6 months later, my cardio/conditioning/running abilities are much, much improved. Just give it a little time and you will adapt.

I would recommend that you get squats into your cluster. I'd say BP, Squats, and alternating DLs and Pull-ups.

Appreciate the replies, all

VenomousCoffee wrote:I would recommend that you get squats into your cluster. I'd say BP, Squats, and alternating DLs and Pull-ups.

Like this:
Month 1: SQ/BP/DL
Month 2: SQ/BP/Pull-ups
repeat?

Michael Conley wrote:Appreciate the replies, all

VenomousCoffee wrote:I would recommend that you get squats into your cluster. I'd say BP, Squats, and alternating DLs and Pull-ups.

Like this:
Month 1: SQ/BP/DL
Month 2: SQ/BP/Pull-ups
repeat?

No no. Like:

Monday
BP, SQ, PU

Wednesday
BP, SQ, DL

Friday
BP, SQ, PU

That would be for a standard Operator. Adjust for your chosen program.