The Bridge 1.0 - By a Complete Beginner to RPE Programming

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1

Hey all,

I’m someone who’s been doing PPL bro splits for the past 2-3 years of freeweight training (with my mind going “MORE FOOD MORE TRAINING = GOOD”) - I knew I had to learn and follow a more “proper” programming method but didn’t have the mental capacity (and as much as I hate to admit I tend to stick to stuff I’m used to). I’ve been creepishly following this forum and BBM content from the shadows for about a year now, and finally made up my mind an RPE based program for a change, and also to keep a log on this forum as it looked pretty fun.

So, basic background; 25M, Height: 179.5 cm (5’11" ish), Bodyweight: 94.0 kg (207 lbs)
Bench: 120 kg (264 lbs) x 1@RPE10
Squat: 150kg (330 lbs) x 1 @RPE10
Deadlift: 140kg (308 lbs) x 1 @RPE10

Other: quit baseball in high school, lazy slob for first half of collage, started going to the gym towards the end. No competition experience or plans, “barbell enthusiast” (quoting Alan Thrall)?

Goals (ordered by priority):

  1. Get used to training with RPE, and get a good grip of the scales.
  2. Lose weight… I packed an extremely unhealthy +10 kg during last year’s lockdown and haven’t been able to lower it since. Kind of giving me minor health and joint issues.
  3. Getting my Big 3 numbers a teeny bit up would be nice as they’ve been stalling for a while.

I’ve also already finished my first week of the program at the point of posting this.

2

Week 1
Day 1 (10/3, Sun) BW: 94.8 kg

Squat w/belt
60 kg x 5 @6 / 70 kg x 5 @7 / 80 kg x 5 @8 ---- forgot to wear belt. Forgive me barbell gods. Felt like I could go a bit more for RPE 8 but didn’t want to overshoot it.

Close grip bench
60 kg x 4 @7 / 65 kg x 4 @8 / 70 kg x 4 @9 ---- felt like I was mostly on point for RPE.

Rack pull
60 kg x 7 @6 / 70 kg x 7 @7 / 80 kg x 7 @8 ---- same as above.

Workout time: 46 min.

Day 2(10/4, Mon) - off day

Day 3 (10/5, Tue) BW: 94.3 kg

2 ct Paused Squat
80 kg x 4@7 / 90 kg x 4@8 / 100 kg x 4@9

Press w/belt
30 kg x 5 @6 / 32.5 kg x 5 @7 / 37.5 kg x 5 @8

Barbell Row
30 kg x 8 @6 / 35 kg x 8@7 / 40 kg x 8@8, 2 sets of each — okay, so I completely misread the program sheet and thought it meant (8@6, 8@7, 8@8) x 2 instead of 8@6, 8@7, and then 8@8 x 2. Dum-dum.

Workout time: 46 min.

Day 4 (10/6, Wed) BW 93.6 kg
… was supposed to be GPP but my lazy ass skipped it. Moved it to day 6.

Day 5 (10/7, Thu) BW 93.8 kg
Deadlift w/belt
70 kg x 5@6 / 80 kg x 5@7 / 90 kg x 5 @7.5-8.0

Bench Press, 1 ct Paused
60 kg x 5 @6-7 / 70 kg x 5@7.5 / 75 kg x 5@8.5 ---- think I got a little cocky on this one.

3-0-3 Tempo Squat
40 kg x 8 @6 / 45 kg x 8 @7 / 50 kg x 8@8 ----- I _wheeze_ need wheeze to work on my gasp cardio

Workout time: 55 min.

Day 6 Actual GPP (10/8, Fri) BW 94.2 kg

Pull ups, chin ups, or rows x 7 min., AMRAP in submaximal set

Chin up
30 reps (5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1)

Pull up
24 reps (5, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 2, 2, 1)

Isometric ab, max work, 7 min.

Ab Rollers x 39 reps (6, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4)

25 min. of steady cardio on bike @RPE 6 (avg. heart rate 132)

Workout time: 1 hr. 5 min.

First week of RPE programming finished. I still don’t have a firm grasp of RPE… I think I can push the border between RPE 8 and 8.5 a little further.
The 30 min. usage limit rule and lack of racks at my gym makes it difficult to take long rests. Not feeling exhausted but still rushing through sets. Going to have to switch to morning workouts…

3

Week 2, Day 1 (10/10, Sun) BW 94.4 kg

Squat w/belt
60 kg x 5@6 / 80 kg x 5@7 / 90 kg x 5@8 / 95 kg x 5@8-8.5 / 100 kg x 5@8-8.5

Close Grip Bench
65 kg x 4@7 / 75 kg x 4@8 / 85 kg x 4@9 / 85 kg x 4@9

Rack Pull, Mid Shin
65 kg x 7@6 / 75 kg x 7@7 / 85 kg x 7@8 / 85 kg x 7@8

Workout time: 50 min.

Generally pushed on a little more further on experimenting with RPE. Think I’m getting close to what RPE 8 feels like.

4

Didn’t have time to record my training logs this week until today.

Week 2, Day 3 (10/12, Tue) BW 93.4 kg

2ct Paused Squats
80 kg x 4 @ 7.5 / 90 kg x 4 @ 8 / 100 kg x 4 @ 9 / 100 kg x 4 @ 9

Press w/ belt
35 kg x 5 @ 6 / 37.5 kg x 5 @ 7 / 40 kg x 5 @ 8 / 42.5 kg x 5 @ 8 / 42.5 kg x 5 @ 8 / 42.5 kg x 5 @ 8

Barbell Rows
30 kg x 8 @ 6 / 35 kg x 8 @ 7 / 40 kg x 8 @ 8 / 45 kg x 8 @ 8 / 45 kg x 8 @ 8

---- pushed a little further on RPE 8 again.

Workout time: 52 min.

Week 2, Day 4 (10/13, Wed) BW 93.6 kg

Pull ups (AMRAP 7 min.)
31 reps (4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2)

Chin ups (AMRAP 7 min.)
22 reps (4, 3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2)

Ab Rollers (AMRAP 7 min.)
36 reps (6, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, 3, 5)

Preacher Curls (AMRAP 7 min.)
30 kg x 31 reps (6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3)

25 min. steady cardio - bike

---- wanted to put in some face pulls instead of curls but cable stand was occupied for quite a while.

Workout time: 1 hr. 20 min.

Week 2, Day 5 (10/14, Thu) BW 93.8 kg

Deadlift w/ belt
75 kg x 5 @ 6 / 85 kg x 5 @ 7 / 100 kg x 5 @ 8 / 100 kg x 5 @ 8 / 100 kg x 5 @ 8

Bench Press, 1ct Paused
60 kg x 5 @ 6 / 70 kg x 5 @ 7 / 75 kg x 5 @ 8 / 75 kg x 5 @ 8 / 75 kg x 5 @ 8 / 75 kg x 5 @ 8

3-0-3 Tempo Squat
40 kg x 8 @ 6 / 45 kg x 8 @ 7 / 50 kg x 8 @ 8 / 50 kg x 8 @ 8

---- starting to develop a love/hate relationship with the 3-0-3 Squat. I really love what it does as a squat variant, but at the same time I’m cursing the entire universe throughout the last few reps.

Workout time: 1 hr. 5 min.

Off to the next week.