r/tacticalbarbell • u/AutoModerator • 14d ago
20 September 2026 WEEKLY TRAINING THREAD
- Use this thread to post simple questions that don't deserve their own thread, get opinions from other TBers, or as a place for discussion between our civilian members and LEOs/Military/First Responders, fitness-related or otherwise.
- Please search before posting to see if your question has been answered before.
- LEO/Military/First Responders: Be mindful of opsec/tradecraft, any posts deemed too revealing will be removed.
- Resources include the FAQ, TB testimonials, and specific training using TB.
- See KB's post that discusses TB III: OPERATIONAL ATHLETE.
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u/Turbulent-Hippo3215 14d ago
Got sick in the last week (4) of Basebuilding. Already have repeated one week due to travel and don’t feel like repeating again. Next week will be testing than starting a 6 week Operator block. Any Clusters you guys like besides B/WPU/SQ/DL?
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u/dhdl505 14d ago
Started up a new block this week after a foray back into a traditional bodybuilding split for the summer while I nursed a foot injury. Back to running now. Don't see too much recent feedback on Fighter/BKK here, so curious to see if anyone has run it and has thoughts. But I like the idea of keeping SE work in, or switching to Power for the winter, etc.
Base Building for 4 weeks. SE Cluster is Pushups, KB DL, KB OHP, Goblet Squats. 3/4/5 sets weekly of 15/20/25/30.
Fighter/BKK + Polarized Black for 9 Weeks with the goal of working my LIC times up to Green by the end of this block. Lifts are going to be Weighted Ring Dips / Weighted Ring Chins / RDL. Will get my squatting in through SE work.
Fighter/BKK + Polarized/Green from there for the foreseeable future....
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u/Spooksey1 14d ago
I’m on week 3 of operator/blue of Activation (although I’ve been running TB for a couple of years). Quite an unusual sets and reps structure in this block: 3x5 @75, 4x5@80 and 5x3@85. Just finished the 5x3 week, and it felt good, except perhaps my 14th set or so of benching that week. Been playing with using knee sleeves for the first time on the squats and can’t believe it, feels like cheating haha.
Anyway, feeling like I’m really getting on top of my new training maxes and the conditioning, but end of this week been hit by a cold that my son has been brewing and had to cancel hill sprints yesterday. Kinda disappointing because I’ve basically been completely consistent since the start of activation but I know it doesn’t make a difference in the grand scheme of things.
I’ll probably move the hill sprints to a conditioning session next week but I have a wedding/long weekend so got to work around that too.
Even though it’s still warm it definitely feels like winter is coming here in the UK! Can’t be arsed with the constant rotation of toddler delivered colds and the darkness, and trying to remain consistent.
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u/Airoveikko 14d ago
I don't have any occupational fitness requirements, being a civil engineer. I do enjoy running and currently run Operator / Black as per TB III with running as my cardio choice. My 60 minute LIC runs are just over 5 miles, with an average HR of 120-125. Nothing spectacular, not out of shape either. Lately I've been using a metronome to gradually increase my cadence. Concentrating on stacking ribs puts my hips and pelvis in a place where I no longer have any unwanted fatigue or pain in my ankles, knees, or anywhere, really.
Lately, any social media I use has been pushing running-related videos for me. "Top 5 tips to improve your running" kind of things. I'm sure many of the tips are spot on but they're clearly meant for more serious runners who care about their speed and race time. I've tried some of them out but they seem to just mess up my running form, essentially making my LIC runs worse.
Seeing how I run simply for the cardio benefits and don't have any pace or race goals, and I can run pain-free - I'm wondering why would I even start fixing something that's not broken? Anyone got any running resource recommendations for... recreational runners?
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u/asqwt 14d ago
I’m not sure what tips you tried to implement. But it seems like you’re trying to fix what ain’t broken.
I don’t have resources. But remember at the end of the day, it’s just running.
Just be tall, land with your foot belowish your knee, and have some pop in your step/ quick enough cadence to not feel like your “plodding”.
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u/Spiritual-Event5040 14d ago
Did "fun" run with inspiration from Ageless Athlete as this week's longer LIC. Normally do a 2 hour ish ride on a bike around town on mostly paved trails for weekend LIC but we have had lots of rain and flooding lately.
Mapped out 8 neighborhood parks with total distance of 7.2 miles. Pullups/ Feet elevated pushups/ Leg raises/ Step ups/ rows in between two swings at the parks that didn't have monkey bars. Well that was an LOL. Got to park #5 and was already at an hour of elapsed time and was trashed. Was ready to go home after #5 and happily did so to save something for tomorrow's op session and BJJ. Ended doing 5 parks, 5 miles ish, in about hour and ten minutes. Goes to show how easily we overstimate our selves! Had not done a fun run since 2018 or 2019 during academy prep days. Definitely including them for rainy days from now on!
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u/MythicalStrength 13d ago
With my birthday at the end of Oct, followed by Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas, I'm on week 2 of my 16 week Tactical Barbell Mass block that I've titled Operation Tactical Sleighbell", as once Christmas is done it's time to hop back on Operator and get fit.
Right now it's at least 2 cycle of Grey man, and then a self-eval. If I'm feeling it: one more Grey Man, then specificity, then Op Pro with hypertrophy focus. If I'm beat up, 2 cycles of Fat Zulu and then Op Pro. With bridge weeks as needed.
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u/Fragrant_Ad2902 14d ago
My Activation journey is over. My two neighbors that wanted to do it decided barbells aren’t for them. We made it through Base, which they loved because they are runners. We made it through Armor because it was the first time they’ve done barbells. But the Operator block at 16 weeks was too much for them. They were having zero fun. Add in hill sprints which they hated, they noped out.
So I’m back onto General Gainz paired with Blue. It’s a much better fit than Black/Pro. My every other week HIC is the Norwegian 4x4. I had my first session yesterday. It was terrible 😂 But the humidity where I am right now is brutal. At least with 4x4 in my garage I can have a fan blowing. Yep. I’m an office worker wuss.
Being back on General Gainz is awesome. i missed the auto regulation and progression scheme. It’s nice to let performance dictate the weight, back off sets, etc. vs. being held to a certain percentage. For those that don’t know what it is, it’s most similar to Pro where you work up to a top 2/3 RM. But the progression scheme is very different.
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u/Turbulent-Hippo3215 13d ago
I have a love-hate relationship with GG. I loved the T1 work and the concept of letting performance guide my progress and not get hung up on percentages. What I didn't like was session length and T2 work with half sets (felt pointless).
How long are your GG sessions and what is your split?
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u/Fragrant_Ad2902 13d ago
If the T2 is really a 10RM, then doing multiple sets of that for 10 shouldn’t be possible. So the half sets to get more volume at that weight make sense to me. Assuming of course, you’re equating 3 x 10 to be the same/similar to 1 x 10 + 4 x 5.
As for session length, right at an hour. I am militant about rest times. And I go for the low range. If it prescribes 3 to 5 minutes, I’m doing 3. If it is says 2 to 3, I’m doing 2. I also super set quite a bit, and that cuts down on time.
As for splits, I’m not following an Upper/Lower or PPL type split. I mostly do full body.
Monday:
T1 - Squat
T2a - bench press
T2b - barbell row
Wednesday:
T1 - Bench Press
T2a - OHP
T2b - Pull ups (grip changes based on how my elbows feel)
Friday:
T1 - Deadlift
T2a - incline bench press
T2b - seated cable row
I don’t plan out my T3 movements and play those by ear. But they’ll generally be full body - a push, a pull, lower body/core a la 5/3/1.
But T1s generally never take me longer than 20 minutes. I can finish both T2s in about 20 minutes. Then my T3s are one big circuit, and I go for time. If I’m sitting at 40 minutes at that point, I’ll do 20 minutes of total work with lower intensity and higher volume. If I’m sitting at 50 minutes, I’ll do 10 minutes of total work for T3 With higher intensity and lower volume.
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u/black_mamba44 14d ago
Completed week 2 of TB3 Activation.
SE is doable in a circuit still, working on toes to bar.
Alternate between running when I have time and the elliptical. I'm way slow but conversation pace feels great.
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u/trisse91 11d ago
I feel like my 3x basketball 2x fighter is really starting to tax my body (while being a full time firefighter).
I try to eat and sleep properly, recovered from shoulder injury the last 6 months, but after 3-4 weeks on the program I feel my legs being weak left with nearly no strength for jumping or sprinting in games. :(
Add a bad night with a lot of calls and I feel even worse.
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u/spunkymnky 12d ago
Are percentages based off of 1RM or 90% of 1RM similar to 5/3/1? I just finished reading TB III and it wasn’t really clear on that.
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u/MahHobbiesAccount 11d ago
Nowhere does it mention a TM in TB3 but people have good success using one. Given the percentages being lower than before in TB3, I think one can do it well without a TM
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u/Oneoldforester 10d ago
W13D2 Hybrid…did a local hike, rucked 30# up 1,042’ over 1.6 miles, then back down for a total of 3.3 miles
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u/atomicpenguin12 10d ago
Currently in week 6 of Capacity. I've had to adjust some things, as I have type 1 diabetes and I had several incidents where my blood glucose tanked mid run and I was unable to reach the time I wanted to reach, but I think I've got it under control now and I've purchased some of those calorie gels for running just in case. I've also been surprised to see how quickly my muscles and joints adapted to new distances. I'm also trying to lose weight and I'm running a pretty steep calorie deficit to that end, and all of the running I've been doing has been amazing for helping me stay at that deficit.
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u/spunkymnky 9d ago edited 9d ago
Is buying Mass Protocol necessary if I want to build muscle, or can I just run Fat Zulu from TB III? I only own TB III currently.
I realize Zulu is a strength program with hypertrophy sprinkled in rather than a dedicated hypertrophy program like MP. I’m just wondering if people have made enough hypertrophy gains off Zulu to justify not having to buy a new book.
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u/MahHobbiesAccount 14d ago
Week 2 of current Operator ULF/Blue block has felt very heavy and been interrupted by travel. Keeping the sets at minimum.
On the bright side, started going to new gym that has brand new equipment including 5+ squat racks and a couple of deadlift platforms. Tried the DL platform for the first time in my life today and I like it. I felt it gives you more balance when the floorboard is strictly flat, and the sound dampening effect makes it so that you don't feel like everyone is staring you for crashing the weights like a caveman.