I’m currently just about finished with Starting Strength linear progression as I’m already doing a light squat day on Wednesdays. The program has worked pretty good for me but I’m also getting bored with it. I purchased the Hypertrophy Template and I think I would like to do that next as I haven’t done any conditioning in a long time.
I was also entertaining the thought of entering my first powerlifting meet in late June 2019 at the young age of 45 years old. I sort of had this as a plan towards that meet: I would do the 7 week Hypertrophy Template, then I would do the 8 week Bridge 1.0 followed by the 3 week Peaking Template.
Is this a good strategy?
My current stats as of this week:
45 years old, 5’9", 205 pounds.
Tested 1RM as of December 28 2018:
Squat 335 lbs.
Deadlift 315 lbs.
Bench Press 200 lbs.
Press: 155 lbs.
@DkMetz as the meet is still 6 months away, the suggestion by @reygunz is reasonable.
I also like to recommend Bridge 1 as it is the introduction to BBM programming and RPE, introduces 1@8 sets plus back offs, and increases the volume nicely from SSLP. Hyp 3 day is then good to followup as it increases volume further, but focuses more on hypertrophy, which we understand can be anywhere between 60% and 80% of strength gains (as in muscle cross sectional area). Note it is not a bro-bodybuilding program. In my latest block which finished just prior to Christmas on the 3 day Hyp I hit and or equaled my 1RM @8 maxes from the end of Bridge 1 while on a caloric deficit. You can definitely maintain strength, which is the goal in addition to hypertrophy.
Then you could do Bridge 3, or 12 Week Strength, or whatever. I think once you have done Bridge 1 and Hyp 3 day, 4 months will have passed and you will have a better idea of whether to go for Bridge 3 (8 weeks) + peaking template or 12 Week Strength.
In 4 months you will learn a lot about how your body tolerates and responds to training.
Thanks for the advice. I’m definitely going to go with The Bridge 1.0 for 8 weeks then the 12 week Strength template since it has a peaking cycle built in. That’s 20 weeks total so I’ll start around Jan 21 since the comp is June 22, seems like a good strategy to me.