Just about getting done with the Bridge 1.0. I don’t have a ton of time to train (basically 1.5h per training day).
Which template would best serve me after the bridge?
What are your goals and how long have your Bridge workouts taking?
Pretty much the same as most folks here. Not in a weight gain situation (if anything, I’m in weight loss mode due to cleaning up my diet), with the typical end goal of jacked, not fat, and hopefully athletic.
Time crunch template. Will work fine.
additionally, you can shorten the rest periods on any template; you might need to lower the weight a little to fit the amount of sets into the time available.
I can usually complete my HLM workouts in 1.5 hours if I don’t mess around.
Time Crunch was the other one I was looking at.
Only problem is, I doubt I’ll be any less busy anywhere in the near future, and if Time Crunch is just a go-between template for short times only, I’m not quite sure about that.
Gotta do what you gotta do. Should be better than not training, right?
Definitely. I guess I gotta go with Time Crunch for now.
Oh I forgot to answer this. Bridge workouts been taking a little over an hour, sometimes 1.5
When I did The Bridge some workouts would take up to 100 minutes. Far too long for my liking. This was a combination of being constantly tired (parent of a toddler), 4 to 5 minutes rest, and sometimes just dragging (see aforementioned toddler) particularly during warmups or between exercises. I wanted to ensure I hit the most amount of weight at an exepcted RPE so I took 4 to 5 minutes rest, which by the time I set up the phone to video sets, got my belt on, and put wraps on (this takes ages), 5 to 6 minutes would have passed.
I am now doing the GPP Hypertrophy. It states between 3 to 4 minutes rest; 4 minutes being tops. So I am using a 3 minutes timer to get it as close as possible to 3 minutes between sets. It; however, takes a hit on the weights I can use and so they need to be adjusted to hit an exepcted RPE. The upside is that the workouts are faster. The redeeming factor is that the BBM methodology is predicated on the appropriate volume at the appropriate intensity (circa 70% to 80% of e1RM), so a drop in weight across sets is not as negative a thing as one’s mind would think (particularly from a Starting Strength background where more weight is better, always).
I also read one of our colleagues on this forum (was it PWard?) who does the 12 week strength template with 3 minute rest periods and gets the big/long workouts done in 90 minutes rather than the usual 2 hours. The 3 minute rest periods affect his weights, but his conditioning is high so it is not so greatly affected. This, I find, is a good aim.
The ultimate goal is 3 minutes rest to get the training done in a timely manner and improve conditioning, without affecting weights used too much.
If you’ve been able to The Bridge 1.0 workouts in 1.5 hours, I’m sure you can do any of the other templates in the same amount of time. The Bridge 2.0, HLM, Hypertrophy, 12 Week Strength, whichever suits your goals. The main difference with 12 Week Strength is that it has an additional day, but each session itself is not necessarily longer.
Like others have said, just limit your rest time, find efficient ways to warm up to your working sets and adjust weights if needed based on your RPE 
Excellent, thanks. I think I’ll have a think about Hypertrophy or HLM, as both are 3-day templates.
Unironically the most annoying wastage of time I have is unloading / loading weights during warmups and setting racks and bars differently each time to change exercise…
1 Like
I’m in the same boat as you. Unfortunately I’ll have some pretty strict time constraints until the end of next summer (2019). I basically have time to do 1 lift when I get off work, then finish the rest in under an hour after my 9 month old goes to bed. I ended up cancelling my gym membership at the start of June (had inconvenient hours) so I’m just lifting in my basement until we do the addition to the garage next summer. I realize this is not optimal, but I don’t have a tonne of options right now.
I’ve just been running a bastardized version of Jordan’s GPP template from December 2016ish (3 days of lifting, 2 days of conditioning) and I’ve been keeping rest times to 2-3 minutes. If I’m really pressed for time I’ll do my back off sets with the same load and reduced reps (laid out in his old template). Like you I just don’t see the time crunch template being effective long-term so I’ve been debating about the HLM and the GPP-Hypertrophy templates as well. Just on the fence in which one to start next week as I wrap up my current 6 week GPP program. I am leaning towards the HLM though.