in barbell medicine programs there are times it tells you to do multiple sets in the same RPE.
I generally don’t increase weight, for example going from RPE 6 to 7 since the RPE increases naturally because I get tired the more sets I do, how should I do multiple sets at the same RPE? should I rest longer to get the lift in the same RPE or lower the weight?
it’s probably something obvious I am missing, sorry for bothering for this.
Are you saying you don’t increase weight from RPE 6 to hit an RPE 8 because fatigue sets in and then the RPE 6 becomes an RPE 8?
That’s probably not my preferred approach, as the early sets are not at the correct RPE. I would rather you add weight- hitting the RPE 8 set- then reduce the load if you need to in order to maintain the RPE on subsequent sets.
‘Are you saying you don’t increase weight from RPE 6 to hit an RPE 8 because fatigue sets in and then the RPE 6 becomes an RPE 8?’ yes rpe 6 becomes 7 then 8 respectively. increases the more sets I do because of fatigue. though I tried adding 2.5kg yesterday and it felt okay so maybe I was too worried about fatigue, I think I can at least increase weight by a little 2.5kg and still hit RPE target. I’ll try adding weight from now on, I just posted this to make sure it’s okay to reduce the load to maintain RPE.
Also it feels so easy to me to do low rep high weight sets, it’s harder for me to do light weight and high reps, is this normal? I can do heavy 4x4 deadlifts with ease but when I do them 4x8 with lighter weights it’s so stressful, same with squats. maybe not really a muscle problem but my heart gets pounding when doing high volume and I get tired and sleepy. and it’s only in squats and deadlift, I have no problem doing high volume upper body.
by the way do we need vertical pulls? or is horizontal pulls and deadlift is enough for back musculature?
PL,
A few things here:
Thank you so much for the answers.
yes I did a lot of low rep training before so high rep was hard but I feel like I am getting used to it, my performance is increasing.
I am currently doing the free beginner template after not lifting for 2 years, I added bicep/tricep, rear delt, vertical pulls to the program because I enjoy doing them and I don’t think the default program itself was enough for my hypertrophy goals. I am not worried about overtraining, I was before but after I listened to some of your podcasts I learned it’s really hard to overtrain and mostly when not making progress you’re undertrained (been a long time but this is what I remember) so I am not scared of adding volume for my hypertrophy goals.
I know this post is getting long sorry for that, I’ll just ask a few more questions then you can close the post if you want.
I don’t have powerlifting goals, but I want a happy medium between strength and hypertrophy with hypertrophy being more important to me.
the 4x8 deadlifts are really exhausting to me, I wonder if I could somehow do less deadlifts and do some hamstring curls or something. I am okay with the 4x4, that feels better than 4x8, I get less back pain doing that ( I injured myself doing deadlifts with horrible form when I first started lifting, my injury is still not solved and I have chronic back pain ever since then, I actually posted about that and Dr. Baraki answered that post) but I would still like to avoid deadlifts if possible, I don’t really enjoy deadlifting as much as I did before, it feels exhausting and stressing + the pain, even setting up the bar and the plates then unloading them and putting them back to their places takes time and energy. is there anything I can do instead of deadlifts? I know there is no such lift to replace deadlifts but could I lower the deadlift volume to something like 2x6 on both days and add hamstring curls after deadlifts to match the volume? Since I am not aiming to be a powerlifter if I could achieve the hypertrophy I could achieve from deadlifts from some other exercise I see no point forcing myself to deadlift.
training a muscle 2x a week is much better than 1x so bodybuilding split sucks and full body is better, but is there any difference between 2x and 3x ? would full body be better than upper lower or push pull legs? since it works every muscle 3x instead of 2x.
I am doing the accessory work for arms,back,rear delt 3x a week for 4x8-12 reps (I increase reps before weight) I do them with RPE 6 7 and 2 sets at 8. just like everything in the free template.
I really like doing overhead presses, it’s my favorite exercise, is there any way I can do more of it in this program or is it not possible?
again sorry for long post, but I am really trying to learn to train the best way possible, I have a min/max personality. I just sometimes feel like I am overcomplicating this training thing, you just lift weights right? the dream scenario for me would be going to the gym 4x per week with 2 day rest at the end of last training day, doing full body training with no plan or program, sometimes I will do heavy sometimes I won’t I’ll make sure the muscle get’s close to failiure each time and workout depending on what I want to do that day and how I’m feeling. I would really like to do that but I don’t know if it’s right or wrong or if I’ll waste my time doing that, do you have any opinions about this?
My country currency is not doing so good, 2 BM templates could pay 1 month rent here but I am planning to buy hypertrophy or bodybuilding template if it gets on a big sale, any plans on a big sale for this struggling gym bro ?