Using RPE, or adjusting the training schedule.

Hello Experts.

I am currently doing four cardio workouts a week and three lifting workouts a week. Due to my schedule I can only life Monday - Friday. A “normal” week for me is Monday, cardio and lifting, Tuesday, cardio; Wednesday, cardio and lifting; Thursday, cardio; and Friday, Lifting.

But my schedule is uncertain and sometimes I have to do it all in four days instead of three. This week is one of those and I planned on: Mon, Cardio and Lifting; Tue, Cardio and lifting; Wednesday, two cardio sessions; Thursday, Lifting.

This weekend I had a moderate cold and slept like crap Friday and Saturday night. This isn’t too bad but I spent Saturday and Sunday restraining my deck on a hot and sunny weekend. It wrecked me. I felt terribly this morning.

But I went to the gym and did my planned cardio, and then tried lifting. My last warm up in squats which is usually like an RPE 4 or 5, felt like a 9. I had nothing. Rather than adjusting the load, I walked away from the squat rack and did a second cardio session. I’m over the cold, I should sleep good tonight, and I’m planning on lifting back-to-back the next three days.

Is this an OK strategy or should I have just pushed through on my scheduled lifts with a much lower weight on all my planned lifts? Does none of this really matter as long as I am getting in the gym? I’m not training for anything, I just try to be consistent and lose some weight (I’m 6’1”, went from 217 and a 40.5” waste in March. Down to 201 pounds this morning. I am shooting for <37”).

Either way would’ve been fine, David. As you alluded to, what you do in a single session has little impact on your trajectory. You could’ve trained as planned using much lighter weights, or you could push the session off if you wanted to. The biggest difference in the two scenarios is the performance during the workouts, but that doesn’t predict training outcomes as much as many people think.