Baby Steps

[Eric K]

My original plan was to alternate this programming with HLM, which is actually what Andy recommends somewhere, but for some reason I decided that I am special and could get two consecutive runs of good progress before needing to.

I am thinking now that I should have stuck with the original plan because that is what a smart person would tell me to do.

The thinking behind this choice is based on some of the ideas in Jordan's and Austin's program (The Bridge | Barbell Medicine) that made me realize that less intensity and more frequency would be a good idea, at least for a while, the fact that I find that I am already feeling a mild anxiety about doing both a volume and intensity squat day this week, and the fact that Thing #2 started school last week and Thing #1 starts this week, which means I can get some other shit done around here and that that would be better served by a less aggressive progression.

Part of me wants to just finish what I started to sooth some sort of fear of going into program hopping mode, but that is bullshit. I just did 9 weeks or so to the T, aside from adding curls, but I'm only human) and am sure I can resist falling into that cycle, mostly because lack of progress for most of the last year sort of curbed my gainZz greed a bit.

I am basically going to do this Garage Gym Warrior ? Andy Baker with some imports from 'The Bridge' (beltless pause and 303 squats on L & M days, some ahrmm work each day, and a reordering of the lifts so that pressing lifts go first. The intent is to use this as a gateway drug to true RPE based lifting on a full body, three times a week program.

I am sure that I could probably manage doing 'The Bridge' without screwing the pooch, but I want to have a bit more time to understand how the stress is adjusted via RPE before jumping on a program that will likely have me feeling like I am in Limbo without a concrete numbers scheme to guide me.

Curls are automatically implied in any lifting program.

Also, finding the balance between informed and appropriate modifications to a reasonable plan and random program hopping seems much harder than it should be. But we learn best by doing, even when the lesson is: stop doing what you already knew was not a good idea. I think learning about RPE and fatigue through practice is really important to grow as a lifter, regardless of what names one might use. Good luck; your hard work and thoughtfulness will pay off.

[George Christiansen]

Thanks Eric. Good luck to you too.

All the new gainZz happen here: Like A Bridge Over Troubled Programming