r/tacticalbarbell • u/SC2SC • Apr 20 '19
18 Months on TB
I’ve been running TB consistently since November 2017, and it has been a game changer for me. This sub has been a huge help to me along the way, so I thought I’d finally contribute something.
Background: I’m a 28 year old guy, 6’3, 205 lbs with an endurance background (Ironman, running, cycling). No fitness requirements for my job - just a weekend warrior that values a high level of endurance for backpacking, cycling, etc. Prior to August 2017, I had never touched a barbell.
Between August - October 2017, I ran Starting Strength as hard as I could. My lifts progressed as follows (in lbs):
*Squat: 130x5 to 260x5
*Bench: 120x5 to 170x5
*Deadlift: 195x5 to 325x5
I told myself I wasn’t going to stall due to undereating, so I was shoveling down 5,500 calories per day. I put on 35 lbs (180 - 215), some of which was muscle but a lot was obviously fat. By the time I finally stalled, I could barely hike a mile - that was hard for me to accept given the priority I’ve always placed on endurance. I was stronger, but I was also just fat.
I then learned about TB and began my first Base Building block in November 2017. After that block, I was down to 200 lbs and able to hold 8:30/mi pace for my LSS runs (7-8 miles), but my lifts had decreased to:
*Squat: 230 x 1
*Bench: 180 x 1
*Deadlift: 325 x 1
*WPU: 240 x 1
For the rest of 2018 until today, I have primarily run Operator/Black with Squat, Bench, WPU and DL 1x per week. I do 2 HICs and 1 E per week and use a 90% TM on my lifts. I primarily used forced progression and only tested my 1RM once during the year. I did a couple of mini-SE blocks and a 2nd block of Base Building in November - December.
Anyways, I tested my 1RM today (4-20-19) and got these lifts:
*Squat: 325 x 1
*Bench: 215 x 1
*Deadlift: 405 x 1
*WPU: 285 x 1
In addition to my lifts going up, my endurance is back where I’m used to (better, actually). I did a test at the end of December (end of 2nd Base Building block) and ran 5 miles in 31:42 (6:19 per mile). My LSS runs were around clocking in between 7:30-8 min/mi for 7-10 miles during that block. That is faster than I was running prior to starting TB at 180 lbs, and I have remained between 200 - 210 lbs throughout my time on TB.
Finally, I don’t train for aesthetics, but I will say that my wife has loved the results, and multiple people who haven’t seen me in a while have made comments about how I look.
Takeaways:
-Despite it making me fat, I’m glad that I gave linear progression a shot and ran Starting Strength prior to TB. Beginner gains are no joke, and progressing quickly got me hooked on lifting. If I were to do it again, I would be more precise about my calorie intake. I ate myself into oblivion, and I think I could have made similar progress on less of a surplus. If your job requires you to maintain a certain level of endurance, you might not be able to stay on an LP very long, but I’d still recommend it if you are brand new to weights.
-You hear it a lot on this sub and from KB, but consistency is everything. Put in the work 6 days per week, and good things will happen. Making my HIC sessions easier/shorter every 3rd week as recommended in the books and taking an occasional week off every couple blocks has kept me fresh and injury-free. Also, I feel like the structure of TB lends itself to consistency, because it doesn’t require 2 hours in the gym every day. 45-60 mins and you’re done. I’ve come to love this style of training.
-Use a training max and force progression if you want to push your conditioning. I use a 90% TM and have never missed a rep. I’m sure I could have increased my lifts faster if I was OK with sacrificing my conditioning, but that wasn’t a tradeoff I was willing to make. Instead, I chose to increase my lifts slow and steady while really pushing my E and HIC on Operator. Testing my 1RM wears me out, so I only like to do it occasionally. After 6 weeks of Operator, you should have a pretty good feel for whether you’re ready to add weight or not.
-I think I will run some version of TB for the rest of my life. The flexibility it gives you to prioritize different attributes is really second to none. I haven’t found anything else like it. I’m looking forward to adding some Fighter/Green blocks this year and changing up my cluster as well. I'm shooting to hit the 1,000 lb club later this year while keeping my 5k run below 19:30.
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u/glid3r Apr 20 '19
Just to clarify, you're doing 4 workouts a week: 1x Operator Black, 2x HIC and 1x E? Or do u do 3 days of operator, so 6x days of activity/wk?
Nice write up, thanks!