Beginner or Bridge?

Hi Docs,

TL;DR: I’m doing SSNLP and hitting the end of the LP if not the N, so I’m wondering if I should switch to the beginner template, do the bridge, or something else?

(All units are imperial)
Age:31
Height/weight/waist: 6’4", 225lbs, 40" (I think? Do I do this holding in a lungfull of air, let the belly sag, or neutral? Regardless, it’s bigger than I’d like and I’ve dropped my caloric intake to shrink the gut)

I led a very sedentary life prior to COVID, getting up to over 300 lbs just before the shutdown. No history of sports, maybe a little bit of outdoors activities (hiking, climbing, skiing) in my teens, but most of my 20s were spent in a chair snackin’. I had maybe 6 months of gym experience before everything shut down, but it was your pretty standard PPL brosplits thing. Over covid the gym closed down and I lost ~100 lbs, then I went back to my little 3-4 day split around this June and swapped to SSNLP near the last half of September. Since the start of COVID I’ve moderately increased most of my lifts, but I can’t remember exactly where I was at the start of my journey, I only have my numbers for when I started SSNLP. I don’t quite know if I’ve completely hit the end of “novice mode” however you define it, but progress hasn’t exactly been smooth and linear lately.

I haven’t bothered to test my 1RM, so I’ll just list the heaviest set of 5 I’ve done (beltless) and an approximation of where I started with SSNLP:
Squat: 185 → 300
Deadlift: 245 → 325 (DL has stalled for about a month – the block is definitely mental, but it’s still frustrating)
OHP: 85 → 125
Bench: 135 → 185
PClean (lol): 45 → 140

I could technically keep going with SS and probably(?) make a bit more progress on at least my squat and bench (and clean, for whatever that’s worth), but given my stagnation with the DL and OHP I’m not so keen on that idea. Furthermore, since I’m not consuming a gazillion calories a day, I don’t think it’s sustainable to expect to hit my 5RM+5lbs effectively every single workout. Already failing multiple lifts each week felt less like training and more like slogging through the mud at Passchendaele, but now doing that in a caloric deficit REALLY SUCKS.

So yeah, beginner or bridge?

Thanks,

  • M

M,

Thanks for the post and happy holidays. Congrats on your weight loss as well!

A few thoughts:

  1. You could do either. I think I’d do the Beginner Template from phase II if it were me over the Bridge. I think it’ll give you some better development, options, and insight for your short- and long-term programming needs.

  2. I would move on immediately from LP, as linear progress and other forms of programming aren’t mutually exclusive.

  3. I would try and break the Calorie deficit= less recovery relationship, as this doesn’t really seem to be the case unless in a MASSIVE deficit where someone is hemorrhaging weight, malnourished, etc. It’s just that the programming and progression are no longer suitable.

-Jordan

Great, that’s exactly what I was looking for! Thanks for the speedy response and happy holidays!