Burning Bridges in Montana

[AaronM]

Male
6'1"
31
180-212lb depending on goals/time
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June 2018 - Burning Bridges in Montana

Deadlift enters the land of feels. My recovery sucks, so I can't depend on 5lb increases every 2 weeks.
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May 2018 - The Bridge to Montana

Mixing up some stuff from BBM and Hanley.
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April 2018 - Ye Good Doctors' Prescription

Doing a mashup of BBM articles, The Bridge, and stuff I've seen from ye good doctors and their patients logs
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Current goals as of March, 2018:
- Get hired by San Antonio Fire Department
- Lose some excess body fat so that running, conditioning, and bodyweight exercises are a bit easier
- Train specifically for things that are on SAFD fitness tests.
- Get tested for sleep apnea (doctor said we're waiting on insurance to let us know if/when I can test for it)

Have less time than I used to now that I'm having to pick up extra hours at work. 25 hours/week is more like 34 now, on top of 1 engineering class and 4 kids.

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Decided to take 'The Bridge' from Egypt. Previous log: https://startingstrength.com/resources/ ... -shot.html

Current training is awful. Lack of sleep (new graveyard shift with Fedex ground), school, not eating enough, etc. are all interfering majorly with trying to get swole and strong. Unfortunately, all the numbers below are in pounds, not kilograms

10/5/17
The Bridge W6D1 (Thursday)

- Squat (4-5m rest)
185x3
225x2
275x1
290x1
305x1@8?
315x1@8.5?
280x4@8.5
275x4@8.5
270x4@8
- 3ct. Pause Bench (4m rest)
135x3
150x3
160x3@7
170x3@8
180x3@9
182.5x3@9
182.5x3@9
- 2ct. Pause DL, 1" from ground (3m rest)
200x4
225x4
240x4@7?
255x4@8?
270x4@9
270x4@9
- BB Curls @ 7min (60lb, 54 reps total)

Notes: Trying to lift weights after having worked a graveyard shift lifting boxes for ~4 hours is a pain. Lower back is fatigued, and am super tired.
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10/7/17

The Bridge: W6D2

- Pin Squat (3 min rest):
135x3
185x3
225x3@stupid tired
245x3@8?!?!
260x3@9
260x3@9.5
250x3@8.5
- OHP (3 min rest)
95x1
105x1
115x1@7.5?
120x1@8.5?
105x4@8 TnG
105x4@8 TnG
105x4@8 TnG
105x4@8 TnG
- Yates Rows (90s rest)
135x6
145x6
145x6
145x6
145x6

Notes: Serious regression in strength today. Lower back was super fatigued by the time I got off work this morning and didn't have time for a power nap. Fortunately, I just got accepted by Fedex Freight, which has normal hours, better pay, and requires driving a forklift instead of lifting stupid heavy boxes for 4 hours.

[mgil]

Good to see you over here.

How long have you been doing the RPE ratings?

There may be a good reason to reach out to Jordan or Austin about titrating up the pull volume since your work is giving you volume already. Might be a good question to ask.

[vanslix]

I know it may not feel like it, but doing anything when you're training under circumstances such as yours will yield long term results. Hang in there!

[cgeorg]

When does freight job start? I'd agree that the current job sounds like it would warrant more customized programming. Perhaps even just shifting to high bar/sumo would balance things out low-back-fatigue-wise. If it's short term you can probably get away with just using RPE to keep the weights in the right range for your state of recovery though.

[vanslix]

When I have a month of nights, Andy always advised to scale back volume and just focus on intensity. Even if just for a few sets. Seemed to help with the impaired recovery.

[AaronM]

Well, I had a nice reply written, and then I accidentally left this page

Thanks for the warm welcome and training advice. I'm planning on this being my last week at Ground, since this job is really messing up my sleep and study habits. Engineering and math courses are hard enough even when well rested. Oh, and I'm down to 200lb from 207lb 3 weeks ago, which is also negatively contributing to my training. I was maintaining 210lb while eating 4700 cal/day, lifting 3x/week and doing nothing else that required physical exertion. Now I'm eating less (school and job are messing with eating every 3 hours), sleeping less, and working a ton more. Ugh. Though, it is nice to have my waist down to 38" from 40"...

I've been using RPE for my bench for a few months, because trying to get volume in at a set % wasn't working too well for me. Only been using RPE for lower lifts since I started the Bridge. I'll try to just finish The Bridge as its written, and if that means having to drop 20% off my normal weights, then so be it. If my lower back is killing me, like it is today, I'll just do less sets on squats and deadlifts.

Once I'm done with The Bridge in ~3 weeks I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I really want to hit a 405lb squat, and I was making decent progress with Andy's 3 week squat rotation, which got me up to 330x3. So I may try that again. Not sure what I think about all this volume on deadlifts, but I can't really make an informed decision on low vs high volume since my recovery has been severely compromised the last couple weeks. For upper lifts I just want to focus on getting my bench up for now, so I'll probably use Jordan's General Intermediate template for that.

Now that I've left Egypt, I'm tempted to learn how to pull Sumo and squat high bar, but I should probably wait till I'm squatting and deadlifting 4 plates first

[AaronM]

10/9/17
The Bridge W6D3 (Monday)

199.6lb (*facepalm*)

- DL:
135x3/3
225x3
275x2
315x1
330x1@8 (the deuce?!?!)
275x4@ugh
- TnG Bench (2-3m rest):
135x4
155x3
170x2
185x1
195x1@8?
200x1@8
180x4@7.5
180x4@8
180x4@8
180x4@8
- Beltless Squat (90s rest):
135x6
185x6
205x6@lower back felt "tweaked"
- BB Curls@7 min (45lb x76 reps)

Notes: 135lb felt stupid heavy for my DL warmups. I hit 355x5 10 weeks ago, and today I get 330x1@8 for my top set; so I basically fell off a bridge. Interestingly enough, my bench is pretty much the same as it was 10 weeks ago, though my tolerance for volume has improved. Beltless squats felt awful, and called it a day after only hitting 205x6. Sure hope my lower back is just uber fatigued, and that I haven't done something bad to it.

Gonna try to keep the volume on squats and deadlifts relatively low this week, and hope that helps with next week's sessions.

[AaronM]

10/12/17
The Bridge W7D1 (Thursday)

- Squat (3-5m rest)
185x4
225x3
275x1
295x1@7.5?
310x1@8?
290x3@9 (the deuce?!?!)
280x3@8.5
275x3@8.5
- Pin Bench, ~2" above chest (2-3m rest)
135x3
155x3@7?
165x3@8?
175x3@9?
175x3@9
175x3@9.5
- 2ct. Pause DL, 1" from ground (3m rest)
185x3
225x3
255x3@6?
275x3@8
290x3@8.5
295x3@9
- BB Curls @ 7min (62.5lb, 56 reps total)

Notes: Resigned from Fedex Ground and will start working for Freight soon. Was able to sleep in till 7:30am today, which felt great compared to waking up between 3:30-4am. Had plenty of mental energy, and my lower back wasn't sore, but my body has no energy. Bar path was frustratingly slow on squat warmups. Gonna keep the next 2 weeks lower volume, try to get plenty of sleep, and eat more food. Interesting observation, my heart-rate goes down a lot quicker now, which means I don't need as much rest time between sets. Probably because of the fast-paced heavy labor at Ground over the last 3 weeks, which basically qualifies as having done 4 hours of GPP 5x/week.

Conundrum: My pin bench (~2" above chest) is worse than my 3ct paused bench. Shouldn't a movement with a shorter ROM be stronger At the bottom of a long paused bench I feel like a loaded spring, whereas with the pin bench I feel like I might as well begin the movement from the bottom, because I have no "spring".

[AaronM]

10/14/17

The Bridge: W7D2

198.6lb

- Pin Squat (2-3 min rest):
135x3
185x3
225x3@6?
245x3@6.5?
260x3@7.5?
275x3@8?
285x3@9
285x3@9.5
275x3@9
- OHP (90-120s rest)
97.5x1
107.5x1
115x1@?
120x1@8?
125x1@8?
130x1@9.5 (interesting...)
110x3@8?
115x3@8.5
115x3@9
115x3@9.5
- P. Rows (2m rest)
135x6
155x6
165x6
175x6
175x6
175x6
175x6@8

Notes: Finally feeling somewhat recovered. Lower back feels good, and my lifts aren't regressing any further. Not a big fan of pin squats, but they're preferable to slow-tempo high rep squats or paused squats. OHP hasn't felt this decent in a long time. Not that my numbers are anything to boast about, but it was better than last week. P. Rows felt decent today, and I probably could't handled more weight, but didn't want to push it.

Week 8 on The Bridge is super low volume, after which my body should be ready to start some half-way serious training again. No clue what the programming will be though

[AaronM]

10/17/17

The Bridge W7D3 (Tuesday)

197.6lb (*facepalm*)

- DL (3-4m rest):
135x5
185x4
225x3
275x2
315x1@7-8???
335x1@Failed! (the deuce?!?!)
295x3@8
295x3@8
295x3@8
- TnG Bench (2m rest):
135x4
155x3
170x2
185x1@8???
195x1@8
185x3@8.5
185x3@9
185x3@8.5
185x3@9
- Beltless Squat (2-3m rest):
135x6
185x6
205x6
225x6@this sucks without a belt
215x6@getting winded
- BB Curls@7 min (47.5lb x74 reps)

Notes: I failed a 335lb deadlift single just below my kneecap. I've never failed a deadlift that I got more than 1" off the ground. I hit a 330lb single last week no problems, so no clue what's wrong with me today. Even worse considering that I hit 355x5 3 months ago. Bench speed was slower than usual. Beltless squats felt ok, but got winded after 225x6. Guessing this unintentional weight loss is messing with my lifts.

[AaronM]

10/19/17

The Bridge Week 8
198.2lb (finally eating for maintenance?)

- Squat (3-4m rest)
135x5
185x4
225x3
275x1
295x1@6-7?
315x1@8.5?
285x3@8?
285x3@8?
- OHP (2-3m rest)
100x1
110x1
120x1@7?
127.5x1@8?
135x1@10 (ties all-time PR. Was a grind about halfway up)
- 3 ct. Pause Bench (90-120s rest)
135x3
155x3
165x3@7?
175x3@7.5?
- EZ Curls @7min (65lb x54 reps)

Notes: Worked out fasted in the morning, before taking my family to the zoo. Trying to fit Week 8 of the Bridge over 2 sessions so that I can start a new round of training Tuesday next week. Frustrating that squatting 315lb was an RPE of 8.5, when I hit 330x3 3 months ago. OHP felt really good, and tied my all-time PR of 135lb. Though, I think I hit 135 when I weighed ~176lb 3 years ago and was only training for the press. Paused bench felt solid, but didn't want to push it too hard since I'm gonna try to hit a PR single on Saturday. Curls aren't working out so well. I've been curling twice a week lately, yet my arms are 1/4" smaller since losing 12lb. Ridiculous having 15" arms (flexed) when you're 6'1" and 200lb. Most of the gym bros at school are rocking 18" arms at 170-185lb.

[AaronM]

10/21/17

The Bridge Week 8

- DL (4m rest)
225x3
275x1
315x1@8?
335x1@9?
300x3@8?
- TnG Bench (4-5m rest)
155x3
175x1
190x1
200x1@8?
210x1@9.5 (5lb PR!!!)
215x1@10 (10lb PR!!!)
- Beltless Squat (2m rest)
135x6
160x6
170x6
180x6
185x6

Notes: Decided to push my singles to a higher intensity than called for on The Bridge, so I can have a better idea of what my current maxes are before the next training cycle. DL was miserable, especially considering what it was 3 months ago. Lower back feels so much weaker now.

TnG Bench was solid. Decided to shoot for a 5lb PR since I've lost a bit of weight. 210 was slow, but not a grind. Almost failed 215 halfway up, but pushed through it, which made my left inguinal hernia repair really mad. Hopefully it's nothing serious. I hit 205x1 3 months ago at a bodyweight of 210lb, so hitting 215x1 3 months later at a bodyweight of 198lb makes me happy. 10lb closer to 225.

Still trying to finalize my next training cycle, but it looks like I'll be using a program marcf wrote for my squat, using Hanley recommendations for my deadlift, some program by Greg Nuckols for my bench, and doing whatever I feel like for press, rows and arms, because I'm mainly interested in getting my squat and bench up.

Current maxes for next training cycle:
Squat - 310x1@8, 315x1@8.5. So e1RM of 335lb
DL - 315x1@8, 335x1@9, 300x3@8. e1RM of 345lb
Bench - 215x1@10
CGBP - 185x4@9. e1RM of 215lb
OHP - 135x1@10
P. Rows - 175x6@8. e1RM of 220lb (probably a meaningless number)

[AaronM]

10/24/17

Mishmash W1D1

- Squat (80%)
135x5
185x4
225x3
265 3sx5r (3-6m rest, last set RPE 7.5?)
265x9@RPE9 (8 min rest)
- TnG Bench (80/85%)
135x5
155x3
170 4sx5r (3m rest, last set RPE 8?)
182.5x3@RPE8? (5m rest)
182.5x6@RPE9 (5m rest)
- Deadlift (85%)
295 x5 singles (2m rest)
- BB Curls @6min (50lb x67 reps)
- EZ rev. curls @6min (30lb x62 reps)

Notes:
Squat - Most of the time my lifting is like the intro to Metallica's "One", pretty chill. But I can hit a Kirk-Hammett-solo level-of-intensity for a set or two some sessions. My feelings told me that my 3rd set of 265x5 was an RPE of 7.5, but I managed to hit 265x9 by blasting some instrumental metalcore and entering a lifting state of mind. Good times. Credit to marcf for current squat programming.

Bench - Felt fairly tired after hitting 182.5x3 on the bench, but was able to get psyched up to hit 182.5x6 so I could "earn" a 5lb bump to next week's training max. I've never used a Greg Nuckols program before, so we'll see where my bench stand in 4 weeks.

Deadlift - Mechanically ok, but not snappy like Hanley wants, considering I was only lifting singles @85%. Maybe I should slightly lower the % since my primary goal is to hit a 405lb squat in the near future. Doing curls for 12min instead of 7min (got the idea from the KOTJ hypertrophy thread), we'll see if that results in some arm growth. Gotta make these 15" twigs more stick like.

[jake]

So overall, what did you think of the bridge? Sounds like you had some struggles that got in the way of 'optimal' progress, but adjusting for those, was it a useful experience? Feel like you have a better handle on programming? I'm interested in going through it when I can line up 8 weeks.

[AaronM]

So overall, what did you think of the bridge? Sounds like you had some struggles that got in the way of 'optimal' progress, but adjusting for those, was it a useful experience? Feel like you have a better handle on programming? I'm interested in going through it when I can line up 8 weeks.

I loved it. It's a great intro to using RPE, and has enough volume that my thighs and chest stayed the same size despite losing 12lb. If you aren't chasing specific goals, I think 'The Bridge' is a good guide for general programming. Plus, after you're done you'll have an idea of how you respond to volume, and variations of the main lifts. I'm sold on the idea of high intensity + low volume for deload week now.

[AaronM]

Forgot to log current weight: 198.8lb (no weight loss, yay!)

Serious case of the DOMS today. Forearms, triceps, front delts, pecs, and entire back are speaking to me. Weird that my back is so sore since I didn't do any rows, and only did a few deadlifts. Legs feel fine though.

I'm guessing this has something to do with jumping from 2 low volume weeks to higher volume? I never get this sore unless I skip lifting for an entire week.

[AaronM]

10/26/17

Mishmash W1D2

- Squat (67%)
225 2x5
- TnG OHP
102.5x5@RPE7-7.5
110x5@8.5 (2m rest)
105x5@8 (4m rest)
105x5@8 (3m rest)
105x5@7 (10m rest)
- Rows
115x10
135 3x8 (90s rest)

Notes: Squats were slow considering the weight. OHP was meh, as usual. Felt a lot of tightness/fatigue in my lower back, so took it easy on the rows this week.

[AaronM]

AHA! Figured out how to upload a screenshot of my new bench program (based off of 215lb 1RM). Gonna do OHP on my light squat days.

Screen Shot 2017-10-26 at 3.54.27 PM.png

[augeleven]

I totally will be spying on you with your bench program to see if it works for you. I'm in the same place with my bench but doing volume/intensity twice a week thing.

Good luck with it

[AaronM]

I totally will be spying on you with your bench program to see if it works for you. I'm in the same place with my bench but doing volume/intensity twice a week thing.

Good luck with it

I banged my head for a couple months trying to do an HLM scheme with volume/intensity for my bench. Could never figure out the right amount of volume or intensity for medium day, to drive H day progress. Milked 10lb out of The Bridge over 8 weeks while losing 12lb, so that was decent. We'll see how the new program stacks up.