Friend I recommended try the bridge is saying running the bridge is not going to yield as much or any hypertrophy as opposed to a bro split after looking at it. He said it looks like it might make you stronger but definitely not grow at all especially for someone coming from a bodybuilding background. What would you say to such hardheaded statements?
I would usually say something along the lines of “Ok cool man, have fun”.
(I imagine Jordan may have a different approach)
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Quoted for chuckles. And to agree that if you don’t think someone wants to discuss an idea with you, it’s generally not going to be a fruitful conversation.
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Oh I wholeheartedly agree with that… I was just wondering if you had any sort of statement I could throw his way that would make him second guess himself, perhaps a statement rooted in results from guys who follow your Programming. Because I do get the shortsighted viewpoint he provides to an extent. It’s common in my gym to see many guys who bench 315, squat 405 and who follow bro splits. These guys also usually have large arms and guys who follow bbm or as style Programming from what I’ve seen have to bench 405 to get the same size arms. I see many bros at the gym who look like Jordan but cannot lift more than half of what he does. Is there any credence to say that these bro splits are better for size than bbm programs?
I myself am 6 foot 2 and 254lbs. I have a 320 bench, 420 squat, 505 deadlift and 215 Press. And I look kind of big but my arms, shoulders etc. are nowhere near the size of the “bros” I see at my local globo gym
Have you considered the possibility that you may need to second guess yourself, rather than him?
What if he’s been following a purely hypertrophy-oriented training style (what you may be referring to as a “bro split”) for a long time, using higher volumes than what’s programmed in any of our templates? Remember that we aren’t bodybuilders; we like strength demonstrated on a few core lifts, and our programming reflects that. If he’s purely interested in hypertrophy and isn’t as interested in his squat PR, he may be totally right that a drastic reduction in training volume over the long term is unlikely to provide him with hypertrophy benefits.
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this makes me wonder:
Would their be a greater benefit to alternating a more bro-style ( bodybuilding, pure hypertrophy focus ) into training when trying to desensitize from a heavy strength focus ? My idea is that following a more " bro split" would allow for greater hypertrophy gains over a more strength focus hypertrophy block. The more muscle gained should allow for a better strength phase.
or would you straying to far from your original goal ( strength) by straying to far from the regular style training cause you lose to much specific strength ( squat, bench, deadlift) to matter over the extra hypertrophy gains?
There is some degree of specificity at play here, so that if you spent time going to exclusive bodybuilding-type work with very light loads taken to near-failure, for example, your strength outcomes in the long run would likely be inferior to someone who maintained exposure to (and training with) moderate to heavier loads (e.g, >60%)
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