The Bridge is an 8 week strength program from Jordan Feigenbaum and Austin Baraki at Barbell Medicine. You train 3 days a week on the competition lifts plus close variations, and the whole thing runs on RPE rather than percentages of your 1RM.
The name describes the job. It’s built for lifters finishing a novice linear progression like Starting Strength or Strong Lifts 5×5, where adding weight every session has stopped working and the next step is a program that varies intensity across the week.
Sessions run 70 to 90 minutes, which is longer than most novice programs and worth knowing before you start. Learning to rate RPE accurately is the other adjustment, and it takes a few weeks. The review section below includes a well-known critique of whether this is the right first step straight off a novice LP.
Table of Contents
The Bridge Program Overview
- 3x weekly training
- Program length of 8 weeks (one mesocycle)
- Competition lifts are trained (squat, bench press, deadlift)
- Near variations of the big three are also trained
- Pause squat, rack pulls, deficit deadlifts, close grip bench, and similar
- Sessions typically last 70-90 minutes
- Program is based on RPE, not percentage of 1RM (explained in the PDF)
- The program also calls for 1 General Physical Preparedness (GPP) session, which is explained in the PDF linked below
Running on RPE instead of percentages is the main departure from a novice program. Instead of a prescribed weight, you pick a load that leaves the prescribed number of reps in reserve, so the program self-adjusts on days when you’re beat up and on days when you’re not.
If you’re preparing for a meet, the Barbell Medicine Peaking Template is the one to run after this.
The Bridge Program Spreadsheets
Barbell Medicine gives away the spreadsheet and the ebook themselves, so grab both directly from Barbell Medicine. The PDF is worth reading before you start, since it covers how to rate RPE and how the GPP day fits in.
The Bridge Program Reviews
Conclusion from Izzy at PowerliftingToWin.com:
“Man, this is really hard for me to say because Jordan is one of my favorite guys in the strength and conditioning world, and I’ve never seen him be anything but super nice to everyone; however, I really don’t like The Bridge as a “bridge” between SSLP and more complex intermediate training. However, I do LOVE The Bridge as a “bridge” for early intermediate trainees to transition into more complex intermediate programming. The problem with The Bridge is that it is attached to the SSLP. Now that Dr. Feigenbaum and Dr. Baraki have split from Starting Strength and are no longer affiliated with the brand, I suspect we might see a Barbell Medicine novice program some day.”
That critique is worth taking seriously, and it’s about timing rather than program quality. If you’ve just finished a novice LP, the jump to RPE-based training with 70 to 90 minute sessions is a big one. If you’ve already run something intermediate and want a structured 8 week block, it lands better.
The Bridge FAQs
Is The Bridge free?
Yes. Barbell Medicine gives away both the spreadsheet and the accompanying ebook on their site.
Do I need to know RPE before starting?
Not beforehand, but you’ll be learning it during the first couple of weeks and your early sessions will be rough estimates. The ebook explains the scale. Expect to under-rate your effort at first, which is normal and self-corrects.
Should I run this straight off Starting Strength?
That’s what it was written for, though it’s the part of the program people argue about (see the review above). If you’re stalling on a novice LP but still adding weight weekly rather than session to session, you may get more out of finishing that progression first.
What comes after The Bridge?
It’s one 8 week mesocycle, so you’ll want something to follow it. The Barbell Medicine peaking templates are the natural continuation if you have a meet coming up.
Updates
- Converted the post to the block editor. Removed a dead Barbell Medicine link (the old /the-bridge/ URL now 404s) and pointed the peaking template link at its current URL.
