Doing some investigation on what to do after my second run of The Bridge and am looking for some advice from template owners.
How long is the HLM program?
Has anyone followed up with the Hypertrophy template post-bridge then ran the Bridge a second/third time afterwards? (Bridge(x2 maybe) → Hyper ->Bridge)
2b) If not: Are there any glaring contrasts between the first week of HLM and The Bridge? Bridge to me looks like it starts out with a pivot week specifically addressing end game SSLP so I am speculating HLM may have a more optimal intro week for someone who has begun their intermediate journey already.
It’s 8 weeks with a similar layout. It’s more stress, slightly more volume. Personally I find it weird and annoying how little pressing volume it still has and how everything is still fahves. I was a ssnlp non responder for upper body. Still no response on the bridge. HLM doesn’t seem like enough volume increase to help me. Or novel enough new stress. I kind of wonder if it’s too much of a hold out from pretending they agreed with SS programming methods
Also, my training partner, who is maintaining weight, was able to increase both his bench and press quite handily. This is after I had him do SS → Bridge.
That’s cool. How did you and your friend respond to SSNLP? My bench and press basically didn’t move on SSNLP until I gained a bunch of weight – then they moved a little.
I’m pretty sure someone asked a similar question in the moderated training forums. I remember Austin and Leah commenting on it.
2b) HLM has a low stress week at the start. It is very similar to the Bridge 2.0’s low stress week at the start.
FWIW I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with what you’re thinking of doing. I’m currently running the HLM due to time constraints which I’ll have for the next year or so. I plan on following that up with the hypertrophy gpp template and just alternating them. Remember, they are templates, they can be manipulated.
Rofl. I was personally coached by Michael Wolf for 4 months as an SSOC client. Link me the three questions article next. I dare you.
You kind of proved the point I was trying to make. If you responded well on SSNLP you’re probably going to respond well on the Bridge and HLM as far as upper body is concerned. There really isn’t much difference. You’re still doing fahves. You’re barely doing more volume. That barely more volume is probably exactly the right change in stress for someone who responded well to SSNLP.
Haha damn, I spent a good 10 minutes hunting through the forums for a similar question. If you could link me to that post I would be incredibly grateful.
Funny enough the true source of my research endeavor is that I am also worried about time constraints. I own the strength template but I have to get all my training done during the mornings of the typical work week, which is possible (4 out of 5 days for the non-gpp work) but I don’t think it would be fair to cut out the second GPP session considering how out of cardiovascular shape I was.
Also a valid point on the template manipulation. I could always try to modify the Bridge program further to suit my needs (the easy mod is simply running it at is was originally intended with both bench days and maybe adding some extra pressing where it makes sense.) as I continue to make made gainzZZ on my lifts in general.
I don’t own the Strength Templates and I haven’t actually run HLM, although I own the template and have spent enough time analyzing to decide I won’t be running it. But I wouldn’t really call it time saving. I don’t understand that logic at all from BBM. Bridge workouts took me 90-120 min. HLM is noticeably more stress. As an example, on squat day one week you squat essentially 5x5, BP 5x5 and RP 4x4. The last 3 sets of Rackpulls are RPE 9. I don’t need to do that workout to tell you it’ll take me 2 hours. So I don’t really see the huge time saving benefit of 2 hours 3 days a week vs. 90 min 4 days a week. Because, that’s the same amount of time rofl.
That said you can shorten the workouts pretty easily by dropping rest times, and therefore weights. But you can do that on any program, including the Strength template.
In other words, I went through your exact thought process and bought HLM because I wasn’t ready for the “time commitment” of 12 week programs. I really regret that. HLM might be the best program for you, so don’t not buy it because I think “looks bad.” But definitely don’t buy it just because you want to save time.
Yah stuff takes a while for sure. I have not reviewed the strength template in a while either, maybe it will actually solve all my problems now that I have gained a better understanding of the template structure. I’ll go look again haha.
Nathan_E,
As Austin has said, not everyone responds well to the exact same program. That does not mean it is a bad program. I felt like it was a decent amount of pressing volume and it worked well for me and it has for many others. Obviously it didn’t work well for FredM. Give it a try and see if it works for you. With the experience you gain from running the HLM program you will learn more about how you respond and will be better equipped to make decisions regarding your future programming.
I’m the same way if anything my bench went up 20lb during the beginning of LP has only reverted back over my intermidiate career . I would try changing from the 5x5 to something like 3 reps x 6 sets with higher level of intensity . This has started to break the pleateau of my pressing movements