Jake, Author at Tier Three Tactical

Functional Fitness Strength Training with Bands and Chains

January 29, 2020August 13, 2016 by Jake

Anyone experienced in the iron game can tell you that after a certain point, doing the same old thing will stop yielding results. Most of the time, we then try to change a few details of our training plan, vainly hoping that will put us back on the gainz train. I’m here to say that isn’t enough.

If you’ve spent some time under the bar, and aren’t making progress, then you need a change. You need some variable resistance, in the form of bands and chains. Not only do they look badass, they can give you nearly twice the results in the same time period. Read on, to learn how to implement them into your training plan.

Pattern Recognition and Deadly Force Encounters

December 2, 2016July 30, 2016 by Jake

The difference between survival and death, in a deadly force encounter, is pattern recognition. I doubt that you have heard this before, but it is a fact, and yet we as self defense minded enthusiasts spend all of our time on the mechanics side of self defense. We practice our draw, our reloads, shooting and moving, and still we’ve left the hardest and most crucial part out of our training plan, practicing when to shoot, not how. This article will discuss how to enhance your ability at pattern recognition, which will drastically increase your abilities when it comes to using deadly force.

Absolute Strength: Stronger Than You Think

January 29, 2020July 21, 2016 by Jake

If you are reading this article you are stronger than you think. Most people do not have a realistic understanding of how strong they really are. This occurs because we can see videos of extraordinary athletes moving mountains of weight as easily as typing “strong dude” into a youtube search bar. This phenomena is known as the availability heuristic, which means that because of the many instances of seeing something, you assume that it is the norm. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially when it comes to strength training. This article will show you how strong you really are compared to novices and elite athletes, using actual data, not broscience.

Knife Review: Zero Tolerance 0350

January 26, 2017July 7, 2016 by Jake

A good knife is something you should never leave the house without. Sure, you may not use it everyday, but when you need it nothing else will do. There are a huge variety of knives to choose from, including your cheap Chinese blades, and your thousand dollar custom works of art, but for a reasonably priced hard use knife, there really are only a few manufacturers to choose from.

One of the best of these is Zero Tolerance and one of their most popular blades is their 0350. This review will cover the 0350, it’s technical details, and my experiences carrying it for several years.

Fitness Programing: Invictus Analysis

January 29, 2020July 1, 2016 by Jake

In the last several years functional fitness has changed from a fringe exercise cult with a puking clown as it’s mascot, to a world wide phenomena and competitive sport televised on ESPN. As it has become more popular, the cream of the fitness community has risen to the top, with a few gyms producing many successful athletes. Crossfit Invictus is one such gym, but what is the secret to their success? This article will break down their programming style, showing you the principles behind their programing and the reasons why they are so successful.

Ballistics: Three Myths That Can Kill You

December 26, 2017June 16, 2016 by Jake

Ballistics is the dark mysterious study of bullets in flight. No subject garners as much anecdotal b.s. The fact is that much of the data is fairly straight forward and is governed by simple physics. You guys remember physics class right? It was taught by the troll looking guy with coke bottle glasses who always smelled like canned soup.

This article will review scientific data for calibers most often used in concealed carry and home defense. I will show you what these rounds will actually do when they hit cars, walls, and human flesh. After reading the article, you will have a good idea of what home defense round you should use, what you should and should not shoot, and hopefully, we will have dispelled myths that could put you or your loved ones in danger.

Supplement Review: HMB, Creatine

January 29, 2020June 5, 2016 by Jake

The first rule of supplements is, don’t take supplements. By definition, they only supplement an already sound diet, which sad to say, doesn’t describe most people. If you do have a good diet and exercise program, and have been consistent with it for more than a few months, then you might consider taking some supplements to enhance your performance. This article will be for those people, and will cover scientifically validated supplements that will enhance your performance as an athlete.

Bodybuilding for the Functional Fitness Athlete

February 3, 2020May 15, 2016 by Jake

Few things cause as much angst for functional fitness folks than the prospect of bodybuilding. Since it’s inception there has been a natural tension between these two different tribes of gym bro’s. On one hand, bodybuilders couldn’t care less how functional they are as long as someone’s mirin’ on their instagram. Where as functional athletes spend the majority of their time talking about metcons, paleo diets, and rolling their ass’s on pieces of foam. You might think that these two groups have very little in common, but you’d be wrong. This article will cover recent research on increasing muscular size, hypertrophy, and how this applies to us, because lets face it guys, secretly we want to be jacked and functional.

Periodization for the Tactical Shooter

June 23, 2016May 8, 2016 by Jake

Tactical shooting has been a topic of much debate and considerable argument. There are many different schools of thought, training methodologies, and best practices depending on your point of view. What is lacking, in all of these various approaches, is a rigorous application of training principles, more specifically, periodization. Periodization is a systematic training plan for physical performance that is broken down into large training cycles, mid sized, all the way down to daily workouts. This article will transpose this successful method from the sporting arena and show you how to use it to improve your shooting skills.

Neuroscience, Expert Gunfighters, and the Quiet Eye

June 23, 2016April 16, 2016 by Jake

Watching an expert shooter is like watching an artist. You may not be able to do it, but you can recognize art when you see it. Thanks to the internet we have an abundance of examples of very good shooters both in the tactical world and on the competition stage, but what defines their expertise? Are they more athletic than us? Do they have better genes? Or is it their $9000 dollar custom guns. The answer is NO, NO and give me their gun so I can find out. The real difference between experts in almost any high skill athletic field is their quiet eye. What’s the quiet eye you say? Keep reading to find out.

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Jake