I’m in the first week of Hypertrohpey 1 templet and struggling with weight selection for the Dumbell Flat Bench.
My 1 RM is coming up 71lb as per the calculator and based on this
8@7RPE - 50lb
8@8RPE - 52lb
8@9RPE - 54lb.
I can round up the 54lb to 55 and work with it, but what to do for the 8@8 RPE at 52lb, there is no dumbells between 50-55 lb. Please advise.
Regards,
Virendra
I wouldn’t worry about hitting the exact RPE’s other than getting close to @9 for the top set. So, I’d do a set at 45 and 50, then 55’s for the top set.
Thanks, Jordan.
Followup question re Progression over the weeks. the Instruction guide says adding 1-5 lb in 1RM per week and recalculates the weights for RPE.
In case of Squats there is +1set at 8@8 in Week3 and 4, Shall I increase the volume or keep it similar as Week 2, given that the overall volume is already increasing. FYI, the second set of 8@8 felt more like 8@8.5 after increasing weight in Week 3.
If I’m understanding the question, you should keep the volume as it is written and then adjust the weight up or down to hit the RPE for the day. If your 2nd set of a session is an 8.5 instead of 8, that is fine.
didn’t choose my words carefully :(. I meant the Weight Selection. so let say my Week 2 for Squat was
| # •8 Reps @ 6 RPE (67%) • 8 Reps @ 7 RPE (71%) • 8 Reps @ 8 RPE (74%). Repeat 8 @ RPE 8 x 1 more set. |
|---|
My work set weights were 165lb 8@6, 175 8@7, 185 lb 8@8, 185 8@8.
Now Week two program says
| # •8 Reps @ 6 RPE (67%) • 8 Reps @ 7 RPE (71%) • 8 Reps @ 8 RPE (74%). Repeat 8 @ RPE 8 x 2 more sets. |
|---|
so in this case there is already an additional set @ RPE8, thus making three sets compared to 2 set at RPE8 of Week 2, i.e. the overall volume is increasing.
The question is in this case Shall I Also adjust the weights by adding 5 lb in 1RM and recalculating? e.g. 175lb 8@6, 185 8@7, 190 lb 8@8, 190 8@8, 190 8@8 (5 lb increase at 8@8) or just hit the Week 3 with the same numbers. My gym doesn’t have the microplates the minimum increment is 5 lb
Got it! So first, I’d do a tad more reading up on RPE. We have this article here, and some great videos. RPE will provide you targets, but this is not simply: calculate a weight and then hit it and then you will have the correct RPE.
I can’t know, and neither can you, for sure, that you will ready to add weight to all of your working sets for week 2. But we’d want you to plan to do so. You can plan for 170, 180, and 190, unless week 1 seemed light. If it was light, then 175/185, and 190 or 195 is a reasonable goal. But if you are working your way up to those targets and see that you are overshooting the RPE (or undershooting) then you adjust: keep the weight the same, you could go from 180 to 185 instead of to 190, or you could go from 185 to 195.