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Barbell Tactical Barbell

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Lt.Baker

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Good evening,

I'd like to know if the Tactical Barbell Program is a good program for a complete beginner in strength training?

I am athletic: 12 min cooper test-3000 meters; 20 BW Pull-ups, but I' like to starting strength training.

My goals are: getting stronger and ready for my future job(I'm in the Police Academy College), while gaining a little of mass(not much, but I'd like to look better).

I have a fully equipped gym Sunday til Thursday.

Thanks in advance.
 
Peter, Tactical Barbell is an awesome program and I pretty much use their templates for all my barbell work. I'm also in tactical law enforcement (ERT).
But TB is waved periodization, I believe. If you're a complete novice, I'd personally start with a basic 5x5 program first. Pavel's 3x5 for tactical in Beyond Bodybuilding is perfect, or maybe something like stronglifts.
 
Thanks for your reply tangozero.

I don't like the idea of squatting 3 times a week(stronglifts) because of Judo and Sports Classes.

I'm decided to buy Tactical Barbell to use in the future, but before I really want a concrete program to follow. So, Power to the People? Easy Strength?

Thanks.
 
Peter,

Given your Judo and other sports practice, I would recommend starting with PTTP. Not too much volume, and you'll have enough energy to perform at practices and any other tasks you may need to do preparing for the academy.

Good Luck,

Jon
 
Peter, in that case Pavel's 3 x 5 in BB would be my recommendation. There are two different sessions you rotate between 3 x week, so at most you'd be squatting twice a week. You don't really have to include squats at all if you don't want to, you could do weighted pistols or something similar along with deads.

You'll be doing a lot of running at the academy, so having 3 days of strength training plus 3 days to work on your cardio and calisthenics is going to make your life a lot easier logistics-wise.
You'll have plenty of time after the academy for more in depth strength training or whatever else you want to do.

add: you won't gain much mass (if any) on pttp if that's one of your considerations
 
Thanks a lot for your time gentlemen, I'll follow the guidelines and report back in a couple of months.
 
tangozero,

Does tactical barbell have any linear periodization template?

In the table of contents its says "Progression for beginners"..What does it look like?

(I did not buy the book yet).
 
For a whopping $6 on kindle, definitely buy and read Tactical Barbell. I'll probably be starting to follow the Zulu or Operator Template soon. He also has a hypertrophy plan in the book. The same author also has a separate book specifically on physical prep for Law Enforcement candidates. If you are new to barbell lifting, even the relatively minimal operator template may result in some muscle growth. Tactical Barbell also seems to leave plenty of room for conditioning also.

Honestly, as a beginner, I don't think you could go wrong with any of the programs mentioned in this thread. Don't overthink the mass gaining thing. Get stronger, you will look better. Mass is overrated for the tactical athlete.
 
Pete,

The progression is you start with Operator as a beginner, and then transition to Zulu when your loads get heavy, or your sessions start to take too long. With Zulu you do fewer exercises per session, with Operator you do all of them full body style. There is no linear progression, it's all a simple waved or undulating periodization (not sure exactly which).

If you're a beginner I still recommend you go with Pavel's 3x5 tactical in Beyond Bodybuilding. For muscle mass, as long as your program has adequate volume, it mostly comes down to food intake as David pointed out. Eat like a mother'. Do an extra set or two per exercise if needed for added volume. You may not need to.

And if you're looking for a companion tactical conditioning/cardio program, I recommend skipping the TB Law Enforcement book, and getting Tactical Barbell II: Conditioning instead. TB2 is simply outstanding. I haven't come across a quality resource like this aimed at the tactical community. On top of planning an overall approach, it also contains templates and protocols to match your goals (police vs military vs recreational athlete, strength priority, endurance priority et al).
 
Just do S&S twice a week as pavel recommends in the book. He says just doing it twice a week should not interfere with your regular lifting program.
 
A couple other set-ups I've read about:

Fighter template + 3-4 days S&S (minimal or standard cluster for Fighter)
Operator w/minimalist bench-squat cluster + 10 x 10 KB swings after each Op session (so 3 x week 10 x 10 swings)

I like doing the 10 x 10 swings as a finisher after my barbell work. I don't do the TGUs however.
 
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