here as it will allow the athlete to execute every lift with great technique

here, as it will allow the athlete to execute every lift with great technique while staying far enough away from failure so fatigue doesn’t accumulate too quickly and any risk of injury is mitigated. My preferred way to organize a Bridge Phase for an athlete who needs to regain fitness to begin harder, more focused training is to give them a fix volume and intensity but allow them to adjust their reps per set by feel and utilize con- trolled rest periods. This helps to ensure that they are per- forming quality reps and moving quickly to improve special work capacity. Here is a sample of a Bridge Phase for this purpose:

All of the exercises that are only give a % x Reps should be performed in sets of 3-6 reps based on feel, only crisp, explosive reps with good technique should be done. As soon as the bar slows down or technique falters, rack the bar and rest. This may mean that 70%x24 Reps actually breaks down as Sets of 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3 reps and that is fine. The pro- gram above can be adjusted in many ways dependent on the athlete’s qualification and needs. For example: - Rest periods can be lengthened or shortened based on fitness levels. - Total reps can be changed +/-3. I suggest decreasing reps for bigger/stronger athletes and increasing them for smaller/weaker and female athletes. - Intensity can increase 2.5-5% for smaller/weaker and female athletes. - Frequency could increase. This program could be performed up to 6 days/week. In its current 4 day iteration, I would train on Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat or Mon/ Tues/Thurs/Fri. You could also add aerobic capacity work on Off Days. - Amount of accessory exercises can increase.

A Bridge Phase that is being used to add variation to an ath- lete’s training, giving them a mental break from more spe- cific and structured training while allowing them to rehab small nagging injuries, explore new movement patterns and avoid staleness/adaptive resistance can take many different forms. This could be the best time that Strongman, Athletic Performance or CrossFit strategies could be very useful. There are so many potential ways that this program could be constructed and be useful in this context, so I will just give you a few guidelines to keep in mind when creating it. - Let your athletes have fun! This can be accomplished by doing new activities, old activities that they haven’t done in a while or just setting new temporary short-term goals. - Be an athlete. Get your lifters moving, this could be sprinting (I’d suggest hills or sleds), throwing, jumping and carrying. - Create progress. The Principle of Overload should still be adhered to in this phase but it doesn’t just mean that you do more volume or more weight in this looser structure. You can overload in those manners, you can do more reps, you can go faster, you can rest less or any combination of the above.