TacticalBarbell.com

M39

I was a typical desk jockey for most of my life. No military or LEO background, though I do have experience with NGO anti-poaching operations in developing nations (all night patrols through rough terrain and all weather conditions, very real threat of armed poachers taking issue with our presence). I've dabbled in the weight room on and off since my early twenties, but never followed a real program until about 7 months ago when I picked up StrongLifts. Took up running about four years ago, and managed to finish (with walk breaks) a few halfs and one full marathon. I also train in Jeet Kune Do / Kali-Eskrima once or twice a week, with variable session intensities based on what we're practicing.

At 6'2 225lbs, I'm not a small dude. Estimated bf is ~18%, but I fit comfortably into 33" waistband pants. Diet is strictly vegan, emphasis on whole, unprocessed foods.

I've been working with the TB system for about 3.5 months, so in the interest of getting to the log and results, I'll add more background details as they become relevant.

Hi, mate.

I am somewhat OldMan myself. 47yo. I am very interested in vegetarian lifestyle. I went meatless for a couple of months earlier this year and I didn't see any issues training wise. Surprise! I am planning on going more strict next time later this year. The ultimate goal is to go vegetarian to support my wife and to make it family lifestyle. I am taking my baby steps toward to it.

It would be highly appreciated if you can share your vegan story. Pros/cons/perks/disappointments..

I'll be reading your log! Cheers!

Base building, 2/20/2017 - 4/16/2017

I had never done anything like this before. I kept it strict and by the book, using the Alpha circuit option for SE as TB outlined in a reddit post. This block tested my ego and self-control just as much as it did my body.

LSS was straight up running, using a heart monitor and a goal of staying around 140 bpm no matter what. I've never been a speed demon, my fastest 5k was 0:28:25. I was, however, a proponent of the 'if you don't run faster than last time, you fail' school of thought. This mindset clearly had to go. My first monitored LSS run was humbling, at 2.7 miles at a 12:30 pace, 145 bpm. By the end, I was maintaining more or less the same pace, but my HR was staying right around 141 bpm on runs up to 7 miles in length, with no walk breaks. My resting HR also dropped 5 points.

SE was a barbell cluster of FSQ, OHP, Row, RDL. I had to fight the urge to put a little weight on the bar. I remember thinking 'how bad could an unloaded bar be'? HAHA. There were times during the 20 and 30 rep weeks when all I could do was lay on the floor panting afterwards. I definitely saw improvement from session to session, and a small part of me was sorry when the 5 weeks was up. I also noticed that some of the nagging aches and pains I'd been living with from prior back injuries, sciatica, and age started disappearing.

HIC was new concept, and I went with Short Hills (12% incline near my house) and 600m repeats. Not much to say here, as I look back at these sessions as a Goldilocks experience. The first week I went out way too hard and couldn't finish. The second, I played too conservatively and finished not feeling like I'd done much. Week 3 was just right, and I carried over what I learned into continuation.

MS was the easiest part of the deal. It hurt to put the weighted bar aside for SE, and my first session back under gave me some fun DOMS, but in the end my fears were unfounded, and I made it through the end of the block with no loss to my BP, and a small gain to my SQ and DL. I wasn't gassed at the end of each session, and could look forward to a decent length run the next day that would leave me feeling refreshed instead of wrecked.

Takeaway: base works. Check your ego at the door and just do it exactly as written. I'm looking forward to doing it again next year.

Barkadion wrote:Hi, mate.

I am somewhat OldMan myself. 47yo. I am very interested in vegetarian lifestyle. I went meatless for a couple of months earlier this year and I didn't see any issues training wise. Surprise! I am planning on going more strict next time later this year. The ultimate goal is to go vegetarian to support my wife and to make it family lifestyle. I am taking my baby steps toward to it.

It would be highly appreciated if you can share your vegan story. Pros/cons/perks/disappointments..

I'll be reading your log! Cheers!

Yeah, for sure I will! Your log has been a wealth of information for me, it's the least I can do. After a lifetime of massive meat consumption, I went vegan for ethical reasons 5 years ago. From a health standpoint, other than quitting smoking, it's the single best thing I've ever done for myself. My only regret is not having done it sooner.

I have a few regular go-to meals, so I'll post a log of what an average day looks like, complete with nutrient breakdowns, after I finish my training history brain dump. As I write this, though, I'm eating my power breakfast of...

.5 cup rolled oats
2 tbsp chia seeds
.25 cup chopped almonds
1 Field Roast apple sage sausage -> these things are amazing and taste almost like the real thing
tiny drizzle (~1 tsp) pure maple syrup

700 cal, 40g protein, 69g carbs, 35g fat.

Black-Professional/Operator 4/17/2017 - 5/28/2017

I felt good after base, so chose to not take any time off and jumped right into continuation. I also chose to not use a training max for my MS work; the latter was a mistake.

Starting maxes:
Squat 300
Bench 240
Pull-ups BW -> Pavel's Fighter PullUp program to focus on increasing max reps. Started at 3, currently at 8
Deadlift 290 -> x1 set each session. This had always lagged behind my squat due to paranoia about re-aggravating an old injury

Don't dismiss the training max. Increased lifting volume + increased conditioning intensity = fried after 90-95% weeks. I missed a few HIC sessions and got sick at the end of week 5, I think exactly because I was stressing my body past what it could handle.

Conditioning:
Short Hills -> 10-12% incline, worked up to 10 x 15s reps with decreasing rest intervals.
Fast5 tempo run -> ~9:30 pace, 155-160 bpm. Started with 10 min, currently at 20 min, increasing each week
LSS 60-90 min -> still ~12:30 pace, ~141 bpm. Continuing to feel strong and fresh at the end
GC Burpees when the weather didn't cooperate. Averaging 8-10 / min

As mentioned, I missed a few conditioning sessions due to being fried. While I checked my ego at the door for base, I got cocky in this first continuation block. I learned from the experience, and will not make the same mistakes moving forward.

Recovery and race week 5/29/2017 - 6/4/2017

After 14 weeks of base and continuation, I finally took a proper rest, doing some easy walking and mobility work to keep active. At the end of the week, I joined a group of friends to run a Ragnar Relay, in which teams of 12 tackle a ~200 mile course, each runner taking on 3 segments with little to no recovery in between. This was my fourth time taking part in the event, and it was a ball buster. Over ~23 hours, I ran...

4:05 - 5:20 PM
6.2 miles, 11:50 pace, reasonably flat. Knowing what was coming up, I purposely kept this low-intensity

2:53 - 4:10 AM
6.8 miles, 11:46 pace, 1049' elevation gain up and down a decent sized mountain with an incline ranging from 2-12%

1:27 - 2:45 PM
5.8 miles, 13:27 pace, 877' elevation gain, first 2.5 miles uphill at a 6-9% incline before flattening out. This would have been fine on its own, but coming on the heels of the mountain a few hours earlier, I basically power-hiked the uphill portion

I totally credit base building and hill HICs with helping me on this. I'm by far the slowest runner on my team (though to be fair, I'm also a fuckton bigger than most of my friends, who average out around 5'9" 160-170 lbs), but I was able to hold my own by virtue of having a deep aerobic-capacity gas tank, and not totally frying out on the big hills.

The experiment continues 6/5/2017 - 7/2/2017

Final brain dump, bringing this log up to the present.

I spent this week post-Ragnar recovering and doing a proper max test now that BB and one full continuation block are behind me. I also read Ageless Athlete cover to cover, and dabbled with KB swings (28kg x20) and dumbbell farmer carries (60lbs x60s) to determine a baseline skill level.

Current maxes (based on 3rm):
Squat 310
Bench 245
Deadlift 330
Pull-Ups BW 8

I've run a couple of Spartan races in the past, and as with regular road races, I finished them, but my time and performance was nothing to speak of. The last 3+ months of TB has given me a new confidence, though, and taught me to look at training and what I'm capable of in a different way. I decided last week to tackle a Spartan trifecta this year, and promptly signed up for the competitive wave in 4 races starting in early August (including a sprint distance at West Point. You can be sure I want to put on a respectable showing there). This goal will help define my training for the next 4 months, including the selection of E/HIC sessions appropriate for OCR.

OCRs are heavily E/SE and grip strength dependent. I’m more than capable of handling the strength-focused events, so the obvious course here would be to go Fighter-Bangkok/Green using the Grunt cluster for the next few months. I'm heading out on a two week vacation in three weeks, and I’ll only get half a block of MS in before that, so I’ll stick with SQ/BP/DL until my departure, then transition to FSQ/OHP/DL when I get back. I’ll be able to do E and HIC training while I’m away, and can also work in some sandbag and bodyweight SE. The next five weeks will almost resemble a mini strength-first base block. Putting it all together...

OCR Phase 1A 6/12/2017 - 7/2/2017
Fighter/Green
Training maxes:
Squat 280
Bench 220
Deadlift 300
Pull-ups BW -> continuing Pavel Fighter Pull-Up progression until I reach 10 reps

Mon: SQ/BP/PU + 1xDL
Tues: E
Wed: HIC + grip
Thurs: SQ/BP/PU +1xDL
Fri: E/SE
Sat: Long run or fun run
Sun: Rest

Phase 2A 7/3/2017 - 7/16/2017
SE cluster TBD

Mon: SE
Tues: HIC
Wed: SE
Thurs: HIC
Fri: SE
Sat: Long run or fun run
Sun: Rest

OldManAsh wrote:M39

LOL at 39 being "Old Man"

OldManAsh wrote:By the end, I was maintaining more or less the same pace, but my HR was staying right around 141 bpm on runs up to 7 miles in length, with no walk breaks. My resting HR also dropped 5 points.

Awesome.

OldManAsh wrote: I totally credit base building and hill HICs with helping me on this. I'm by far the slowest runner on my team (though to be fair, I'm also a fuckton bigger than most of my friends, who average out around 5'9" 160-170 lbs), but I was able to hold my own by virtue of having a deep aerobic-capacity gas tank, and not totally frying out on the big hills.

Great job. I like the way you report/assess your results...easy to follow along. Looking forward to seeing your continued progress.