The Bridge with Press Priortization

In several places it has been suggested by the BBM crew that if someone wanted to improve their Press with The Bridge you could swap the Bench Press for Presses. Pretty straightforward right? Or is it? Bench Press is now Press, Pause Bench becomes Pause Press…easy. Anyway, I have a few questions for those that have done this or have thoughts on it.

  1. The day three Press w/belt every week that becomes a Bench Press - did anyone change that up or just do a regular bench? Maybe mix up the pauses week to week?

  2. If concerned about the loss of bench volume (I am) did you add any bench work on the conditioning days? Or at the end of a workout?

  3. The Close Grip Bench - my assumption this works the delts a bit more than a regular bench. Feels like it anyway. If true, would it be advantageous to keep those or replace those with a Press or Press variation?

  4. When doing a Pause press where do you pause? Top? Bottom? Middle?

Here’s my free advice, so take it for what it’s worth.

  1. If I were to only to a lift once a week, I would do the actual lift, and not a variation. From what I can gather, the variations are a way to introduce adequate stress levels, but at a lower over all weight. This allows for accumulated volume, but not a large accumulation in tonnage and over all fatigue.

  2. If your goal is to train both the OHP and BP, do them on a A B week rotation similar to linear progression. Strength increases in each lift would occur slower, but you still train both lifts. Another option would be OHP Monday, BP Friday and a lighter variation of both lifts Wednesday. The last option being closest to the Bridge and only adding 1 upper body exercise to the week.

  3. IDK

  4. A pin press might work better than a pause press. Find out where your personal sticking point is, and set the pins there.

This is just what seems like a common sense approach to me, and I could be way off base. Worst that would happen is you try it for 3 to 4 weeks, see that neither lift is improving and reassess from there.

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I haven’t done the bridge with press focus, but I am doing the 12 Week Press template, so I have some idea of how BBM likes to program the press. If you’re interested in focusing on your press, if I were you, I’d do:

Monday: Competition Press

Wednesday: Competition Bench

Friday: Supplemental Press ( Incline Bench, Paused ohp, beltless ohp, pin ohp, etc). I’d pick one and stick to it for the first 4 weeks, then maybe switch to another for the last 4 weeks. This is the general recommendation in the Bridge 2.0 template.

  1. I’d do a regular competition bench in order to maintain skill and keep track of bench e1rm.

  2. I can’t comment much on this, but if you’re coming fresh of a novice LP, I’d probably not add extra volume yet if I were in your position.

  3. Personally I’d do a press variation - if you’re doing Closegrip bench press, you’re basically just doing the original program, you’ve just swapped ohp/bench day.

  4. Jordan programs the pause press to be paused at around forehead level

  1. It puts more stress on the triceps than a wider grip. This is particularly advantageous for those who have more issues with the lockout than the bottom of the lift.

I definitely wouldn’t get rid of CGBs unless you’re one of those strange people who struggle on Pressing out of the bottom more than above your head. Triceps are usually the weak link and CGBs target them incredibly.

Also what are your Press and Bench numbers? If you’re Pressing a high percentage of your bench already you may want to reconsider Press prioritization.

Although I agree that the cgbp is an excellent bench variation (that certainly would have carryover to the overhead press), I think if someone is interested in seriously increasing their Press 1RM, with the vanilla default volumes of The Bridge, they should be doing a more specific press variant. With only 3 ‘push’ slots in The Bridge, you’d probably want 1 to be comp press, a comp bench, and another to be a press variant. I think specificity is important, as well as performing the press more than just once per week, if your goal is to focus on your press strength.

​​​​​​If one were to add an extra ‘push’ slot, I’d agree that cgbp is a fitting choice. Or one could possibly make an argument for replacing comp bench with cgbp.

I added 10 lbs to my 5rm Press after being stalled for MONTHS after a single week of CGBs. So I’m pretty biased. Possibly irrationally :slight_smile:

I don’t really disagree with your logic but I still would not recommend getting rid of CGBs. And if you do I’d lean heavily toward the Press variant being Pin Presses where your sticking point is.

Again this is of course assuming your triceps are the weak point, as I believe it is for most people.

Heh, nice! :smile: the 12 week press template does have cgbp, and not so coincidentally, my ohp 5rm also exploded.

Thanks for the replies guys. Some additional context on me - though I’m happy if conversations such as these explore all that depends so they can help more people with different contexts rather than just answer with what depends for that person.

I completed my SSLP last year, I have run through The Bridge as prescribed once and just finished the BBM 7 Week Hypertrophy program. I would still consider myself a beginner intermediate, but definitely capable of more volume than someone just coming off of the SSLP.

My bench 1@8RPE is currently 230. So, if Press should be approximately 70% of bench that means I should be doing around 1@160. I’m not. I’ve been bouncing off of 1@135 10RPE for a long time - around a year!. I have been at that limit for a lot of my SSLP, my first run through of The Bridge and the run I just finished with the BBM 7 Week Hypertrophy. I’ve tried backing off and working my way back up and I’ve tried adding an extra set. Still bounced off of 135.

Other lifts:
Squat:360
Bench: 230
Deadlift: 400

My Log here, which also includes a link to my SS log

Historically I have always hated the press and previous to using good programming and doing bro style programming I could never make my shoulders sore no matter the volume (per workout) or intensity.

The why of my poor Press I am not sure, yeah, I hate the Press so I’ve avoided it historically, but over the last year I have followed programming as best I could as I learned. I’ve been to an SS coach who has said my form is good - though this past week I’ve taken a slightly narrower grip which feels a bit better. Very slightly narrower… My triceps are not poor, or I don’t think they’re what is limiting me. My guess is I’m not getting enough volume for my shoulders, thus trying the Bridge with Press prioritization. As I was finishing the the 7 Week hypertrophy program I added Presses to my GPP days, a submaximal AMRAP for 8 minutes in sets of 5. The mirror seemed to show a response, but I have no concrete proof and it was only over a couple weeks.

Alright, after many sleepless nights and intense study I think I know why my Press sucks. Flexibility. I can not raise my arms straight above my head, even unweighted. I can not lock my elbows out, my lats are tight and feel like they’re pulling my arms down and the shoulders themselves feel tight trying to do this. Unweighted. With weight it is of course no better. I searched and found the SS forum result of hanging with your arms straight above you and will start doing that. Any other suggestions for improving shoulder flexibility?

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I simply did:

Mon: Pin Press
Weds: TnG Bench
Fri: Comp Press

same set and rep scheme

Hey fellas, I have a similar question.

If I want to replace The Press™ for TnG Bench, should I follow the programming of the competition lifts (C-P) and apply it to TnG Bench or treat it as Supplementary Lift -1 ?

Talking about Bridge2.0 here but could apply to any program.

thanks!

I think you could do either and see how you go, but if I were in your shoes, I’d probably treat it like a Supplementary Lift -1.

I agree, tho I think the right answer here is whichever has more volume.
Probably the C-P lift has more volume if you replaced the 1@8 with a full set. Hmm things to consider…