I have a limited time to lift currently and I am looking to get the most out of my workouts. I was doing strength I and I liked it but my workouts were getting to long and I am being forced to cut them back. One of the members suggested doing a modified bridge. I looked at it and have started to modify it but my question I have is on the days I have press my other exercise was going to be something like close grip bench. I am wondering if this would be too much pressing and if I should mix it up with another movement like a supplemental squat or deadlift variant?
You could probably get away with switching one out of three of the movements to a myoreps set instead of the prescribed sets & reps. It’s not as good, but it’s fast and you still get some decent work in.
If you can Squat and Deadlift on the same day, why would Press and Bench on the same day be objectionable?
Before Jordan published The Bridge, I ran a tweaked version of the 4 day TM split he described as item #9 in his 12 ways to skin the Texas Method article, and it has Bench and Press on the same day twice a week. I had mad success improving my bench and press with that program.
Back to stacking the Press and Close Gripped Bench (CGB) Bridge blocks on the same day: CGB is generally more triceps intensive than a regular bench, and Tri’s are one of the main things shared between the bench and standing press, so it is interesting going straight from Press to CGB, in that your tri’s will really feel torched by the time you are done. My Tri’s have always been a strong point for me even before I started weightlifting (I could pass the Army PT test push up event with my thumbs on top of each other, and do 19 strict handstand push ups back then) so honestly, I like going into the CGB with my tri’s already tired because then I feel like my Pecs contribute more. But that’s very specific to me.
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Thats a lot of good information. I was worried because I recently have struggled with my press. I feel pretty beat up after pressing so I figured doing another pressing movement would destroy me but like you just pointed out the CGBP is more Tris and would make a great accessory movement with the press. I will give it a shot as I modified the program based on your recommendations. Thanks.
“More volume at appropriate intensity” is the common phrase Jordan uses, and the RPE8 is a lot of how that appropriate intensity is supposed to be controlled for. I’ve seen Jordan specifically object to grinding out the last reps of press sets in TM.
Honestly, if I do a 4 day modified bridge again, I will may adjust it further to have it work more like those two tweaked/skinned TM upper body days with RPE worked into it.
My tweak to Jordan’s version of the split was instead of doing all the press/bench volume on the same day, and intensity blocks for both on the alternate day, and bench first for each of those days, it looked more like this
| Press/Bench Day 1 | Bench/Press Day 2 |
|---|---|
| Press 3x3 | Bench 1x5 |
| Bench 5x5 | Press 3x8 |
I REALLY liked how the 3x3 and 3x8 Press “intensity day” and “volume day” played off of each other, and since The Bridge doesn’t have 2 days of Press programmed, I think I’ll try to bring that back into my version again somehow. Additionally, putting the intensity first didn’t do much to my ability to perform volume work of the other movement afterwords. But the trick is how to try to incorporate this with The Bridge bench blocks… I might just get rid of the CGBP, put the current Bridge 1ct pause bench block in as the volume day (but without the 1 @8) and place the 1@8 in the “intensity block” with 2 backoff sets of 3@8.
So the smashed together version would be: (with Bridge style warm up sets at 5&7)
| Press/Bench Day 1 | Bench/Press Day 2 |
|---|---|
| Press 3x3@8 | Bench 1@8, 2x3@8 |
| Bridge 1ct Bench block | Press 3x8@8 |
Serack that is interesting. I did my first workout today and found it went pretty quick. I actually had time to do some lat pull downs and ab work. It was short and light intensity but I also know that it will ramp up as time goes on with the program. The issue is I was thinking of adding in some accessory movements like for pressing tri pushdowns and curls or something. I was thinking just adding things that if I had time I could do but if not move on. I am unsure what I could do for the squat and DL besides doing variants of the other
The first week of the bridge is very low volume and stress to allow for some recovery under the assumption that the trainee is coming off a nasty grind at the end of the SSLP or some TM variant.
Several weeks have 4 or 5 working sets @8 for the primary lifts which means they take much longer. So you may not have much time for those accessory movements later in the program, but maybe you will.
General time saving recommendations when running The Bridge (and other BBM work since as a rule it has more volume and thus takes more time):
Take no rest time in the warmups up to @6, and maybe titrate it up to 3 minutes as you go up in RPE. 4 minutes is the most you should probably be taking during your @8 set across.
2-3 minutes between sets for the non competetive work seems common for those pressed for time. (60-90seconds for hypertrophy work, but that’s not the bridge)
If you were doing 3 exercises, you can also start the warmup for the next exercise during the rest of the current exercise, but that doesn’t work so well going from Squat to a DL variant, or Press to bench, yaknow?
If you are really pressed for time, replace the last programmed exercise with a myo-rep of that movement. May not be as fully effective, but it makes good use of the time you may have.
I use very little rest until my working sets. I also figured as the weeks goes on that I would be adding sets and increasing the work so it won’t be so short. But I also know that I can skip the accessory work if need be.