RPE and supplemental exercises

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

I’m at the tail end of my NLP and trying to pick where to go next. I believe “The Bridge” is my next logical step as I like the idea of more volume to drive hypertrophy while not driving up intensity too far. The last bit of NLP has been grinding me both physically and mentally.

In reviewing the Bridge PDF doc, I’ve come away with 4 questions:

  1. Do I understand the math correctly? My example: Last 3x5 squat was 285 lbs. First guess at RPE is 9.5 or 10, as I’m pretty sure I could not have done one more rep. Let’s say 9.5 because I didn’t lose vision. So that’s 285100/85 = 335 lbs e1RM. Then take that times the appropriate values for 6,7,8, i.e. 33581/100 = 271 lbs for 5@8. Sound right?

  2. Where do I start with the supplemental exercises? Say for the rack pull, do I make a best guess at my RPE 6,7,8 using my previous 1x5 deadlift numbers from NLP? But, all of the above assumes that I use my deadlift numbers for a rack pull. Which leads to:

  3. I don’t have an e1RM for a rack pull, or a paused squat, or etc. Do I just guess based on the previous similar lift and add/subtract a bit depending on if the lift is easier/harder than the base lift? Then approximate RPE and figure out a more accurate e1RM from that?

  4. What does a log look like? I’ve been doing a paper log like indicated in SS: Practical Programming. I’m struggling for how to write this down without looking like I’ve lost my mind.

Thanks for the assistance and for your efforts to help us get better!

2

Hey Corey,

Nice to have you here.

  1. Those numbers look correct.

  2. You have to use RPE. Have to. No other option. I want to make sure that’s absolutely clear that you cannot use the numbers from the standard lifts to calculate the weight for the variants.

  3. See #2. You have to gauge the RPE on the warm up sets to figure out your starting work weight.

  4. Typically something like this for a squat where you worked up to 270 x 5 @ 8 x 3 sets:

Monday
Squat w/ belt
255 x 5 @ 6, 265 x 5 @ 7, 270 x 5 @ 8 x 3 sets

3

I see, thanks! That answer, mixed with this one has finally made sense to me.

I’ll use the calculated numbers as a loose guideline to keep myself honest, but trust my RPE estimates during the workout. I assume there’s a fair bit of changing weights up and down early on while you become better at estimating RPE? I’ll miss the simplicity of adding 5 lbs, but appreciate that that’s too simple to continue forever.

4

People who put effort into this always get the hang of it quicker than they expect. You’ll be fine :slight_smile:

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5

Thanks BBM crew! I really like what you’re doing here while maintaining a friendly and sharing attitude.

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