Hello Barbell Medicine Forum,
I wanted to share my personal experience with both the bridge and the 12 week strength program that I am just finishing. I will give my review and feedback based upon what I saw and my results.
Background on me: 30 years old, 6’1" started been strength training all my life since age of 15 off and on - pretty steady through high school and college then about 1-2 years later after I graduated I got lazy for about 4 years and did very little, drank too much, ate too much - let myself go.
About 2.5 years ago I decide enough was enough I peaked @ almost 230 lbs ~43inch waist - fattest ever - weakest ever and got myself a barbell, squat rack, oly plates and some dumbells and got back after it. August 2016, could only do about 10 push ups, 0 pull ups, bench ~170lbs, squat ~150, deadlift ~200.
Fast forward to May 2018 a fitter leaner 192lbs 35inch waist I found myself peaking where my strength was in college ~ bench 250ish, squat 250ish and dead lift at low 300’s. I did the traditional bro splits - chest monday back tuesday, legs wed, arms thursday, cardio friday & sat type of exercise. I was “stuck” for the last ~7-8 months in strength using this method… thats when I found the “bridge” from an Alan Thrall video as I wanted to get stronger and didn’t know how… in come BBM team
Here are my numbers from the start of bridge, end of bridge, and end of 12wk strength.
| Item | Base Line Start Bridge | Finish Bridge Gainzz | Vacation Aug 3-20th | Start 12 week Strength August 20th Gainzz |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | May 31st | Aug 3rd | Gain | No Power Lifting - only hiking, and rubber band/body weight work |
| Body Weight (lbs) | 192 | 192 | 0 | 195 |
| Bench (lbs) | 250 | 265 | 15 | 300 |
| Deadlift (lbs) | 325 | 350 | 25 | 405 |
| Squat (lbs) | 265 | 285 | 20 | 325 |
| Totals (lbs) | 840 | 900 | 60 | 1030 |
| Diet | 2200 kcals | 2200kcals | 2700kcals |
I am now the strongest by far ever in my life.
What I learned - volume and intensity is everything. Change of routines/variations is good. FOOD makes a HUGE difference - I wasn’t eating enough in fear of getting fat… again - changed this about 8 weeks ago and weights are rocketing up. Consistency is critical - I missed only 1 workout in the last 20 weeks due to extreme soreness week 3 of strength program - lower back was SHOT - during vacation I didn’t have barbells since I was camping, but stayed active during those 2 weeks. I did the program to the T and even added some floor press into the bridge as I felt my chest could take more. I keep rest times to 2-3 minutes. I travel quite a bit for work ~5 trips during this time - guess what? I would get 1 week gym memberships or find a hotel that had Olympic weights to train while I traveled. I made the program a priority.
I did stretch and I do do mobility - I have very tight hips, tight calves and long femors it used to be very hard to hit depth and also I experienced some hip pain late in the bridge early in the strength program which went away with mobility work - but I never stopped training even with the hip pain. Today I have zero pain other than regular muscle soreness.
I just wanted to share this experience with the community to anyone on the fence about these programs. My current plan is to restart the strength program next week. Excellent programming to the barbell medicine team! I love your content, love your advice and very happy with my gainzzz. Next goal is 1200lb club 
and 3 plates on bench for reps :), keep body fat the same and stay healthy.
P.S. Please get some more t-shirts in stock - I have a desire to spend some more $$ with you guys.
-Cory