Ok, a brief overview of my situation. Late 40s, ran SSLP about two years ago, jumped into Texas Method, broke myself, then to Andy Bakers far more befitting Garage Gym Warrior, of which I’m on my second run. First time round saw me finish at 195 kg dead lift - 165 kg squat - 110 kg bench - 73 kg strict press. I train from home due to the time constraints of running a small business and having a young family.
Equipment wise I’ve got 2 x oly bars, SSB, squat rack and about 300 kg of plates- also a sled and heavy bag which I suppose could be used for GPP if needed.
I’m not, and have no intentions of being a competitive lifter nor sashaying about on stage oiled up and in my Spedos, but watching my numbers go up is a joy. So a good all round program is what I’m chasing rather than a narrowly focused one.
*To be clear, I’m not jumping from Andys program due to poor results, on the contrary, but I’ve been rating my lifts using the RPE scale (GGW is strictly % based) and correlating it with the percentage chart in the Bridge e book and am fairly confident I’ve got a good handle on judging my lifts and would have little problem introducing it, or at least partially into my training if need be.
**If you think the Bridge would be just as good a fit, I’m happy just to run that once I finish my current block, just curious if one of the templates might be better suited to somebody in my position.
You have a number of options available to you, particularly since you’re already comfortable with the concept and application of autoregulation. The Bridge (1.0 or 2.0), the HLM template, or (if you’re really into training and have 4 days to dedicate to it) the 12 week strength template are all options. Biggest tip would be to start out conservatively in the first week or two of each program, so you can adjust to the demands as things ramp up from there.
Dave, I’m in almost exactly the same position. I ran GGW twice and made good gains. Then, for some reason best known to myself, ran TM. Just coming to the end of the TM cycle; I have made some progress, but I’ve also run myself into the ground. I’ve got a 2 week family holiday coming up; once I return, I’m going to buy Bridge V2.0 and run that. I need to return to a more sustainable way of training. I also need to learn how to apply the right type and amount of training stress.
Austin, great site. The quality and quantity of first-class training information here is unrivalled.
I’m a 44 year old Dad of 3 here and also non-competitive, but am addicted to hitting new #'s. I’ve also run GGW twice with great success. Since that time, I’ve been running a self designed TM template ( a bit more upper body and pulling volume than the standard template) for the last 8 weeks . The last 4 weeks have yielded consistent easy 5 RM’s on all lifts. Talking RPE 8-9 for the intensity sets. I haven’t had gains this quick since LP. Current lifts are 415 s 450 dl 290 b and 195 press. 6’1 225lbs.
GGW is a bit higher volume than the template I’m running now. Could what I’m experiencing be realized strength from the higher volume training?
At some point I want to try some Barbell Medicine templates. I know these are higher volume than what I’m running now and I fear that once I adapt to that level of training, there’s no turning back to lower volume or taper to hit PR’s like now. Basically, I don’t want to spend 2 + hrs per training session to continually add volume. Do you calculate tonnage separate from reps in regards to volume? If my tonnage continues to gradually rise as the reps are still in the same range, is that sufficient to continue progress long term?
