Lifting Weights: Tactical Barbell Part II

                                

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Tactical Barbell. I had planned to wrap up my current block of Operator and then begin their hypertrophy program.  But there was a problem. I wasn't excited about my next block. 

This week was supposed to be my 1RM test week, but I found a new training framework that I was too excited to try. I'll write more about that soon. 

I had been running TB since last September. I started with Base Building and followed that up with two 12 week blocks of Operator (alongside their Black conditioning protocol). The results were solid, as was expected. I've never had any issues running this program. I maintained 185 lbs while regaining strength and maintaining a conditioning base. Mission accomplished. 

The problem I have with this program is that lifting the same three big movements everyday was getting... dull. Mondays and Wednesdays were Bench/Squat/Weighted Pull-ups and Friday was Bench/Squat/Deadlift. That's also the beauty of this program. There's no accessory movements because you're kept fresh to focus on conditioning and lift heavy weights without working yourself into the ground. 

Their hypertrophy program looked more or less the same just with higher volume. And at that point, why not use a different program? I looked at 5/3/1 (another one of my beloveds) but felt the same way. Further, I feel like my numbers can be pushed. Because 5/3/1 and TB are both percentage based programs, I think this has the tendency for lifters, like me, to not push themselves as hard because they have to stay to a strict percentage.

For example, when I started this current block, I was squatting 275 for two reps with maybe one bad rep in reserve (this was coming off a long period of minimal weight training). Last week, I was squatting 285 for singles and felt like I had a lot of gas left in the tank (again, the whole point of the program).  

Instead of continuing with TB, I'll be following Cody Lefever's General Gainz (GG) framework. I'll discuss in a future post what that will entail but it aligns with my current goals a lot better than TB.  

I 100% recommend TB for those interested in conditioning and lifting heavy weights. But for now, I want to focus more on strength before I increase my volume. With GG provides.