Book excerpt: K. Black's Tactical Barbell and Tactical Barbell II compose a ground breaking multi-dimensional fitness system designed specifically for operational athletes. Not only has the Tactical Barbell system helped countless operational athletes step up their strength and conditioning game, but mixed martial artists, endurance athletes, and recreational fitness enthusiasts of all sorts have adopted these principles in order to achieve high levels of achievement across the fitness spectrum.In Tactical Barbell Presents: Ageless Athlete, Jim Madden hones the Tactical Barbell system to fit the needs of trainees who have reached middle age and beyond. Programs geared at older populations typically aim at maintaining basic levels of fitness and general well-being. While that is all well and good, Tactical Barbell Presents: Ageless Athlete doesn't assume that you need to settle for less just because you are now on the other side of forty. Using the Tactical Barbell system, Madden lays out how you can build and maintain outstanding levels of strength and conditioning at any age. In Tactical Barbell Presents: Ageless Athlete you will find extensive discussions of how to avoid the psychological pitfalls that lead many older trainees to sell themselves short, multiple new strength templates built on Operator and Zulu from Tactical Barbell, a method for planning recovery days/weeks, templates for incorporating accessory lifts and kettlebells, methods for testing strength progress, a standard base building template tailored for the ageless athlete, diet tips, and recommendations for long term persistence. Whether you have reached middle age or not, it is never too early to start training like an ageless athlete. Jim Madden is a professor of philosophy, published author, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu enthusiast and Tactical Barbell athlete. Professor Madden has been training for over thirty years, and he possesses a combination rarely found in the 'fitness industry': an educational background of the highest caliber along with an advanced level of demonstrable fitness earned in the trenches.