BOOK REVIEW: TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL

Let me start at the end: buy this book.  I say that because, in the past, I asked about this book and was told by several people “You wouldn’t get anything out of it.  You’ve been training long enough that everything in it will be obvious to you.  If you’ve read the other Tactical Barbell Books, you already know all of this.”  And, like a sucker, I BELIEVED those folks, and that kept me away from this VERY enjoyable book.  And perhaps it’s because I’ve been slogging my way through Robert Sikes “Ketogenic Bodybuilding” book (which, I love Rob for his contributions to the field, but that book is DRY), but this was a total breath of fresh air, an easy and captivating read, and my favorite style of book: an “all-in-one” that manages to NOT be an 800 page tome.  So, with that, let me discuss this book, what is in it, why I like it, and why you should buy it.

 

WHAT IT IS

 

The image we all have of Tactical Barbell and Mass Building

The title really spells it out: this is the book that gets written when the dude behind “Tactical Barbell” writes a mass gaining book.  For those totally unfamiliar with Tactical Barbell: it’s a series of books written from the perspective of a dude with a background in special forces/operations AND SWAT style law enforcement.  It is this background that vectors his approach to physical training, similar to Brian Alsruhe’s background in counter-terrorism and martial arts.  In turn, his books (up until this point) were about building a “high speed/low drag” sorta athlete: well conditioned to be able to endure many hardships and be physically capable across multiple domains while also being strong for their bodyweight: NOT a 300lb strongman competitor.

 

This background definitely comes to play in the Mass Protocol, because even though the goals have shifted, the philosophy and methodology remain the same.  It’s still very simple, to the point, reliant on a limited number of high return movements, based around percentages, with an emphasis on recovery and performance vectored toward the GOAL of improving mass specifically vs performance.  And, in turn, the author sets out to provide you ALL the tools you need to succeed.  By his own words, he “Army-proofed” the book, so anyone can make it work.

 

WHAT’S INSIDE

 

This is what really won me over about the book: it’s absolutely the kind of book you could give to a trainee on day 1 and say “Read this, do what it says, and you’ll succeed”, AND it even gives you the tools to be able to say “Do this for the rest of your life and you’ll be fine.” 

 

BASE BUILDING

Unlike this movie, the first half ISN'T the only worthwhile part

After the book establishes intent with the reader, it starts out with a “Base Building” program, which already won me over.  As it sounds, Base Building is about getting in shape TO train: a CRUCIAL step that many new trainees attempt to bypass, which results in them failing HARD and early in their training.  I’ve lamenting on many occasions how the modern trainee tends to have a sedentary childhood, and lack of athletics/physical activity significantly hamstrings them compared to their peers that grew up playing sports year round, climbing trees, swimming in lakes, and in general just being what a kid is SUPPOSED to be.  Base Building will ideally help recover from that neglect: it’s based around VERY light weights at high repetitions for the weight training portion of the programming, followed by walking on non-lifting days as a means to improve conditioning.  Interestingly enough, the author ALSO speaks about the necessity of Base Building for those coming into Mass Building from a strength/power perspective: remarking on how all their time spent in the lower rep ranges to build maximal strength has unprepared them for the type of rep work in the Mass protocol.  From my own experience of going from drinking the Pavel “no more than 5 reps” Koolaid to repetition effort work in Westside Barbell, I can attest to that reality: I was “strong”, but that all went away when I tried to do a set of 12.

 

MASS BUILDING

There are a few ways to do it

 

From Base Building, the book transitions to the actual Mass Protocol, broken down into 2 different sections: General Mass building, and Specialization.  Once again: the naming conventions are on-the-nose: General Mass Building are the programs one would use to add some general size to their frame, and specialization is what Stuart McRobert would refer to as a “finishing” program, or what John McCallum would refer to as…specialization.  It comes full circle folks.  5/3/1 BBB would be a great example of a “General Mass” style program: limited movements with a focus on hard work, whereas Building the Monolith could be seen as specialization: greater variety of assistance work and the emphasis on the yoke.

 

PROGRAMMING

That's about my attention span for the matter

 

Without giving out ALL the content of the book, there are about 4 different General Mass programs and 2 different Specialization ones, each designed for 3 week blocks, based on a percentage of your 1rm, after which time you’ll up the 1rm weight and continue.  The author advocates a block/phasic approach to training based around these two protocols, with emphasis on one or the other dependent upon the trainee’s current proximity toward their goals.  He actually has an entire section dedicated specifically toward discussing how to set up training blocks with these protocols in order to set up training blocks of various lengths (which is why I wrote that we could give this to a trainee and give them tools for life), and even includes ways to integrate programming from previous Tactical Barbell books to be able to set up phases of strength, hypertrophy and conditioning training.  I really REALLY love that.  Much like what Jim Wendler did with 5/3/1 Forever, but even MORE prescriptive, for those that choke on freedom.

 

CONDITIONING

 

Sadly not much of this

It should shock absolutely no one that I was eager to get to the conditioning section of the book.  Despite the fact that “Tactical Barbell II” is one of my favorite books because it contains SO many conditioning ideas, the author does a fantastic job of “keeping the goal the goal” here and prescribes conditioning protocols that are VERY bare bones and utilitarian to the cause of gaining mass.  He frequently reminds the reader that the goal of mass building is TO BUILD MASS, and conditioning can quickly take away from that IF over/incorrectly utilized, thus he programs conditioning that is short and effective without so much intensity that it will burn out the trainee.  Conditioning requirements differ between the General Mass programs and the Specificity programs, which is even more incentive to alternate between the two: an opportunity to vary your conditioning.  Yet again: I really dig the prescriptiveness of this.

 

NUTRITION

I have no idea what the context of this is, but it's great advice

 

I’ll admit flat out that I’m not a fan of the approach in the nutrition section, but I recognize this is a “me” issue.  The author prescribes an approach based around macro and calorie counting, laying down the exact amount of calories the trainee should eat, how much protein they should eat, and then a macro percentage breakdown to determine how much else to eat to achieve their goals.  I KNOW this method WILL flat out work: it’s just not how I like to do things.  Along with that, he’s very adamant about the necessity of carbs for the process of mass building, but he DOES at least on multiple occasions say things to the effect of “I don’t recommend a low carb/keto approach to mass building…but maybe you can get away with it”, which I’ll take as full license to do exactly that.

 

But what I REALLY appreciate about the nutrition section is the blunt force instrument employed to the reader regarding WHY we’re eating this way: to gain mass.  The author makes a point to say it’s better to overeat than undereat, that the hard work of the program is going to limit fat gain, that when we’re gaining mass we need to do the things necessary to actually gain mass, etc.  The constant reinforcement of this is key, especially with so many junior trainees that are so brainwashed by the “365 abs” of social media that the notion of ever letting their midsection get blurry in the pursuit of actually putting on some muscle is completely alien.  It’s refreshing to see someone really take nutrition to task.

 

The author also does a great job of emphasizing the value of wholesome, quality foods to achieve the nutrition goals, and he doesn’t shy away from meat to get protein.  There is no appeal to a plant based approach here.  He brings up quality protein supplements as well to bridge nutritional gaps, includes a brief discussion on supplements, advocates for a weekly cheat day, and does NOT try to find a way to make alcohol fit in the program.  He even includes specific recommendations for skinnier trainees vs fatbody trainees, and details how to eat during the Base Building blocks vs the other blocks.  Once again: everything you need to succeed.

 

SUMMARY

 

Spoilers

Once again, I am reviewing the book here, rather than the method, simply because I've only been able to follow the program for 2 weeks as of my posting this (which goes to show how well the book sinks it's hooks into you).  That said: this book is awesome.  Its $10 on amazon and gives you all the tools you need to succeed in your training.  It can be read in an afternoon, and re-read multiple times for inspiration.  Even if none of this is new to you, it can be incredibly refreshing to strip things down to the basics and remember the HOW and WHY behind what we do.

 

Buy this book.