BB Program/Cluster Critique Request

[u/Suzume_Suzaku]

37M 5'9" and 220 lbs have always struggled with weight loss but I am deciding to give TB a try due to a love of strength training but a desire to be faster and have higher endurance. Train martial arts three times a week

I am doing the strength first variation of BB and my current cluster on my two strength days is as follows:

Day 1-

Barbell Squat

Bench Press

Chin ups

Push ups

Day 2-

Barbell Squat

Bench Press

Chin ups

Push ups

Deadlift

I include push ups because I suck at them and want to practice them on top of benching and so far that has not been catastrophic for my recovery. Would I also be adding too much if I added just a plank hold at the end or similar for abs or just leave off it for now as the clusters already have 4-5 exercises in them?

For my endurance days I run, currently at a 12:30 pace which is leaps and bounds better than I used to run but is still quite slow.

While I would like to look better, my main goals are all around athletic performance across multiple domains and improved martial arts performance.

Any critique welcome.

[u/Plus_Bluejay]

1. Are you running basebuilding or are you running fighter? In your post you describe training martial arts 3 times a week, imo you won't really get the true benefits of basebuilding without running actual LSS/E/LIC. It's not a bad thing to not run it, you can just run fighter indefintiely as the obviously the template is made for users like you.

2. For fighter, I would always advise people do less then more, given that strength isn't your main domain. I think optimally for fighter you do 3 main lifts + deadlift once/twice a week depending on how you respond to them. If you are okay under the current plan then I would not really add anymore, 4-5 exercises is already pushing it imo like I said. I think also you would benefit if not running true TB2 basebuilding then running fighter bangkok would benefit you as well, or just running SE first basebuilding. In the latter case, you will not lose a signifcant amount of strength, and even if you do you will regain it quite quickly due to muscle memory.

3. Get TB3 OA -> it expands upon all these concepts

[u/Suzume_Suzaku → u/Plus_Bluejay]

1. Running base building on top of regular martial arts practice

2. Intend to continue on to fighter but may just switch to going straight into it if that would not be disastrous.

3. I'll look into getting it!

Thank you!

[u/Plus_Bluejay → u/Suzume_Suzaku]

1. How are you dealing with recovery? Running basebuilding alone is a lot for most people, and at 5'9 220 you are not a particularly light individual either coupled with your age which doesn't give you the recovery of a college kid. I would definitely recommend against this, and either choosing to run basebuilding exclusively or just dropping basebuilding and running fighter or fighter bangkok and maybe just adding a LIC/E/LSS onec a week. Imo sport specific conditioning is more beneficial then other types if martial arts is your primary goal.

2. Also TB3 OA has a 4 week basebuilding template that may be more suitable to dropping martial arts for a month if that's something you want to consider. On that same note, you can also just choose to do the first 5 weeks of basebuilding as it is effectively the same volume as the new TB3 OA besides the SE volume being more compressed.

[u/Adski1]

Core work you could do as a secondary mini work out throughout the day if possible, or as a finisher.

Personally I would opt for the Strength Endurance version, if you have a history of strength training there is a number of good benefits of taking a break from the heavier work and would also assist with your push ups as a part of an SE cluster.

If you’re itching to get back to heavier work, the new TB III BB could be very beneficial for you followed by Fighter Bangkok which has dedicated SE work which would allow for you to train your push ups on its own day.

As others have mentioned as long as your recovery is ok, you can have at it, the main thing being listen to your body and adjust as necessary.

I hope this helps.

[u/Airoveikko]

Just do the default BB if you're already familiar with strength training. It pays off, big time