ZM Strong like Bull training log (Tactical Barbell training log)

Training Training Logs
1486

Yeah… but I think I was hoping to not have to actually take a break. I need a break but I don’t want a break. I just feel lazy that I’m not actually lifting. But you’re right.

I need this. I need to not lift strenuous weights for awhile. This will be good for me. It will open up free time.

I just need to make sure I eat healthy still. I am NOT taking a break from that.

March 10th 2026 … Rest… day?

I think my plan going forward is this; The rest of the week will be a sort of rest week, doing nothing. Then going forward I will do the perscribed base building. This will put me lifting the last week of April… oh well. This is good for me.

Given the fact that this is cutting close to my planned time to do Base Building found in TBII, Maybe I should just do that. That’s 8 weeks so that will put me back at lifting May 10th, right at the end of the school year. I think this is good though. I might do this.

Im glad I’m doing this. I don’t necessarily want to do this, but I’m happy that I’ve decided to. This will put me at 5 weeks of lifting until I can go to the gym without my brother. Woohoo!

Breakfast now.

Meant to post this in the morning. Posting now I guess

1487

March 11th 2026

Today’s workout: Nothing, or at least,

“Ex-er-cise, Ex-er-cise, I must do my Ex-er-cise” (While doing the finger motion)

If ANYBODY knows what that’s a reference from, PLEASE tell me because I have no clue. My grandma did it but I think she got it from somewhere.

Will probably crochet today if I decide to. I finished the bandana, and now am working on a chromebook case.

3 Minutes until breakfast

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1488

Given the fact that this is cutting close to my planned time to do Base Building found in TBII, Maybe I should just do that. That’s 8 weeks so that will put me back at lifting May 10th, right at the end of the school year. I think this is good though. I might do this.

This seems worthwhile IF you take it seriously. But if you have more days of “bad weather" “no ride to the gym” “body aches”, etc, it’s going to be a squandered opportunity.

Attack it with vigor.

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1489

Il probably just stick to the 6 weeks. Il get back to real lifting faster.

On a related note; I want to take a break from some stuff. Not tracking Kcal, for one thing. I just want a break from it.

For this little while, Im going to prioritize having fun for once. Doing what I want(within limits duh). Im not going to pig out, and Im not gonna let myself have tons of junk. But I’m gonna have a bit of fun. Im allowed to have it.

I made a pie today. I can’t have any of it. Its for the math teachers as a gift for Pi day(its on the 14th but that’s a Saturday and there’s no school Friday. So tomorrow(Thursday) it is.

Friday Il be standing for 12 hours for an event. So that should be interesting/bad for my knees. Il bring a knee wrap for support. Il bring my crochet stuff too to get stuff done.

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1490

March 12 2026

Il get to bring my pie in today if things go according to plan.

Today should bring:

  • A meeting with the club organizer to talk about my club idea
  • College program
  • My English teacher telling me about what she thinks about what I wrote

Interesting day today.

Breakfast is now

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1491

Good day today

I got good results with my moss growth. Aka, I got the results I wanted. Protononemal growth was observed. I made some new agar plates, and put cellophane on half of the 2 plates. I then inoculated both sides of them with moss liquid.

I got my school health screening.

Weight: 178.1 … Well I did just eat, Had my clothes on, and had to go to the bathroom so okay

Height: 5’ 7.5"

Im not 5’9" like I thought

So… IM OBESE! :slight_smile: (technically)

I did a bit of lifting sorta. A few pullups, a few lat pulldown, a few reps of 135 on bench, and some knee extension exercises.

Knees felt somewhat good okay today. Just gotta keep up the knee exercises.

Gave the pie to my math teacher. I hope he likes it.

My teacher wrote on a paper the comments she had. She says its really good, and she agrees with a lot of stuff I wrote. After Il write a bit more, Il probably publish it. She said she is trying to find a way for students to publish things, or something. I’ll have to read over what she wrote again.

I got to have a double burger with fries today for the first time in awhile.

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1492

March 13 2026 Happy Friday the 13th!

Get to do that event at school today. Should be fun.

I have the House of the Rising Sun in my head this morning

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1493

Yesterday was fun! It ended an hour early for some reason, but I wasn’t complaining because I was getting tired.

We got to:
Get a smoothie for breakfast (if we wanted one, because people already ate. But people like food so, )
Do a version of jeopardy (they did it wrong though because it was the questions on the cards, not answers, but oh well)
Have a lunch
Put together puzzles in teams
Line dancing
Some games with basketballs (My friend won socks because she won at dribbling limbo, but she didn’t want them so she let me have them. Woohoo)
A dinner
A form of hide and seek, without real hiding. (More like tag in a way, we had ribbons that were on our pants and we had to get away from the tagger. I didn’t play because my stomach hurt a bit)
Then some time to do what we wanted to do. My friend taught me how to play gin rummy, so we played that for like 3 hours or so I think.
Our health teacher bought us milkshakes which was REALLY nice of her.

Anyways, it was a really fun day. Im glad I got to go

March 14 2025

Happy Pi day!

3.141592653589793238462643383 Is the extent of what I’ve memorized. I can’t seem to get any more than that

I feel fat today. I did eat crap yesterday, but… I just feel like I have a lot of fat on me. I REALLY want to cut down a bit, but I know its not going to help me in the long run. I need to learn to be comfortable in my own skin.

Anyways, not sure really what I will do today.

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1494

Love this game. I play it with my boys.

A lesson we all need to learn.

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1495

I need to actually prioritize eating healthy again. I’ve really let it slip. I’ve eaten too much junk the last few days. After eating dinner today, I weighed in at 180. Dinner was NOT that big. I think I need to start tracking calories again.

I know, however, that I don’t have an obsession/compulsion to track calories. So thats good.

I don’t need to lose weight, but I need to get my weight under control.

1496

(Im writing this here moreso just to see my own thoughts)

I need to take a good look at where I am at.

5’7.5"
175ish lbs
34 inch waist (well… maybe. Might be closer to 35 inches at the moment)
Abs are gone. Not much left of where they were.
I hate this fat I’ve gained
Why?
Is it a feeling like I haven’t been in control? Maybe
I am in control. I controlled my diet and my actions, and this was the result. I’ve brought this on me.
Is it the feeling like my progress since I was actually unhealthy and fat 2.5 years ago has been undone?
Maybe this is it.
It is false; I have made SO MUCH progress since then. From being able to do ZERO pushups, no strength at all, no muscle, to being able to do 50 in a row, and bench pressing 215, Squatting 275, OHP 115, Doing 8 pullups in a row, having gained a ton of muscle, and having HAD abs.

So what is it?
I don’t like the feeling of this fat, because it makes me feel like I’m back at square one, when I WAS actually fat and unhealthy. But as stated. I am NOT at square one.

But where am I then? I don’t know.
Will I know? I don’t know.
Can I know? I don’t know.
Do I need to know everything?
…
No.

What do I need to do?
Take action.

What action do I need to take?
Build strength

But before that?
Build up my tendon strength

How?
6 weeks of base building outlined in Mass protocol

Then what?
Operator+Black

Then what?
I will do what I will do.

What do I do now?
Prepare for base building in two days

What about the fat I have gained?
Nothing.
Why?
It is fine.
Why is it fine?
Because it is not harming me
Does it benefit you?
Neither does having a pumpkin on the shelf, but I still have it.
Why?
Because I do
Why?
I decided to.
Why?
Because I am human
Why?
Because I am.
.

So what now?
I accept I have this fat on me.
When can it be cut away?
When I am older, and have gotten to 200 lbs.
When will you be 200lbs?
When I am.
When?
Not determined.
Why?
It is not important
Why?
I need to act
Why?
Because I need to.
Why?
Because that is good to do
Why?
Because I need to honor this body God has made, and take care of it
Why?
Because God is Eternal and Greater than all things

So what WILL I do?
First build strength in my tendons.
How?
Base building
Why?
Because it works
why?
It was designed by someone who knows it works
Why?
Because it does work.
Then what?
Use Operator +Black, which works following those same principles, and it has worked well for me before.

So what else?
I must eat healthy food.
Which is?
Unprocessed foods and minimally processed foods, and whatever mom cooks
Why?
God made food that way, and Mom makes good food because she is Mom.
Will you eat processed foods like Oreos?
No. God did not design food in that manner, and oreos are a corruption of good things
And other junk?
No, same reasoning.

Where it the line?
Use reasoning to determine it.
Is it reliable?
As reliable as it needs to be
What if you don’t know?
Then I do not know.

I am okay with my body. It is fine. My body is not unhealthy nor is it disgusting. Fat is not an enemy, and my body is healthy and normal.
I am okay with my body
I am okay with my body
I am okay with my body
My body is healthy
My body is healthy
My body is healthy

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1497

March 15 2026

Need to get my homework done today, I forgot about it yesterday.

Il do a weigh in today. It’s been a week or two.

I think I’ve discovered something. I crave social interaction. Friday was really fun, and I felt great, because I had social interaction. Yesterday was pretty boring and almost sad, because there’s nobody except my parents. I think il start going to more school events and stuff.

Breakfast in 11 minutes

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1498

I WANT TO BE LEAN AGAIN DAMMIT!
I want my abs back… I know I have an 8 pack.

But I shouldn’t cut… its likely only going to be a detriment to me.

I was looking at my old pictures and I miss being that lean.

But I don’t need to be lean its not helpful.

Visible abs are literally worthless.
Visible abs are a sign of leaness
Leaness, Is it good?

But is it good for me, ?

Its not time yet though. I am not 200 lbs.

I just feel so conflicted in this, I don’t know what to do. I feel like it would be easier for me to cut down. It takes effort, I think, to not decide to continue cutting. BUT I WILL NOT CUT NO DO NOT MAKE EXCUSES TO CUT DOWN YOU DON’T NEED IT!

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1499

March 16 2026

First day of the base building program.

Today’s workout

Bench; 45lbs, 3 x 10
Squat: 45lbs, 3 x 10
Romanian Deadlift: I guess 45lbs, 3 x 10
Situps: 3 x 10

I feel so stupid using these weights. But I know this will be better for me in the long run. So oh well.

What do I do after? Can I fit in an E session, since I assume I will have lots of extra time?

Breakfast in 4 minutes

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1500

What’s unique about 200lbs compared to any other bodyweight you could be?

What do I do after? Can I fit in an E session, since I assume I will have lots of extra time?

A walk would be absolutely incredible.

Also, per Mass Protocol, this would be an excellent time to lean out, if that is in fact your goal. Dan John also talks about the value of getting lean before a gaining phase, as have many many other authors.

However, once again, I’d say the goal would be to make the method the goal: not the goal the goal. Which is to say, instead of it being “I’m going to be X% bodyfat by July” and you get there by eating a diet of 2 pop tarts and 6 scoops of whey and starving, you say “I’m only going to eat nonprocessed foods and drink zero calorie beverages until July”, and watch the bodyfat melt away.

1501

Its a round number. That’s pretty much the extent of it :man_shrugging:

I should have done that then, but oh well. I just did the workout as planned, and then did a bit of stuff that seemed like it would help. Plus it made me feel less lazy after getting my workout done in literally less than 10 minutes.

Im sure it would, but I’m not really worried about gaining mass for a little while. Then again… I wouldn’t mind some more muscle. Especially the chest, which I think lags a little behind. Oh and legs of course. Well, everything, really. But I want strength, first. That’s most important.

Yeah, that’s definitely something that makes sense. I should apply it really. I say this, of course, while having Fritos with my shephard’s pie :man_facepalming:

I honestly don’t know what to do, whether I cut or not.
Well I’ll think about this logically;
Im not gaining.
Im not in a state where I need a lot of recovery from work
I can use this as a time for losing fat.

1502

Its a round number. That’s pretty much the extent of it

Think about basing a lifestyle decision around this logic. Instead of focusing on what the number on the scale says, a performance based goal would be a superior choice in my opinion.

I’ve chased scale weight before. It helped me get fat. Performance improved as a side effect. I’ve done the opposite, chased performance, fat increased as a side effect, but I got stupidly strong, and when I leaned out I looked the best I’d ever looked.

If you make it a goal to get strong and conditioned, you’ll look like someone that is. Think, in your mind, what a dude that can press 225lbs overhead while running a 6 minute mile looks like.

I honestly don’t know what to do, whether I cut or not.

Make the method the goal and get the results that come with it.

I call this “Being that which does”.

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1503

That makes sense.

I do want to get strong and conditioned. That’s the goal. And the method to that goal is Operator+Black.

If I want to be conditioned, then It would be beneficial to lose fat.
If I want to get stronger, in addition to being conditioned, I need to make sure to eat highly nutritious food, get plenty of protein in, and make sure to follow the program, of course

So, my goal is to:
Execute Operator+Black for an undetermined amount of cycles (as of yet)
Eat Mostly Unprocessed/Minimally processed food, focusing on protein and nutrients (Broccoli Before Bread sums that up, in a simplified way)
*I say mostly, because I’m a bit limited in what we have. But I can still eat healthy. I just need to replace certain foods with other foods.

Now with eating, I just need a calorie number that will support my goals.
I would say this means at around maintainence, since Im not actively gaining mass, and if I’m in a deficit, then… well I suppose performance could suffer.

But still, Im not sure exactly how many calories I should eat per day. Its really a factor of carbs, I think. Il eat about 85g fat (as a rough target/baseline), and lets say 160g protein per day. So from there its just a matter of scaling with carbs (and to an extent, fat) This means 1405 Kcal, plus whatever I will get from the carbs I eat.

This is the point that I just don’t know how many grams of carbs I should eat per day, roughly.

1504

If I want to be conditioned, then It would be beneficial to lose fat.

No. You keep doing this. The method will create the outcome. Don’t try to work in reverse.

The body will become what it needs to become to meet the goal. If being leaner does that, then it will become leaner. Sometimes, the body needs to become FATTER to meet the goals.

Now with eating, I just need a calorie number that will support my goals.

Again, on this, I am saying let the method be the goal. What if you just ate to be able to meet your performance goals and let things sort themselves out naturally?

It’s REALLY hard to overeat whole/minimally processed foods. It CAN be done, but it’s hard. Our body tends to hit the satiety switch at the right time.

Consider this: a bag of potato chips requires 5 whole potatoes to make. If I sat you down in front of 5 baked potatoes and said “eat all of these”, you’d maybe get through 1.5 and tell me to buzz off. If I gave you a bag of potato chips, you’d eat the whole bag and be HUNGRIER once it was done.

I feel, from my outside observation, that when you set calorie goals for yourself, you tend to take in whatever it takes to reach those goals. And with you using less than accurate measuring methods, your potential for missing the goal you set increases.

If, instead, you simply make the method the goal (eat ONLY minimally processed foods and train with performance in mind), it should sort itself out. Your body will take the shape it needs to take to achieve the goals.

High school athletes in the 70s, 80s and 90s weren’t counting calories or macros. They managed, because our food system wasn’t completely destroyed at that point. You can create that same environment for yourself.

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1505

Ah, okay. I see it now.

I think that the only thing I have trouble really conceptualizing is “eating to meet performance goals” because my first initial idea is always calorie counting. But its not calorie counting. Its eating, not math. Still, I think it would be beneficial for me to track protein? Or even then no, because if I’m not sure, then I should just eat more meat?

That makes a lot of sense, with the potato example. Im not arguing with you, but here’s a rebuttal(or maybe a further example?)
Its not difficult to eat a couple ears of corn on the cob. But if you take it off the cob, almost everybody would say that’s WAY too much corn.

I will simply not try to necessarily change my body composition, in a way. I mean, I want to gain muscle at some point obviously so there’s that, but Im not necessarily cutting or bulking. I got it now, I think.