MWY's Training Log: A Bridge to... Somewhere?

[mwy]

Jumping on the bandwagon and logging my training here. Previous/current log: https://startingstrength.com/resourc...-stronger.html

After floundering through early intermediate programming and beginning to question whether I knew what I was doing or not, the Bridge was released. I decided to run it since I had only finished my NLP about a month prior and progress was already starting to stall (partly due to unexpected Hand, Foot and Mouth disease courtesy of my kids ). On Week 7 now and gains have been and continue to be made. The only change I've made to the program is to Press twice/week and bench only once during the second half of the program because I'm signed up to compete in the Starting Strength Fall Classic (in Phoenix).

I'm not going to copy my entire previous log, but I'll include the two workouts so far this week:

Monday, 9/11/2017:

Squat:
[email protected]: 360
[email protected]: 336
[email protected]: 336
[email protected]: 336
[email protected]: 336

Press:
[email protected]: 173
[email protected]: 167
[email protected]: 167
[email protected]: 167
[email protected]: 167

Paused Deadlift:
[email protected]: 275
[email protected]: 295
[email protected]: 315
[email protected]: 315

Workout video:

Wednesday, 9/13/2017:

Pin Squat:
[email protected]: 250
[email protected]: 260
[email protected]: 275
[email protected]'t-lose-tightness-on-the-pins: 275
[email protected]: 275
[email protected]: 275

Bench:
[email protected]: 251
[email protected]: 243 (oops...)
[email protected]: 225
[email protected]: 225
[email protected]: 225

Barbell Rows:
[email protected]: 190
[email protected]: 210 lbs.
[email protected]: 210 lbs.
[email protected]: 210 lbs.
[email protected]: 210 lbs.

So today was not bad, but I made some... er, miscalculations? My second set of Pin Squats for [email protected] was going great, when I paused too long on the pins on the third rep, allowed myself to exhale slightly, and then just couldn't even budge the bar. I added an extra set since A) this is a high stress week, and B) I wasn't going to let myself off the hook.

Bench I just overshot what I was capable of today, I think. 251 moved pretty well for a heavy single, so I went with the planned 243 for my first [email protected] and it was instead a true RPE10. The bar stopped moving 4 times on the way up and the concentric portion took about 6 seconds to complete. I've hesitated to call something RPE10, but this was it. I don't think I could have even lowered the bar back down under control for another rep. Since I overshot the first set pretty hard, I dropped the weight to 225 for the next 3 sets which were easy RPE8s. I'm thinking I need a slightly bigger drop from [email protected] to [email protected] than the 7% in the chart, at least for bench.

Barbell rows were normal/good, except for the counting goof in my second RPE8 set. Oh well, it wasn't a bad workout, just a mentally off one?

[mwy]

Wednesday's video:

Today's Workout:
Deadlift:
[email protected]: 430
[email protected]: 375
[email protected]: 375
[email protected]: 375
[email protected]: 375

Press:
[email protected]: 175
[email protected]: 155
[email protected]: 155
[email protected]: 155
[email protected]: 155

Beltless Squat:
[email protected]: 235
[email protected]: 245
[email protected]: 245
[email protected]: 245
[email protected]: 245

Really happy about the 430 deadlift and 175 press. The volume sets were lower in weight than I would have liked, but I was feeling pretty fatigued and beat up today. My shoulders were still feeling drained from pushing bench to [email protected] on Wednesday, which definitely impacted my press. I'm happy with how the singles went this week and very much looking forward to the "Low stress" week next week.

[mwy]

Training from yesterday:

[mwy]

Today, Week 8 Day 1 of the Bridge:

Squat:
[email protected]: 365
[email protected]: 340
[email protected]: 340

Press:
[email protected]: 177
[email protected]: 167

Paused Deadlift:
[email protected]: 280
[email protected]: 300
[email protected]: 320

[mwy]

Today:

Pin Squat:
[email protected]: 225
[email protected]: 245
[email protected]: 255

Bench:
[email protected]: 245
[email protected]: 225

Barbell Rows:
[email protected]: 195
[email protected]: 215
[email protected]: 215

Bench was disappointing; I actually failed 255x1 about an inch off my chest. Pushed hard, but it stuck and then started going down. I'd like to write this off as just a bad day, but it was down a tick last week as well. I think the lower volume on the back-end of the Bridge combined with (probably more importantly) my choosing to Press twice/week and only bench once/week has hamstrung it. I'm not really frustrated since my Press is still moving, and since that's the competition lift at the Fall Classic I'm happy with making progress on it at the expense of Bench progress.

[mwy]

Today:

Deadlift: (Using 29mm bar for the first time, had to go lower than expected)
[email protected]: 405
[email protected]: 365

Press:
[email protected]: 180
[email protected]: 160

Beltless Squat:
[email protected]: 245
[email protected]: 265
[email protected]: 265

I was expecting to have to drop a little weight when I switched from the Rogue 1.0 bar to the Westside Power Bar, but didn't think that .5mm would make as much of a difference as it did. 405 was a definite 8 on the 29mm bar, so that's a 25 lbs. drop from last week. But, I'd rather learn that now than when warming up for my opener.

Press continues to explode. 180 was a smooth RPE8, solid progress.

Went a bit heavier on the beltless squats today than I had anticipated because they felt great.

And that concludes The Bridge! This was a solid follow up to LP and I've learned a ton about my limits, managing fatigue, and training in general. I was highly skeptical about RPE before starting the program, but I'm very happy and better off for taking the jump. Big shout-out to Jordan and Austin for writing the program and releasing it for free. You guys rock and your work is an inspiration.

I'm planning on moving to a 4-day program starting next week to try to keep my workout times under 1h20m. Current plan is as follows:

Monday
Squat: [email protected], [email protected] x 3-5 sets
Press: [email protected], [email protected] x 4-5 sets

Tuesday
Deadlift variation (starting with deficit deadlift, [email protected] x 2-3 sets)
Bench: [email protected], [email protected] x 4-5 sets

Thursday
Squat variation: (starting with 2-0-2 tempo squats, [email protected] x 3 sets)
Press: [email protected] x 5 sets

Friday
Deadlift: [email protected], [email protected] x 2-3 sets
Bench variation (starting with incline, [email protected] x 4-5 sets)

[mwy]

Today:

Squat:
[email protected]: 370
[email protected]: 320
[email protected]: 320
[email protected]: 320

Press:
[email protected]: 183
[email protected]: 155
[email protected]: 155
[email protected]: 155
[email protected]: 145

Very happy with how my squat went today. I looked back in my training journal and the last week of 5s on the Bridge I managed two sets at 299 (using KG plates), but the second set was an 8.5, and I dropped the weight for the remaining sets. Getting three solid sets at 320 was very satisfying progress.

Press started out very well, but I was definitely feeling fatigued by my third set. I'm satisfied considering that this is higher volume than the last monthish.

[mwy]

Today:

Deficit (1-inch) Deadlift:
[email protected]: 315 x 2 sets

Bench:
[email protected]: 252
[email protected]: 225 x 2 sets
[email protected]: 215

Bench felt great today for the first time in quite a while. The single at 252 moved slightly faster and smoother than my single at 251 two weeks ago, which was very satisfying.

[mwy]

Today was good and . . . not quite as good:

3-0-3 Squat:
[email protected]: 250
[email protected]: 275 x 3 sets

These were absolutely torturous, but unquestionably effective, on the Bridge, which is precisely why I decided to do them as my first squat variation post-bridge. I'm not doing them for 8s though. Ever. That was just cruel. . .

Press:
[email protected]: 145 x 3 sets

I just felt completely gassed on Press today. I had to fight for every rep and the weight just felt heavier than it should've. I've been fighting off a chest cold all week and I think the extra fatigue finally caught up to me here. I'll be able to rest a lot over the weekend and hopefully can kick it up a notch on Monday.

[seadonk7]

Great press strength and great job man! Keep it up.

[mwy]

Thanks! I'm definitely happy with how progress on my press has been going for the last few months. Hoping to press 200 at the USSF Fall Classic

[seadonk7]

One month to make about 6-7 lbs? I think you can do it!

[mwy]

Today was pretty good:

Deadlift:
[email protected]: 415
[email protected]: 350 x 2 sets

I was thinking about doing three sets, but since I've been feeling a lot of overall fatigue and I'm battling a cold, I thought it would be wise to keep the volume to 2 sets today.

Pin Press (Forehead level):
[email protected]: 135 x 5 sets

These went really well. I wanted to get some additional Press volume in, but wanted to change it up a bit, so Pin Press it was. I probably could have gone a bit heavier, but the volume is what I was after and I had never done these before.

[mwy]

Today:

Squat:
[email protected]: 375
[email protected]: 325 x 4 sets

Really happy with how Squats went today. 375 moved pretty well and getting 4 sets of 5 at 325 was a big mental win since I was debating dropping it to 315 after the second set.

Press:
[email protected]: 185
[email protected]: 155
[email protected]: 155
[email protected]: 145 x 2 sets

I was very excited to get that 185 Press! Unfortunately, it took 3 attempts to get it cleanly. First attempt I slightly lost balance right when I locked it out and had to take a step back. It moved much easier than I had anticipated, so I decided to take it again. On the second attempt, I completely mistimed the hip bounce and didn't get the bar past my nose. Third attempt was perfect. Taking that single three times definitely had a fatiguing effect on my volume work though, which was a bummer. Still, I'm happy to have that 185 press under my belt and I'll make up for the lighter than planned volume work on Thursday and Friday.

[craw405]

Great work man!