Dear Dr. Feigenbaum and Dr. Baraki,
What should I do if I don’t reach the target RPE in an exercise but have completed the number of prescribed reps (8~12)?
For instance, I recently pulled 150kg x 4 reps @9 on the deadlift before my gym closed. According to the e1RM calculator, this means I should be able to pull ~123kg for 10 reps @9.
I have dumbbells weighing up to 40kg, but my max load is still only 80kg in total.
What should I do in this case? Should I go beyond 12 reps in order to meet the target RPE for the day?
I ask because, in the exercise selection tab, you state that one should pick exercises where one is likely to fail between the 12~25 range.
Sincerely,
Eddie Mun
Eddie,
You can increase the reps to an extent, but you don’t really want to keep on movement and then be adding reps up to some HIGH number, right? So with this template, aimed at those who have equipment limitations, you vary the movement to INCREASE the difficulty of that movement with the weight you have available. With the DL and 40kg DBs, this means you can increase the reps, as the directions say, in that 12-25 rep range, working to something that is about 5 reps from failure, but you can also do things like a tempo eccentric, single leg RDLs (and more as listed on the template). Be sure to reference pages 9-12 in the e-book, and the section on “how to progress”.
Thank you for clarifying, Leah! 