Hello BBM, I have been running the bridge for the second time and I’m making good progress on squats and deadlifts, the only problem I have is with bench press. I have been trying to get better at RPE but I just can’t get it to work. I’m a faster lifter when it comes to benching so for me internally and in terms of bar speed RPE 9 feels easy, more like a 7-8 (compared to my SQ/DL), and because of this I tend to overshoot RPE and miss reps more often on bench. RPE 10 for me does not feel like a true maximum very grindy effort, even though if I attempt another rep I fail. When I’m prescribed RPE 8 sets they all feel much easier and I feel internally like I have at least 3-4 reps more when in reality I only have 2. Bar speed seems to not be a good indicator for me either so I was thinking of modifying the RPE scale and instead of RPE 9 being 1 rep left, for me it would be 2 reps left, RPE 8 3 reps left etc… This way my internal feeling won’t overshoot whats actually possible in reality. What do you guys think about this?
Hey Andy,
How long have you been lifting and do you have a video that shows this?
-Jordan
Yea, I don’t think that’s unusual. Using our calculator, 61kg x 4 @ 8 suggests 64kg x 4 would be a 9.5 at best. I don’t think this experience is outside the norm, but would rather take smaller, more conservative jumps. It is far better to undershoot by a half RPE than to go to failure IMO.