I am currently doing the bridge. I enjoy this program and I am progressing. I started pretty well, enjoyed those 3 times squatting.
BUT I have some serious regeneration-problems. I am working unregular shifts (LEO) and I have a 1 year old kid. So my nights are sometimes shorts and full of breaks (thanks to my son, still love him ).
After some weeks of the bridge I felt I couldn’t really regenerate from 2 times deadlifting and 3 times squatting a week. I went through the program and asked myself how to fix this. By the way, I am doing a martial arts training once a week and I try to do some sprints for the GPP day (sometimes only those 25mins airdyne). My main problem is the fatigue of the lower back and a general tiredness.
Solutions?
1.) Doing those 3 training sessions in 9 or 10 days instead of 7 days. I will have a little bit more time to regenerate. I keep the stress lower.
2.) Changing the program. First weeks: Doing the Deadlift with belt in the first training - skipping those Rackpulls. In the last training I would do Powercleans (5x3?) instead of the Deadlift. But what to do with the squats? Keeping the volume of the second training session (paused squat) for all phases low? 1set of 4 reps @ 9?
Having a young child and irregular work hours sounds tough. I can see how recovery may be an issue.
First, I’d like to say I’m not a coach so everything I say is only my opinion. I would try and avoid changing the program right now and instead focus on ways to improve your recovery.
If martial arts is important to you, keep doing it, but I would cut out the sprinting on GPP days - sprinting can be very taxing and requires recovery on its own.
Sleep may be out of your control, but try and make sure diet is going well and you’re eating enough (healthy) food, with enough carbs and protein. Jordan Feigenbaum has alot of great resources on how to structure your diet for optimal gainz.
You say you’re still making progress right now, so I wouldn’t change anything until you stop progressing. Keep pushing if you’re still making strength gains.
If you do stop making progress due to lack of recovery, you could try spreading the week from 7 days to 9 or 10 days. I’m not sure how this will affect your gains, if youre truly having a hard time recovering then I would say try it and see if you can continue to make progress.
You mention sleep, but do not discuss your calories. Also, how long of rest do you take between sets intra workout?
While there are some exceptions, usually adjusting volume is the better approach than dropping intensity.
You say you have a problem with regeneration, but if you are not failing sets then it sounds like you are doing exactly what you need to. Your schedule is not optimal, but they rarely ever are.
Thank you very much for your answers. I learned from your answers and this is what I am going to try:
I will leave the Sprints away, they are very taxing.
I will add some cals during the day. This is maybe really my biggest weakness. Some days I can’t eat very clean and enough due to my shifts. I really need to cook at the begin of the week and take my stuff with me to work. I need to get more protein (learned this from some nice books of Dan John).
I changed my supplement-plan (see the other post in this forums) and hope it helps me to recover faster.
I will continue with my martial arts. This is very important for me (and for my job).
I will keep the program going as written.
After the bridge, I am going to do a bulking phase I will talk about in another thread.
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