Changing Bridge 3.0 Day 2 Squat to belted competition squat.

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

I’m currently on my second pass through Bridge 3.0 and have had my squat single stall for the last three weeks. I’m wondering if changing day 2 pause or pin squats to regular belted squats using the same rep and set range would be an option to drive gains again. My though would be that a belted squat would be more weight and increased stress. If not what is the first adjustment I should make to the program to try and drive squat gains again.

52 year old male 5’9" 190BW. 1RM @RPE 8 345

Thanks

2

It might, but it might not. More weight doesn’t necessarily mean more stress, as it’s a bit more complicated than that based on the individual. I would want to know more about what happened to your other lifts and how your squat did overall on the program before changing things. That said, swapping a variation is fine if you think that would be better.

-Jordan

3

Thanks for the quick reply.

Squat and DL went up planned 5 pounds per week through first run through, DL is still going up 5 pounds per week but sometimes the RPE goes up with the weight, but the following week the weight could go up another 5 but RPE is down to 8 again.

Press and Bench are still progressing but the usually in the 1-2 pound range, or perhaps a planned lift was easier than expected. Much happier with press progression than bench and I fell like the bench is reaching its limit in current program. I do the incline bench accessory on day 3.

Squat feels like its just stuck. first time through I was adding 5-10 pounds per week, second time 5 pounds first two weeks and then just started to struggle.

Thanks

4

I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect to add 5-10lbs per week for long during training. That means you started at 305 x 1 @ 8 and ended at 345 x 1 @ 8. Rather, it kind of sounds like you might have been undershooting some week’s loading and overshooting others, potentially. While we would plan on increasing the weight week to week while keeping the RPE the same, it doesn’t always work out like that. So, I think it’s reasonable to be able to add weight to the bar every 2 or 3 weeks if the programming is appropriate, but make sure you’re adhering to the RPE each week as well. This isn’t a linear progression.

5

Thanks Dr.

I really like the program. If progress continues over time is there any reason to not continue running it indefinitely? My goals are general strength without a specific 1RM target, but hitting the 1X@8 PR’s is nice.

6

If you like it and are getting good results, I’d have you carry on!

-Jordan