G's Tactical Barbell / MT Log

[frystyle]

Hey man, nice log. Got a few questions. 1) Don't you miss doing other exercises? (pull ups, sohp, dips etc.)
2) Do you notice any change in mass? When I ran SS all the squats gave me big legs.
3) How does the volume of squatting 3x a week go with 3 times muay thai?

 

[Genghiz]

Oct.26: MT - elbow/knee/clinch focus for most of the class

Today: Rest

 

[Genghiz]

Hey man, nice log. Got a few questions. 1) Don't you miss doing other exercises? (pull ups, sohp, dips etc.)
2) Do you notice any change in mass? When I ran SS all the squats gave me big legs.
3) How does the volume of squatting 3x a week go with 3 times muay thai?

I do burpees, ab work and typical circuit type stuff during my muay thai classes. Occasionally I do kettlebells, LISS, and track work on non-lifting days. If I get bored of bench/DL/squat, I can change the cluster after a phase. After I finish up my 12 weeks here I'll be switching to DL/Weighted pull-ups/bench.

The program I'm using has guidelines to avoid mass, one of which is manipulating the RIs btwn sets. I stick to the longer RIs as prescribed, 2-3 mins+ , and so far it's working. Getting muscular/harder/stronger, but not bulky.

I only lift/squat twice a week (TB Fighter template). This works far better for me than doing 3 x week of lifting. I used to do SS 3 x week and ran into the problems you speak of. Lifting only twice a week has benefited my MT, and surprisingly I'm still getting stronger

 

[Genghiz]

Yesterday/Week 11 Day 1: MT - kicking & flexibility/stretching/dynamic stretching focus

Today: Strength (med. week 80%)

DL/Squat/Bench

 

[UWanaPlayDaGame]

very nice log. I have the same exact schedule* than you so I'm very interested. read thru page 4 and will read the full thread but I have questions already. sorry if it's covered later in the thread, I'll eventually get there.

I wil only lift twice a week too and just finished a 1 month "conditioning" or whatever that they made me do - even though I told them I used to lift and am in great shape already. also I won't do the lifting for too long. two months more and I'm off to summer vacation so I'll stop.

first question is: for such a short program, should I focus on pure strenght or hypertrophy? (I'm willing to do whichever fits better into an eight week program.

 

[Genghiz]

Decided to do the extra cardio / conditioning today.

3 mile/ LISS (slow pace)
100 burpees for time

 

[Genghiz]

very nice log. I have the same exact schedule* than you so I'm very interested. read thru page 4 and will read the full thread but I have questions already. sorry if it's covered later in the thread, I'll eventually get there.

I wil only lift twice a week too and just finished a 1 month "conditioning" or whatever that they made me do - even though I told them I used to lift and am in great shape already. also I won't do the lifting for too long. two months more and I'm off to summer vacation so I'll stop.

first question is: for such a short program, should I focus on pure strenght or hypertrophy? (I'm willing to do whichever fits better into an eight week program.

That depends. Are you lifting to benefit fight training or is there some other goal? What physical attributes of yours are lagging and need developing? If you weigh a hundred lbs and you want to increase size to get a little more heft in the ring, then a few phases of hypertrophy aren't out of the question. If you're satisfied with your size and weight, and you want to maximize your pound for pound strength/conversion to power, then I'd say focus on the strength training. You'll get a little hypertrophy out of it anyway.

If you're asking specifically in relation to the program I'm logging (TB) there is no focus on hypertrophy unless you do the "Mass" template in the book. TB states you'll get some muscle hypertrophy regardless of template because there is crossover between strength training and hypertrophy, but it gives you strategies to minimize or enhance it.

Personally I try and minimize hypertrophy and focus on maximizing pound for pound strength.

 

[UWanaPlayDaGame]

thank you very much. if you don't mind I'm gonna be nagging you a little bit 'cause I have similar goals, schedule and ideas about training than you and I'm setting up my own program 'cause my gym is a shit gym - it's the only one I'm willing to attend though since it's two blocks from home.

Are you lifting to benefit fight training or is there some other goal? What physical attributes of yours are lagging and need developing?

Lifting strictly only to benefit fight training. I'm around 160 lbs and satisfied with size and weight, lagging in power, everything else is fine but I'm skinny and light, always been.


just tested my RMs saturday using bodybuilding.com calculator. is it reliable? I think I'll straight up copy your training but I'll do some form of pullups too.

gonna do 4 sets of 5 reps of bench, pullups, squat and deadlift. I don't wanna spend too much time in the gym and 5x5 I think will be overkill for me. I'll eventually lift a 3rd time in the week when I feel like on saturday mornings so I guess it evens out. I believe it fits my style better if I do 4x5 with 75%/85%/95%RM.

when I get to work on monday morning I'll take a close look on this thread again to get the info especially about de-load week.

thank you very much!

 

[Genghiz]

80% week continues:

Squat 235
Bench 180
DL 250

Had one of those workouts where I seemed to feel really good and got my second wind after it was done. Was in the mood to do more so added on a little bit of extra conditioning:

10 x 10 burpees
10 x 10 light kb swings(24kg)

 

[Genghiz]

thank you very much. if you don't mind I'm gonna be nagging you a little bit 'cause I have similar goals, schedule and ideas about training than you and I'm setting up my own program 'cause my gym is a shit gym - it's the only one I'm willing to attend though since it's two blocks from home.




Lifting strictly only to benefit fight training. I'm around 160 lbs and satisfied with size and weight, lagging in power, everything else is fine but I'm skinny and light, always been.


just tested my RMs saturday using bodybuilding.com calculator. is it reliable? I think I'll straight up copy your training but I'll do some form of pullups too.

gonna do 4 sets of 5 reps of bench, pullups, squat and deadlift. I don't wanna spend too much time in the gym and 5x5 I think will be overkill for me. I'll eventually lift a 3rd time in the week when I feel like on saturday mornings so I guess it evens out. I believe it fits my style better if I do 4x5 with 75%/85%/95%RM.

when I get to work on monday morning I'll take a close look on this thread again to get the info especially about de-load week.

thank you very much!

Never used the bb.com calculator, I go to a site called erx.com. I'm sure it's all the same.

It doesn't sound like you've gone through my log yet, but the reps change every week as the loads go higher. If you're doing 4x 5 or 5 x 5 every week you're doing it wrong. I have no prob answering general questions, but for specifics you'll have to read the log, because everything's covered ad nauseam in detail.

Better yet, I suggest you buy, borrow or steal a copy of the book, because you'll be missing out on some of the best parts of the program, like customizing your clusters/templates. Best $10 I've spent on strength training as far as real world results go, and I've spent a shitload of coin on every s&c book you can imagine.

 

[vrain]

80% week continues:

Squat 235
Bench 180
DL 250

Had one of those workouts where I seemed to feel really good and got my second wind after it was done. Was in the mood to do more so added on a little bit of extra conditioning:

10 x 10 burpees
10 x 10 light kb swings(24kg)

Looking good. Are you sticking with Fighter temp. then....? I thought you mentioned something about trying out Op or Gladiator. I am finishing up Gladiator and then going back to Fighter. G was okay...but I'm with you......I prefer the two days a week, especially now that I'll be starting up with boxing again this month.I don't know if you checked out the TB site lately but there's a new cardio-conditioning book coming out.

 

[Genghiz]

Looking good. Are you sticking with Fighter temp. then....? I thought you mentioned something about trying out Op or Gladiator. I am finishing up Gladiator and then going back to Fighter. G was okay...but I'm with you......I prefer the two days a week, especially now that I'll be starting up with boxing again this month.I don't know if you checked out the TB site lately but there's a new cardio-conditioning book coming out.

Yeah man sticking with it. If it ain't broke.

I'm sure it'll be a good book, they seem to know their shit, but I'm pretty happy with my set up as is. No plans to change anything conditioning/cardio-wise. I'll just keep plugging away at the MT + 1 optional conditioning day/week for all my cardio needs. So I probably won't be investing at this time. If you pick it up let me know how it is though.

 

[UWanaPlayDaGame]

I suggest you buy, borrow or steal a copy of the book, because you'll be missing out on some of the best parts of the program, like customizing your clusters/templates. Best $10 I've spent on strength training as far as real world results go, and I've spent a shitload of coin on every s&c book you can imagine.

I'm sure this would be the best option but I live in Brazil in the southern edge of the world. people don't even know what's TB in here. I only got into these modern programs thru one guy from another gym who was into t-nation.com and such. if I order the book online by the time I get my hands on it the 2 months I'm gonna be lifting will be passed.

I'm only nagging you because I realized that this time I'm gonna have to do my own programming. not ideal, but it is what it is. the gym I'm going to is focused on elder people and the instructor who's there when I attend is a newbie who's terrified of going a little bit outside the book. I'm gonna have a hard time even convincing them that I'll do what I'll do.

anyway now I have read the whole log. got pretty much all the info I need. just gonna be annoying you with a couple more questions I promise lol. thanks in advance.

 

[UWanaPlayDaGame]

so it is something like that:

Week 1 - 5x5 / 70-75%
Week 2 - 5x5 / 80-85%
Week 3 - 3x3 / 90-95%
De-Load week.

repeat.

only on de-load week you didn't give much detail. I wrote down the numbers so I come up with the % but how many reps do you do on de-load week?


then after de-load week you went 5x5/80% for one week then 3x3/90% for one week then 5x5/75% is that it?

 

[UWanaPlayDaGame]

just started yesterday. sorry to hijack your log but I'm not serious enough about lifting to start my own and my numbers aren't worth posting.

anyway it felt great. I know I'm in for disaster by making up my own program but I read too much about strenght training the last week to not know something about it.

I was feeling too good not to do 5x5. it took more time than I wanted but whatever.
RMs were calculated in a very conservative manner so I'm going 75% for the first week then 85% and 95%.

did bench press/squat/deadlift. it felt like I was doing a lot of force but never went to failure. then I still wanted to do the pullups which I did with ~10 lbs shinguards. did not complete 5 reps for the last set.

end result is that now I like lifting again, am actually looking forward for the next session instead of it being a chore that I have to struggle thru. I'm feeling somewhat stiff but I would guess it's a first day thing. going to MT gym after work.

 

[Genghiz]

just started yesterday. sorry to hijack your log but I'm not serious enough about lifting to start my own and my numbers aren't worth posting.

anyway it felt great. I know I'm in for disaster by making up my own program but I read too much about strenght training the last week to not know something about it.

I was feeling too good not to do 5x5. it took more time than I wanted but whatever.
RMs were calculated in a very conservative manner so I'm going 75% for the first week then 85% and 95%.

did bench press/squat/deadlift. it felt like I was doing a lot of force but never went to failure. then I still wanted to do the pullups which I did with ~10 lbs shinguards. did not complete 5 reps for the last set.

end result is that now I like lifting again, am actually looking forward for the next session instead of it being a chore that I have to struggle thru. I'm feeling somewhat stiff but I would guess it's a first day thing. going to MT gym after work.

Haha. Feel free to "log-along" dude. One thing, the TB program is pretty strict on rest intervals. You have to take a minimum of a 2min RI between sets. Also, don't go switching up the reps no matter how good you feel, that's another no-no in the book. This is more Bulgarian style as opposed to 5/3/1 max-out style. You're sabotaging your long-term gains by jumping the gun.

 

[Genghiz]

Opted for the extra conditioning today:

400m x 6
100 x 3

Ironwolf's posts have inspired me to start a 30 day kettlebell challenge. I'll be doing 100 swings a day for 30 days. Started this yesterday, and completed them today after I got home from the track:

KB swings x 100 / one-handed/ 24kg

 

[ironwolf]

Opted for the extra conditioning today:

400m x 6
100 x 3

Ironwolf's posts have inspired me to start a 30 day kettlebell challenge. I'll be doing 100 swings a day for 30 days. Started this yesterday, and completed them today after I got home from the track:

KB swings x 100 / one-handed/ 24kg

Thats awesome man, stick to the KB swings and build up, I gaurantee you will se improvements.

 

[UWanaPlayDaGame]

Haha. Feel free to "log-along" dude. One thing, the TB program is pretty strict on rest intervals. You have to take a minimum of a 2min RI between sets. Also, don't go switching up the reps no matter how good you feel, that's another no-no in the book. This is more Bulgarian style as opposed to 5/3/1 max-out style. You're sabotaging your long-term gains by jumping the gun.

yes I caught the post where you mentioned the 2 min rest. I hate sitting in the gym all that time just waiting around but it is what it is.

and no I won't do any more reps don't worry lol... I'm all alone with little assistance in there, it's very very "conservative" lifting.

thanks for the tips I'll start week 2 tomorrow and it's all simple but I'll have a few more questions along the way.

 

[Genghiz]

yes I caught the post where you mentioned the 2 min rest. I hate sitting in the gym all that time just waiting around but it is what it is.

and no I won't do any more reps don't worry lol... I'm all alone with little assistance in there, it's very very "conservative" lifting.

thanks for the tips I'll start week 2 tomorrow and it's all simple but I'll have a few more questions along the way.

You are on your own from here my friend....don't be a cheap bastard. You can download the book for $9 to your laptop. That's a couple brewskies.