Review: State of the Art Strength Training
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 15, 2014
State of the Art Strength TrainingIf Pavel and Rippetoe had a love child, and sent that child off to bootcamp – it would be Tactical Barbell!Like the book says – ‘results speak’. So instead of getting wordy here, these are my results so far.I completed the ‘Grey Man’ template.Before ‘Grey Man’:Deadlifts 205Squats 240Bench 195Weighted pull ups 10lbs x 5After ‘Grey Man’:Deadlifts 230Squats 275Bench 210Weighted pull ups 15lbs x 8I was stuck at my ‘before’ numbers for quite a while. With my old program, some days I’d lift a few pounds heavier, and other days if I was tired I’d lift a little lighter. But I always hovered around the same numbers. Tactical Barbell has a brilliantly simple progression model which uses your own maximums to calculate your weekly lifts. With built in ‘de-load’ for light weeks.Negatives….hmmm…like one of the other reviewers said, more workout pictures would’ve been nice. It comes off as a bit of a diamond in the rough. Other than that, I am stoked with my results and ready to do another phase with a different template. I might try the ‘Gladiator’ next. I haven’t been this excited about training in a long time. As you read it, you’ll immediately ‘get it’ and want to apply it.I can’t recommend this highly enough, especially if you’re an intermediate lifter, or you’ve stalled with your current program. However, if you’re an absolute rank beginner, maybe start with a more basic linear program like Starting Strength. Then when you finish up with that come to Tactical Barbell.Outstanding book. Five stars.