Thanks for advice everyone. I’ll try everything over the next week or so, and see how it goes. I think I should focus on more volume on lighter weights and add more sets of 1 closer to my 1@8 to mentally prepare myself to pull singles.
The reason I do not log RPE on warm ups is because 1@8 doesn’t change by a huge margin from week to week. I actually build graphs based on my training, and from my experience worst case scenario - it can go down 10lbs in one week, usually after poor sleep or not enough food.
Another reason why I ignore warm up RPE is because Jordan said on one of the streams (could be on IG live) that you should have a target weight when going in. And usually deciding if you can hit that weight can be determined by one set of 1, before 1@8. And you adjust according to that one set, not whole warm up.
I created this thread because for me that pre-1@8 set was not enough, and on some days it would feel way off by some huge number like 20-30lbs, even though sleep/food was on point. And if I was lying to myself then my second 1@8 attempt after 1 minute break wouldn’t budge off the floor, let alone become @8 all of a sudden.
When I strictly follow warmup RPE, by the end of my back offs - sets that should’ve been @9 become @7,5 - 8. It happened before, which is why I don’t really trust how warm ups feel and prefer to stick to weekly stats and adjust them within 10-15lbs range. Unless something went terribly wrong with sleep/food/health - there’s no way a person can get weaker by +20lbs in 1 week.
After reading your replies, I believe my problem is a mix of mental preparedness/not enough warm ups on singles which lead to my CNS not being primed for my usual 1@8.
I trust you will do what you want, and I garauntee that until you start recording your warm up rpe’s starting @6, you will run into the same issues.
A question for you: How are you supposed to know what 1@8 is for the day before you go into training? You’re predetermining your single before you actually titrate up to it. Instead of adjusting as the workout continues, you go off it anyway like in a percentage based program. That’s not how rpe works. Rpe isn’t just effected by your training, it’s effected by your whole life, as you stated yourself, if you miss sleep, it fluctuates. That’s why if you’re interested in hitting an accurate 1@8, you first need to know what an @7, @6 feels like for that day. Until you do this, you will keep over or undershooting your rpe’s, because you will be basing them off what you think they should be instead of what they actually are.
You should have a target weight, but it’s more of a general idea of what you’d like to do/what you expect to hit, not what you SHOULD hit, like in a percentage-based approach.
If you miss your target because your previous warm up rpe’s were too high or low, then that’s ok, because you’ve managed your fatigue effectively.
The reason it felt “all of the sudden” is because you aren’t recording your @6 and @7, you didn’t titrate up to it properly. Your @8 is based on mostly irrelevant data. How you are feeling today is more accurate for calculating what you do today than how you felt last week, you know? lol. Let’s say your @7 final warm up is a single with 385, you’ve determined you could have done about 3 more reps. Just add 5%, and your estimated @8 is 405. 405 should feel like an @8. Let’s say you pull it and it’s @8.5 or @9 anyway. The next time you pull, use that data to guide you. Expect your 385 to be an @8. If it isn’t, great, pull more, figuring out the exact figure using the chart, and count 385 as a warm up. If it is, then you’re good for the day. That’s how rpe works. It fluctuates because you are sensitive to your level of fatigue and it uses that ability that you possess to ensure you get the appropriate amount of stress.
If sets that were supposed to be @9 are regularly @7 or @8, you didn’t become weaker, you became stronger. Add more weight and adjust accordingly. If that isn’t a regular occurance, your cumulative fatigue is simply just lower than normal. Add more weight for that day, using an additional warm up set or two to figure it out. An aside: Any set that isn’t your working set is a warm up. If you need an additional warm up to get the right rpe, that’s fine. It’s more important that you hit the correct rpe or get within .5 . — All this of course assumes you’re calculating your @9 correctly using the chart… For what it’s worth, I’ve had days where my @8 was 20 lbs lighter than previous weeks because of heightened work hours.
I agree, I think your @6 and @7 should be singles so when it’s time to pull your @8, you’ve calculated it properly and have warmed up that motor pattern.
I live in Chicago so it’s friggin cold. Cycling helps me get warm and gets the blood flowing. It’s not that its cardio or anything, I’m literally just friggin cold and the fastest way I can get my hands and body temp up is by doing 5-10 minutes on a stationary bike. In the summer it’s not a problem.