TacticalBarbell.com

Age/sex: 26 Male
Training Goal: Training to become a SAR Tech
Strength Template: Fighter once I'm finished BB
Conditioning Protocol: Green once I'm finished BB
Lift numbers: Haven't done any 1RM but my guess now would be BP 275, SQ 440, DL 405(wont be doing DL in my cluster due to previous back injuries, will probably substitute with light trap bar DL.
SE/Bodyweight numbers: Haven't done any bodyweight light maxes but I can do only 6 BW pullups.
Run Times: Did a 1.5mile/2.4km run last year in 12:30.
Diet: I eat clean as much as I can but not always successful. Portion control is my biggest enemy. I'm 5'11" and 245lbs

Question:
- My SE cluster is Pushups, Goblet Squats (35lbs), BB Row (95lbs), Lunges (35s), 4 count flutter kicks, and Burpees.
Is having burpees as part of an SE circuit ok? I didn't see it anywhere saying I couldn't do it but is there anything I'm not thinking of that would convince someone not to?
- When I got the the 3x30 SE sessions I ended up getting very light headed and nauseous. The workouts were taking too long and were too hard. I was planning on doing Alpha but again the jumps 10, 20, 30 were just too fast, modifying the reps to 10, 15, 20, 25 etc seems to be working better for me since its a slower progression. Is this ok to progress this way and maintain the 60min LSS runs for E until I hit 3x50 before moving on to HIC and the last few weeks of BB before moving on to my continuation protocal?

Thanks for taking the time to read, I appreciate the feedback.

The burpees are probably a major part of why you struggled in the second week.
I would drop them and see if that changes things. While it’s not wrong to do them, it sounds like they might be too difficult for you at the moment. I personally wouldn’t use them for SE due to the intensity.

Another option would be to drop weight from your exercises and see if that helps.

It sounds like it’s been a while since you visited the SE realm of training. Starting from alpha and dropping weight from your exercises is where I would start

Sorry to clarify I didn’t have the burpees in there the first time I did them. I only added them in when I started my reps at 10. Yeah this style of SE work I’ve never done before. It’s hard but I enjoy it

Variations could help. Instead of full burpees, do squat thrusts. Or try eight count bodybuilders. Eventually work in full burpees again if you want them.

grouchyjarhead wrote:Variations could help. Instead of full burpees, do squat thrusts. Or try eight count bodybuilders. Eventually work in full burpees again if you want them.

X2 on eight count bodybuilders. Game changer for me personally. Great, great, great drill.

The way i see SE is from another name: muscular endurance, ie the component that should be the limiting factor in the movement is your muscles. If the breathing is the one that is the limiting factor, then it becomes conditioning. Burpees has parts of the movement which the prime movers are not under tension, aka resting. So it is a poor choice for SE. Squat and push ups separately would be a better choice. But you already have squats and push ups in your cluster. So what are you trying to accomplish from the burpees?