Operator is the gold standard, our flagship strength template. Renowned for getting people very strong relatively quickly. It’s success relies heavily on the concept of frequent sub-maximal training. Pick a small cluster of big bang-for-buck exercises and hit them frequently throughout the week. The assigned percentages/loads keep you below the threshold of fatigue and failure. Not only are you getting stronger, but you’re left with plenty of energy to work on your conditioning/skills.
As with any Tactical Barbell template or protocol, there’s a high degree of customization. Operator set-ups vary from user to user based on exercise selection, cluster size, and version. Flexibility is allowed (and encouraged) as long as the boundaries are adhered to. Don’t confuse flexibility with not having a plan. The TB principles are like a paddock. Flexibility allows you to roam freely anywhere within that paddock…but if you jump the fence you’re no longer using Tactical Barbell.
Here are several options to customize your Operator template that remain well within the paddock:
Option#1 – Dump the Squat
This one’s for intermediate/advanced lifters that have issues squatting and deadlifting during the same session. It works like this
Day 1 & 3 – BP/SQ/WPU
Day 5 – BP/DL/WPU
With this option you simply don’t squat on deadlift day. Perfect for those of you that want to emphasize the deadlift or do multiple work sets. In the example above I have deadlifts scheduled for the last strength session of the week, but you can do them on day 1 or 3 instead. I like leaving them at the end of the week for recovery purposes.
Who is this for? Intermediate/advanced lifters, Black-Professional, Green protocol (if using Operator with the appropriate exercise cluster), mature athletes, tactical athletes.
Option#2 – Minimize the Squat
With this option, instead of eliminating the squat on deadlift day you leave it in but you only do ONE work set. A simple but elegant strategy that allows you to keep your squats ‘grooved’ while staying fresh for deadlift work. It looks like this:
Day 1&3: BP/SQ/WPU
Day 5: BP/DL/SQ x 1 set/WPU
The order of exercise doesn’t matter. Some people like bench pressing first, others like squatting. Do your DL’s first, last, or in the middle – whatever works for your style and work capacity.
Who is this for? Intermediate/advanced lifters, Black-Professional, Green Protocol (with appropriate cluster), mature athletes, strength-focused athletes/blocks.
Option#3 – Lean and Mean
With this one you keep your deadlift day Spartan. You do nothing except your press of choice and deadlift. Like this:
Day 1&3: BP/SQ/WPU
Day 5: BP/DL
This one’s particularly useful for recreational athletes and/or strength-focused training blocks. It allows you to give a lot of attention to your deadlift and/or press. If you’re in a deadlift state-of-mind, you might hit your BP for just 3 sets and then move on to doing 5-10 sets of DL. Or you could do 5-10 sets of each movement. Or you can do the bare minimum of each if you have a strenuous conditioning session/event coming up.
Here’s an idea of how different the session can look depending on how you set it up:
A: 3 sets x BP, 3 sets x DL
B: 3 x BP, 10 x DL
C: 10 x BP, 1 x DL
D: 3 x BP, 1 x DL
E: 5 x BP, 5 x DL
Alternatively, the above could all be examples of the same athlete adjusting the parameters of the session from week to week to adapt to changing situations and objectives.
Who is this good for? Intermediate/advanced lifters, recreational athletes, strength-focused athletes, Black-Professional, Green protocol (with appropriate cluster), mature athletes. There are always exceptions to the rule – but I wouldn’t recommend doing more than 3-5 sets of DL for Green-based athletes or SOF types. High volume deadlifting comes with a hefty price tag in terms of recovery for most.
Logistics, Logistics, Logistics;
Always fine tune your exercise selection and volume in accordance with your personal objectives. It’s equally important to take into account your conditioning protocol. Don’t do 10 sets of 80% deadlifts the day before you sprint Apex Hills with a 48kg kettlebell.
A note on clusters. I used the classic BP/SQ/WPU/DL set-up as an example, but the above applies to any cluster. Substitute front squat for back, overhead press for bench, and any deadlift variation.
This is awesome. I’m assuming this applies to Op I/A as well….seeing the upper limit of 10 sets?
Correct
Exactly what I needed! I have a real tough time sq+dl on the same day, plus I like volume DL’ng every so often.
Hi there, can this be used in reverse? Let me explain, I deadlift 3x week (no squats), but wouldn’t mind adding squats once a week. Btw, love the program, I’ve almost doubled my bench since starting operator a year ago.
Curious about this too!
Not a problem
Could this apply to Fighter template? ….one squat day, one deadlift day
Wouldn’t recommend it. Since you only have two weekly sessions you’ll want to maximize frequency.
Just confirming you’d still need to do a couple warm-up squat sets for #2 right?
For option 2, is there any reason you couldn’t do 1 set BP and 3-10 DL instead?
Not KB but I would think you’d want to use this just to balance DL/SQ…both hit similar areas and both are quite taxing. The DL can thrive on 1-3 sets per week, but ime the press works best if exercised frequently.
Peefect timing. I was just starting to struggle a little on deadlift day. This really frees things up for me.
Thanks!
Awesome article mate!
Solid options….Will be putting #3 to use asap.
Would this work for any exercise in the cluster you want to emphasize or de-emphasize?
Cool…
I see none of these are recommended for beginners?
Thank you KB! It is highly appreciated.
I rotate between two clusters every block; SQ/BP/DL (conventional) and FSQ/OHP/RDL, does this apply to RDL & FSQ too?
Sort of related question; is there an optimal order of exercises or why you’d want to squat before press or vice versa?
Can you do this with two other exercises, like bench and military press?
I have the same question.
Just wanted to say I’ve been using TB for 10 months now and my results have been nothing short of fantastic. I’m down to 11% bf , I’ve added over 70lbs to my deadlift and cut my 10k time down by 3 minutes. I will say though I had a hard time giving up my weights for 6 weeks during Base!
Also interested in seeing if you can add OH PRESS on Friday instead of bench.
Or better yet doing OH press in place of bench on WED session 3.
KB, what exactly do you mean by green protocol with the appropriate cluster? Ive been thinking hard about how to use operator and green together with good results. What would you recommend cluster wise? I leave for Marine Corps boot camp in July.
I’m curious on a suggested cluster for operator with green two since the combo is cautioned against in the books. Also what operator/Black would look like with the max of 2 E sessions.
is it ok if i deadlift 2 times a week with no squats on that day? ex BP/DL/WPU BP/SQ/WPU BP/DL/WPU is this any good? im running my first TB program starting monday. thanks in advance
Great read.
Thank you.
If bilateral squatting is problematic due to injury history where the bilateral deficit is quite high, is it ok to sub in a split squat variation, for example Bulgarian? Probably an obvious question but the load used would be substantially less, however relative to single limb.
Thanks