Beginner Looking for Some Conditioning Wisdom

Good day, everyone!

Not sure if I was meant to post this here or in the beginner section, sorry in advance if it’s in the wrong part.

I recently bought 531 2nd edition and 531 forever and once this week is over, I’ll be beginning my first cycle on Monday (after dilly dallying with random workouts for the last month).

I’m pretty set with diet, sleep, warmup and workout template. I’m just a little lost with conditioning. It’s a new concept to me and since reading the book, it’s something I don’t want to skimp out on. Some question and ideas that would love some feedback on after reading Conditioning 101 blog:

  • I do have stadium steps near me! How should I format my plan of attack for these? Run to the top, then back down, rest, repeat?
  • Is conditioning something that requires progress? Should I be working towards increasing my speed, the amount of times I run up, etc?
  • I’m open to buying a jump rope - would it be a good idea to combine this with stadium sprints or is that overkill?
  • How often a week should I be doing this? I’m planning to do 4 day routine for the lifts.

Appreciate any pointers you can give me, thank you.

  1. After a few days of getting used to the stairs, simply make a goal of doing X amount of stairs in Y minutes.

  2. Yes, up to a point. After that point, you seek to maintain using the methods in the book.

  3. Use it as a warm-up (as described in the book).

  4. 2-3 days but this is entirely based on your current level of fitness.

Much appreciated Jim, I’ll put your points into action and determine my goal over the next few weeks!