First Training Log

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21

Week 7-

Weight to start week: 179 lb

Monday: Squat w/belt- 285x1@8.5; 260x3@8x3, 265x3@8; Pin Bench- 175x3@7, 180x3@8, 190x3@9x3

Workout rating: 10/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~7.5 hours uninterrupted

Good workout all around- no complaints. Still making consistent week to week progress.

Tuesday: Pin Squat- 195x3@6.5, 205x3@8, 215x3@8.5, 220x3@8.5, 225x3@9; Press w/Belt- 125x1@8, 120x3@9.5, 110x3@8.5x2, 115x3@9.5; Paused Deadlift- 240x3@6.5, 255x3@7.5, 270x3@8, 280x3@9

Workout rating: 10/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~8 hours uninterrupted

I decided to switch up the order of my movements today from previous weeks a bit- swapping Pin Squat and Paused Deadlift. I felt like maybe I was cheating myself some on the Pin Squats by having them after the Paused Deadlifts (which, to me, are much more fatiguing). It worked, and I was able to do a lot more on my paused squats while still making a modest jump on the Paused Deadlifts too. Press went ok- a little worse than I hoped for, but I think my expectations for that are getting a bit high.

22

Week 7-

Thursday: Bench (1 ct)- 205x1@8.5, 195x3@9, 190x3@9, 190x3@9.5, 180x3@8.5; Pendlay Rows- 135x6@6, 145x6@6.5, 155x6@7.5, 160x6@8x3

Workout rating: 7/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~7.5 hours uninterrupted

An ok workout- I got exertion headaches during the Bench Press, which I don’t remember ever getting before, and I just generally felt a bit fatigued for whatever reason. Idk if the volume is catching up with me and I need a light stress week (which next week will be, thankfully- funny how that works out) or whether this was just an off day, but I mostly hit the numbers that I wanted to so I guess it’s not a big deal.

23

Week 7-

Friday: Deadlift w/belt- 325x1@8.5, 300x3@8x3, 300x3@8.5; Beltless Squat- 185x6@6, 195x6@7, 205x6@8x4

Workout rating: 4/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~8 hours interrupted

My first really bad workout in awhile. My target weight for my 1@8 was 350 and I did what I planned as my last warmup at 325. It felt heavier than I hoped it would, but I gave myself the benefit of the doubt that it was just a bad lift. 350 did not move off the floor on either of the 2 shots I took at it. At that point I tucked my tail between my legs and used my 325 single as my 1@8 and moved on to my triples at 10 pounds less than I did for 4 last week. The triples went ok. The beltless squats were an absolute grind- like seriously so taxing. Between yesterday’s workout and this one I will be glad to have the light stress week next week. I have decided to do my first meet in about 4 weeks from tomorrow, so after I run the last week of the Bridge next week I will be doing the 3 week novice peaking template. I’m not really sure what to expect, but I guess as it gets closer to the meet I will try and figure out some goals for it numbers-wise.

E1RM’s from week: 307/219/348/133

Weight after last workout of week: ~177 lb

24

Week 8-

Weight to start week: 177 lb

Monday: Squat w/belt- 285x1@8; 260x3@7.5, 265x3@8; Paused Bench (3 ct)- 165x3@6.5, 175x3@8, 185x3@10

Workout rating: 9/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~8 hours uninterrupted

Pretty good workout. Rebounded from 2 less than great workouts to end last week. Squats went really well- I think I could have pushed the numbers a bit more, but considering that this is a low stress week and I wasn’t feeling great at the end of last week and over the weekend I played them safe. I realized something about my squat form over the weekend and I felt much more confident about it today. Paused bench went ok until the last set.

25

Week 8-

Tuesday: Pin Squat- 205x4@7, 215x4@7.5, 230x4@8.5; Press w/Belt- 125x1@8, 120x3@9; Paused Deadlift- 245x3@6, 265x3@7.5, 290x3@8.5

Workout rating: 11/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~7.5 hours interrupted

Great workout. Hit all the numbers I hoped to hit and then some. Big jump on the Paused Deadlifts (which felt amazing) and a solid jump on Pin Squats. I feel like my form has improved a lot on squats- I used to always feel very iffy at the bottom, but now I feel very stable and powerful out of the hole and it seems so much easier. On the Deadlifts I realized I had been setting up with the bar too far away from me, so I started a bit closer today and everything felt much easier to get off the ground (which was the problem area when I had difficulty with comp deadlifts last week). Feeling very optimistic about my meet in <month.

26

Week 8-

Thursday: Bench (1 ct)- 205x1@8, 195x3@9; Pendlay Rows- 140x6@6, 155x6@7, 165x6@8x2

Workout rating: 10/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~7.5 hours uninterrupted

Good workout. Thought about going up to 210 for my 1@8 on bench, but I decided to play it safe and hit the 205 I got last week (but @8.5 last week). Felt like I was probably right not to bump it up. Rows were unremarkable.

27

Week 8-

Friday: Deadlift w/belt- 325x1@8; Beltless Squats- 195x6@6, 210x6@7, 230x6@8, 230x6@8.5

Workout rating: 9/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~7 hours interrupted

Pretty decent workout. Deadlifts proved last week was not a blip, unfortunately, but Squats went great. I got knee sleeves this week and this workout was my first time squatting with them, and it felt great.

E1RM’s from week: 309/222/353/136

Weight after last workout of week: ~177 lb

So my first run through of the Bridge is now complete. During this run I have gone from E1RM’s of 290/200/310/120 to 309/222/370/136, so +19/+22/+60/+16 and my weight has gone from 170 to a pretty steady ~177. The deadlift is actually back down a bit at the moment from its peak, but every other lift is at its peak right now. I’m now going to run the 3 week novice peaking template to prepare for my meet on December 14th, then I’m not sure what I’m going to do after that. I will probably run through another cycle of the bridge or try a short cycle of Greg Nuckols’ 28 free programs. Unsure right now- I’ll figure that out in a few weeks after my meet. Right now I’m hoping I can work up to 320/230/370 for my meet. Anything beyond that would be icing on the cake. Anything below say 310/220/340 will be kind of a disappointment, but we’ll have to see how my peaking run goes.

28

Peaking Template Week 1-

Monday: Comp Squat- 300x1@8, 275x3@8.5, 275x3@8, 275x3@8.5; Comp Bench- 210x1@8, 195x3@8.5x4

Workout rating: 10/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~8 hours uninterrupted

Great workout. Hit new PRs on both lifts (a 15 lb pr on comp squat) and just generally felt pretty good. My squat especially has been coming along very nicely lately. With <3 weeks until my meet I’m likely looking at openers of ~290/190/320, and hopefully final numbers of ~325/225/370 or so. The deadlift is the only one I am worried about, with the way it’s gone the last couple weeks, but this week will be a good indication of whether my DL numbers are going to bounce back.

Weight after first workout of week: ~179 lb

29

Peaking Template Week 1-

Tuesday: Press- 105x6@8.5, 100x6@8x2, 100x6@10; Deadlift w/Belt- 350x1@9, 315x3@8x2, 315x3@9; Pin Bench- 165x5@7, 170x5@8.5, 175x3@9, 170x4@10

Workout rating: 9/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~8 hours uninterrupted

Overall a good workout. Finally hit that 350 DL that I had failed on 2 weeks in a row- I rated it as an RPE 9 when it was supposed to be an 8, but that’s ok. Pin bench was kind of a mess- I had a lot of accumulated fatigue built up from benching yesterday and pressing earlier in the workout today. I should have dropped the weight to account for it, but live and learn I guess. This week’s schedule is a little weird because of Thanksgiving, so I’m going to be lifting again tomorrow for 3 days in a row, which I don’t usually do, then Thursday off for Thanksgiving and then the last workout of the week on Friday. Then back to regularly scheduled M/Tu/Th/F workouts next week.

30

A lot to cover with this post- because of the holidays I was not able to log my thursday or friday workouts on the days I did them, so I have those to log and my workout from today as well.

Peaking Template Week 1-

Thursday: Touch and Go Bench- 185x1@8, 175x3@8.5, 170x3@8; 2 ct Paused Squat- 265x1@9; 245x3@9, 235x3@8x2

Workout rating: 7/10
Previous night’s sleep: don’t remember

TnG Bench was awful- I have no idea what happened, but I couldn’t even get weights out of the rack that I normally have no problems with. Paused Squats went well.

Friday: 2’’ Deficit DL- 275x5@7, 295x5@8, 295x5@8.5; 2 ct Paused Bench- 205x1@8, 195x2@10, 185x3@8.5, 185x3@8

Workout rating: 9/10
Previous night’s sleep: don’t remember

Deficit DL’s were amazing, Paused bench went well outside of misgrooving my 3@9 set badly and failing on the third rep.

Peaking Template Week 2-

Monday: Comp Squat- 305x1@8.5; 275x3@8x2, 275x3@8.5; Comp Bench- 000x1@8, 175x3@7, 185x3@8.5, 185x3@8x2

Workout rating: 7/10
Previous night’s sleep: 8 hours uninterrupted

Another dud of a bench day- lately I seem to be bipolar or something on the bench, which should make for a fun meet in a couple weeks. Bench warmups felt fine so I tried to push the boat out a bit and went for 215 for my 1@8 and failed miserably. Dropped down to 205 and thought I should be able to do it without waiting for full rest and failed once again. At that point I decided it was time to stop messing around with the 1@8, and dropped down to 175 for my first 3@8 set. Finally got that at an RPE 7, so I bumped it up to 185 for the rest of my triples and the rest went by without issue. I think I did figure out what I was having problems with on my singles- I think I had my grip too wide. I narrowed it up a bit for my triples and they felt much better. Squats were mostly unremarkable. I had a small PR for my 1@8, but I filmed it and I think it was a bit on the high side, though it is hard to tell for sure as the angle I filmed it at was fairly close to the floor. Either way I will need to make sure I bury my squats at my upcoming meet. ~1.5 weeks out and I’m feeling ok- somewhat happy with my squats, cautiously optimistic about my DLs, and who fuckin knows about my bench.

31

Peaking Template Week 2-

Tuesday: Press w/Belt- 95x6@7, 100x6@8x3; Deadlift w/Belt- 355x1@8, 295x3@7x2, 315x3@8; Pin Bench- 165x5@7, 175x5@10, 170x5@9, 165x5@9

Workout rating: ?/10
Previous night’s sleep: 8 hours interrupted

A very weird workout. Press went by unremarkably. Deadlift was very weird. Warmups went fine- last planned warmup at 315 went fine, and after hitting 350 last week then my really strong deficit DLs on Friday last week I thought I was ready for a big jump, so I tried for 365. I got it a few inches off the ground, but it wouldn’t go further, so I dropped it down to 350 and missed that worse than 365. At that point I tucked tail and decided to count my 315 rep as my single and move on to the triples @8, dropping it down to 295 for those. As I was getting ready for my first triple on a whim I set up for sumo, which I have literally never even once done before. I pulled the 295 triple without a problem. Second triple at 295 also went no problem, so for my third triple I decided to jump it up to 315 (which is where I hit my @8 triples last week) and it also went with no problem. At that point I was feeling pretty good and decided to try for a higher single again but this time sumo. I put 355 on and it went easier than my 350 single did last week. So I guess I pull sumo now? I was super tempted to throw 370 or something on and see what happened, but I decided to walk away with my win. After that pin benches went fine- a marginal improvement from last week. I misgrooved the 4th rep on my @8 set and it ended up as an @10 instead (though I did not miss any reps at least), but then my last 2 sets went fine. I’m gradually honing in my Bench form, I think. I just have to make sure my grip doesn’t get too wide and that I don’t touch the bar too high on my chest.

32

Peaking Template Week 2-

Thursday: 2 ct Paused Squats- 275x1@8, 265x3@9.5, 250x3@9; TnG Bench- 195x1@8, 190x3@9, 180x3@8x2

Workout rating: 10/10
Previous night’s sleep: 6 hours interrupted

All things considered a very good workout. Had to get up twice in the middle of the night last night for significant periods of time to tend to a sick son, the second time around 4 AM. At that point I tried to get back asleep for a bit before deciding it wasn’t worth trying to get back to sleep only to get less than an hour more sleep, so I just got up and went to the gym (yay 24 hour gyms). Squats went great- I decided to try to squat in my wrestling shoes that I used for DLs rather than using my oly shoes to try and get a more vertical bar path, and it seemed like it helped. I felt more stable throughout the lift, and did my heavy single at 10 lbs heavier than last week but 1 less RPE. TnG bench was iffy again, but halfway through I realized that I had the pins set way too low- to the point that I was having to half press half skullcrusher the weight off the rack before my first rep, which was fatiguing me unnecessarily before I even started the movement. Once I moved the pins up the last 2 sets went much better, so that’s something I’ll have to pay more attention to in the future. Overall things are looking good a bit more than a week out from my meet. My openers of 285/205/315 look like a breeze to hit, and I think I should be able to easily move up to 315/215/350 for second attempts, and if everything goes well I can attempt some serious PRs on third attempts at ~335/235/390. If I hit 2/3 of those I’ll be super pumped, and even 1/3 I’ll be ok with it.

33

Peaking Template Week 2-

Friday: 2’’ Deficit Deadlifts- 285x5@8, 305x5@10; 2 ct Paused Bench- 210x1@8.5, 195x3@9, 185x3@8.5

Workout rating: 10/10
Previous night’s sleep: 7.5 hours interrupted

Good workout. I overshot it a bit on the second set of deficit deadlifts, partly because of lack of experience with deficit deadlifts in general and even with sumo deadlifts specifically (since this was only my second time ever doing sumo deadlifts), but I hit all the reps- just at a bit high of an RPE. Bench went fantastically. Took a 5 lb bump from last week, matching an all time PR I believe, then hit 195 for 3@9 after doing that same weight for 2@10 last week. Feeling very confident in my bench right now- weirdly enough I seem to do far better at it when I pause rather than TnG. Maybe it helps me find the correct groove when I pause it compared to rushing through the rep with TnG? Anyway, done with week 2 of the peaking template, so only 2 workouts left before my meet. I normally do M/Tu/Th/F, but since I’m only supposed to workout 2 times next week before the meet I will probably do M/W instead. It’s going to be a lame week only getting to go to the gym twice, but I know it’s for the best and I want to make sure I’m in peak condition for the meet on Saturday. I just hope I don’t catch whatever my son has right now. It would likely only last a day or two at most, but even still that would likely put me not fully recovered in time for the meet. Fingers crossed.

34

Peaking Template Week 3-

Monday: Comp Squat- 310x1@9.5; 295x3@9; Comp Bench- 215x1@9.5, 200x3@10, 190x3@8.5; Comp Deadlift- 365x1@8.5

Workout rating: 10/10
Previous night’s sleep: 7.5 hours uninterrupted

Last real workout before my meet in ~5 days. PR’d all 3 lifts (by 5, 5, and 10 lbs) with something left in the tank for all 3. Hitting 1 more heavy single on both squat and bench on Wednesday, then nothing else before the meet on Saturday. I feel good, and I’m optimistic that my baseline goal of 900 is virtually a lock (my gym total is 890 at the moment) and my stretch goal of 950 is a real possibility.

35

Peaking Template Week 3-

Wednesday: Comp Squat- 305x1@9; Comp Bench- 215x1@9.5

Workout rating: 8/10
Previous night’s sleep: 7.5 hours uninterrupted

Last time lifting anything heavy before the meet. Overall not a great workout, honestly. Squats were very iffy- I’m so conflicted about my form right now that I’m constantly second guessing myself. Bench was ok. I’m going to just do my best to just chalk this one up as a bad day and put it out of mind for Saturday. Better that it happened now than if it had happened Saturday.

36

Well, first meet is in the books. Went 7/9 with a moderate PR on the squat and some left in the tank, a slightly disappointing bench showing, and a huge 40 lb PR on deadlift (again with probably some still in the tank). Overall a big success, and a lot learned for the next time. Monday I will jump back into the Bridge for a second run through it. I will probably jump right into week 2 of it, as I don’t feel like I really need a light stress week after meet week.

37

Now that my meet is over I have decided that I’m going to rerun the Bridge again, as I seemed to make reasonable progress on the first run-through. I don’t think I need a deload week right now, so I’ll be skipping straight to week 2 of the program. I’m going to put my E1RM’s for gym lifts to start this block at 325/220/385/135.

Week 2-

Monday: Squat w/Belt- 225x5@6, 235x5@7, 250x5@8x3; Close Grip Bench- 165x4@7, 175x4@8, 185x4@8.5, 190x4@9; Rack Pull (mid shin)- 275x7@6, 290x7@7, 305x7@8x2

Everything felt good. I’m going to try a lot harder this run through to not ego lift and stick to the prescribed RPE, as that’s something I think that I could have done better on my first cycle of the bridge.

Workout rating: 10/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~8.5 hours uninterrupted

Tuesday: Paused Squat (2 ct)- 225x4@7.5, 235x4@8, 245x4@9x2; Press w/Belt- 95x5@6, 100x5@7, 105x5@8x4

Another good workout. I’m starting to realize that at times in the past I have sandbagged my squat numbers because the innate difficult feeling of squats. They’re always going to feel heavy, but I need to trust myself to be able to move the weight and start pushing myself a bit.

Workout rating: 10/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~7.5 hours uninterrupted
​​​

38

Week 2-

Thursday: Comp Bench- 165x5@6, 175x5@7.5, 180x5@10, 165x5@8, 165x5@9, 160x5@8; Pendlay Rows- 125x8@6, 135x8@7, 140x8@8x3

Felt a little under the weather today, so I was kind of weak. Bench RPEs were a bit off, but I backed down for the last few to try to manage it and I think I did ok for what was obviously an off training day.

Workout rating: 8/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~7.5 hours uninterrupted

39

Week 2-

Friday: Deadlift w/Belt- 255x5@6, 265x5@7, 280x5@7.5, 290x5@7.5, 300x5@8; 3-0-3 Squats- 155x8@6, 165x8@7, 170x8@8x2

Definitely feeling significantly under the weather now. Slept like utter shit last night because of it, so I wasn’t sure how today would go, but it actually went reasonably well. I did not push for PRs or anything like that because of how off I feel, but I’m pretty happy with how I did despite feeling awful.

Workout rating: 9/10 considering
Previous night’s sleep: who knows, woke up often and for prolonged periods of time

Weight at the end of the week: 181

40

Week 3-

Monday: Squat w/Belt- 245x5@6, 260x5@7, 275x5@10, 255x5@8x2; Close Grip Bench- 165x4@7, 175x4@7.5, 185x4@8.5, 185x4@9

So I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather the last 3 or 4 days, and this morning I foolishly decided to take dayquil before my workout. After my @7 set of comp squats I started feeling really bad- dizzy and fatigued. I gutted the rest of it out (again, possibly foolishly), but the rest of the workout did not feel great even though I hit reasonable numbers.

Workout rating: 7/10
Previous night’s sleep: ~8 hours uninterrupted