NathanC TB log

[NathanC77]

9/7/16-off
9/8/16-HIC-Short Hills-easy week
7x15 sec hill sprints, walk down, no rest
This felt good and was easy. I'm sort of in between running Green or Black in my next block. On the one hand, slow LSS cardio makes me feel good and sleep good, and I can do it even when I haven't had much sleep or food. On the other hand, HICs are quicker and leave me with less random knee, ankle, and hips pains than long runs. Days like today, where the HIC felt great(admittedly it was my easy week conditioning wise, but I easily could have done 2-3x as many hills without much pain) make me want to stick with Black and see where that gets me in a few months, then transition to Basebuilding/possibly Green once Spring comes around. I may run something in between Black and Black Pro, where I throw in a long run every 1.5 weeks or so whenever I feel like it.

[nickgoldma]

9/7/16-off
9/8/16-HIC-Short Hills-easy week
7x15 sec hill sprints, walk down, no rest
This felt good and was easy. I'm sort of in between running Green or Black in my next block. On the one hand, slow LSS cardio makes me feel good and sleep good, and I can do it even when I haven't had much sleep or food. On the other hand, HICs are quicker and leave me with less random knee, ankle, and hips pains than long runs. Days like today, where the HIC felt great(admittedly it was my easy week conditioning wise, but I easily could have done 2-3x as many hills without much pain) make me want to stick with Black and see where that gets me in a few months, then transition to Basebuilding/possibly Green once Spring comes around. I may run something in between Black and Black Pro, where I throw in a long run every 1.5 weeks or so whenever I feel like it.

That's not a bad idea at all. Nothing wrong with balancing out what you need to work on between LSS and HIC. I am about to wrap up week 1 of base building (strength first) and I am lifting twice a week while working on LSS and E and such. I also sleep better, as well, just like you mentioned. After my BB, I'll probably do Fighter (Bangkok) plus Black protocol and run that for a black or two and switch and do green. Very similar how it is mentioned at the end of TB 2 in Unconventional Approaches.

[NathanC77]

9/7/16-off
9/8/16-HIC-Short Hills-easy week
7x15 sec hill sprints, walk down, no rest
This felt good and was easy. I'm sort of in between running Green or Black in my next block. On the one hand, slow LSS cardio makes me feel good and sleep good, and I can do it even when I haven't had much sleep or food. On the other hand, HICs are quicker and leave me with less random knee, ankle, and hips pains than long runs. Days like today, where the HIC felt great(admittedly it was my easy week conditioning wise, but I easily could have done 2-3x as many hills without much pain) make me want to stick with Black and see where that gets me in a few months, then transition to Basebuilding/possibly Green once Spring comes around. I may run something in between Black and Black Pro, where I throw in a long run every 1.5 weeks or so whenever I feel like it.

That's not a bad idea at all. Nothing wrong with balancing out what you need to work on between LSS and HIC. I am about to wrap up week 1 of base building (strength first) and I am lifting twice a week while working on LSS and E and such. I also sleep better, as well, just like you mentioned. After my BB, I'll probably do Fighter (Bangkok) plus Black protocol and run that for a black or two and switch and do green. Very similar how it is mentioned at the end of TB 2 in Unconventional Approaches.

That looks like a great plan. My original plan for the summer was going to be Fighter Bankok + Black Pro, but I found that 6 total sessions a week (2 strength+2 HIC+1 E+1 SE) was going to be tough certain weeks without doubling up on sessions, which I wasn't quite ready to start doing. I ended up going with regular Fighter + Black Pro, which I was happy with given my goals, but I do miss those SE sessions. I went with strength first during basebuilding as well, and the SE sessions the last few weeks really kicked my ass in a good/awful way. I think I would definitely benefit from spending some more time on them at some point, but right now I think I'm gonna stick with the simplicity of Black+Max Strength. I've got a busy few months ahead, and the simpler and more streamlined I keep things the more consistent I'll be in the long run. Good luck with that basebuilding!

[NathanC77]

9/9/16
Warmup- KB swingsx53lbsx3x10; goblets 35x1,2,3; haloes-35x3x5/side
Push Press-45x4,95x2,115x1, 127.5x3x3
High Handle TBDL- 170x3, 240x2, 280x3x3
band pullaparts and band facepulls

This was my last session of my 6 week fighter block with these movements. I haven't exactly figured out what movements/program I'm going to go with next, but I'll finalize that in the next week and test any maxes that I need to. Probably throw in an easy run or some short hills HIC just to keep moving as well.

[NathanC77]

I took the last couple days off and tested some new maxes today. I'm changing up the exercises this block so I didn't re-test the pushpress or TBDL. I'll post today's workout and then detail my plan for the next 9-12 weeks in the next post.

9/12/16:
Warmup-KB swings 53x2x10; Goblet squats 35x2x2; haloes 35x2x5/side
Overhead press-45x5,95x2,115x1, 130x3 (done with belt and wrist wraps)
Front Squat-45x3,95x2,135x3,155x1, 170x2 (done with belt and weightlifting shoes)

I pressed 135x4 (estimated 1 rep max = 147), so todays max of 130x3(e1rm=138) was a little lower, but not bad considering I haven't strict pressed in a couple months. Part of me was sort of hoping that working my push press would have magically made my press go up, but I'm happy to have retained most of my strength in the movement. My front squat max (170x2, e1rm=175) is actually a PR for me in the front squat. I've never trained it consistently for more than a few weeks though, so I'm hoping to bring that up a good bit over the course of the next block.

[NathanC77]

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm taking classes part time, and I'd like to be able to get a full workout in at school or at home or anywhere with a barbell, so I'm switching away from TBDL every workout, though I'm going to keep it once a week. I'm also dropping push press and going back to press. The past 6 weeks were the first time I've tried the movement, and I never really got comfortable with it. Getting the bar off my deltoids was uncomfortable on my wrist and elbows, and I couldn't lift any more weight than my strict press. I'm sure it's a great movement and I'll probably come back to it some day, but for now I'm glad to be going back to the regular press, which never gives me any shoulder, wrist, or elbow issues.

I'll be running Operator with Black Protocol. For Operator, I'll be using overhead press, front squat, and high handle trap bar deadlift. I'll do the TBDL once a week, probably using the rule of thumb detailed by TangoZero here: http://tacticalbarbell.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=52 (basically using sets of 1-3 instead of 5s). I'm also going to try out an assistance scheme detailed by Jim Wendler here: https://jimwendler.com/blogs/jimwendler ... -beginners :

"Each day perform ONE exercise from each category. Perform 50-100 total reps (do whatever sets you want to perform - that doesn't matter) of each exercise. If you are too weak to get all the reps (chin-ups/pull-ups for example) then simply choose a SECOND movement to complete the total reps. This is incredibly simple to do.
The three categories to choose from are: push, pull and single leg/core.
Push: dips, push-ups, DB bench/incline/press, triceps extensions/pushdowns
Pull: chin-ups/pull-ups, inverted rows, rows (DB/machine/BB), face pulls, band pull-aparts, lat pulldown, curls
Single Leg/Core: any abdominal work, back raises, reverse hyperextensions, lunges, step-ups, Bulgarian one-leg squats, KB snatches, swings

I read this blog post a while ago and I've been wanting to try it out ever since. I'll probably mostly be using pushups, dips, chin/pullups, BW rows, band pullaparts, hanging leg raises, and KB swings. I'll drop all or some of this assistance as needed. For example, I'll probably drop the single leg/core category on days I deadlift or sprint right after, and drop all of it if I do a GC workout.

For conditioning I'll use standard Black: 2 HICs and one E every other week. I may add another run every week or so if I feel like it(probably ~45 minutes), but I don't want to commit to having to do it every week. For HICs I'll probably focus on hill sprints and track sprints, with the occasional GC or other. E will be runs or hikes.

I'd really like to run this for at least 9, possibly 12 weeks. I've had a hard time squatting consistently in the past, but hopefully I can stick with this long enough to get a respectable squat and press. I'll be using about my actual max for press (135), a 90% training max for front squats(155), and my old training max from 6 weeks ago for the TBDL(315) to help my legs get used to 3x/week squatting. If I find the assistance to be too much, I'll drop it. Honestly, if the TBDL gives me trouble I won't hesitate to drop that either. I have no specific conditioning goals, so if I'm not feeling Black after 6 weeks I don't mind dropping that and just doing 1 E and 1 sprint a week, plus whatever outdoor activities come up. If I'm having trouble recovering, I'll also switch to Operator I/A in TB 3rd edition, with two days rest between strength sessions. My priority is to get my front squat and press up and remain decently well conditioned. Tentatively, I'd love to press my bodyweight and front squat 1.5x bodyweight some day. I'm 5'10 and weight 180, so that would mean a 180 press and 270 front squat. So I'm a long way off, but I'd like to get there eventually.

I'll rest up the rest of the week. Maybe some shorter LSS runs or short hills or an easier SE session or something.

[NathanC77]

9/15/16
LSS easy run- 2.62 miles in 35:03 @13:21 min/mile
Dips-10,8,8
Hammer chins-7,7,5
Band Pullaparts- 20,15
Pushups-15,10

Just wanted to move around some today before I start Operator next week. The dips, chins, band stuff, and pushups is the sort of assistance I'll be running with Operator. I didn't do any extra leg/core stuff because of the running beforehand.

[Barkadion]

9/15/16
LSS easy run- 2.62 miles in 35:03 @13:21 min/mile
Dips-10,8,8
Hammer chins-7,7,5
Band Pullaparts- 20,15
Pushups-15,10

Just wanted to move around some today before I start Operator next week. The dips, chins, band stuff, and pushups is the sort of assistance I'll be running with Operator. I didn't do any extra leg/core stuff because of the running beforehand.

Nice!

I love assistance with using bands.. Push-ups with bands are really good assistance. Another great one is unilateral vertical band pull with half-kneeling position. You can tie a band to a pull-up bar and pull it down. Both moves can get very challenging once you get to heavy band(s).

Just saying..

[NathanC77]

9/15/16
LSS easy run- 2.62 miles in 35:03 @13:21 min/mile
Dips-10,8,8
Hammer chins-7,7,5
Band Pullaparts- 20,15
Pushups-15,10

Just wanted to move around some today before I start Operator next week. The dips, chins, band stuff, and pushups is the sort of assistance I'll be running with Operator. I didn't do any extra leg/core stuff because of the running beforehand.

Nice!

I love assistance with using bands.. Push-ups with bands are really good assistance. Another great one is unilateral vertical band pull with half-kneeling position. You can tie a band to a pull-up bar and pull it down. Both moves can get very challenging once you get to heavy band(s).

Just saying..

Nice, I'll have to try that. I've really only used them for pullaparts and facepulls at this point. They seem like a good way to add in some extra movements with minimal effect on recovery. I've only got one band and an old exercise tubing thing from when I swam as a kid, so I need to pick up some heavier ones.

[NathanC77]

9/15/16
LSS easy run- 2.62 miles in 35:03 @13:21 min/mile
Dips-10,8,8
Hammer chins-7,7,5
Band Pullaparts- 20,15
Pushups-15,10

Just wanted to move around some today before I start Operator next week. The dips, chins, band stuff, and pushups is the sort of assistance I'll be running with Operator. I didn't do any extra leg/core stuff because of the running beforehand.

Nice!

I love assistance with using bands.. Push-ups with bands are really good assistance. Another great one is unilateral vertical band pull with half-kneeling position. You can tie a band to a pull-up bar and pull it down. Both moves can get very challenging once you get to heavy band(s).

Just saying..

Any recomendations on which bands to get? I've got a green one, but I'm not sure where from or if the colors are standard between companies.