How to use RPE for "the bridge"?

Other Discussions Training Discussion
1

See title. I have no understanding of how to use the rpe system from the bridge.

My instict is to use the RPE to percentage chart to get my first set, eg use 81% of 1rm for 4@7, and then to do sets across since the fatigue will increase the RPE of subsequent sets. Then update the e1rm using the weights and RPE from that week. Use the new e1rm to calculate starting weights for next week. for variations where I don’t have a 1rm/e1rm, I will need to take the next two months practicing in order to get to a level where i can reasonable test for a e1rm/ understand what the RPE feels like for those lifts. I would need to wait a couple months to start anyway since I need to get a belt for squats and deads, and get blocks for my rack pulls.

This doesn’t feel right. What am I missing?

2

There’s a double-part video on youtube by Alan Thrall that introduces RPE. I found these a good accompaniment to the explanation in the Bridge.

3

If you know your 1RM, then yes you can use the chart to get an estimate of what you will probably need to use for 5@6, or whatever the first set is. Then add about 5% in weight to go up 1 RPE. So if your 5@6 set is 200 lbs, 5@7 should be ~210 and 5@8 should be ~220. You should be able to do a few sets @8 across before having to drop the weight. Not so @9, but you’ll see multiple sets @8 a lot more often in The Bridge.

You’re right as far as updating your e1RM and trying to increase it each week, and having to figure out the weights to use on your assistance lifts. However, you don’t need to “test” per se, just put some weight on the bar and increase until you get to the appropriate RPE. It’s ok if you’re off in the beginning, you’ll get better as you go. Using RPE takes practice. I would NOT spend 2 months just trying to figure out the weights to use, you should be able to get reasonably close in the beginning.

You can squat and deadlift without a belt. I know it says “Squat w/ belt” and “Deadlift w/ belt” but if you don’t have a belt… “What are you gonna do, not train?” ™. Lastly, for the rack pulls surely there’s something you can do in the meantime. Do you have pins you can put the bar on instead of on blocks? If nothing else, ask in the moderated forum and they can probably give you an alternative exercise.

4

This may be fine as an initial approach, but I would try to feel from the set, also, by starting a tad ligther.

and then to do sets across since the fatigue will increase the RPE of subsequent sets.

This, on the other hand, should not be the case. Ideally, you should be able to do several (read 3 or 4) sets at RPE 8 without changing the weight, and with reasonable rest times (3~5 min). HOWEVER, to not stress out about this, you just might be not conditioned enough. I myself am not able to do more than 2 sets @8 with the same weight, the 3rd eventually fells an 8.5 or 9. On the other hand, I have 2 months experience with RPE, it can be that I’m rating inaccurately.

Then update the e1rm using the weights and RPE from that week. Use the new e1rm to calculate starting weights for next week.

That’s the general idea. This is your goal, you might update it 5 or 10 pounds up or down, depending on how you feel at the day, for example. You’ll want also to aim an e1RM some 5 pounds higher when planning next week.

for variations where I don’t have a 1rm/e1rm, I will need to take the next two months practicing in order to get to a level where i can reasonable test for a e1rm/ understand what the RPE feels like for those lifts.

Not necessarily. On your first workout with some variation, you should work your way up until something that feels the correct RPE. For example, if you need 4@7 for rack pulls, start with the bar and do 4 reps. Add weight, repeat. At some point, It will feel like a 7 and you log it as your first work set. If you’re not sure what a 7 feels like, wait until some set feels like an 4@8, and log the previous as your 4@7.

I would need to wait a couple months to start anyway since I need to get a belt for squats and deads, and get blocks for my rack pulls.

Untrue. It’s perfectly fine to do the competition lifts without a belt, specially if you’ve been doing them this way. Maybe gains will be a bit smaller than they could, but no big deal AT ALL. About rack pulls, if you don’t have anything to put under the bar right now, to improvise some block pulls, you can do paused DLs from the beginning. Just be conservative with weights, compared to normal DL.

Note from the other topic: It is much harder to tell a 6 from a 7 than a 9 from a 10. You probably do not know now what a 6 feels like. Don’t worry about it, care about your 9s and 8s. After you figure this out (should take you 2 or 3 weeks), understand 7s, and after this, 6s. It is a process, you’ll get the hang of it and most important, you DO NOT need to freak out too much about accuracy, SPECIALLY on the beginning.

Don’t think RPE is the only way, but give it a try.

Bibliography:

5

My concern with variations is that my RPE’s would be way off because I’d be misreading how my body feels about the set, since it’s a new moement. I still can’t judge RPE on benchpress and I’ve been trying to figure that out for several months already.

6

Not trying to be a smartass, but have you read the whole document? There’s a pretty decent summary of RPE and how to incorporate it in The Bridge itself (chapter 6). That said, there is a certain amount of educated guessing in the first 1-2 weeks of the program (especially for the variations, such as CG bench or tempo squats).

I assume that you’re coming out of a novice linear progression, so you probably know what your 5-rep maximum is for of belted squats. If you’re like I was, you may never have tested your true one rep max for squats. Take that 5RM number (140 kg for example) and assume that it would be RPE 10. Refer to the table on page 21, fifth column, top row. In theory your 5RM weight is about 86% of your 1RM. So, doing a little math indicates that your estimated 1RM (e1RM) would be (100 / 86) * 140, or about 162.5 kg. If you already have a recent single-rep max-effort number, use that instead.

Week 1, day 1 has squat programmed for 5 reps @RPE6, 5 reps @RPE8 and 5 reps @RPE8. So (still using that fifth column), schedule 5 reps of (162 * 75%) 122, 5 of (162 * 79%) 128.5 and 5 of (162 * 81%) 131.5. Repeat for everything else. Obviously, having fractional plates is helpful in The Bridge :wink:

NOW FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: after finishing EVERY set, refer to the figure on page 24. Try to judge the effort you just put in according to those descriptions. Be honest with yourself, and err to the side of caution. Note that it gets harder to judge the further away from RPE 10 you get; 9-10 is easy, 7-8 is trickier, <7 is kind of a guess. Write down what you thought the RPE was for each set. Set a strict rest of 2-4 minutes, and do the next set. The percentage-based estimates should get you close to the correct weight. Don’t be shy about changing your planned weights (up or down), but try to ensure that your effort matches the descriptions on that figure for the required RPE.

Next session with the same movements, refer to your notes from last time. If they felt about right, add a little to your e1RM and calculate new weights. If you overshot or undershot the prescribed effort, adjust and repeat. Estimating your starting weights for some of the variations is a bit troublesome, but the first couple of weeks are mostly about calibration anyway.

7

Since you like to analyze things and are good with numbers, let’s analyze. Let’s look at the bigger picture instead of week to week. Start week 1 at 75% of your 1 rep max. Run those numbers out for 8 weeks, adding 5 pounds week, then for 16 weeks as if you repeated the bridge. Then run the same numbers as if you started at 80%. Can you live with that difference? It will likely be a small difference and starting lighter will allow you run out the program longer, do your sets across and still gain strength. After the first week using the chart, throw it away and as the weeks go on you will get a better feel for RPE, while making gains and getting stronger. The longer you look out in the future, the less the starting weights seem important. As you progress, RPE becomes easier. Since this is an introduction to RPE, no one is expected to be perfect right from the start. Under shooting vs over shooting seems to be the initial recommendation.

Since you were grinding at the end of LP, the Bridge will likely have you feeling much better after your sessions and you will have a more positive outlook on your up coming training.

8

Although my lack of affinity(not wanting to do variations, not being a good personality match for RPE, other issues) for it will probably make my results less than expected.

This sentence alone makes me suggest that you won’t like this program, or any program that you have a similar attitude about. See ‘nocebo’. Find a program that you’re happy about, then do that. People have been getting strong in all kinds of ways for a very long time before the Bridge program existed. Your attitude will have a bigger effect on the results than any program will.

I fumbled through the Bridge for the first 4 weeks. Then sometime in week 5 I realized that my RPE #'s were way too conservative - I was lifting WAY under my potential. After experimenting with too much and too little weight through the rest of the program, I think I have a better handle on it.

I’m doing one more pass through the Bridge to reset and get more practice with RPE, but have bought two BBM templates for after that is done.

9

That’s it! RPE is a tool, the more you use it the better you get. There is not a single one of us that used RPE the first time through and got it right, and I’m not talking about just the first week, but the whole program. Liken it to the students that start one of your Econ classes, you present theories and ideas, but they aren’t cemented until they start to apply the ideas . RPE is no different.

Dont write off the variations either, you may like them more than you think. You bust your butt doing exercises at less weight, and they are hard, but you carry very little fatigue after the workout is done. You are still accumulating stress but at lower weights. In my second week of the bridge I did my competition squat for 3 sets of 5 at 320, my 2ct pause were at 285 and tempo squats at 215. So while the variations felt hard when I physically did them, I felt great the rest of the day and following days. Feeling better after the workouts makes the program much more enjoyable than LP.