u/letsgolambo

I've built a workout tracker to track and plan my TB training, and I'm really happy with it so far. I use it every day and keep improving the design/features whenever I run into something or get a new idea.

Thought I'd share it on this sub to see what you think. See the attached video for a demo (with voice over).

Quick rundown of what it does:

• Dashboard with goals and workout data
• Training block planning tool
• HIC library with training records per workout
• Injury log

Still very much a work in progress, but I use it constantly and I'm loving it. Very interested to hear your feedback, feature ideas, or any other questions/comments.

Four weeks of the new TB3 base building are done! It was my first time doing any TB program and it was definitely a very interesting experience. I would like to report out to share my struggles, progress and results.

Hope my experience is helpful to anyone! Also curious to hear your feedback if you have any.

General

I feel like it did what KB says it does: strengthen your tendons and prepare your body for what's to come. Usually my elbow tendons bother me a lot with pull ups for example. Today with 1RM testing I had zero issues whatsoever (probably due to the insane amounts of inverse rows done).

Resting heart rate went down as well from ~52 to 49.

I am very positive about doing 4 weeks SE and I will definitely repeat the process after 12 weeks of Fighter/Green and 3 weeks of WC (Running the SP1 green template). I feel like it makes me a better athlete.

Weight, fat loss and food

I'm pretty sure I lost a lot of fat (according to my GF) even though my weight remained the same at 84kg. Unfortunately no BF% data here.

I tried to eat around maintenance or slightly over, with enough protein as the book recommends. I used Claude to estimate my calories by telling it what I ate. Used a scale where possible but mostly I was making estimates. But made sure I was never hungry at least.

1RM changes after four weeks of no heavy lifting

1RM changes after only base building with SE / LSS:

• Squat 1RM is 96kg (up from 84)
• Bench 1RM is 98kg (up from 93)
• Deadlift 1RM 135kg (up from 124)
• Pull ups are up from 8 max reps to 10 max reps.
  • Because I hit 10 I also tested weighted pull ups and ended up with 4 reps with 15kg (1RM of 111kg)

NB: I use to have higher 1RMs back in 2024 when I ran a starting strength template. The 'before' 1RMs mentioned above are 1RMs measured 2 weeks before i started Base Building.

For 1RM testing I had the following sets/notes (curious if you have any feedback on the way I do it, as I was in the gym for 3 hours with the long rest intervals:

Squat
10x empty bar
5x 40 kg
4x 50 kg
3x 60 kg
Here lowered reps to only 1x as my upper legs felt like they were going to explode in the bottom of the squat, after 5 weeks of not squatting (had a week of holiday too before BB). Also increased rest time to 5 min to help my legs recover. That seemed to help with the feeling.
1x65kg
1x70kg
1x75kg
1x80kg
5x85kg with RIR 1-2 left
Quit here as it felt like my "inner rear upper legs", whatever that muscle is called, was going to tear itself in half. I was already happy I made it this far because usually after not squatting for 4 weeks my legs are already telling me to stop at 40kg on the bar. Therefore satisfied with the result.

Bench press
Not very interesting, similar to squat only lowered down to 2 reps after a while until I was ready for an all out effort with an appropriate weight. Which ended up being 5 x 85 kg and after that a second attempt with 4x90 kg. Had to leave some in the tank because no spotter. Fifth rep was definitely not a sure thing.

Deadlift
This one had a lot more volume than a normal session for me even. Built up to 100kg using 2 reps only (after warm up sets). Then attempt started at 110kg and made 5. Second attempt 115kg and made 5 again. Last attempt 120kg and júst made 5 reps again. Left it there as my heaviest deadlift before that (5 weeks prior) was only 102.5kg.

Pull ups
Perhaps these surprised me the most. Did zero pull ups for 5 weeks. Only the inverted rows in base building. Old max was 8 reps with BW / none weighted done. Today I hit 10 reps with BW. Therefore also tested weighted pull ups, as per the book recommends. Ended up with 4 reps with 15kg at 87kg bodyweight.

Base building journey (first weeks no problem, last weeks took my soul)
Cluster:
-Push ups (BW)
-Goblet squat (16kg)
-Inverter rows (BW)
-Finisher: ab triad

Week 1
Monday - SE 3x10
Tuesday - Run 35 min
Wednesday - Swimming 30 min (AM) and SE 3x10 PM
Thursday - Run 35 min
Friday SE 4x10
Saturday - triathlon try out: 20 min swim, 20km mountainbike and 4km run

Notes: Very doable. Only toes to bar in Ab Triad is very hard to finish 5 reps. Ended up doing 1 on the minute and/or tucking a bit more.

Week 2

Monday - SE 3x15 (AM) and 30 min swim (PM)
Tuesday - Run 40 min
Wednesday - SE 3x15 (AM) and 90 min LSS mountainbike (PM)
Thursday - Run 30 min
Friday - SE 4x15
Saturday - 40 min run (AM) & 90 min LSS mountainbike ride (PM)

Notes: Running is getting easier with the 3x per week volume! Clearly noticing it. (I was only running 30 min 1x of 2x per week before base building).

Week 3 - this week SE was not as fun anymore
Monday - 30 min swim (AM) & SE 3x20 (PM)
Tuesday - Run 45 min
Wednesday - SE 3x20 (AM)
Thursday - Run 45 min
Friday - Run 30 min (AM) and SE 4x20 PM (had to squeeze it on the same day because of an MTB trip)
Saturday - 3.5 hours of mountainbiking. Mostly climbing (Enduro, non electric)

Notes: SE on Monday was a true killer. Had to lie on the couch to recover for a while, completely drained of any energy, appetite or anything else. Especially the inverted rows are hard to finish. maybe max out at 15 reps the first set and after that it is a 2-3 rep grind. Ab triad then finishes me off.

Pull ups and squats I can still make it without resting.

Week 4 - SE took my soul this week
Monday - SE 3x25
Tuesday - Run 50 min
Wednesday - SE 3x25
Thursday - Run 30 min
Friday - SE 4x25
Saturday - 60 min trail run

Notes: the 4x25 SE session drained my more than I have ever been drained before. Laid flat on the ground for at least 15 minutes after. I have done some heavy workouts on my life but this was the icing on the cake.

I took it easy on the "extra" LSS as SE was killing me. Pull ups I can make 25 reps. Squats 25 reps I can do but they drain all my will to live. Then the inverted rows grind starts. If i'm lucky I make it till 15-18 reps without stopping and then the grind begins. Definitely progress though with already reaching 18 reps this week. Unfortunately injured my foot on the last trailrun. Hope it heals soon and I learned not to jump into a full 60 min off road (beach) run without prior build up.

Final thoughts
I just wanted to share as I thought it was an amazing program. Highly recommend running the new base building. And I have yet to start the main portion: Polarized/green + Fighter.

Thanks for reading!

Just want to check if I’m doing everything right. I thought base building was supposed to be relatively easy but it is much more intense than the sets of 5 I do for MS.

Today was the start of the third week of BB (TB3). Sets 3x20. Doing push ups, goblet squat with my 16kg/35 lbs kettlebell and inverted rows + ab triad as finisher.

Push ups: can make it without breaks but have to work for it.

Squats: 20 reps is intense but can also make it without breaks.

Inverted rows: I have to break this one down in sections already. For example 10-4-3-2-1

Ab triad: proper killer for a finisher. Hard work but fine if I break it up, especially the toes to bar.

Next week 3x25 and even 4x25 will be a proper challenge. Might have to break up the other exercises too to reach 25 reps. Also getting a giant pump in my lower arms.

Does everyone have a similar experience? It’s fine, just want to doublecheck im doing everything in the right way.

Had to lay in the couch for 30 minutes after this one to recover. Might have been some food related issue though - went for it during all you can eat sushi yesterday

Why would anyone still go for zulu (4x per week) or operator (3x per week) if I can add 5-10 lbs every 3-6 weeks using fighter (2x per week)?

The prescribed progression is the same for all templates, and I feel like for a beginning or returning lifter - still able of linear progression - any extra volume is useless as you will only progress 5-10lbs anyway.

Perhaps later on, with bigger weights, a difference in progression rates starts to appear when comparing strength templates.

For example my current 1RM is only 84 KG on the squat but my all time high is ~120kg (about two years ago). I feel like starting operator with a 84kg 1RM now for 3-6 weeks is a waste of time?

What category of training does threshold endurance work (mountainbike sessions) fall under?

In chapter 14 of the book it is mentioned you a boxer can use a hard sparring session as an HIC session and a soldier can use a long ruck as an “E” session.

Just wondering where long duration threshold work fits in? At least once per week i go out biking for an hour with an average HR of ~166, which is about threshold for me.

Would this count as an HIC session as well? Or more of a “hard” E session?

Hi,

Can I use linear progression and base building/green template to regain old strength fast witout injury? Or was the method not developed to be combined with LP?

Some background:

I’m 35yo, 186cm / 6’1 and weigh 86kg / 190 lbs.

I started lifting again after a layoff of about six months. At that point I progressed with starting strength linear progression to about 100kg/220 lbs squat, 120kg/265lbs deadlift and 80kg/175lbs bench.

Even longer ago (feb 24) my max numbers (max ever) were at 140kg/310lbs deadlift, 120kg/265lbs squat and 100kg/220lbs bench.

I read both TB1 and TB2. It mentions that you can run your own strength program instead of the TB1 templates in a TB2 base building or green template.

I like mountainbiking so keeping that in twice a week. Swimming is a perfect E session for me without extra leg strain so added that too.

My current program is as follows (base building tailored to my preferences):

Monday - fighter template with linear progression (sq/bp/wpu and linear progression +2.5per session)

Tuesday - 30 min Z2 run now +10% each week

Wednesday- swim and/or z2 mountainbike session

Thursday - fighter template with linear progression (sq/bp/DL and linear progression +2.5per session)

Friday - easy swim / recovery activity

Saturday - endurance long mountainbiking/run brick z2

Sunday - rest

Been running this program for about four weeks now and progressed to currently 70kg squat / 80kg bench / 100kg deadlift and a 30 min long run. But especially the tuesday run (after heavy squats on monday) has become increasingly hard to finish even at a Z2 pace. Last session my knees started complaining too.

My questions:

1. Is this way of Linear Progression and base building okay within the TB template or will it cause too much strain and should I run periodized fighter template? Ideally I would ride it out until my squat is back at 100kg and my deadlift at 130, which is not too far away. Feel like this would take me months with periodisation even though it is regained strength for me.

2. Do you have any other feedback or recommendations based on my current plan?