TacticalBarbell.com

Hi everyone,

I started my base building block this morning and it went well. However, I had one question. I'm planning to mainly do the barbell cluster from the book for my SE routines (Push Press, Front Squat, Bench Press, Barbell Row, Shrugs, and Romanian Deadlifts). My question is about switching the Front Squat to a Low Bar Back Squat. I'm planning to move to Operator/Black after my base building is done. For my Operator cluster, I'm planning on doing Back Squats, Bench Press, Deadlifts, and Weighted Pull-Ups (I haven't determined if I will alternate Deadlifts with something else because I'm not aware of how well I'll respond to Deadlifts yet).

To prepare myself and learn the motor patterns of the Back Squat, I was wondering if it would be beneficial to swap the Front Squat to a Back Squat. There are a lot of mirrors where I do my SE circuits so I have a good view of my form right now. I won't have as good a view for when I move to Max Strength training. I want to make sure I have really good form before I move on to heavier loads. Plus high reps will be good for motor learning (provided the form is good of course).

I'm assuming the biggest side affect of this change would be that I'm going to be working my hamstrings and glutes a lot now (Back Squat plus Romanian Deadlift). However, I'm not too worried about it. I have some anterior pelvic tilt issues that some extra hamstring and glute work could fix (along with hip and quad stretching and core work of course).

My background comes from a highly technical sprint sport (flat water sprint kayak) so I'm really good at focusing on cues and making form adjustments on my own. I've read Starting Strength and watched Mark Rippetoe's squat videos and I used to do back squats back in the day (3 years ago) so I have a pretty good idea of what a good back squat looks like. I just need to associate that look with the feel.

Thanks for reading,

Fogull

As you probably noticed, TB is extraordinarily flexible, and base building is no exception. You can run it with kettlebells-only if you want.

I am guessing that front squats (instead of back squats) are in the standard base building cluster simply because you don't need a rack. I don't see any fundamental reason not to switch to back squats if you want.

Having said that, I did base building for the first time after about 8 months of Operator. My operator included low-bar back squats, and I did go to front squats for base building. I don't think it hurt anything, and I kinda' liked the variety. I returned to back squats after base with no problem.

At the end of the day, it's only 5 weeks, so the SE movements you choose probably don't make a heck of a lot of difference.

Thanks for the reply.

I did my second day of my SE cluster. I swapped the front squat out and did low bar back squats. It worked well and felt good. We'll see how my hamstrings and glutes hold up.

Thanks again,

Fogull

Good luck. You probably have no idea what a "treat" you are in for in Week 5.

6 movements x 50 reps x 3 sets = 900 reps.

I did mine in around 75 minutes, drank 4 liters of water, and thought I was gonna' die. After I realized I wasn't gonna' die, I was quite proud of myself.

I'll probably do the same thing again in April, but this time I'll know what signed up for. It works.

Fogull wrote:Hi everyone,

I started my base building block this morning and it went well. However, I had one question. I'm planning to mainly do the barbell cluster from the book for my SE routines (Push Press, Front Squat, Bench Press, Barbell Row, Shrugs, and Romanian Deadlifts). My question is about switching the Front Squat to a Low Bar Back Squat. I'm planning to move to Operator/Black after my base building is done. For my Operator cluster, I'm planning on doing Back Squats, Bench Press, Deadlifts, and Weighted Pull-Ups (I haven't determined if I will alternate Deadlifts with something else because I'm not aware of how well I'll respond to Deadlifts yet).

To prepare myself and learn the motor patterns of the Back Squat, I was wondering if it would be beneficial to swap the Front Squat to a Back Squat. There are a lot of mirrors where I do my SE circuits so I have a good view of my form right now. I won't have as good a view for when I move to Max Strength training. I want to make sure I have really good form before I move on to heavier loads. Plus high reps will be good for motor learning (provided the form is good of course).

I'm assuming the biggest side affect of this change would be that I'm going to be working my hamstrings and glutes a lot now (Back Squat plus Romanian Deadlift). However, I'm not too worried about it. I have some anterior pelvic tilt issues that some extra hamstring and glute work could fix (along with hip and quad stretching and core work of course).

My background comes from a highly technical sprint sport (flat water sprint kayak) so I'm really good at focusing on cues and making form adjustments on my own. I've read Starting Strength and watched Mark Rippetoe's squat videos and I used to do back squats back in the day (3 years ago) so I have a pretty good idea of what a good back squat looks like. I just need to associate that look with the feel.

Thanks for reading,

Fogull

Hi Fogull, no issues at all swapping in SQ for FSQ, I think it's a solid idea....but you might want to think twice about how many exercises you're doing for SE. It adds up very quickly, especially if you're using substantial exercises like the main barbell movements. If you start having any issues I'd recommend dropping the Romanian DLs (and possibly the shrugs) and doing back extensions instead. I don't know what kind of work capacity you have, but it's pretty common for people to take on too much the first time around with SE.

Hi TangoZero,

Thanks for the heads up. I will consider dropping an exercise if it gets to be too much. I'm doing the Alpha program right now. So just alternating SE with E and I started my SE at 3x10 with 55lbs for every exercise. It was pretty easy last week. Rather than increase by 10 each week, I'm increasing by 3-4 each workout (so 3x10 last Monday, 3x13 last Wednesday, 3x16 last Friday). I'll be doing 3x20 tomorrow morning.

So far, I'm loving this. I know it's only been a week, but already I'm seeing mental benefits. My attitude and emotions have been much more positive. Even my wife has noticed. I'm attributing this more to the 30+ minute runs I've been taking for my E days.

I used to be an elite athlete. I was on the national team for my sport when I was younger. Since then I've trained on and off but I lost the general all around fitness that I had when I was racing. The past 3 months put me through the ringer health wise as well: colon infection, followed by an abscessed tooth, topped off by a really bad colitis inflammation (cause by the drugs I was on from the prior two illnesses). I'm not one for resolutions but this new year timed well with my getting healthy again and starting this program.

Thanks for the help and advice,

Fogull

Thanks to everyone who posted. I just wanted to do a little check-in to help keep me accountable. So far, my base building has been going amazingly well. I started week 4 today.

I did 3x40 reps on my SE circuit (the barbell cluster from TBII) this morning. It was tough and my limbs felt like Jell-O afterwards but I felt accomplished. I got it done in about 36 minutes, taking 3 minutes rest between sets and no more than 30 seconds between exercises during a set. Combining this with daily (sometimes twice daily) stretching around my hips (hips, quads, glutes, hams) has totally eliminated my anterior pelvic tilt. My low back feels fantastic. Even after my 9-5 grind at my office.

My runs are getting much better as well. I ran 10 km for the first time in years on Saturday. It took 1:01:30, but I got it done while remaining in my aerobic zone. My goal is to get it down to 50 minutes by the summer.

I also started the fighter pull-up program at the same time. My max strict pull-ups before starting was only 3 and now I'm up to 6 with no sign of a plateau in sight.

Anyways, I feel great and am loving the program and using everything the books have taught me. I can't wait to start my max strength and HIC training. Just 2 more weeks until the switch! Thanks for reading and thanks to K. Black for developing this amazing program.

Fogull wrote:Thanks to everyone who posted. I just wanted to do a little check-in to help keep me accountable. So far, my base building has been going amazingly well. I started week 4 today.

I did 3x40 reps on my SE circuit (the barbell cluster from TBII) this morning. It was tough and my limbs felt like Jell-O afterwards but I felt accomplished. I got it done in about 36 minutes, taking 3 minutes rest between sets and no more than 30 seconds between exercises during a set. Combining this with daily (sometimes twice daily) stretching around my hips (hips, quads, glutes, hams) has totally eliminated my anterior pelvic tilt. My low back feels fantastic. Even after my 9-5 grind at my office.

My runs are getting much better as well. I ran 10 km for the first time in years on Saturday. It took 1:01:30, but I got it done while remaining in my aerobic zone. My goal is to get it down to 50 minutes by the summer.

I also started the fighter pull-up program at the same time. My max strict pull-ups before starting was only 3 and now I'm up to 6 with no sign of a plateau in sight.

Anyways, I feel great and am loving the program and using everything the books have taught me. I can't wait to start my max strength and HIC training. Just 2 more weeks until the switch! Thanks for reading and thanks to K. Black for developing this amazing program.

Thanks for the update Fogull! Keep us posted.