Base Building SE Initial Thoughts

I am enjoying the SE cluster I chose for the Tactical Barbell Base Building phase which consists of:

Dips

Inverted Rows

Goblet Squats

KB Swings

My logic behind each of these choices was that that I wanted each element of the cluster to cover a different movement pattern (push, pull, squat, and hinge) and that I wanted movements that would really challenge me to complete some of the higher rep schemes later in the SE phase while still giving myself at least a small chance to complete them unbroken (e.g. it won’t be easy but it may be feasible for me to complete 50 unbroken inverted rows, whereas 50 unbroken pullups is not within the realm of possibility for me right now).  I wanted it to be hard, but I think the unbroken set is important for maximizing the SE effect.  I also wanted to pick movements that would functionally translate to running an ultra-length OCR (e.g. dips to help push yourself over walls).

I ran the sets as a circuit for the first time and think it is a circuit that will work well with my goals.  I performed the circuit in the order that I had it written out, but am thinking of making one minor change to the circuit to potentially squeeze out some more aerobic benefit.  I was thinking of changing the order of the exercises a bit to make it resemble a Peripheral Heart Action Training (PHAT) circuit (https://blog.nasm.org/certified-personal-trainer/peripheral-heart-action-training).  I first became introduced to the concept of PHAT circuits when I ran the AthleanX Built for Hollywood (https://athleanx.com/built-for-hollywood) program last winter to keep my conditioning up during the winter months in preparation for a 50K Spartan Trail Ultra and found they worked well for me.  They work by alternating between upper and lower body exercises to make the cardiovascular system have to work a bit harder to get blood to the areas of the body where it is needed and have been shown to result in aerobic capacity improvements.  Given the aerobic capacity goals of this phase I think for future sessions I’m going to instead runs this as:

Dips

Goblet Squats

Inverted Rows

KB Swings

And see if I can eek out some additional cardiovascular benefits.