I am running the Beginner Prescription, I am currently on week 4.2, I am having some issues with estimating RPE on different rep ranges, for example my estimated 1RM for Squat based of the sets of 4 is 377 LBS, 330 LBS for the sets of 7, and 314 LBS for my sets of 10. Should I adjust the weight based on my best 1RM or should I expect to have different performances on different rep ranges?
side note: none of my squats truly feel @ 8, I did a single while back @ 405 LBS and felt like I still had reps in reserve, my dead lifts on the other hand regardless of the weight/sets/reps all feel @ 9 or higher, do you believe it is just an uncomfortable lift in general or do I just have more practice with the squat? I am wondering if people have the similar experiences
Thanks for taking the time to influence the community!
Thanks for the post and I’m glad to see you’ve been having such a good experience so far.
I would expect a person to have different e1RM’s for different rep ranges based on previous training, preferences, etc. Just use the e1RM for each different rep range when that rep range comes up.
As far as the squats not feeling like an @ 8, I would recommend adding weight in that case to hit the prescribed RPE.
If I may chime in re: deadlifts always feeling like an @9, I’ve had similar experiences when it comes to deadlifting. To combat this perception, I’ve tried to divorce how the lift “feels” from how the lift “moves,” relative to what I know about my own bar speed and estimate of reps in reserve. Admittedly, this is an imperfect distinction, but it at least allows some measure of RPE on days where 135-405 “feel” indistinguishable.