Template Advice New Guy

[Briancsnv]

I purchased Tactical Barbell Conditioning and Tactical Barbell 3rd edition this past week. I was ready for something new in the gym and frankly got burnt out doing the "glamour muscle" workouts. I found out I wasn't really that strong. A little background on me, I'm 36 years old and work for a municipal police department in Texas. I've lifted weights for about 10 years but adhered to more of a bodybuilder workout.

Police Patrol work can be so random, you can go from sitting in your car doing nothing to having to run at a dead sprint (after a bad guy) and jump fences while chasing said bad guy. You can go from zero to 100 real quick. Once this happened a few times I found out that my arm curls really aren't helping me all that much. Thats was attracted me to Tactical Barbell. I'm looking for something that will keep me in balance both strength and cardio wise. I read both books in 2 days. The information was easy to read but now my head is swimming with acronyms and I'm really trying to nail down my template. It would be great if some you vets can give me your honest opinion on what I have so far:

Day 1- Operator Template (BP,SQ,WPU)
Day 2- Base Building Black Protocol (HIC)
Day 3- Operator Template (BP,SQ,WPU)
Day 4-Base Building Black Protocol (HIC)
Day 5- Operator Template (BP,SQ,WPU)
Day 6- Base Building Black Protocol (Endurance 60 minutes)
Day 7- Rest

Let me know what you guys think.

[J-Madd]

I purchased Tactical Barbell Conditioning and Tactical Barbell 3rd edition this past week. I was ready for something new in the gym and frankly got burnt out doing the "glamour muscle" workouts. I found out I wasn't really that strong. A little background on me, I'm 36 years old and work for a municipal police department in Texas. I've lifted weights for about 10 years but adhered to more of a bodybuilder workout.

Police Patrol work can be so random, you can go from sitting in your car doing nothing to having to run at a dead sprint (after a bad guy) and jump fences while chasing said bad guy. You can go from zero to 100 real quick. Once this happened a few times I found out that my arm curls really aren't helping me all that much. Thats was attracted me to Tactical Barbell. I'm looking for something that will keep me in balance both strength and cardio wise. I read both books in 2 days. The information was easy to read but now my head is swimming with acronyms and I'm really trying to nail down my template. It would be great if some you vets can give me your honest opinion on what I have so far:

Day 1- Operator Template (BP,SQ,WPU)
Day 2- Base Building Black Protocol (HIC)
Day 3- Operator Template (BP,SQ,WPU)
Day 4-Base Building Black Protocol (HIC)
Day 5- Operator Template (BP,SQ,WPU)
Day 6- Base Building Black Protocol (Endurance 60 minutes)
Day 7- Rest

Let me know what you guys think.

First Brian, welcome aboard and thanks for your service as a law enforcement officer.

You seem to be getting things structurally correct in your outline above, though the terminology is a bit confused. "Base Building" is a block of training done in order to prioritize aerobic endurance and strength endurance. "Black Protocol" is a block of training done to emphasize max strength and anaerobic conditioning (HIC). What you outline is basically a version of Black+Operator (the TB 3-day/week strength template), and you set it up well. I might suggest that you make one of your HIC days optional, especially if you are new to this sort of heavy conditioning.

On that point, have you done a base building block yet? If not, especially since you seem to come from a strength emphasis background, I highly recommend that you start by base building. That will help you quite a bit when it comes to chasing those bad guys, and it will prepare you for the intense conditioning when you go into black. You might give this some thought.

Happy New Year, and please keep the questions coming as they arise!

[Tyr0331]

Think functional movements. You're right, arm curls won't help you with chasing someone down, especially wearing body armor, loaded gun belt, and boots. Start hitting sprints with a weight vest and sled drags. They would be great for HIC days. Build that endurance up in your Base Building phase. Hit those LSS runs frequently if you can. Trust me it is worth it. There are many benefits to your heart when you train the aerobic energy system

Stay consistent with your program. Consistency is one factor no one can argue that will get you results. Putting up heavy numbers is cool. It's even cooler when you can chase bad guy down and handle yourself in a hand to hand combat situation

I recommend planning an 8-12 week base building block and re post your planned out schedule so we can critique if needed. I also recommend throwing in some kind of hinge lift with your cluster atleast once a week. Plan something that you know you can stay consistent on.. Don't burn yourself out. Use training max for your lifts

[Briancsnv]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

After looking at ya'lls advice I cracked open the books again in an effort to digest everything again. I think that I will start with the base building first instead of jumping in head first with that initial template. I will do the base building, to be honest I let my ego do alot of my thinking on that initial post however I've come to the realization that everything that I thought I knew about being fit was wrong. It's time to break it all down and start over.

KB hit it on the head when he wrote " If your panicking right now at the thought of not being able to squat and bench..."..lol that was spot on.

my template will look something like this:

monday- SE circuit 3x20 (Floor Press, Kettlebell Swing, squat)
tuesday- Endurance (run)
Wed: Endurance (Run)
Thursday SE 2x20 Circuit (Floor Press, Kettlebell swing)
Friday- Off
Saturday- Endurance (run)
Sunday- Off

Following the template I will be increasing as written in the book. Once the BB phase is over I will move onto the Black/Operator program. Thanks for the advice guys and If theres anything else I'm missing or need to add please let me know.

Theres not a group of people that hate change more than cops but I'm ready to take the plunge and start over.

[Green2Blue]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

After looking at ya'lls advice I cracked open the books again in an effort to digest everything again. I think that I will start with the base building first instead of jumping in head first with that initial template. I will do the base building, to be honest I let my ego do alot of my thinking on that initial post however I've come to the realization that everything that I thought I knew about being fit was wrong. It's time to break it all down and start over.

KB hit it on the head when he wrote " If your panicking right now at the thought of not being able to squat and bench..."..lol that was spot on.

my template will look something like this:

monday- SE circuit 3x20 (Floor Press, Kettlebell Swing, squat)
tuesday- Endurance (run)
Wed: Endurance (Run)
Thursday SE 2x20 Circuit (Floor Press, Kettlebell swing)
Friday- Off
Saturday- Endurance (run)
Sunday- Off

Following the template I will be increasing as written in the book. Once the BB phase is over I will move onto the Black/Operator program. Thanks for the advice guys and If theres anything else I'm missing or need to add please let me know.

Theres not a group of people that hate change more than cops but I'm ready to take the plunge and start over.

You're right to start with base building. I get it, as a weights guy it's a tough pill to swallow. But it's worth it. This is long term. Program looks good. Go read the chapter SE Circuits in TB3 to find out how to run those SE sessions. Pick Alpha or Bravo.

If you haven't already I recommend starting a log here. It requires time and effort to write everything out, but the help you get from having others look at your training is immeasurable.

[grouchyjarhead]

I'm LE myself, recommend TB and Base Building specifically to a lot of my guys to get started. Quite a few of them have purchased the books and are loving the training.