Rest, reps, and RPE

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Thank you for all the great content that you put out; it’s incredibly informative and I’ve learned a lot. I’m currently running the Bridge 1.0 and I’m enjoying it as a welcome change of pace from what had become grinding NLP sessions. I do have some questions about the program in particular and RPE in general:

  1. I don’t see that there is specific guidance as to how long one should rest between sets. At the end of my last NLP it was common for me to rest 5 or 6 minutes or more in an effort to make the reps. When I started the Bridge I made a conscious effort to shorten rest down to around three minutes for squats/deadlift and two minutes for presses. Is it appropriate to set a limit, or should I go more on when I feel “ready” for the next set?

  2. Related to that, I’ve definitely had the experience sometimes (which I’ve seen discussed on the boards here) that when I’m doing sets across my RPE starts to drift: if I’m doing say 5 @ RPE 8 x 4, the first set might be an 8, but the second becomes an 8.5. If the goal is to try and keep the RPE at 8, which is the better approach at that point: (a) to drop a bit of weight from the bar or (b) take more rest between sets at the same weight?

  3. Not sure if it’s possible to generalize about this but: where the RPE is moving up even as the weight stays the same (as discussed above), is that more likely a conditioning/GPP issue, or does it suggest that maybe the first set wasn’t truly an RPE 8? As I mentioned, I’m enjoying the new approach but definitely still learning about how to dial in my RPE estimates.

Thanks in advance!

2

Paul,

Thanks for the post and the kind words :slight_smile:

  1. 3-5 minutes tops. I would not recommend resting over 5 minutes, as this lengthens the workout time and does not reliably improve strength task performance.
  2. I wouldn’t worry about a 0.5 swing in RPE. I would do sets across unless it gets >RPE 9 or < RPE 7
  3. Could be either or both, but it’s important to remember that nailing the RPE perfectly is not necessary for success. Additionally, you’ll get better at it over time.