Durable Barbell Training
A sustainable progression scheme that reduces injury risks and empowers lifters to be their own coach.
Novice barbell programs, like Starting Strength, do a fantastic job in teaching untrained people to lift weights with proper technique, resulting in massive gains in strength and muscle growth, in a relatively short period of time. Most of these Novice training programs programmatically increase weight on the bar, every single training session. After a handful of months, the lifter finds themselves in a situation where they cannot increase weight on the bar anymore, resulting in the lifter failing the last few reps of the prescribed sets.
When a lifter fails to finish the last rep of a set, by definition they are training at RPE 10. Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) is a subjective measure of how hard a particular set feels; it runs from 0 – 10. RPE 10 is performing a set until there is 'no more reps in the tank'. RPE 8 is performing a set, where the last rep *feels* like you can do 2 more reps.
Problems of training at RPE 10
Training at RPE 10 every single week increases the odds of injury; this is especially true for advanced lifters. After a set is performed at RPE 10, the lifter is usually completely fatigued and cannot perform any more quality sets in the same training session. This results in reduced volume or worse, if the lifter perseveres through, risking injury because of overexertion.
Solution
The obvious solution is to train at RPE 8 or below; this allows the lifter to perform additional volume at the same training session. This increase in volume has higher probability of producing more muscle hypertrophy. More lean body mass improves the odd of the lifter increasing the weight on the bar in future training sessions. This type of training is not without tradeoffs; the lifter should be mentally prepared to make slower progression than what they are used to.
Programming
Here, I’m describing an example program for a lifter who just graduated the Novice stage of training. It's immediately apparent that the below program does not dictate any strict objective rules for progression, like most Novice programs out there. The progression is made based on certain heuristics, that are very subjective to the lifter.
For a single exercise, 3 sets are performed in a single session.
First set is the Benchmark set, always done for 3 reps.
Second set is the Work set, done for 5 reps or more.
Third set is the Backoff set, done for 8 reps or more.
The goal of the lifter is to increase the weight on the Benchmark set, over the long term. If in subsequent sessions, the current programming calls for same weight on the Benchmark set, the lifter tries to linearly progress on the Work and/or Backoff set, either by performing one more rep than the previous session or adding more weight on the bar.
The lifter increases the weight for the Benchmark set, only when they determine the RPE to be 8 or less (i.e., 2 or more reps in the tank).
Benchmark set progression
The Benchmark set is how the lifter measures if they are progressing in their training. The volume provided by the Work set and Backoff set allows the lifter to make the progression in the Benchmark set in future sessions. As months and years go by, the progression of the Benchmark set naturally slows down, as the weight on the bar increases.
Let's say, a lifter just graduated from the Novice program and they are not able to increase weight every single session. This lifter now aims to increase weight on the Benchmark set every single week, instead of every single session. And when that becomes difficult (i.e, consecutive sessions of Benchmark set done at RPE 10), then the lifter aims to increase 5 pounds every 2 weeks, instead of every single week.
This is a sample series of progressions that a lifter can follow for years.
5.0.1 → Increase 5.0 pounds every week.
5.0.2 → Increase 5.0 pounds every 2 weeks.
2.5.2 → Increase 2.5 pounds every 2 weeks.
2.5.3 → Increase 2.5 pounds every 3 weeks.
2.5.4 → Increase 2.5 pounds every 4 weeks.
For example, a lifter who is performing 5.0.2 progression for Bench press, will decide to move to 2.5.2, when the Benchmark set feels like it's done at RPE 10, for 2 or more consecutive training sessions.
Conclusion
RPE based progression is not without pitfalls. This type of progression is very subjective and may not appeal to lifters who thrive in rigid structures. The rate of progression is very much dependent on the subjective feeling of the lifter, intentionally, decreasing the odds of injury and enabling the lifter to train sustainably for the long term.
Also, huge shout out to Gary!