Testing Max Lifts in Week 8 of The Bridge?

Training Q&A [Moderated]
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1

Hey all,

I have made tons of strength gains moving on from LP into RPE with The Bridge. This weekend begins the final week of The Bridge and I noticed a lot of 1@8 lifts concluding the program. I’m so excited about my gains that I’d like to actually test my maxes, in part to put as much weight on the bar as I ever have in my life, but also to see how close my RPE judgement worked out.

I have two ways I’ve considered testing my lift maxes, let me know if there is a particular preference one would have.

  1. In week 8 of The Bridge, do 1@10 instead of 1@8 during the workouts.
  2. After week 8, perform a max day, where I test 1@10’s for DL, Bench, OHP, Squat.

After this I’ll be rolling into the Hypertrophy program, should I rest for a week or just keep lifting?

Side note: Thanks so much for all the programming, research, and literature this team puts together. It’s benefited my physical and mental state in an incredible way.

2

I recommend option #2, and following that with a low-stress week (week 1 of The Bridge) before rolling into the hypertrophy template.

3

Hi Alex, would you recommend the same approach if one was wrapping up Hypertrophy before running 12 Week (and wanted to test in between)?