Furo's T-Ransformation 2018 Log

Week 3 - Lower Body

Stationary Bike
45min

Front Squats
60kg: 5
85kg: 1
90kg: 1
No belt.

Deadlifts
180kg: 5
Mixed Grip, Belted.

I thought I’d try some front squats, but my right knee felt really bad. Not sure what that’s about. Deadlifts were decent.

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The running perhaps?

Your book been delivered yet mate?

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Week 3 - Max Testing

Deadlifts
180kg: 1, 1
200kg: 1
220kg: F, F
Mixed Grip, Belted

Bench Press
110kg: 1
120kg: 1
130kg: S

Weighted Pull-Ups
BW+15kg: 3
BW+25kg: 4

Bodyweight: 99.4kg

This was an incredibly frustrating session. I wanted to test my maxes to work out percentages for the Tactical Barbell routine, and also because this is the second anniversary of brutalising my tibia on a rock in Glencoe. To mark the first anniversary I did a mock meet and went 125kg/125kg/205kg so to perform worse today was a real blow.

The deadlifts felt reasonably good up to 180kg. 200kg was ok but I knew my grip was slipping slightly. The first attempt with 220kg got way out in front of me, and there was no way I could gut it out. I rested a full 5 minutes but failed the second attempt just below my knees. I first deadlifted 220kg in March last year and must have hit it at least 10 times since, but not today.

The bench press was frustrating for a different reason - I smashed 120kg and decided to go for 130kg which would have been a lifetime PR. Unfortunately I was enthusiastically spotted, and I have no idea if I would have got it otherwise. So that doesn’t count.

The weighted pull-ups went better than expected - I thought I’d get +25kg for one rep, but managed four comfortably.

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Tactical Barbell Routine
Thanks to @ChongLordUno I got the Tactical Barbell book and it looks right up my street, so I’m going to run it. Much like 5/3/1 it’s based on percentages of your maxes and the version I’m going to run (Operator) is basically three whole body days per week. The main “cluster” of exercises it suggests is squat/bench/weighted pull-ups with deadlifts once per week, but he gives examples of other options including one with deadlifts every session and no squats so that’s the one I’m going to go for.

I’m going to use the maxes that I hit today, including the 200kg (440lb) deadlift, because it will only do me good to err on the side of caution.

There is a separate conditioning book which I’m not going to get just now, but I think I will start that after doing my first 6 weeks of the strength routine. That should be a good time to incorporate more cardio for fat loss.

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Week 3 - Full Body

Press
60kg: 5x4
Belted.

Kettlebell Rows
48kg: 5x5

Pistol Squats
BW: 5x1

Bodyweight: 98.9kg

This was pretty good overall. I can usually press 60kg for 5x5, but I knew during the first set that I wouldn’t manage that today. I really like kettlebells for one-arm rows, as they allow a much greater ranger of motion that dumbbells. I wasn’t going to do any lower body stuff but got the urge to finish with some pistol squats and they actually felt really good. My rest periods were so brief that it was somewhere between 5x1 and 1x5.

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Dude, at the risk of sounding cheeky, you really need to incorporate a protocol from TB2 to go alongside Operator. Operator is only half the program😉

Operator alone won’t be enough to stimulate any juicy hypertrophy gains, especially for someone as advanced as yourself. It’s too low volume imo. However when combined with, say the general conditioning sessions (GC), then the magic will happen👍

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Not cheeky at all bud, I appreciate the advice! I think you are right, and there’s definitely no harm in adding the conditioning earlier. I’ll get the second book and get planning.

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Trust me mate, you won’t regret it. It’s also a better read and will add so much to your bag of tricks!

Week 3 - Run

Run
1km in 6min 1sec

Bodyweight: 98.6kg

The weather is pretty gross just now so I did the minimum to keep my running ticking over.

Week 3 - Summary

Bodyweight: 99.0kg - down 0.7kg (1.5lbs) from last week.

Training: Poor, nothing went particularly well this week.

Nutrition: Another good week nutrition-wise.

I’m very happy with my weight loss so far, I’ve lost 3.1kg (6.8lbs) from my highest to lowest measurements, but I’m still heavier than I was when I started the challenge last year. Training didn’t go well, it was just a bad week.

Next week I’m going to start the Tactical Barbell strength routine, but I’m going to postpone starting the conditioning stuff until the week after as I will be very busy. I’m looking forward to it!

T-Ransformation: Week 4
Tactical Barbell: Week 1, Day 1

Deadlifts
140kg: 5x5
Mixed Grip, No Belt.

Bench Press
85kg: 5x5
Minimal Rest.

Pistol Squats
BW: 5x1
Minimal Rest.

Bodyweight: 99.3kg

Week one of Tactical Barbell is relatively light, so this felt good. I swapped pull-ups for pistol squats because I hurt my biceps clearing a fallen log off the road yesterday. It felt fine at the time but was nasty during today’s deadlifts.

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T-Ransformation: Week 4
Tactical Barbell: Week 1, Day 2

Deadlifts
140kg: 4x5
Mixed Grip, No Belt.

Bench Press
85kg: 4x5

Pull-Ups
BW: 4x5

Bodyweight: 98.4kg

I was pushed for time today, so rest intervals were very brief. Decent session.

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T-Ransformation: Week 4
Tactical Barbell: Week 1, Day 3

Deadlifts
140kg: 3x5
Mixed Grip, No Belt

Bench Press
90kg: 4x5

Pull-Ups
BW: 4x5

Bodyweight: 98.2kg

I really underestimated 140kg deadlift for sets of 5 - my lower back is utterly fried! I reckon this volume work will be really beneficial. I used 90kg for the bench because the 2.5kg plates were being used by someone else. Good session.

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T-Ransformation: Week 4 - Summary

Bodyweight: 98.6kg - down 0.4kg (0.9lbs) this week

Training: Good, 3 full body days, no cardio

Nutrition: Good overall, a couple of blips

This has been a reasonably good week. I stuck to the Tactical Barbell plan and enjoyed the training. As above I really underestimated the higher volume work with 140kg, and I think it will be really good for me. Nutrition-wise I did ok, although my oven broke on Sunday and I ended up ordering Dominos lol. I’m undecided on introducing conditioning next week or holding off until my fat loss plateaus.

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Mate, get the conditioning work done!!!

It’s the best part of TB

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Haha ok, will do. My weight loss is definitely slowing anyway.

EDIT: @ChongLordUno would you recommend doing Operator or Fighter while doing the base building conditioning?

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Mate, I would go with the SE protocol first in all honesty. It ties in well with the running as it’s physically and mentally grinding.

If you’re going with the strength first protocol, I would go with Operator but keep the chins bodyweight only

T-Ransformation: Week 5
Tactical Barbell: Endurance

Hike
Around 13km

Stationary Bike
30min: 8.0km (level 2)

Plan
I’m going to add in conditioning this week, using the Tactical Barbell conditioning programme. The “base building” phase starts with primarily low intensity steady state stuff and then begins to incorporate high intensity sessions. The book recommends dropping to twice weekly strength training, so I’m going to do that, using a 2-day version of the template I did last week (the “Fighter” template). I got a stationary bike the other day, which will be great, because high frequency running is rough on my knees.

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Good work mate. I’m actually excited about the fact that someone else is jumping on the base building :steam_locomotive:

You won’t regret it

Just make sure you get that HR bang on

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T-Ransformation: Week 5
Tactical Barbell: Endurance

Stationary Bike
60min: 17.6km (level 2)

Bodyweight: 98.8kg

Yeah I’m looking forward to it, thanks for your help @ChongLordUno!

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