Pages

20230413

TACTICAL BARBELL: DEFINITIVE STRENGTH TRAINING FOR THE OPERATIONAL ATHLETE by K. Black

  • Tactical athletes have to become experts at everything, which can be a juggling act.
  • I always saw military PT as being more about developing the will to keep going versus training or improving actual physical skills.
  • As my maximal-strength went up, everything became easier.
  • Strength is ‘practiced’.
  • Results speak.
  • Tactical Barbell fully buys into the notion that ‘simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’.
  • As a tactical athlete you have to master multiple fitness domains.
  • Maximal-strength is a foundational physical attribute for the tactical athlete.
  • The most efficient way to increase maximal-strength is through the use of barbells, due to the ease of incremental loading and the amount of weight that can be safely handled.
  • TB is a barbell strength program designed specifically for tactical athletes using correct principles and best practices to increase maximal-strength while taking into account the need to simultaneously train other fitness attributes.
  • Every weight you lift will be based on your own personal one repetition maximums.
  • ‘Action is the foundational key to all success.’
  • Err on the side of the least amount of time you’ll consistently stick to.
  • All you have to do is execute. Simple, but not always easy.
  • Aim for being consistent
  • Motivation tends to grow after success strangely enough.
  • Consistency is the secret formula, the magic bullet.
  • Your only job is to go to the gym on the designated days. It’s inconsequential whether you have a good session or a bad one.
  • Operational athletes place an equal value on strength and conditioning.
  • Operational athletes strive to be superior in multiple fitness domains, not elite in one.
  • Being superior in multiple fitness domains is elite.
  • As long as your strength is increasing over time in the big picture, fluctuations up or down in the present mean nothing.
  • We’ve found over the years, that things like aesthetics, fat loss and all the rest take care of themselves if you focus on improving your performance.
  • Powerlifters lift far heavier weights than bodybuilders, yet they don’t resemble bodybuilders and can sometimes be much smaller.
  • Training for size and strength are different animals.
  • As one TB reader puts it, you want to be Wolverine, not the Hulk.
  • Strength training, powerlifting and bodybuilding are not the same.
  • Attributes or fitness domains are things like maximal-strength, speed, strength-endurance or aerobic capacity. Tools are things like bench press, sandbags, kettlebells, hills, and your bodyweight.
  • Think in terms of training an attribute. Then choose the best tool to train that particular attribute.
  • Periodization is just a fancy way of describing planned training progression. Because going 100% all the time simply does not work in the long run. There are many styles of periodization.
  • Strength is like a skill and should be trained like a skill.
  • When you attempt to train at your maximum all the time you’re going to burn out and get injured.
  • You can’t go 100% forever and keep making progress.
  • Don’t mistake frantic activity for progress.
  • AVOID MUSCLE FAILURE. Muscle failure is primarily helpful for muscular hypertrophy, not strength.
  • THOU SHALT REST A MINIMUM OF TWO MINUTES BETWEEN SETS
  • A general rule of thumb is the longer the rest interval, the more strength without the mass.
  • Goes without saying food and conditioning load are key ingredients in putting on mass as well.
  • Short rest intervals have merit for increasing hypertrophy and strength-endurance. But they’re an obstacle when it comes to developing max-strength.
  • A “cluster” is simply a group of exer-cises.
  • Always keep in mind we’re training for performance, not to get good at a particular exercise.
  • Focus on getting extremely strong in a small handful of balanced compound lifts.
  • We’re not focussed on variety for variety’s sake, we want results.
  • For the maximum strength game, if you keep changing things up, you will slow down your progress.
  • Keep the strength training relatively consistent.
  • A minimalist cluster is 2-3 exercises. Great for athletes or tactical types that are heavily involved in other forms of training or sports which place great demands on their energy systems.
  • A standard cluster is 3-4 exercises. Usually 3 lifts only, or three lifts plus 1 bodyweight exercise.
  • Standard clusters tend to produce the best strength and body composition results and are easily balanced with a heavy conditioning protocol.
  • Operator is the standard issue TB template for operational athletes. It is the backbone of the program. Three days a week.
  • To get the most out of this program, I strongly suggest you do no extra heavy barbell training on non-strength days. Stick to conditioning or sport specific training.
  • Operator template is the standard Tactical Barbell strength model. It was the original. Designed for tactical types looking for an ultra-efficient way to gain extreme levels of strength, while doing heavy conditioning work on the side.
  • Going too light is a waste of time.
  • These are the principles behind Operator template. All of them have to be in place for success: Training must be frequent (3 x week) Loads have to be heavy enough to trigger maximal-strength adaptation. There has to be sufficient recovery between training sessions.
  • Ultimately after you remove all the noise, effective strength training revolves around balancing these three things; frequency, intensity (load), and recovery.
  • If you can practice heavy (enough) lifting on a frequent basis while stopping short of overtraining – you’re golden.
  • Ask yourself why you’re doing accessory work. What are you truly gaining from it?
  • That’s the beauty of compound lifts – they tend to strengthen and activate more of your body.
  • Use a little common sense when choosing your cluster and ensure it’s balanced.
  • Balance can be obtained through activities outside of your max-strength protocol.
  • It’s a minimalist ultra-efficient approach that increases overall strength rapidly.
  • For a minimalist approach like Operator, I generally favor substantial compound lifts like the back squat and bench press for the average trainee.
  • So if you’re slinging around more weight in general every session, chances are you’ll get stronger faster. More efficiently.
  • *stick to bodyweight pull-ups until you can do at least 10
  • Consider Trapbar or Romanian deadlifts as an alternative.
  • Take one OR two days off in between your strength sessions as needed.
  • Higher volume contributes to mass gain. If you want to put on a little more beef go with 4 to 5 sets each session instead of 3.
  • Doing weighted pull-ups progressively and consistently will take your game to the next level. Try it. Bodyweight pull-ups should be substituted until you can hit 10 strict reps.
  • With bodyweight-only exercises we focus on increasing repetitions vs increasing load.
  • Strength-Endurance (SE) is the ability to produce resistance or generate force over an extended period of time.
  • SE is trained using very light loads (20%-40%RM/ bodyweight etc.) and high repetitions.
  • Time, and controlling it, is everything when it comes to SE.
  • Choosing exercises for SE should never ever be a problem – because you can always rely on good old bodyweight if you must.
  • Hormones have a huge impact on your training and body composition. Testosterone contributes to muscle gain, fat loss, libido, mood, and it antagonizes cortisol.
  • One of the best ways to support healthy hormone levels, is to ensure you get enough fat and cholesterol in your diet.
  • That being said, ultimately your training and diet should be geared to whatever helps your particular end goal.
  • Focus on training consistently and improving your performance. Everything else will fall into place as long as you adhere to intelligent eating guidelines and exercise some common sense.
  • I’ve noticed that the BIGGEST mistake the general trainee makes when trying to improve performance is LACK of food.
  • When it comes to protein, I am a believer in the idea that you need roughly one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily. I’ve found my best improvements in body composition, energy, recovery and strength when I adhere to this guideline.
  • Ultimately I believe consistency trumps any special supplement or diet.
  • My general rule of thumb is that mega-dosing anything is never a good idea no matter what the current science says.
  • Kettlebells are top of the line training tools when used correctly.
  • Long steady state cardio develops a base level of endurance that assists even during your short high intensity conditioning sessions.
  • Train and prepare for what you’re facing accordingly.
  • Most importantly the best program for you is one that gives you RESULTS.
  • There is no one ‘Holy Grail’ of training programs for everyone.
  • Pick any legitimate proven program and stick with it for a substantial amount of time before coming to any conclusions.
  • I set out to write the book I would’ve wanted 20 years ago when I was getting into the tactical world. If I could sum it up in one sentence it would be ‘a simple strength system for extreme results’. No frills, no unnecessary complexity, pared down, and brutally effective.
  • There are two principles in this book which are responsible for 90% of the results you will see with this program. The first is frequent heavy, sub- maximal lifting while avoiding muscle failure. The second supports the first, which is the longer, 2-minute minimum rest interval.
  • That tiny little bit of extra rest-interval translates into more work being successfully completed during a session, which compounds over time and turns into massive strength increases.
  • If your “cardio” mainly consists of sprinting, metcons, and HIIT, you’re doing it wrong. You’re missing out on developing the system that provides you with 90% of the energy you require for your daily activities.

                                                                                                                                                                                    No comments:

                                                                                                                                                                                    Post a Comment