About me
Male, 36 yo, 5’ 8’', 163 lbs.
Been lifting for 20 years. I like lifting and outdoors activies mostly hiking, alpine skiing, ski touring, biking and running. Had an indoor climbing phase too. I have been active on the forum for a few months now and I decided to start a log. The last year have been crazy with the birth of my son and construction on my house so lifting was lower on my priorities. Still is but now that I have a little bit more time and we have a better schedule I can plan to train more regularly again.
For the past few months, I have been able to lift and condition regularly without really following a program.
Program
Next Monday, I will start training with Tactical Barbell Fighter template from the strength book coupled with Black Pro protocol from the conditioning book. It means 2 days a week of lifting and 3 days of conditioning. It is the most minimalist I can go with Tactical Barbell.
I have some experience with Tactical Barbell having used Operator for strength a little bit more than a year ago and having done the Base Building phase of the conditioning book last summer. Since last summer, I maintained the conditioning and lifted by feeling.
Max
I tested my max today to plan my numbers for Monday.
Bench 3 x 205 (I will use 205 as my max)
Squat 3 x 275 (I will use 275 as my max)
Neutral grip weighted chin ups 2 x BW + 60 (2 x 223, I will use 215 as my max)
Those will be my only 3 lifts with assistance thrown in when I have time or feel like it. Conditioning will be 2 HIC session per week and 1 E session. This way, I can combine my strength work with my conditioning (HIC) 2 days a week if I need to and have a separate E session. This allow me some flexibility as I can train 3 to 5 days a week depending how much time I have each day.
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Goals
I forgot to talk about my goals.
In summary, they are:
- Being regular
- Gain back some strength
- Get to a point of conditioning I have never been
For regularity, I just want 2 strength sessions and 3 conditioning sessions per week. 2 of those conditioning sessions should be anaerobic and 1 should be aerobic. Most of these sessions should be about 30 minutes or less. The aerobic session can range from 30-60 minutes. With daycare, sick kid, work and life getting in the way, this allow me the flexibility to have those sessions at many occasions during the week no matter what happen since they’re short.
On the strength side, I want to get back to a point where I can do one or a few rep with 1.5xBW for bench and 2xBW for squat. I have been at that point in the past and know I can go back to it by being regular with my strength work, follow a program and don’t change program to often.
For conditioning, I must clarify my goal but if I would have a number for one. I would want to be able to run a 5K under 25 minutes which has been my best time in the past. I want to be better than that. I know it will take some times though but I have never really follow a dedicated conditioning program for a long time so who knows?
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Where have you had the opportunity to ski tour? I know when I alpine skied my legs were very ready for hiking. I miss being able to downhill. It is good to read your post.
@Friedrich I ski tour in Quebec, Canada. There is a lot of places to go. I mainly go to Massif du Sud. There is a ski resort with some places/trail to skin and go up and you can go down using the slopes of the resort. There is also an area to do some backcountry skiing nearby. Nice place, they receive lots of snow and it is only a 1 hour drive from home. The uphill really makes you appreciate the downhill!
Last week, I did a HIC conditionin session from the TB II book. I did Meat Eater II. I did the basic version with only 5 rounds. I will be able to test this one again to see how I progress on the conditioning side.
Meat Eater II
5 rounds
- 10 swings (I used 50 pounds)
- 10 burpees
- 60 sec rest
Took 8:51. I have not done a lot of burpees in my life so those were hard. I definitely need to work on my anaerobic conditioning. I was breathing hard at the end. Did not take too long to recover though.
I also looked at my Strava and I saw that my last 5K test, I did it in 27:36. I plan to do better than that this summer.
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Lunch workout
Max Strength - Fighter template Week 1 Day 1
- Bench 3 x 5 x 155
- Squat 3 x 5 x 205
- NG Chin ups 3 x 5 x BW (164.2 lbs today)
Total : 28 minutes
*I was strict with 2 minutes rest between my work sets as per K. Black recommandation.
Strength work went well. I will probably be sore from the squats because I have not done much squat lately but the rest was fairly easy.
Conditioning work - Indoor Power Intervals using the Airbike (basic version)
5 rounds of:
- 1 min sprint on Airbike (went @ 60-70 RPM or 350-400 watts)
- 5 min rest (stayed on Airbike and went @ 30-35 RPM)
Total: 30 minutes
I stayed conservative with this one. Did not want to go too hard. I thought by going that speed it would be easier than that. It was not. This is proof I really need to work my anaerobic capacity. I plan to do this one around every other week I think. Work my way up to the Standard which calls for 2 minutes intervals instead.
Nice workout combining max strength and conditioning in less than an hour. Happy with that. I won’t be able to train tommorrow so I stacked those 2 workouts into one today. I will do that when possible so I don’t find myself short at the end of the week.
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Lunch workout
Conditioning work - LSS Run
My schedule changed so I was able to squeeze an E session at lunchtime. At the same time, today was the first day in month where the temperature went above freezing. I decided to go for a run in the mud, water and melting snow that is covering the streets. It was my first run since November 5th according to Strava and it felt good. The Airbike session during the winter helped. I was feeling it in the hip flexors though. I went at a pace where talking/singing was still possible. I was not able to breath with my nose because after 10 minutes, due to the cold air, it was filled with mucus. My Fitbit is unreliable for heart rate.
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Morning training - Weight vest walk on walking pad
- 1.25 km in 20:00 with 30 lbs
I received the weighted vest I had ordered yesterday. It is a 45 lbs weight vest I will use for weight vest walk/rucking and weighted calisthenics when the time comes. I tested it this morning just to get the feel and be able to better plan in the future.
The walk was easy for the legs and heart rate was low. My traps and shoulders and neck muscles are not used to that kind of weight. I have hiked many times with big backpack from 20-45 lbs but the distribution of the weight is mostly on the hip belt so nothing close to that sensation for the shoulders. I like the fact that the weight is distributed evenly on the front and back of the body though. I guess I will get used to it quickly. It is really not that bad and the padding of the weight vest is great. Good addition to my training gear.
Added note: It was really easy because it was SLOW AF. It was slow because I was working at my standing desk at the same time and following an e-training. It don’t really count as a training session seriously. It is activity of course but it was mostly to see how the weight vest feeled.
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PM workout
Max Strength - Fighter template Week 1 Day 2
- Bench 3 x 5 x 155
- Squat 3 x 5 x 205
- NG Chin ups 3 x 5 x BW (168 lbs today, lots of fluctuations in the last days but I train at different time so time of day has impact I guess)
Total : 27 minutes*
*Still strict with 2 minutes rest period. I was probably faster on setup and warmup.
My AM meeting was longer than expected so lunch time was really short. I decided to just do the strength work today after work and keep the HIC session for another day. I still have 3 days in my training week and only 1 HIC to do so I should manage. I will probably be able to squeeze it tomorrow and have the week end off from training.
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Lunch workout
Conditioning - GC 5 (basic version)
- Max dips x 30 sec (18+15+8=41)
- Rest x 90 sec
- Max push ups x 30 sec (23+16+15=64)
- Rest x 90 sec
x 3 rounds
- 5 pull ups
- 10 burpees
x 3 rounds
Total : 17:40*
*I had some troubles with my timer for the 30/90 sec intervals.
It was fun and I got a nice pump but I don’t think I have enough strength endurance in my pec/shoulders for that workout to be a great conditioning session. For the 3 rounds of dips/push ups, I was not able to do enough of them to elevate my heart rate significantly. The pull ups/burpees combo was a different beast though because pull ups elevate my heart rate well and I am so innefficient at burpees and they use so much muscle that they do a great job at elevating my HR. So my HR was only greatly elevated for the last 3-5 minutes of the workout. Before that I was cruising around 120-135 bpm. I peaked at 166 bpm during the last set of burpees.
In summary, I may do it once in a while but for now, I prefered Meat Eater II, Indoor Power Intervals and Fobbit for inside conditioning sessions. GC 3 (Brig Rat) could be a better choice of GC for me.
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AM Workout
Conditioning - Ruck
- 3 km ruck in the snow wearing my son in baby carrier (25-30 pounds)
Total : 33 minutes
I had to take a couple of breaks to replace my son’s beanie so he don’t freeze his ears so when I looked at my pace and HR average it was 111 bpm so lower than 120 bpm recommanded in the TB book. I was probably around 115-120 when walking but the couple breaks lowered the average. I may be able to squeeze another E session this week anyway.
PM Workout
Max Strength - Figther template Week 2 Day 1
- Bench 3 x 5 x 165
- Squat 3 x 5 x 220
- NG Chin ups 3 x 5 x BW + 5 lbs (172)
Total : 30 minutes*
*Still strict with 2 minutes rest period but went slower on set up and weight changes during warm up because my son was sleeping upstairs and was careful about noise.
I will do a HIC tommorow. Not sure about my training schedule for the rest of the week.
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Yesterday AM Workout
Conditioning - Fobbit Intervals
- Airbike x 2 min (35-40 RPM)
- 20 KB swings @ 50 lbs
- Airbike x 2 min (35-40 RPM)
- 20 DB Snatch (10/arm) @ 35 lbs
Repeat for 20 minutes.
I really like Fobbit. After 5-10 minutes, the swings/snatches get my HR a little bit over 150-160 bpm and the easy airbike bring my HR back in the 120-130 bpm range without resting completely. The airbike is to be done slower than what I do during my E session.
Overall, it is not as easy as an E session but not as hard as a GC. And since I am not doing any hinge movement in my max strength training, I really like doing swings and snatches in my HIC session.
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PM Workout
Max Strength - Fighter template Week 2 Day 2
- Bench 3 x 5 x 165
- Squat 3 x 5 x 220
- NG Chin ups 3 x 5 x BW + 5 lbs (172)
Total : 30 minutes
Conditioning - GC of my own
- 1-10-1 ladder of KB swings @ 35 lbs + push ups (100 reps total of each)
Total : 8:44
Wanted something quick for the conditioning and remembered this one that I was doing probably 15 years ago that was giving me a good sweat. Perfect sweet spot for me. I can do all the reps and never stops but it challenges me enough, especially for the cardio. Might use a heavier KB next time. Perfect for when time is tight.
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Lunch Workout
Max Strength - Fighter template Week 3 Day 1
- Bench 3 x 3 x 185
- Squat 3 x 3 x 250
- NG Chin ups 3 x 3 x BW + 25 lbs (195 lbs total)
Total : 29 Minutes
No time for conditioning today. Weird week. I will only have time Friday, Saturday and Sunday to fit the other sessions (2 HIC + 1 E + 1 MS session to fit in those 3 days). I may do only 2 conditioning sessions this week because of this and also because K.Black wrote to take conditioning easy each 3rd week.
The weight went up fine considering my son woke me up at 2:15 and I was not able to go back to sleep after that.
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PM Workout
Conditioning - LSS
- 30 minutes of steady pace Airbike
Had plenty of time to workout today but I got a stomach bug or something. I figured heavy squats and high intensity conditioning were not the best things to do so I did my E session of the week. Went fine. I hope things will be better tomorrow so I can do my 2nd MS session and at least 1 HIC session this week.
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Lunch workout
Max Strength
- Bench 5 x 5 x 155
- NG Chin ups 5 x 5 x BW (around 167 today)
Total time: 25:00
Conditioning - Airbike sprints
- 5 x 10 sec sprint / 60 sec slow
Total time 5:50
I will do the squat only Wednesday with some HIC. I’ll do the lifts only once per week for the next few weeks because I won’t be home much. Because of that, I’ll do 5 sets instead of 3.
I really liked the Airbike sprints. I used the same work/rest time than Short Hills in TBII. I thinks it is my second favorite with Fobbit. I may use them a lot in the next few weeks. Airbike sprints (Short Hills style) done after bench and chin ups then Fobbit after squats. With that, I have 2 30-35 minutes workout that covers everything. Add an E session and I am good to maintain/improve really slowly on strength and conditioning.
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Lunch workout
Max Strength
Total time: 16:00
So… change of plan and I was able to work from home today. I took that opportunity to train at lunch time. I was planning to do my squat workout and another HIC already (Fobbit). Right after my last set of squat, I got a call from daycare that my son had a fever and I had to go get him. That meant no conditioning. Second change of plan. But according to @T3hPwnisher, chaos IS the plan.
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Yup! This is exactly why, haha. “Man plans and god laughs”. Been awesome following along with you on this though dude. TB is treating us well.
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Exactly haha! My new plan is to train as soon as I have time and that I won’t wake someone in the house. Once my workouts for the week are done, I am good. Something can still mess that up though so I’ll adapt then.
I am time constrained, have an hectic schedule, I miss training session, my nutrition is average and my son just started to sleep all night a few weeks ago (most nights) so still a little bit sleep deprived. TB still works in those parameters! I do the bare minimum and I still gain strength. Conditioning stuff is getting easier and easier. So yeah, TB is treating us well!
I saw your log and I am hoping to try the famous Oxygen Debt 101 in the next days/week. No more snow in the streets!
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Outstanding to hear dude! It’s an excellent sprint workout for sure. I’m sure it’d work well with cardio equipment too, although scaling would be the trick.
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@T3hPwnisher I would probably do 30-40 sec sprint on the Airbike to be about the same time as 200 meters sprint while running (I am no Noah Lyles) and use the same rest period. I could give it a go but at the same time now that weather is better, I really want to improve at running so my HIC should move in that direction. I still want to do a few easier runs before full out sprinting though and might have to pace myself the first few sprint sessions.
Speaking of running…
Lunch workout
E - LSS running
- Run 3.02 km in 26 minutes
Short E session because I had not evaluated the time and distance it would take me correctly and I was back at the house and did not want to run my 100m lonely street back and forth for 4 minutes. It did the job.
I had to run slow as fuck to be in right HR range (almost 14 minutes per mile). I was able to breath by the nose today because it was not below freezing. My nose get stuffed fast below freezing. It made me realize that I can do the talk test at higher HR but not the nose breathing one so my HR must not be that way off on my Fitbit. So, I did a quick test and took my HR manually, it was closer to 140 bpm than the 150 bpm indicated on my watch but still close enough. And at that speed, I was able to breath by my nose but it was starting to be a little bit uncomfortable. I think today, I really got the right feel of what speed I should go to develop aerobic capacity. And it is painfully slow! Staying between 14 and 15 min/mile should do the trick.
I can walk at that speed but it is also uncomfortable. It’s like if I am walking fast naturally, I tend to get closer to 16-17 min/mile and if I run slow naturally, I tend to be closer to 12 min/mile. The walk is too slow to be in zone 2 and the run is too fast to be in zone 2 too. So I will have to run uncomfortably slow to stay in zone 2. I could try walking to be in zone 2 but I want to get better at running so I don’t see the point.
It made me think about the 3 periods in my life were I was not totally sucking at running. One of those period (I was already fitter in that period), I was running 3-4 times a week for 30+ min at 12 min/mile (really easy pace back then). After a few months of this, I was able to run 1.5 miles in a little more than 9 minutes. Another period, I got back in running shape by doing the couch to 5K running plan and continue to do some easy runs for 30 minutes 2-3 times per week during a few months once I had completed C25K. I ran a 10K in 56 minutes at the end of the summer and I should have run it faster because it was easy. The 3rd period, I walked fast for 60 minutes 3-4 times a week all winter and when spring came, I ran a 10K in 55 minutes after just a few runs in the spring (less than a month of running).
In conclusion, I will continue with Black Pro until the end of Fighter template but after that I may rerun Base Building or do an 8 week Capacity block from the Green Protocol book to build back my running base.
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