Just ran out on the SSLP and now starting The Bridge 1.0
Basic Info:
Male
Age: 27
Height: 5’11"
Weight: 260 lbs
35% body fat as measured by laser eyeball
Latest lifts:
Squat: 245x5x3 (Did 250lbs for 5 last session, but failed after one rep on set 2)
Press: 140x1,125x4x8
Bench: 170x1, 140x5x5
Rows: 140x5x3
Deadlift: 245x5x1
Training History:
I started training seriously for the first time in May of 2018. I started with StrongLifts 5x5 and weighed 250 at the time. I switched to 3x5 per Starting Strength at the beginning of August and was up to 265lbs. My son was born on August 19th, 4 weeks early, so we spent a week in the NICU with him and all-in-all I went 3 weeks without training. I started up again the second week in September. I foolishly didn’t deload, so I wasted a week at RPE 11 without being able to add weight to the bar. Around then is when I was introduced to BBM and also started a calorie deficit since I have a 50 inch waist (not good). I’m a little disappointed in my ending numbers (above), but there’s no point in continuing the LP if it’s not working.
Training Goals (Long Term):
-Decrease total body weight to under 215 lbs
-Decrease waist measurement to under 40"
-Improve body composition to ~20% body fat
-Look jacked
-Continue increasing weight on the main lifts
-Improve my GPP so that I can run a 10k in May 2019 without dying
Starting session 1 tonight. Will update soon.
10/11/18
Squats
215x5@6
220x5@7
230x5@8
Close-Grip Bench
140x4@7
145x4@8
150x4@9
Rack Pulls (Mid-Shin)
185x7@6
195x7@7
205x7@8.5
I practiced judging RPE in the last 3 or 4 weeks of my LP, but I know I’m far from judging it perfectly. I’m pretty good at judging 9’s and 10’s since that’s the intensity I’ve been used to, but 6 through 8 all kinda feel the same. I used the RPE chart to calculate the starting weights and decided to trust the calculations until I’m better at judging the difference between an RPE 6 and RPE 7.
Squats felt great. Familiar “fahves” at lower intensity. Close-Grip Bench felt good, too, since I’ve practiced those before. First set of 7 on low rack pulls was killer. It’s not that it was too heavy, it’s just that my body couldn’t compute what 7 reps with a weird new ROM was supposed to feel like. Sets 2 and 3 felt good, though.
All-in-all, I really enjoyed the first session. I intentionally kept my rest periods to around 3 minutes in order to go faster, which kept my session length down to about 60 minutes. Very refreshing after grinding out every set for the past few weeks!
Did rack pulls feel lighter than a standard deadlift because you dont pull from the ground? I start the bridge Monday, not sure what my numbers will be for rack pulls
Oct 13, 2018
Squats - 2ct Pause
225x4@7
235x4@9
235x4@9
Press
95x5@6
115x5@8
115x5@7
115x5@7.5
Rows
115x8@8
115x8@8
115x8@7
120x8@8
I suck at judging RPE. But it’s better to do it wrong than not at all, right?
I overshot the second set on paused squats (should have been 7,8,9 instead of 7,9,9) but overall not too bad. No clue what happened on the press and rows. Maybe it felt easier because I was getting more warmed up?
Oct 14, 2018
GPP
25 Minutes on inclined treadmill. RPE 6 (I think)
Rows, 7 min AMRAP (95lbs): 50 total reps
Iso Planks, max work in 7 min: 2:30 total work
Haven’t updated in a while because life has been a little crazy. But I’ve kept on track with my sessions:
Oct 15, 2018
Deadlift
185x5@6
205x5@7
210x5@7.5
2 ct Pause Bench
125x5@6
130x5@6.5
140x5@7
3-0-3 Tempo Squats
185x8@7
205x8@8
215x8@9
215x8@9
Oct 18, 2018
Squat
220x5@6
225x5@7
230x5@7.5
235x5@8
235x5@8
Close Grip Bench
145x4@7
150x4@8
155x4@8
165x4@9
165x4@10
Rack Pull (Mid shin)
185x7@6
205x7@7
225x7@8
225x7@8
Oct 20, 2018
2ct Pause Squat
235x4@7
240x4@8
245x4@8
250x4@9
Press
115x5@6
125x5@7
130x5@8.5
130x5@9.5
125x5@8
125x4@10
Pendlay Row
105x8@6
105x8@7
115x8@8
115x8@8
115x8@8
Oct 22, 2018
Deadlift
185x5@6
205x5@7
225x5@7
235x5@8
235x5@8
2 ct Pause Bench
135x5@6
140x5@7
150x5@8
150x5@9
150x5@8.5
150x5@8
3-0-3 Tempo Squat
135x8@6
185x8@7
185x8@8
185x8@8
Oct 24, 2018
Squat
225x5@6
235x5@7
245x5@8.5
245x5@8
245x5@8.5
Close Grip Bench
150x4@7
155x4@8
165x4@9
165x4@9
Rack Pull (Mid-Shin)
185x7@7
205x7@8
225x7@9
225x7@9
It’s amazing for me to see my progress even in such a short time. But for some reason the rack pulls just kill me. It must be that my CNS has “blown out” from squating too much (kidding).
Oct 26, 2018
2-ct Pause Squats
225x4@7
235x4@8
245x4@9
225x4@9
225x4@8.5
Press
115x5@6
125x5@7.5
130x4@10
120x5@9.5
115x5@8.5
115x5@8
Rows
95x8@6
105x8@7
115x8@8
115x8@8
115x8@8
Lifts felt like garbage. Either I still suck at judging RPE or my tolerance for volume is still junk (or both).
Oct 27, 2018 - Week 3, Day 3
Deadlift
195x5@6
225x5@7
235x5@8
235x5@8
235x5@8
Bench - 1ct Pause
135x5@6
145x5@8
155x5@8
155x5@10
145x5@8
145x5@9.5
3-0-3 Tempo Squats
135x5@5
185x5@8
195x8@9
185x8@9
Grip is a limiting factor on my deadlifts. I tried a hook grip but it felt terrible, which I understand is normal. I’m going to be practicing that more. 3-0-3 squats made me feel like I was going to die.
I did 2 sessions without a rest day in between so that my training weeks match up with calendar weeks. I’ll be starting Week4, Day1 on Monday.
Oct 29, 2018 - Week 4, Day 1
Squat
225x5@6
230x5@7
240x5@8
240x5@8
240x5@8
240x5@8
Close Grip Bench
155x4@7
160x4@8
165x4@9
165x4@9
165x4@9
Rack Pull, Mid Shin
210x7@7
220x7@9
220x7@10
205x7@9
The volume has been really beating me up. Felt like my “CNS was fried” after squats, even though I’m pretty sure that’s not a thing. Wasn’t sure I could even do one rep on the last set, but then I took a few deep breaths and got muh fahves.
Close-grip Bench felt great. I feel like I’m making progress and I’m really noticing some aesthetic improvements in my upper body.
Rack pulls continue to confound me. For some reason they seem harder than normal deadlifts. Maybe it has to do with them being in sets of 7 and always after doing lots of squats.
I’m really looking forward to next week, when the volume goes down…
Oct 31, 2018 - Week 4, Day 2
2-ct paused squats
230x4@7
240x4@8
245x4@9
245x4@9
245x4@9
Press
110x5@6
115x5@7
120x5@8
120x5@8
120x5@8
120x5@8
Pendlay Rows
105x8@6
110x8@7
115x8@8
115x8@8
115x8@8
115x8@8
Nov 2, 2018 - Week 4, Day 3
Deadlifts
220x5@6
230x5@7
235x5@8
235x5@8
235x5@7
2ct Paused Bench
150 x 5 @7
155 x 5 @8
155 x 5 @8
155 x 5 @9
155 x 5 @9
155 x 5 @8
3-0-3 Tempo Squats
175 x 8 @6
180 x 8 @7
190 x 8 @8
190 x 8 @8
Still suck at judging RPE. For some reason my last sets of deadlifts and benches felt easier even at the same weight. Not sure how that works. Tempo squats continue to give me that classic “trashed” feeling in my legs, which I think just means that my work capacity is not too great still.