Dicked around for awhile doing various linear progression style routines. Did a little bro split work. Did a little “powerbuilding” style work. BBM changed everything for me when I found out about them. Still, I lurked on these forums for way too long before I decided to try the Bridge. I gave it a try two weeks ago but life happened and I got sick and so I’m starting fresh right now. Gonna give it an honest and solid try and I’m confident I’ll end up stronger as a result.
Age: 25 Height: 6’2 Weight: 250lbs BF%: Around 20% (did crappy machine at gym) although not really sure how accurate that is. Armzzz: 17 inches
Lifts Prior to Bridge 1.0
TnG Bench: 320 x 1 (felt I could have done 325 maybe 330)
Press: Did 212 a month ago but estimated 1RM is 220
Squat: Did 370lbs x 2 about a 3 weeks ago.
Deadlift: Did 475lbs for one on Friday. Felt I could’ve done 485lbs.
*notes: I forgot to do the 5@6 so after the 5@8 I went back and did it. I’m gonna plan for 305@8 next week as of now
Close Grip:
4@7: 235 (felt like 6)
4@8: 245 (felt like 7)
4@9: 260 (felt right)
*notes: Felt good. I’m gonna try 265@9 next week
Rack Pull Mid Shin:
7@6: 315 (felt like 5)
7@7: 335 (felt like 6)
7@8: 350 (felt right)
*notes: I’ve never done these before so choosing the weights was odd. You’d think doing deads at 475 would have me doing rack Pulls at 405lbs at least for 7@8. We’ll see how the weight feels next week. I’m gonna try 365 and see what it rates. Better to undershoot then overshoot.
*notes: Set @ 8 I am unsure if it was an 8 or 9. I feel like I could’ve grinded out two more reps but that last rep would’ve been @10 truly so we’ll say the @8 was correct. Although I don’t know if I can add any weight to this and do more than one set next week keeping it @8. We’ll see. I’ll aim to add 2.5lbs.
*notes: I’ve done these on my old program with 325 for 5 sets of 3 with a lot of body English and a belt. Needless to say I didn’t use a belt as per program and also wanted to keep them stricter so I found myself at 225lbs today. I think it’s a good starting point and I’m gonna aim for 235 next week. I think I should use straps on these to make sure grip isn’t a factor.
GPP Cable Rows 7 mins Amrap- 50lbs 20 reps every 30 seconds Planks 7 mins Ammap- Did 30 secs every minute 25 mins Stationary Bike @rpe6 *notes: Try 65lbs Rows for 10-15 every 30 seconds. Try 30 second planks every 45 seconds. LISS sucked
*notes: Originally I did 225 as my @6, 235 @ 7 and 245 @ 8. But 245 felt like an @7 so I jumped to 255 for @8. I should’ve gone to 250 because I’m new to pause bench and it felt like an @9. I’m gonna try to maybe do this weight again next week for the 3x5@8. Maybe I’ll do 260 though depending on how I feel!!
*notes: These SUCKED. I hate them. It was very hard to keep the 303 count and also remember how many reps I was doing. I also jumped straight to 185 based on warmup sets but that felt like an @7 so I went to 200 for my @8 and then dropped back to 175 just to get the @6 in. I was experiencing some elbow discomfort on Monday from squats so I tried thumbs around with wrist wraps. Wrists didn’t feel great but the wraps made it tolerable.
I did this, but Leah said she didn’t see this as necessary, and I’ve seen a video by Mike T advising against, so you can train your actual grip for heavy weights more (not 50% of the time). My mind still comes and goes on this matter, haha
Also, I thought you were an Architect, but it seems you’re still working as an Importer/exporter?
Interesting. Yeah I dabbled in both careers, but I realized real success came to me when I started doing the opposite of everything I would naturally do.
GPP Cable Rows 7 mins Amrap- 50lbs 20 reps every 30 seconds Planks 7 mins Ammap- Did 30 secs every minute 25 mins Stationary Bike @rpe6 *notes: Try 65lbs Rows for 10-15 every 30 seconds. Try 30 second planks every 45 seconds. LISS sucked
*notes: Originally I did 225 as my @6, 235 @ 7 and 245 @ 8. But 245 felt like an @7 so I jumped to 255 for @8. I should’ve gone to 250 because I’m new to pause bench and it felt like an @9. I’m gonna try to maybe do this weight again next week for the 3x5@8. Maybe I’ll do 260 though depending on how I feel!!
*notes: These SUCKED. I hate them. It was very hard to keep the 303 count and also remember how many reps I was doing. I also jumped straight to 185 based on warmup sets but that felt like an @7 so I went to 200 for my @8 and then dropped back to 175 just to get the @6 in. I was experiencing some elbow discomfort on Monday from squats so I tried thumbs around with wrist wraps. Wrists didn’t feel great but the wraps made it tolerable.
*notes: Did 5lbs more on the @7 than I was supposed to. First set 305@8 felt good. Waited 5 minutes between sets here. Still, second set felt 8.5-almost 9. So I dropped to 300 to maintain RPE 8. It still felt like maybe 8.5. I’m gonna assume I’ll get used to this extra volume and I’ll plan to hit 310 next week for my @8 and see how it feels.
*notes: These felt really easy today. I thought 240 and 250 felt like @7 and @8 respectively. That was, until 265 felt like an @8ish. I wasn’t sure, so I went to 270 for my second set and that might’ve been an 8.5? I’m gonna try 275 next week for my sets @9.
*notes: These were hard to judge RPE on because I’d never done them before prior to the bridge. In hindsight, and especially with wrist wraps I feel like I definitely undershot RPE on these. I am gonna try 385 for my sets @8 next week and see how that feels.
Bodyweight is up 3lbs to 253. I’m just eating when I’m hungry. Not tracking calories or macros. Taking 5g of creatine a day. Not trying to lose weight on this program. I’m trying to get stronger and put some more mass on. I attribute the weight gain to added lower body volume.
*notes: It’s hard for me to judge between RPE 8 or 9 on press. After more exposure to RPE this week I’d say last week’s 180 for 5@8 was more like a 9. I ended up hitting 165@6 then 175@7 (may have been closer to an @8) so I aimed for 185 for my @8. I hit it for 5 and I rated it @9. So I dropped back down to 175 to finish my last three sets @8 and I was able to keep RPE around 8-8.5. I know the goal is to plan to increase weight each week while maintaining the prescribed RPE. Next week I know it’s 4 sets of 5@8 again so I think I’ll try into plan for 180 and hopefully be able to hit all sets across with it while keeping it @8. I still think I got stronger this week because I now feel my set of 180 for 5@8 last week was a 9 and this week 185 felt @9. Also 175 sets felt like @8 so my estimated max went up to 220. A goal of mine is to press 225 and I’ve only ever hit 215.
*notes: Little creep up in RPE on second set. Dropped to 385 for third set. I’ve never done anything more than one set of five on deads in the past so I think this was to be expected. I’m gonna try to either keep all sets next week at 395 or try 400 depending on how I feel and how my @7 goes.
*notes: I was feeling kind of shitty today. Also after doing my first set @8 at 255 it felt like a 9. But it also felt slightly better than last week when I thought it was an 8 when it really was more like a 9.5 being honest with myself. I dropped to 245 and it felt like 8.5. I was tired and feeling run down from work. Dropped to 240 which felt correct. Then I dropped again to 235 because I was so tired I knew 240 again would’ve felt like a 9. 235 for the last set of 5 crept up a bit and felt like an 8.5 maybe. Next week I’ll try and see if I can either get my sets across at 250 or see how 255 feels. My pause bench sucks because my max tng is 320. I feel like I should be doing 5 at 275@8 but we’ll get there.
*notes: These still SUCK. 205 felt like 8.5 so I dropped to 200 for the second set. RPE stayed about the same. I’m gonna try to keep 205 for both sets @8 next week.
*notes: Legs felt a little sore. I was determined to make 310 my RPE @8 because #progress. But the second set @ 310 crept up towards a 9 so I dropped it down to 305 for the last set. What’s odd is the 3rd rep at 305 felt like an @10. I kept too upright. But then the last two reps were doable and I rated it @8.5 for the set.
CGBP:
4@7: 245 (felt right)
4@8: 260 (felt right)
4@9: 275 (it was an @10)
4@9: 265 (felt @9)
*notes: I thought these would be good today because last week 260 felt easy and 270 felt like an 8.9-9. I tried 275 and it was an absolute @10 grind. I dropped to 265 and it was correct. I probably should’ve done 240 255 270.
