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.