Tactical Beast Mode

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ShaolinStyle

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@Yellow
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Hey Everybody,

I'm coming off of a bad groin/adductor strain that is still healing, and I've decided to finally dedicate myself to serious training. Reading through the logs found Tactical Barbell and thought it sounded like exactly what I need. I used to do a lot of bodyweight work and Infinite Intensity, and will be combining TB and II in the future once my leg is fully healed. I'm hoping to get back into muay thai in a few months too.

I'm going with a modified cluster with the Gladiator template since I can't do any leg work right now:
Bench Press 159 1RM
Military Press 122 1RM
Bodyweight Pullups 6 reps max.

All pretty sad numbers, but have to start somewhere! I'll be doing some additional shoulder exercises focusing on stability since 2 presses will be pretty strenuous.

Just started on Monday at 70% of 1RM and everything felt great so far.

New 1RM after testing today 5/20/2015 after 9 weeks

Bench Press 210
SOHP 170
Bodweight Pullups 11 reps. Was able to do 2 pullups with 35lbs in the backpack.
 
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Had to take some time off was super busy with work, exercising here and there but not sticking to the plan. Back at it now and trying to get myself ready for a half-marathon in two weeks. I decided to focus on the SOHP and not the Bench- doing both on the same day was too taxing on the shoulders. I'll do some dumbbell benching/plyo pushups to maintain.

Tuesday and Saturday 70%
SOHP 115 4x5
Pullups 4x5

Front Squat 85lb 2x5
Squat 135lb 4x8 (back into squatting after hip injury so taking it slow working on form)
Deadlift 190 4x5

Sunday 6 mile run. First run in a long time..horrible time of 51 minutes for a 8:48min pace. Can only get better
 
Awesome, looking forward to following along.

There is a log on here somewhere of TB Fighter combined with Ross' Infinite Intensity, brilliant idea and I'd give it a try myself if I ever take a month or two off muay thai.
 
Day 2 strength endurance:

3x20

DB Bench 30lbs
Lunges 10 reps 30lbs
Push Press 30lbs
DB Rows 45lbs 15 reps
DB Squats 30lbs
 
Yes I think it vrain is the username. The two of your logs got me motivate to try out TB, especially since I'm hoping to get back into Muay Thai. I'll probably switch to a fighter template in a few months.

Today was great, I was finally able to wake up early and get to the gym a little after 5am after months of setting my alarm clock but always snoozing instead. I decided to do 5x8 reps instead of 5x5 to try to jump start my strength. I'll continue to follow the template for the weights 80% and higher, but figured it wouldn't hurt for the 70% 1RM weights.

Today's workout after a 10 minute bike and some dynamic stretching:

Bench Press 110lbs 5x8
Military Press 80lbs 5x8
Pullups 5x5.

I want to make sure my support muscles are strong so I'm adding different shoulder support exercises after I finish the main workout. Being in physical therapy for my leg made me realize I really need to work on those support muscles that I've neglected in the past not knowing it was necessary. So I did 3x10 sets of facepulls today. Never did these before but I can really feel the rear delts working so they must have been pretty weak. Hopefully this keeps me injury free.
 
Start of week 2 yesterday, lifts at 80% of 1RM.

Bench 125 4x5 then 1x8. Felt good for all the bench sets.

SOHP 100 5x5. For some reason I love lifting weight over the head! Felt solid on these sets.

Pullups 5x5 - first time completing 5 sets of 5 with no problem. Big goal to get into the 20+ rep range for pullups. May take a while but already feeling stronger after the first week. Used to do a lot of pullups until failure, but not going overboard seems to be working so far.

Did some rear deltoid work on the chest fly machine, and a few sets of lateral raises to keep the shoulders strong.

PT is going well, added some light running to the mix to no ill effect, can't wait until I can hit the road again now that the weather's warming up. Looking forward to tomorrow's workout!
 
ShaolinStyle said:
Start of week 2 yesterday, lifts at 80% of 1RM.

Used to do a lot of pullups until failure, but not going overboard seems to be working so far.
Click to expand...

Yeah that was weird getting used to at first, not trying to max out every workout. But it works like a charm. There is something to this frequent sub-max lifting. Pavel pushes this quite a bit, and I think it's a very typical Bulgarian-Eastern bloc approach.

Just curious how you're finding the volume on Gladiator? It looks like a lot.
 
Genghiz said:
Yeah that was weird getting used to at first, not trying to max out every workout. But it works like a charm. There is something to this frequent sub-max lifting. Pavel pushes this quite a bit, and I think it's a very typical Bulgarian-Eastern bloc approach.

Just curious how you're finding the volume on Gladiator? It looks like a lot.
Click to expand...

So far the volumes been very manageable although I'm just finishing the 2nd week tomorrow. I'm sore the day after the workout, but on the next lifting day I'm feeling fine. I'll add a few sets of dips just on some days and I've been doing some accessory shoulder work to prevent injury and I haven't felt any fatigue.

TB is the only workout I'm doing right now though; no muay thai, no running until this leg heals. So for me it's fine. My plan is to maybe do 2 12 week cycles of Gladiator to get my strength base up, and then move to a fighter template if I take up Muay Thai again.
 
Wednesdays workout:

warmup

Bench 125 4x5, 1x7.
Military Press 100 5x5.
BW Pullups 5x5. Didn't feel as great on the pullups as I did on Monday, we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Also did high volume deadlifts 135 3x10. Might add this once a week and increase the weight a little bit. Want to make sure my back is ready when I really add this lift to the next 12 week block.

Physical Therapy tonight- hopefully I'll be running soon!
 
Week 2 in the books. Another nice 5am workout, great start to the day.

Bench 125 5x4. 1x10. Felt really good so decided to go for 10 reps on the last set.
Military Press 100 5x5. Feeling stronger than earlier in the week, this went up with ease.

Pullups 5x5 Struggled with the last 2 sets, had to take a couple seconds rest to get the last rep in both times. Next week is the 90% week where I'll be doing 5x3. I think I'll start off with the pullups so I have the strength to bust them all out. I've been doing them last each time so far. Maybe I'll rotate the 3 exercised each time since it's 3 times a week and see how that goes.
 
Did a light 10 minute jog from my house to the gym. First time I've ran that far in a while and the leg is feeling good- no tightness, so PT is working. Still have to work on the balance on the left side after realizing just how out of wack it is.

Started up with pullups this time since I felt like I was struggling with them after the bench and overhead press. Last week was 5x5, went for 6 this time. Did 3 sets of 6 fine and had to take a few seconds to get the last 2 reps for the last sets. Not bad though.

This week is 90% 1RM 5x3.
Bench 145 5x4. 3 reps just seemed too easy so I put in an extra rep each set. I hope this doesn't affect my progress but I figure an extra rep can't hurt.

Military Press 110 5x5. Again it was supposed to be 5x3 but this felt easier than the 100lbs felt last week.

I know it's only the beginning of week 3, and I was planning a 12 week block, but I think I might switch to 9 weeks instead. I'll do weeks 4-6 twice instead of 1-3 after completing week 6- if that makes any sense.
 
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2nd workout of week 3. Maybe I shouldn't have done those extra reps on the bench Monday, I was feeling sore and tired today with the Bench and Pullups. Was going for 5 sets of 6 reps on pullups but could only get 6 in a row on the first try. Had to rest a couple seconds for the other sets.

145lbs on the bench was easier Monday, but still made it through the 5x3.

OHP is my favorite workout, I just enjoy lifting the weight overhead, so I decided to go up 5 pounds to 115 instead of 110- looks better with the 35lb plates too :p . 4x3 plus a 1x5 set. Felt very good during this lift, think I finally woke up- I should have had a coffee before I went to the gym this morning.
 
Pullups 3x6, 2x5 +1. Got the early sets of 6 in a row. Had to take a few seconds on the last 2 sets to complete the reps. Next week I think I'll go for 5x6 again although it is the deload week. Don't think I'll need to deload on pullups.

Bench 145 5x3. Mondays set felt the best, I'm sure it's do to the 2 days rest instead of one.

Military Press 115 5x3 - still going strong on these. Going to do some yoga on Saturday and continue the PT on my leg, hoping to start short runs soon.
 
Nice yoga session today. After this weeks workout the shoulders were pretty fatigued so the long position holds were tough, but I'm getting better. Definitely going to keep the yoga up to stay well rounded as I build strength.
 
Started week 4 with a 5am gym session and then physical therapy after. I decided to go with the week 4 of the Mass template, which is 4x8 at 75% 1RM instead of the 5x5.

After a nice warmup I hit the pullup bar for 5 sets of 6. A little better than last week, the final 2 sets were tough and had to take a quick break to bust out the final reps.

Bench Press 120lbs and SOHP 95lbs, 4x8. Tried to be explosive with the presses with the lower weight. Still felt a good burn at the end of the sets.

Physical therapy went well, leg is getting stronger. Going to focus on single leg work once I'm able to and work on getting the Pistol down so I can add it to my workouts.
 
Solid day today. Started with pullups again 5x6. First 4 sets felt good. Form is improved with more control. Going to shoot for 5x7 next week.

Lifts are 75% 1rm 4x8 this week.

SOHP 95lb - felt the burn on the last set. Was working on some handstands last night so the shoulders we're probably a little fatigued.

Bench 120lb - Weight went up real easy on the bench today, completed 4 sets of 8 no problem.

Did some deadlifts today to work myself back into the game, nothing intense. Started with 135x10. Then did 3 sets of 185x5. Felt like my form was good and had great hip drive. I'll be adding the deadlift to my next cluster.
 
Had a wedding last night so today's workout was probably the worst so far. 5 sets of 6 pullups were real tough today, could only do the 1st 2 sets all the way through.

Bench Press 4x8 at 120lbs, not very explosive but completed the sets easily.

SOHP 4x8 95lbs.

Deadlift 185lbs 3x5- nice and easy just working on form right now.

Next week 5x5 at 85%. Looking forward to it!
 
Back in the gym on a lovely Monday. This week it's 85% 5x5.

Pullups- started out in the beginning weeks feeling good about the pullups. Struggling to get to 7 reps now. Did some negatives at the end of the whole workout to try to help the cause. Feel like I'm using more biceps and just don't have any explosiveness when I go to the deadhang. Will keep working at it.

Bench 135lbs All sets felt really good, smooth, and strong.

SOHP 105 5x5. Easy sets here too. Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing enough, but have to stay true with the program, especially based the results people have been getting.

Added a couple wall handstands after- trying to stay up for 30 seconds 5 times.
 
Good stuff. Hope the injury is getting better. Coming off a layoff myself.

Keep it up.
 
MMA Maine-iac said:
Good stuff. Hope the injury is getting better. Coming off a layoff myself.

Keep it up.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the support. Feels good getting back into action.

Went to Maine for the first time last August, Portland and Acadia- awesome state!
 
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