Last workout of week 1 of The Bridge:
Deads with belt: 340x5x1@6; 355x5x1@7; 375x5x1@8; five to six minutes rest. I usually don’t use a belt when deadlifting but I thought I’d follow the program’s instructions. I think the RPEs for these sets were reasonably accurate, maybe a tad light.
One-count paused bench: 185x5x1@6; 195x5x1@7; 205x5x1@8. Last set might have been 8.5RPE–maybe two more reps instead of definitely two more reps.
3-0-3 tempo squat (three-count down, no pause, three-count up) 185x8x1@6; 205x8x1@7; 225x8x1@8; no belt, five minutes rest. I had no idea what to expect with these so I started with what I thought would be a light weight. I was pretty pooped after I finished all the sets. Not sure about the RPEs–I’ll need more practice with these before I can accurately judge my effort.
Week 2 of The Bridge, a “moderate stress” week:
Squats: 260x5x1@6; 275x5x1@7; 290x5x3@8; five minutes rest. I think the RPEs are accurate. I wore a belt for all the sets.
Close-grip bench: 185x4x1@7; 195x4x1@8; 205x4x1@8.5; 207.5x4x1@9; four minutes rest. The last two sets were supposed to be at RPE 9 but at 205 I probably had 2 more reps in the tank so I micro-loaded to 207.5 for the last set of 4 reps.
Rack pulls: 315x7x1@6; 332.5x7x1@7; 350x7x2@8; five minutes rest; no belt–hook grip and chalk. Jumped up 75 pounds from last week. I think this is about the right weight for me for this rep range.
Today would be an off-day but chances are I won’t have time to work out tomorrow, so:
2-count paused squat, no belt: 225x4x1@7; 237.5x4x1@8; 250x4x1@8; 260x4x1@9. I’m still feeling my way into this lift so my RPEs aren’t very accurate yet. The last two sets were supposed to be at RPE 9 but 250 felt more like an RPE 8, maybe even a 7, so I did 260 for the last set. Might bump it up to 270 next week.
Press with belt: 117.5x5x1@6; 123.75x5x1@7; 132.5x5x2@8.5; 130x5x1@8.5; 125x5x1@8. The last four sets were all supposed to be at 8 but 132.5 and 130 both felt a bit heavy so I did 125 for the last set and that felt like a true RPE8–two more reps in the tank, done with good form.
BB rows: 155x8x1@6; 165x8x1@7; 175x8x1@ 7.5; 180x8x2@8. The last three sets were all supposed to be at RPE8 but I think I set the weight a bit too light for the first of those three sets.
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GPP day:
25 minutes on airdyne at light pace.
25 chins with 10 pounds in 7 minutes–one more rep than last week.
45 ab-wheel roll-outs in seven minutes, kneeling–three more reps than last week.
End of week 2 of The Bridge;
Deads with belt: 340x5x1@6; 355x5x1@7; 375x5x3@8. Four to five minutes rest. For the last three sets at 375 I switched to a mixed grip. Usually I use a hook grip for my heavy deadlifts but the high volume was starting to kill my thumbs! The RPEs seemed about right.
One-count paused bench: 185x5x1@6; 195x5x1@7; 205x5x3@8.5 or 9; 200x5x1@8. Four to five minutes rest. The last four sets were all supposed to be at RPE 8 but the first three at 205 actually felt more like 8.5 or 9–maybe two reps left, more likely one. So I dropped five pounds for the last set and that felt about right.
3-0-3 tempo squat: 185x8x1@6; 205x8x1@7; 225x8x2@8. Four to five minutes rest. Still having a hard time judging the RPEs on these. It’s fast becoming my least-favorite lift. Grueling, but I guess that’s good.
Starting week 3 of The Bridge:
Squat with belt: 265x5x1@6; 280x5x1@7; 295x5x3@8. Four to five minutes rest.
Close-grip bench: 190x4x1@7; 200x4x1@8; 210x4x2@9. Four to five minutes rest. The last two sets were somewhere between 9 and 9.5, I think.
Rack pull: 325x7x1@7; 342.5x7x1@8; 360x7x2@9. Five minutes rest. I think the RPEs are accurate, though I might be able to go a bit heavier with these. With RPE 8 or RPE 9, I’m supposing that the 2 or 1 reps left in the tank are reps that can be done with good from and with decent bar speed, not grinding, all-out reps.
Today’s Bridge workout:
Two-count paused squat, no belt: 240x4x1@7; 252.5x4x1@8; 265x4x2@9. Four to five minutes rest. 5 pounds more than last week. I’m still feeling my way into these. The last two sets might have been an 8 or 8.5. I might try 270 or 275 next week.
Press with belt: 115x5x1@6; 120x5x1@7; 125x5x4@8. Four minutes rest. I think these felt about right in terms of RPE.
BB rows: 160x8x1@6; 170x8x1@7; 180x8x3@8. Four to five minutes rest. RPE estimates might have been a tad low. I think I’ll try 185 next time.
Seems like “paused work” is the order of the day every where.
My third GPP day:
25 minutes easy pace on airdyne
25 chins with 10 pounds in seven minutes
48 ab-wheel roll-outs, kneeling, in seven minutes
End of week 3 of the Bridge:
Deadlift with belt: 340x5x1@6; 360x5x1@7; 380x5x3@8; four to five minutes rest, mixed grip. RPEs felt about right, I think.
One-count bench: 185x5x1@6; 195x5x1@7; 205x5x4@8; four to five minutes rest. These felt a bit stronger than last week. I’m pretty sure the last 4 sets were at RPE8.
3-0-3 squat: 195x8x1@7; 205x8x1@8; 215x8x2@9; four to five minutes rest. I realized my weight increments on these were off for the first two weeks. A five percent jump in weight is supposed to correspond to an RPE increase of one. For some reason I was making 10 percent jumps on these. So I adjusted the weight a bit to make 5 percent increases from set to set.
Now, two days of rest!
Started week 4 of the Bridge yesterday–a “high stress week.” Didn’t get to my workout until late in the afternoon, when it was about 20 degrees F in my garage. Invigorating!
Squat with belt: 270x5x1@6; 285x5x1@7; 300x5x4@8. Four to five minutes rest.
Close-grip bench: 190x4x1@7; 200x4x1@8; 210x4x3@9. Four to five minutes rest. The last set or two might have been 9.5–maybe one more rep left. I’ll probably stick with this weight for at least another week.
Rack pull: 330x7x1@7; 347.5x7x1@8; 365x7x2@9. Four to five minutes rest; mixed grip. I can probably bump this weight up at least another five pounds for this rep range.
Great read and nice progress! 
Still building that bridge:
Two-count paused squat: 242.5x4x1@7; 257.5x4x1@8; 275x4x3@9. Four to five minutes rest. These felt strong so I went up to 275 for the last three sets. I think the RPE for the last sets was about right; I probably overestimated the RPEs for the first two sets since they felt a bit light.
Press with belt: 115x5x1@6; 120x5x1@7; 125x5x4@8. Four to five minutes rest. These felt about right.
BB row: 165x8x1@6; 175x8x1@7; 185x8x4@8. Four minutes rest.
Do you feel that you’re getting the hang of estimating RPE, or is it still a work in progress?
I think I’m getting the hang of it. It seems like a very intelligent, long-term approach to training. If I understand it correctly, the idea is to train with a sustainable but challenging volume and intensity. In the past (i.e. all my training until a few weeks ago!) I’ve tended to work at near-maximum weights for whatever rep range I was working on. So one week I would emphasize sets of 5–all close to my 5-rep max, then sets of 3 close to my 3-rep max, etc. Eventually fatigue would catch up with me and I’d either regress, injure myself, or have to ease off and try to work my way back. With the Bridge, I’m doing much more volume than I’ve done before but the use of RPEs lets me adjust the intensity to make sure the volume is manageable. So far the volume doesn’t seem to be hurting me at all. So I suppose I could be a test case for the question of whether geezers are volume sensitive or not.
I’m about halfway through the Bridge now. It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks go when the program calls for some singles at RPE 8. Then I’ll be better able to gauge what sort of progress–if any–I’ve made. After I finish the Bridge I’ll start the 12-week powerlifting template. I’m tentatively planning to enter a meet in Arizona in April, and hope I can beat that new qualifying total for the raw nationals!
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I think your previous total (which was 502.5 yes?) qualifies you for 2019.
I’ll confirm that for you…
Yes, it was 502.5, in March 2018. I thought I might have to re-qualify by entering another meet in 2019, but it would be nice to know that I’ve already qualified! I’d like to enter a meet this spring anyway.
Today’s workout: GPP
25 minutes airdyne; 25 chins with 10 pounds in seven minutes, 48 ab-wheel roll-outs, kneeling, in seven minutes.
Codge -
Here’s what I was told today:
You’ll need to re-qualify based on the fact that you competed in the 105’s. So 497.5kg is your bogey…
The updated rule book is on line at USAPL, and you can check there to confirm what I was told.
No worries, you got this!
Thanks for checking on that, gymdad/browndog. Now I just have to be a bit more careful about my weight. When I competed last March I was something like 205.25–just missed the 93kg cutoff! But we’ve both got this, I’m sure!
Wrapped up week 4 of the Bridge this afternoon:
Deadlift: 345x5x1@6; 365x5x1@7; 385x5x3@8. Mixed grip, four to five minutes rest. These were all supposed to be done with a belt but I forgot to put a belt on until the very last set. Doh! The RPEs felt about right. I guess time will tell if I’m overdoing it but so far, halfway through the program, I feel good–not beat up at all
1-count paused bench: 187.5x5x1@6; 197.5x5x1@7; 207.5x5x5@8. Four to five minutes rest. Phew, lots of volume there–35 reps! But everything felt strong.
3-0-3 tempo squat: 190x8x1@6; 200x8x1@7; 210x8x2@8. Four minutes rest. I dialed these back a bit after reading elsewhere in the forum that someone who normally squats over 400 started out with 185 on these tempo squats!