The “Dad Bod” Bridge program is a workout routine submitted by a Lift Vault reader. It is designed for busy people (especially parents) that are looking for any easy to follow routine that will help them grow and maintain strength in a limited amount of time. As the name suggests, it was inspired by The Bridge, a late stage novice strength program created by Barbell Medicine.
Given the variety of lifts and RPE driven nature of this program, I would not recommend it for beginners. It definitely requires at least a year of lifting experience to understand what the difference between RPE 9 and RPE 7 feels like. This is not to say that you must have run an RPE-based program before this, but it is more complex than the average routine in some aspects.
Program Overview
- 3 training days per week
- 8 weeks
- Entirely RPE driven
- Has a built in progress tracker for estimated 1RM
- 3x weekly squat
- 3x weekly bench press
- 2x weekly deadlift
One cool thing about this program is that it balances specificity with variety pretty well. You will be working a few variations of each lift, not just the competition version.
For example, the “3x weekly squatting” looks like this in week 1:
- Session 1: competition squat
- Session 2: pin squat
- Session 3: beltless squat
Other weeks include other variations like the front squat, pause squats, etc. The bench press and deadlift follow a similar pattern of variation rotation. If you are not comfortable with doing (or learning) these variations, this might not be a great program choice for you.
Further, if you are not comfortable with following a program based on RPE, this might not be a great choice for you. If you’re willing to learn though, this could be a great opportunity to get a new lifting skill under your belt.
Spreadsheet
The Dad-bod Bridge | LiftVault.com