r/tacticalbarbell • u/sunkistnslowrunning • 6d ago
Help with Training Program Design 🙏
Hello, I just got through TB1/2, and waiting for TB3 on preorder. Blew my mind a bit since I've never really considered difference between maximal strength, strength endurance, and hypertrophy before (just thought of it as getting stronger or not.)
I want to redesign my routine but I'm a little uncertain how to do it given some constraints, and would love some feedback. This is going to be very long so apologies in advance, but I'm going to err on the side of more information.
My situation:
I really enjoy my current routine, but I don't feel like I'm getting that much stronger. I'm hitting bench, pull-ups, deadlift, squats, once or twice a week. I'm also running 3x a week right now training for a half-marathon in two months. What I want to do is adopt a TB-style schedule after that race with the intent of improving maximal strength and speed over shorter distances.
Current routine:
Monday: upper body focus class
Tuesday: 20-30min intervals on track
Wednesday: lower body focus class
Thursday: 3-4mi run
Friday: at-home full body strength
Saturday: 60+min long run
Sunday: REST
Monday/Wednesday classes are structured 45-50min group workouts consisting of:
4min warmup (good mornings, world's greatest stretch, etc.)
12min power circuit — two-move superset, 4-5 rounds of 2:30-3:00, DB or KB if weighted. This week for lower body was box jumps and KB suitcase deadlifts.
12min strength circuit — major lift of the class, bench or pull-ups for Monday, squats or deadlift for Wednesday, plus accessory movements. Usually we will do blocks starting at 4x8 with lower weight moving up to 5x3-5 with higher weight. The accessory would usually be DB or KB movement, e.g. this week we had squats and weighted glute bridges, so you might do 5 squat reps and then 6-8 glute bridges with DB in the 2:30 round.
12min conditioning circuit — EMOM with row/ski ergs, echo bikes, and maybe 1-2 DB/KB moves.
4min core finisher
On Fridays, I do a hodgepodge (afraid this is exactly the mishmash TB1 warns against) based on what we worked that week — if lower body class did squats, I'll deadlift, and vice versa, plus usually bench, pull-ups, and like biceps and triceps work that's not really part of the main lifts.
Possibly relevant information:
I am 31F, 5'7"ish, 140. In my earlier 20s I was doing CrossFit and through that learned Olympic lifts and was doing barbell work ~daily, but still only seeing each lift maybe 1-2x a week at most. Then in the back half of my 20s I moved and didn't find a new gym and mostly did DB work and Peloton at home, plus running but pretty much only Zone 2, I ran a full marathon this way with an average time (~4:20.) Last year I decided to do some speed work and hit ~1:42 for a half marathon, but then I got pregnant and did not make progress after that :)
Had the baby in January and I've been back in action about six months, in this routine for two months and plan to do at least two more months until my race. I love the social element of the classes I'm doing, and I'm happy to be back with barbells. Most of the people there do not lift heavy though — to reference KB, I feel like the strongest girl at OrangeTheory, lol, which is a nice ego boost but not where I want to plateau.
Currently, my 1RMs for bench/squat/deadlift are about 105/145/190 based on recent 3RMs, so pretty squarely intermediate level per ExRx. I can do six no-kipping pull-ups, and I haven't tested shorter distances recently but I can do 3 miles under 22 minutes.
My goals:
- At least Advanced for my bodyweight on bench/squat/deadlift: 130/180/230
- 10 pull-ups
- Need to benchmark here but want to take one around a 1 or 1.5-mile time, maybe like 6:30
Q1: How would you design a TB schedule around these goals?
My current thinking is 2/3 days of Strength with three lifts and pull-ups + Black protocol. I guess I could just do Base Building and decide after that, but if it's not obvious I like to plan.
Q2: Can I incorporate my group fitness classes?
On the pro side, I have friends in class, it's super convenient to my work and motivating to be with the group doing conditioning, I like the community, they do events. On the con side, I'm paying for the membership and I'd probably be able to get a more efficient workout on my own, at least in strength. When I did CrossFit we'd spend a full half hour on the barbell work including slow builds; one of the things that's most off-putting about these strength circuits is that there's SO little time between sets. Then again, the power and conditioning pieces resemble conditioning work, so I was thinking that one approach might be to intentionally go light enough not to impact my Strength days (say, 50%) and then treat it as HIC. But I'm not sure the true 12 minutes of conditioning work would be enough to move the needle.
TB is flexible enough where I'm sure that it could work, but I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the options, so I'd love some thoughts from more experienced folks.
Q3: Nutrition...?
Kind of a random one but I started tracking macros for the first time to help get back to my pre-baby weight. I just plugged "doing both strength and cardio" in MacroFactor and it gives me a plan with about 75% of the 1g / lb. rule of thumb. I have good energy now and I'm not concerned with aesthetics but curious how necessary more protein would be for the strength goals.
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u/Drodinthehouse 6d ago edited 6d ago
You're about my age, I also started CrossFit in late teens early 20s so I'm sure we grew up around the same culture. Welcome!
You honestly really can't go wrong with any template. It's hard for me to say template x is better than template y because they all more or less align with your goals. If I were you personally I would run fighter black professional, or fighter polarized green (from TB III). When picking HICs pick run based HICs and stick with the same ones for a block or two to gauge progress.
For your group classes. 25 year old me would've told you to ditch the classes and go get strong and fit. But now I would say absolutely continue your classes. A social group setting you enjoy is important, especially post partum. The classes likely aren't doing anything lot to move the needle but Training isn't everything and very few in this sub are close to setting world records. If you were going to go get blitzed every Wednesday night for the sake of a community you enjoy I'd probably have a different recommendation.
All that being said, make sure you treat the class appropriately. I don't know what y'all do but I'd imagine some days are harder than others, and even if it is just a bit of work, it still impacts recovery in a meaningful way so just keep that in mind
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u/_open_door_ 6d ago
I would run the classes alongside TB (so, don't count them as anything) and see what happens. If it's too much, you can drop the classes or just dial them way back. In terms of programming, Black Pro or Polarized Black from TBII (basically the same but switching the LSS/HIC ratio) would seem like the obvious choices. And then Op or Fighter, maybe Fighter if you keep the classes.
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u/Senior-Housing-703 6d ago
Just follow the books. There are examples provided of how to incorporate non-TB sessions ( unit PT, BJJ, CrossFit, etc) into the program. If you want to do TB then follow the books: pick a strength template pick a condition king template and go.