Finished the Bridge: question about e1rm for the deadlift

6’1 male, 212 lbs. 31 y.o, recovery variables constant

Hi there,
I started out as a rank novice some months ago and did SS novice LP. I gained 35 lbs and added muscle mass beyond all expectations. The most amazing thing was my chronic non-specific lower back pain that went away a few weeks after starting lifting.

When I switched to the bridge, the deadlift was the only lift that was still progressing every time at a relatively constant intensity (RPE 7-8) and that I had never missed. I was deadlifting 1x5 reps (no backoff sets) once a week and doing the 15 total reps of power cleans once a week. I was already practicing attributing RPE to the lifts. My last deadlift session was 410 lbs x 5 at RPE 7.5. Bar was flying every time.

During the Bridge, my e1RM for the deadlift progressively diminished from week to week. All the other lifts went up. I lost 6 pounds accompanied by almost 1 inch of waistline reduction.

Week after week, I was trying to find the right balance between not training weak and not overshooting the RPEs, but I just couldn’t progress and had to remove weight from the bar as the deadlift was becoming harder and harder.

Although I had fun, I thought that the bridge was very physically and mentally hard.

I understand that the fatigue and volume greatly increased compared to LP. I was wondering if the pulling volume potentially exceeded my personal recovery capacity and if I should slightly lower it for the next training block and moniter the results? What do you think?

Thanks.

Quebecer,

What was your last 1 @ 8 and 3 @ 9 on The Bridge and what was your last set of 5 on LP?

I don’t think think that I’d expect the deadlift training to be easy, though I don’t really know what we’re talking about here as far as actual numbers. I don’t think it was too much volume. Perhaps too much intensity for your previous level of exposure, but also this could a supratentorial thing too.

Last set of 5 on LP : 410 x 5 @7.5 (I just watched again the video of that session, the bar is moving fast).

The Bridge : Week 8 : 435 x 1 @ 8 ; 420 x 3 @ 8.5

Now I’m doing your novice peaking program for my first meet next week
Last deadlift session on week 2 : 455 x 1 @ 8, -8% : 420 x 3 x 3 @ 8, 9, 9

Thanks,
David

You are easily much stronger now than you were at the end of LP. I don’t think that one could reasonably say otherwise.