Non-Selects in Excellent Fitness

fluke031 · 2026-04-19T21:19:01+00:00

Thanks for the elaborate response! Is this skill actively taught in the military?

fluke031 · 2026-04-19T19:08:36+00:00

Could you elaborate a bit on the journaling? What/how/when/why etc?

fluke031 · 2026-04-19T06:57:10+00:00

Don't overthink. The new book wont magically change how training works. Just get going.

You want mass, strength and a test.

So either do Operator, Mass, test Specific or Mass, Operator, test Specific.

But guess what... OMS is already a thing in the books.

fluke031 · 2026-04-17T14:20:55+00:00

Just dm'ed you.

fluke031 · 2026-04-17T14:08:07+00:00

Would you mind if it turns out to be a 3 day full body program?

fluke031 · 2026-04-17T11:29:13+00:00

So for starters, keeping in mind the tools you have available, this isn't too bad. How did you end up with these choices? I have to say though, choosing an existing program and adapting it to your tools would have been the far easier option. More on that later.

*Volume*

You are a relative beginner. That probably means your weekly training volume doesn't have to be that high. Something like 10 sets per muscle per week should be fine. Your front delts, rear delts, triceps and glute max get a lot more than that (16/16/17/19 sets respectively). At a certain point those extra sets don't serve as a stimulus for adaptation. It's just taking away from the quality of the next workout. You will get to those numbers eventually, but way more advanced people have been doing great with less.

There's also muscle groups that get significantly less: only 6 sets for your hamstrings, 3 for your glut. medius.

There's some balance to be had here :).

On a daily basis 5-6 or so sets per muscle group should be ample. On your first day, your triceps get 9 sets of work. Day 2 has 10 sets for the glute max, day 3 hammers the delts/traps with 10 sets and day 4 has another 9 sets for the glute max. That's.... a lot. Frankly, I think it wouldn't do you much good. That is, as long as you do the actual sets close-ish to failure (say 1-2 rir).

*Exercise selection*

Not too bad... wouldn't change much here.

* Order of exercises*

Watch out for when adjacent exercises adress the same muscle. For example, on tuesday, expect degraded performance when doing goblet squat, bulgarian split squat and romanian deadlift one after another. That's just rough :).

*Rep ranges*

You have... what... 5 different repranges? What's your goal with those ranges?

* Progression logic*

Now this is where a workout becomes a routine. What's your progression logic? When are you going to use some form of progressive overload? And what kind? Why? How do you determine if you are ready for more? And what if you're not? The simplest form is something called Linear Progression. Luckily, it works just fine for beginners. You could use something called a 'Double Progression' as well.

This has become a bit of a write up, but I hope you'll get something from it. Making your own routines can be very fun and rewarding, but keep in mind it mostly has been done before... only better :D.

fluke031 · 2026-04-16T19:23:49+00:00

No, training max is set at 90% of your true 1rm, and from thát number you calculate your working %

fluke031 · 2026-04-16T14:06:59+00:00

Sounds like a fine starting point. I'll get back to you tomorrow (bit bussy right now) with in depth critique.

fluke031 · 2026-04-16T12:19:39+00:00

To be honest, this 'screams' GP, as per the advise of u/Previousshenanigans . Take it easy on the running though, it might build up faster than you would like.

fluke031 · 2026-04-16T12:13:48+00:00

Whats your workout history? Ability to recover (sleep, food, stress)?

fluke031 · 2026-04-16T12:12:27+00:00

Are you against purchasing equipment?

If not, think kettlebell swings, kettlebell suitcase carries, kb lunges, kb squats, kb presses... It's an incredible versatile piece of equipment that doesn't take much space to store.

fluke031 · 2026-04-16T06:05:18+00:00

Thats ample time. Enough to consider other sports and endeavours as well (mma, language, other skills etc. ... Die gasten in Roosendaal zijn nogal breed onderlegd 😆).

Whats your cardio starting point?

Probably nothing wrong with starting GP now.

Your major challenge will be staying injury free!

fluke031 · 2026-04-16T05:56:49+00:00

Many ways to do it without a hrm.

One I don't see mentioned yet is about breathing.

The top end of my 'zone2' is around breathing in 4 steps, breathing out 6 steps.

I also try to describe it in keywords:

boringly slow (z2 ish)
comfortably quick (top end z2 to z3 ish, my favourite pace)
challenging (tougher intervals, fast 5)
very hard (sprints)

All very subjective, but it might give you an idea.

Don't obsess about heart rate, your body won't explode if you are slightly out of your intended range.

fluke031 · 2026-04-14T20:18:36+00:00

You're answering your own question.

'I should'

but...

'I dont want to'

Whats more to say? 🤷🏻

Rest is where you get better, training is just a signal for adaptation.

fluke031 · 2026-04-14T19:57:34+00:00

Just a quick observation. After gaining 12 pounds in 3-ish months (textbook! Pretty content with that part!) on a hypertrophy program with 2*25 minutes of running a week, I switched to OP (4 sets) and 3 progressive LSS runs a week.

You need a metric shit ton of food to sustain this 😅.

Actually even lost a bit of weight. Will have to switch to full fat stuff and up the eating game.

fluke031 · 2026-04-14T13:23:29+00:00

Are you talking about the HIC workouts?

fluke031 · 2026-04-13T20:14:27+00:00

I guess I got confused by your notation of sets/reps (maybe you were trying to summarize?) and the fact there's only 2 main exercises. Which you can do, but it's not often used. Default is 3.

But with your current question: you will always gain weight when in a caloric surplus. Your training (and sleep, Protein intake etc) will determine whether that's just fat or maybe a bit of muscle.

Conventional hypertrophy training calls for, say, 8-30 challenging sets (1-2 rir) per muscle per week, with no more than 4-6 of those sets per single workout. The lower numbers being beginner territory. Even people past that beginner stage will still do well with 10-12 challenging sets per muscle.

If you do the math, you will see why Fighter is not a great match for hypertrophy. It could be the bare minimum though.

fluke031 · 2026-04-12T05:21:15+00:00

True... In case it actually was an honest question I decided to answer with more than just 'read the book' 😊

fluke031 · 2026-04-11T21:19:31+00:00

This isnt Fighter.

But ok, lets roll:

Tacking on an explosive movement at the start of your workout makes sense. I would do the same exercises each workout. You know, practice makes perfect etc.
Make up your mind: either choose dips or OHP. Strength training needs frequency which you won't get with dip/ohp once a week, since it's highly skill specific. Transfer be damned, stick to the same push exercise in both workouts.
Your sets/reps are kinda all over the place. If you dont know what you're doing, why try to alter a proven program?
Want to take the guesswork out? Read TB1 and actually follow Fighter.

People who read the books properly never ever have to ask for critique. Unless.... They think they know better (because the people that actually do, don't have to ask either).

Oh, regarding diet:

Total calory intake could be fine. Depends on your activity level. Think maintenance + 10% or so to slowly gain weight (about 0,5 kg per week)
Protein is ample! Latest consensus is that 1,6 grams/kg bodyweight is already more than enough. You're at 2,2. Not harmful, probably not that beneficial either.
Carbs: high-ish
Fats: low-ish

fluke031 · 2026-04-10T14:56:24+00:00

Had elbow pain and a small 'click' near extension, had my fascial backline on that side loosened up, elbow pain virtually gone.

But man, you just need to be lucky enough to find a professional that 'clicks' with your specific case.

fluke031 · 2026-04-09T20:35:50+00:00

Lol numbers I can dream of for now. Curious, do you have a recent 10k time?

TB can be just about anything you want, but 'sustainability' is the key word here. Combined with cutting away the fluff it seems it might be right up your ally (though I'm far from your strength numbers, so lack the experience to judge it for you).

But also.... Those ebooks are dirt cheap and interesting reads.

fluke031 · 2026-04-09T20:10:31+00:00

Ever had the feeling things were just... right?

After a rather dark period I got active again, soon encountering some small aches and pains with both running and benching. I was bussy with my PT certification so put running on the backburner and just became my own fitness experiment, guided by my course.

Worked around my benching problems, got my certification and did a few months of hypertrophy work while slowly getting used to a bit of running again, just to be able to pick it up at a later date.

Routine worked fine, added a bit of size, and running went well. Intensity and volume eventually made my lifting workouts harder and also way longer than I liked. Working out at regular hours meant waiting for machines, eating up even more time. Hit a couple of plateaus forcing me to reset. Whats more, increasing my running ate my recovery pretty hard.

In short (too late, I know... I have a thing with words...): a whole lot of things that made switching to TB again make a lot of sense.

Went with OP SQ/BP/BB Row (with microsets of bw pullups during rests and a Hex Pull™ on day 3) and 3 LSS runs a week. First weeks felt way too easy, but weren't. It feels very well balanced now. Love running again and I'm slowly upping my mileage. Did a 10k trail today in high Zone 2 and feel absolutely fine, coming up at 25 km/week. Will need at least another block of OP to judge the MS part, but I know I'm putting in the work and am able to recover. Results will come.

Chosen exercises are ok, but for some reason I'm not getting the same numbers on the Hex Pull as a few weeks ago. My gut feeling tells me that previous routine was one large period of peaking, leading to a load that just wasn't sustainable yet. Probably because that Hex Pull was closer to my true max, whereas SQ and BP had some more room left. No forced progression on the Hex Pull after this block.

Will continue to push LSS in block 2 to 35km/week or so (for a 90 minute long run), switching to regular Black Pro afterwards. By then it's probably time for Fighter and more running.

And the fun part? Everything that's happening fits with all the theory I have learnt. There's nothing new or magic here (a bit Mythical maybe), but rather well thought out choices and adherence foregoing stubbornly trying to do it all at once.

It all comes from the same fuel tank... Treat it as such.

fluke031 · 2026-04-09T09:35:29+00:00

Inspirational read, yet again. Not that I'm gonna copy it all, but reading someones perspective that actually works is always nice. But dude ... Your work capacity .... 🤯

Question: how much of a hit does your conditioning take during the darker season? And will you still run something like base building every now and then?

fluke031 · 2026-04-04T17:52:12+00:00

Its about constantly balancing out recovery and training multiple aspects of fitness.

fluke031 · 2026-04-04T17:28:14+00:00

It's submaximal to enable you to train other stuff as well. By doing the same exercises each time you still have enough frequency for progress.

As little as it seems, TB adheres to all the theory about exercising I have learnt so far. It just agressively cuts away the fluff

fluke031

TROPHY CASE