Operator + Black review

[Maxrip13]

As someone coming from the sports/S&C coaching side of things, I'll add my .02. Bear in mind I have no military or policing experience.

Training in professional/competitive sports and activities leans more towards "building". On the other hand, my (limited) experience with many "tactical fitness" programs is the opposite. It seems every workout is like a contest designed to tear you down. Maximum intensity, maximum drive, every session. "Harder" is deemed "better" regardless of whether or not you actually improve the quality being trained. While there is a necessity for brief periods of high intensity trg to build mental toughness & specific qualities (ex. lactate threshold tolerance), to do it year-round as general training is unsustainable. Add to that, certain physical qualities simply can't be improved using that approach. Case in point, maximal-strength and aerobic capacity. Two heavy hitters in the S&C world.

TB is unique in that it is the very first "tactical" fitness program I've seen that bridges the gap between building and tearing down. These building-up programs exist (and are par for the course) in the athletic/sports world...Tudor Bompa, Charlie Francis, Joel Jamieson. You'll never see paid athletes using Crossfit to prepare for their sport. If they do it'll be for a brief period of time, for GPP.

Again, take this with the caveat that I have zero tactical experience!

Definitely some good points above. There a re some good programs out there, but the competitive nature of LE or Mil athletes can lead to people not scaling these programs appropriately. These workouts that seem extreme are the end result of people already doing a TB style program before hitting that high volume. The issue is that people want that elite level conditioning without having laid that ground work first.

I am guilty of the above myself. I have a tendency to jump into those type of programs and expect my previous level of fitness to carry me over. I can finish them but as the weeks drag on my body starts to break down. The mind is willing, but the body isn't ready at this stage.

I use BB and TB Black or Green as my year round training, dependent on my current focus. I think of it as my money in the bank type training. I am gradually saving up and increasing my fitness slowly. I very rarely push above a 90% effort in my lifting or conditioning. I plan to save that for on the job or selection type events.

[BlackPyjamas]

As someone coming from the sports/S&C coaching side of things, I'll add my .02. Bear in mind I have no military or policing experience.

Training in professional/competitive sports and activities leans more towards "building". On the other hand, my (limited) experience with many "tactical fitness" programs is the opposite. It seems every workout is like a contest designed to tear you down. Maximum intensity, maximum drive, every session. "Harder" is deemed "better" regardless of whether or not you actually improve the quality being trained. While there is a necessity for brief periods of high intensity trg to build mental toughness & specific qualities (ex. lactate threshold tolerance), to do it year-round as general training is unsustainable. Add to that, certain physical qualities simply can't be improved using that approach. Case in point, maximal-strength and aerobic capacity. Two heavy hitters in the S&C world.

TB is unique in that it is the very first "tactical" fitness program I've seen that bridges the gap between building and tearing down. These building-up programs exist (and are par for the course) in the athletic/sports world...Tudor Bompa, Charlie Francis, Joel Jamieson. You'll never see paid athletes using Crossfit to prepare for their sport. If they do it'll be for a brief period of time, for GPP.

Again, take this with the caveat that I have zero tactical experience!

Definitely some good points above. There a re some good programs out there, but the competitive nature of LE or Mil athletes can lead to people not scaling these programs appropriately. These workouts that seem extreme are the end result of people already doing a TB style program before hitting that high volume. The issue is that people want that elite level conditioning without having laid that ground work first.

I am guilty of the above myself. I have a tendency to jump into those type of programs and expect my previous level of fitness to carry me over. I can finish them but as the weeks drag on my body starts to break down. The mind is willing, but the body isn't ready at this stage.

I use BB and TB Black or Green as my year round training, dependent on my current focus. I think of it as my money in the bank type training. I am gradually saving up and increasing my fitness slowly. I very rarely push above a 90% effort in my lifting or conditioning. I plan to save that for on the job or selection type events.

@Doc & Maxrip, bang.on.

TB is my year round training. 80%-90% of my year. The remainder accounts for specificity training or trying something new, whether it's for fun or function.

[BlackPyjamas]

These workouts that seem extreme are the end result of people already doing a TB style program before hitting that high volume. The issue is that people want that elite level conditioning without having laid that ground work first.

Again bang on. This is SO important.

[Maxrip13]

TB is my year round training. 80%-90% of my year. The remainder accounts for specificity training or trying something new, whether it's for fun or function.[/quote]

Do you mind if I ask what your background is ? You mentioned a lot of programs I have used in the past and how people are using tactical barbell in circles you know.

I understand if you would prefer to PM me.

It's good to see I am not the only one who uses TB for most of the year with the occasional foray into other training for specific work or fun.

[EOMFD]

Hi everyone,

Cluster: Squat / Bench / Weighted chin-up / Deadlift (1x per week, 3 work sets – no chin-ups on that day), used a 90% TM
HIC: Meat Eater II, Airdyne + swings (see indoor apex thread)
E: every two weeks I did a 12km run (didn’t push it too hard)

My first six-week block, I still struggled to find my groove with training and diet. You may remember my thread on Reddit where I complained about muscle loss. After base building, my continuation protocol was Operator and Black Pro. I still didn’t feel optimal during week 5 of my first block and quit. I decided to go back to the drawing board and switch things up. I have a decent amount of training experience and know when things are off. I felt like it wasn’t worth it to continue the way I was.

What I settled on for my next 6-week block:

Diet: more protein, more fat and LESS carbs . Honestly, I think I got overboard with them and decided to lower my carb intake (I’m still well over 200gr per day). Other than that, I kept things simple: 4 big meals a day and usually a snack (fruit) between breakfast and lunch.
Training: kept the same cluster but switched to Black. So E every two weeks. So it was 2 HIC during the week, GC or E on Saturday. The standard OP + Black template from the book. GC: Brig Rat (swapped squats for military press).

Things went better … a lot. Seems like everything fell into place and I ended up having a great training block. I got tired during week 6, but that’s to be expected. Didn’t miss workouts (some were less than optimal, but nothing too bad), meals or sleep.

Results:
Squat: +25 pounds
Bench: +10 pounds
Deadlift: +30 pounds
Weighted chin-ups: +20 pounds

I got my muscle back, without adding fat. The biggest surprise was the deadlift increase. I couldn’t lift more than 440 for a very long time and now I lifted 475. Finally got my sights on 500 WHILE having great conditioning! I wonder whether it's the program itself or the fact that I’m doing swings 2 times a week too? It’s almost universal, but I think my bench will be more stubborn than the rest. I’m doing lots of burpees too (Meat Eater and Brig Rat), so maybe I’ll have to do something about that in the future. My E sessions feel BETTER with running every two weeks instead of every week, that was very unexpected too.

Very happy with my results. I’m taking the rest of the week off and start my next block on Monday. I’ll keep everything the same for now. Why change a winning team, right?

EDIT: forgot to add that I didn't use a TM during my first 5 weeks, but decided on using one for my second block.

You mentioned your bench struggling, something I use for GC that I pulled from another program is repeating push ups, pull ups, and dips for 30 minutes. It’s a good cardio circuit and adds a lot of chest volume

[alottadav]

Hi everyone,

Cluster: Squat / Bench / Weighted chin-up / Deadlift (1x per week, 3 work sets – no chin-ups on that day), used a 90% TM
HIC: Meat Eater II, Airdyne + swings (see indoor apex thread)
E: every two weeks I did a 12km run (didn’t push it too hard)

My first six-week block, I still struggled to find my groove with training and diet. You may remember my thread on Reddit where I complained about muscle loss. After base building, my continuation protocol was Operator and Black Pro. I still didn’t feel optimal during week 5 of my first block and quit. I decided to go back to the drawing board and switch things up. I have a decent amount of training experience and know when things are off. I felt like it wasn’t worth it to continue the way I was.

What I settled on for my next 6-week block:

Diet: more protein, more fat and LESS carbs . Honestly, I think I got overboard with them and decided to lower my carb intake (I’m still well over 200gr per day). Other than that, I kept things simple: 4 big meals a day and usually a snack (fruit) between breakfast and lunch.
Training: kept the same cluster but switched to Black. So E every two weeks. So it was 2 HIC during the week, GC or E on Saturday. The standard OP + Black template from the book. GC: Brig Rat (swapped squats for military press).

Things went better … a lot. Seems like everything fell into place and I ended up having a great training block. I got tired during week 6, but that’s to be expected. Didn’t miss workouts (some were less than optimal, but nothing too bad), meals or sleep.

Results:
Squat: +25 pounds
Bench: +10 pounds
Deadlift: +30 pounds
Weighted chin-ups: +20 pounds

I got my muscle back, without adding fat. The biggest surprise was the deadlift increase. I couldn’t lift more than 440 for a very long time and now I lifted 475. Finally got my sights on 500 WHILE having great conditioning! I wonder whether it's the program itself or the fact that I’m doing swings 2 times a week too? It’s almost universal, but I think my bench will be more stubborn than the rest. I’m doing lots of burpees too (Meat Eater and Brig Rat), so maybe I’ll have to do something about that in the future. My E sessions feel BETTER with running every two weeks instead of every week, that was very unexpected too.

Very happy with my results. I’m taking the rest of the week off and start my next block on Monday. I’ll keep everything the same for now. Why change a winning team, right?

EDIT: forgot to add that I didn't use a TM during my first 5 weeks, but decided on using one for my second block.

You mentioned your bench struggling, something I use for GC that I pulled from another program is repeating push ups, pull ups, and dips for 30 minutes. It’s a good cardio circuit and adds a lot of chest volume

The ole Bobby Maximus holy trinity. It IS a great addition to TB to get that random Pump now and then. Good call

[jzt]

Great job.

I als find that working with a TM provides much more consistent results.