TacticalBarbell.com

Hello
I'm confused. Maybe I am overthinking it or not thinking near enough. I have both books, Tactical Barbell 3rd edition (black) and Tactical Barbell II (white). I have read both completely and I am excited to start, but I am confused where.

I know the first thing to do is Base Building. Towards the back of TB II is a 17 week program titled Tactical LE Protocol. The first 5 weeks are base building/conditioning with weeks 6-8 incorporating strength (Fighter). After that 9 weeks of phase 2 black protocol.

If I understand correctly I can start with this. I will test my cluster (BP/F SQ/WP) before I start and re test after 6 weeks.

If this is correct please let me know. If i'm wrong tell me I don't have thin skin. If this is correct it will be goal #1 for me. Committing to 17 weeks. It wont be pretty, but I can do it.

After that I will see where I am at and continue from there.

If you have some idea of your maxes, I don't think it is necessary to test before base building, and I don't know what purpose it would serve to test after 6 weeks, which would be basically after 5 weeks of torture/SE and a week of fighter.

If it were me, I'd test after 8 weeks of base building. You'll need to know your maxes to do Black correctly. Give yourself a half week off after week 8, test, do something to "keep the groove greased" for the rest of that week, then start Black.

17 weeks? This is for life lol.

Base is done once or twice a year followed by Continuation for the remainder of the year. Continuation is done in 6-12 week blocks. It's not something you do once and stop. I think you know this already, but making sure just in case!

So, yes, do Base first. Then pick a Continuation protocol + Strength template and run that for the remainder of the year (you can keep repeating the sample Black Pro if you want). You can run Continuation in 6-12 week blocks. I don't really like the retest method beyond the first block to be honest, imo it eats up too much time and possibly energy if you're an experienced lifter. I favor forced progression after every 6-12 wks beyond initial testing.

Regarding testing your lifts during Base, I wouldn't bother. Just guesstimate and use a conservative 1rm. After Base and before Continuation is when you'll want to test.

Thanks
I think I'm squared away now.
I have a pretty good idea of my starting points.
I know this is for life but I haven't spent much time in the gym during the last 3 years so starting with a do this type program is best for me.

rfeder127 wrote:Thanks
I think I'm squared away now.
I have a pretty good idea of my starting points.
I know this is for life but I haven't spent much time in the gym during the last 3 years so starting with a do this type program is best for me.

Understood. Good luck and keep us posted!

rfeder127 wrote:
If I understand correctly I can start with this. I will test my cluster (BP/F SQ/WP) before I start and re test after 6 weeks.

The 6-week thing comes into play because a typical Max Strength "block" in continuation is 6 weeks long. So, that would be a test after a completed block. But, like I and Doc said, don't do it in the middle of Base Building.

Here's my $0.02:

Like Doc said, and like J-Madd has also written about extensively, you don't have to test every 6 weeks, and it is probably counter-productive. Test before your continuation (directly after Base Building). Do a couple of blocks. When the reps start to feel "easy", even on heavy days, force progression by adding some weight arbitrarily to your Maxes without testing. This could be after only one block, or after 3. You can get away with this for a long time if you use a training max. If you add too much accidentally, you'll figure it out soon enough because you'll struggle to hit all your reps (more than just having one bad day), and you can scale it back on the spot. Test a couple of times a year for calibration.

You can search the posts, but I have come to believe strongly in using a 0.9 Training Max for planning the Max Strength blocks. With Black+Operator+Sports, the Training Max just has more "give" in it, lends itself to better recovery, and when I go without it, I get run into the ground pretty quickly. You get stronger by recovering from lifting weights, not by lifting weights.

Like Doc says, this is for life. Running yourself into the ground is a recipe for injury and burnout, and in the end, a waste of all the time and effort you are putting into it now because you'll probably quit and have to go back to Square 1.

One more piece of advice on Base Building: Set your ego aside, and whenever in doubt, go lighter on the SE. KB says the weights are meaningless, it's the reps that matter. When considering 3 sets of 50, friggin' bodyweight squats are enough to kick up the endurance! I don't go that low, but I am perfectly happy to go 10-25% of true 1 rep max (depending on the movement) for SE during Base Building, and it works.