The Bridge - just a few questions...

[Tony89]

Hi BB crew,

Just finished week 3 of The Bridge. It's challenging but not as bad as constantly grinding @ 10 at the end of LP (except for sets of 8 belt-less 3-0-3 squats @ 9, those suck!). I just have a few questions.

1.) Can I swap rack pulls for something else? I train at home with my Rouge RML-3W, and I cannot put the spotter arms low enough to get the bar at mid shin. I've just been doing pause DLs instead.

2.) I've never found the belt to be very helpful on the press and bench. Should it be worn differently than how it's worn for squats or DLs?

3.) The higher volume of intermediate programming results in much longer workouts compared with LP. Day 3 of week 3 just took me nearly 2 hours. Since I train at home, it's not a big deal. But perhaps my rest sets are too long. Since with RPE based training we are chasing a perception of weight on the bar rather than an absolute weight, would taking a shorter rest and dropping the weight be equivalent (in terms of RPE) to a longer rest and keeping the weight the same? I hope that makes sense.

Thanks for the program. Alan's "how to" YouTube videos along with the info you guys are putting out about training and nutrition has created a positive feedback loop for me. I've lost 60 lbs last year and have kept it off for the last 6 months. Come out to San Diego, I owe y'all a round. Cheers.

-Tony

[Austin Baraki]

1.) Can I swap rack pulls for something else? I train at home with my Rouge RML-3W, and I cannot put the spotter arms low enough to get the bar at mid shin. I've just been doing pause DLs instead.

Can you stand on a smaller plate (or a stack of smaller plates) to "adjust" the height to mid-shin?

2.) I've never found the belt to be very helpful on the press and bench. Should it be worn differently than how it's worn for squats or DLs?

It's generally worn similarly. If you don't feel a benefit, you don't necessarily have to use it ... or do it anyway, because it's unlikely to harm your performance.

3.) The higher volume of intermediate programming results in much longer workouts compared with LP. Day 3 of week 3 just took me nearly 2 hours. Since I train at home, it's not a big deal. But perhaps my rest sets are too long. Since with RPE based training we are chasing a perception of weight on the bar rather than an absolute weight, would taking a shorter rest and dropping the weight be equivalent (in terms of RPE) to a longer rest and keeping the weight the same? I hope that makes sense.

If you are time restricted, and you have to restrict the rest times, then yes, the weight on the bar will have to come down to hit the target RPE. You'll still benefit and adapt over time, even if you don't get quite as strong as you otherwise might have.

[Oluf]

I hope it's ok if i add a question here instead of starting a whole new post, ive been wondering the same regarding rest times.

So, what you are saying Austin, is that taking longer rest periods and keeping the weight constant is beneficial? I am starting week 3 of the bridge today. I am currently resting ~3mins between each set. When the volume of each training session increases, is it normal that rest times between sets increase? Or is that a sign that you might have to work on your cardio?

[Austin Baraki]

It's OK if it increases a bit, but we wouldn't recommend extending it much beyond 5-7 minutes at the most.

[Tony89]

I would think there ought to be a correlation between RPE and rest times. As I reached the end of LP and started grinding at 9 and 10 all the time, I felt like I needed to rest upwards of 6 minute or more between sets.

I've noticed I'll "cool down" too much with rest periods longer than 7 minutes. As a result I'll overshoot the target RPE if I keep the weight the same. Today (day 1 of HIGH stress week) I felt like I had no choice but to drop the weight on subsequent sets @ 9 as I accrued fatigue. For example, my squat today looked like:

5@6 255 lbs - felt like 6
5@7 265 lbs - felt like 7
5@8 275 lbs - felt like 8
5@8 275 lbs - felt like 8.5
5@8 265 lbs - felt like 8
5@8 255 lbs - felt like 8

In order to build up to and maintain RPE @8 the weight on the bar increases and decreases linearly. I hope that correlates with the intention of the program.

Can you stand on a smaller plate (or a stack of smaller plates) to "adjust" the height to mid-shin?

I've tried that, but it's awkward since I'm standing on a stack of plates almost a foot off the ground.

[toddc]

1.) Can I swap rack pulls for something else? I train at home with my Rouge RML-3W, and I cannot put the spotter arms low enough to get the bar at mid shin. I've just been doing pause DLs instead.

You can build blocks out of plywood and 2x4s and do block pulls instead. I screwed two 3/4" pieces of plywood together and then put a few 2x4s on the bottom to make a 3" block. I think I paid about $30 for the wood.