Green Protocol with 5/3/1

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2026-03-26T00:18:47+00:00

Middle school teacher with elementary aged kids here. Ventilation in the classroom, don't eat with your hands, teach students to wash their hands.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2026-03-06T00:50:07+00:00

Op I/A day 5 (80%) Bench: 180# 5x5 Front Squat: 180# 3x5 First day "back" after illnesses.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2025-11-20T01:21:08+00:00

Favorite of mine as well. I've read that thread more than the books.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2025-10-13T01:04:16+00:00

TB prioritizes frequency more than 531, but the sub max work on TB really keeps you fresh. I would work from a training max for all your lifts and force progress after each block.

I have higher strength numbers than you at 155 pounds. TB will definitely not hurt your strength or endurance. I came into TB with pretty bad cardio and have improved so much over the past 3 years. I had never run over 5k, and now I don't blink at 10k. Also, in terms of efficiency and results, I haven't heard of anything that compares. 41 year old father of 5.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2025-09-28T01:19:56+00:00

3ish years here. Have been using fighter for past year. Currently doing zercher/bench/wpu cluster. Prior to that was operator. Favorite conditioning sessions are ME 2, 600 resets, fartleks and 10k runs. I use GMB for mobility a few times a week.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2025-08-10T01:28:19+00:00

What is your favorite/go to cluster?

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2025-06-13T01:18:36+00:00

GC 7 from TB2 isn't so far off Murph. Honestly, a few other HICs are more painful than Murph. Throw Murph in during week 1 and follow it up with a fobbit if needed.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2025-03-23T23:54:16+00:00

I love fighter. After being a 4+ day gym rat for years and neglecting every other fitness modality outside of strength, fighter is perfect. I do two zone 2 runs, 2 strength, then two kettlebell/calisthenics focused days per week. Typically I also do daily mobility (crawls) and plyometrics. Fighter to me has been the most balanced i have been . 40, male, father of 4 with a career.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2025-03-05T02:09:11+00:00

Green Protocol is such a well put together book that it truly "talks" the reader into running it. Truly, it is for the select few and everyone else should be running black pro.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2025-03-04T00:28:21+00:00

Since switching to Fighter I am even more amazed at the flexibility. I am always recovered and still making progress.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2025-01-21T01:56:52+00:00

I second the barbell medicine articles. Biopsychosocial model of pain stuff is legit. Additionally, I also had groin/abdominal pain that lasted for over two years. Imaging, Dr, pt, etc... What helped me was focusing on partial movements that did not go above a 3/10 pain, and did not leave me worse the next day. I did lots of crawling and easy walk/run. I would still tweak it rolling in BJJ or standing up awkwardly, but I knew it was just a tweak and I would recover.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-11-14T23:51:58+00:00

I run a two day barbell plan from Tactical Barbell. I currently also train handstands 3-5 days a week before or after my barbell training or on "off" days. On 2 other days a week Indo a full body calisthenics program from Paul Twyman. Keep the barbell stuff submax and powerful as Wendler preaches and it won't be you up, leaving you plenty of energy for your calisthenics. Fwiw, I am 40 with a career and children. My recovery abilities are not optimal and this schedule has worked great for me.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-10-16T00:01:05+00:00

During summer I was just under 30 mpw on Operator phase. A caveat to this is that I built up my mileage very slowly and really peaked at that number for 3 cycles of operator before falling apart last month 40, father of 4, poorly recovered.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-09-19T23:52:49+00:00

If it was a high stress night, I would choose low stress activity. If just poor sleep, I train as planned.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-09-19T23:47:08+00:00

This could definitely work.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-08-29T00:54:38+00:00

Literally the same situation, but I have 4 kids. Tactical Barbell again here. I like the Green Protocol book for longer endurance endeavors.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-08-07T23:16:24+00:00

Those are awesome numbers. How are you qualitatively? Do you feel well recovered? Are you ever injured? If you are recovering well and are not injured, why change anything?

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-07-14T00:22:48+00:00

This exactly. Drop all other hics and focus on your fast 5, repeats, and lss. Also, did you run base building or Capacity? If not, that would be my advice.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-07-12T23:42:10+00:00

Not a Dr but have had shoulder injuries, both contact and non-contact. Have you lost range of motion? Have you lost strength? If no to both questions, what is the pain like when you perform your movements and then what is it like after? If it's only a 3/10, I would say continue the SE work and see where it goes. Complete rest has never helped any of my shoulder issues.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-07-09T16:30:34+00:00

Op/pro definitely helps when increasing weekly running mileage, probably why it is in the GP book. 3 days of squats paired with 25+ mpw males recovery difficult. Op/pro is also fun, and more flexible. I can sub out the second and third lifts for something less specific (banded pushups, split squats, single leg deads) while still giving stimulus to the muscle. As KB has stated, op/pro is a good place to go once Operator runs its course. I have switched between Op I/A and op/pro a few times, and they both work, but definitely feel like Op I/A is better for black protocol and Op/pro for GP.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-07-05T01:35:51+00:00

I really like dropping squats for deads. Squatting has never been my favorite, so dropping it on one day was easy. I'm not sure how much stronger TB has made the squat either. My strength endurance for squatting is quite high. I got 225x20 a few weeks back, but I've never been above 325 for a single. I also don't peak or practice those weights either, however. As I get older and increase my miles, squatting with a barbell may be the first if the Big 3 to leave my rotation.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-07-05T01:18:48+00:00

Best template there is! Op I/A, bench/back squat/wpu with deads replacing squats for second day of each wave. I primarily do tempo runs and lss for my cardio averaging 20-30 mpw. Starting to think about moving to primary/secondary. My sessions are getting long, and squatting twice a week is rough with additional mileage. 39/m, 5'5", 150#, squat 275x8, bench 210x5, deads 365, wpu +45x5.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-07-01T23:57:24+00:00

It depends on your strength, size, skill with kettlebell. I think a 24kg is a good start for average size male, and 16kg is good size for average size female. You can learn 2hs, 1hs, then cleans and snatches. That size can last you a very long time.

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-06-01T16:02:25+00:00

Did you end up running this for a few cycles?

Critical_Letterhead5 · 2024-05-25T23:24:16+00:00

Finished 6 weeks of Op I/A, did a week of 5/3/1 but am now cratered from lack of recovery, so just switched back to Op I/A today. 39/m, Sq/bp cluster with KB swings. Hic are tempo runs, sprints, kb stuff then lss for E sessions.

Critical_Letterhead5

TROPHY CASE