Howdy Yall. Glad to be here and excited to work through some of the BBM programming. Loving the Bridge so far, and purchased a few other templates.
First training log I’ve posted online. Figure it’s better than looking back over my chicken-scratch paper notebooks that I keep losing.
Background on this dude
35 year old male. 6’1’’ 203lbs, 36" waist. Healthy beard (.35 Alan Thralls). Type 1 diabetic since November 2018: this isn’t really that big a deal, but I figure I’ll post it in case anyone else has a shitty pancreas like me or is interested in seeing how it all works. In short, I can say weight training has made my type 1 diabetes much easier to manage compared to my previous emphasis on endurance training. My blood glucose is well controlled with basal/bolus insulin and monitoring with a Libre CGM. I try to keep my a1c around 5-5.5.
Starting e1RMs:
Squat: 350lbs
Deadlift: 345lbs
Press: 160lbs
Bench Press: 225lbs
Lifting History
Before weight training, for the last decade or so, I’d been an amateur competitive cyclist and avid mountaineer. I’d dabble with some barbells and kettlebells here and there (along with yoga and jogging…shudder), but nothing with a real goal or programming in mind. Read through “Training for the New Alpinism” over the winter in 2019 and started squatting and deadlifting heavier things. I enjoyed it quite a bit and went looking for some real programming. Found Starting Strength, bought then read the book, and started “the program” on June 12, 2019 at 182lbs
I had good progress for three months on Starting Strength linear progression. It instilled some good discipline around eating more, as the squats would start to get nasty with a calorie deficit. I stayed pretty diligent on recovery, diet, and sleep. Did a couple resets on press and bench press and squished out a little more progress there. Stalled on deadlift a couple weeks later and decided to move on to some new programming as I was starting to feel pretty beat up and the squat working sets were always grinders. I’m sure I could have smashed some more food into my piehole and stretched out the gainzz here on LP, but I was looking to incorporate some more GPP into my programming. At any rate, here are my linear progression results:
| Beginning of SSLP (06/12/2019) | Finish of SSLP (09/06/2019) | |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | 145 5x3 | 295 5x3 |
| Deadlift | 185x5 | 295x5 |
| Press | 95 5x3 | 137.5 5x3 |
| Bench Press | 115 5x3 | 195 5x3 |
| Power Clean (loved PCs) | 105 3x5 | 185 3x5 |
| Bodyweight | 182lbs | 202lbs |
Around this time, I came across Alan Thrall’s videos as I was having some nasty elbow tendinitis with thumbless squat grip. Found his excellent video on grip adjustments which lead me down the Barbell Medicine rabbit hole. I downloaded the Bridge 1.0 and started on September 9, 2019.
First Week (and one day of week 2) of The Bridge 1.0
Week 1 Day 1
Squat w/ belt 270x5@6, 285x5@7, 295x5@8
CGBP 165x4@7, 175x4@8, 185x4@9
Rack Pull 225x7@6, 240x7@7, 255x7@8
Week 1 Day 3
2ct Paused Squat 205x4@7, 225x4@8, 245x4@9
Press 115x5@6, 125x5@7, 135x5@8
Rows 105x8@6, 115x8@7, 125x8@8, 130x8@8
Week 1 Day 4
5 planks for 60-90 minutes over 7 minutes
Chinups/pullups over 7 minutes (33 reps)
30 minute bike ride (hauling 3 year old in trailer back from preschool)
Week 1 Day 5
Deadlift 255x5@6, 265x5@7, 285x5@8
Comp Bench 160x5@6, 170x5@7, 185x5@8
303 Squat 145x8@6, 155x8@7, 165x8@8
Week 2 Day 1
Squat w/ belt 265x5@6, 280x5@7, 295x5@8, 300x5@8, 300x5@8
CGBP 165x4@7, 180x4@8, 190x4@9, 190x4@9
Rack Pull 225x7@6, 245x7@7, 260x7@8, 260x7@8
Alrighty, off to go knock out those pause squats and press. Will post workout later this evening!