Choosing the Weight on

the Bar: Percentage, RPE

and RIR – part 1
Powerlifting / By tonybonvechio

Designing a strength training program – specifically,

choosing what weight to put on the bar – is a lot like
a recipe for fancy meal. You have a laundry list of
ingredients that must be combined in the right
amounts at the right time. If you cook them
correctly, you’ll get a delicious dish. If you omit
ingredients, skip steps in the recipe or overcook the
dish, you’ll end up with something inedible.

But the beauty of cooking is that you have some

room for error. Even if you freestyle a bit with
ingredients, seasonings and cooking temperatures,
your dish will likely still taste good if you adhere to
the basic principles of cooking. Just like you can’t
say for sure how a dish will turn out before making
it, you can’t predict EXACTLY how a training
program will affect a lifter. The same combination
of exercises, sets, reps and load over the course
of several weeks won’t yield the same results for
all lifters, nor will it affect the same lifter the
same way if they run that program multiple
times.

Writing programs isn’t an exact science. We can

debate about which exercises lead to the best
strength gains and which sets-and-reps protocol
sparks the most muscle growth, but ultimately, the
weight on the bar matters. We’re talking about
getting stronger, after all.

There are three primary methods for determining

the weight on the bar:

Percentage of 1-rep max (1RM)

Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)
Reps in Reserve (RIR)

I’ll compare and contrast these methods over the

course of this series to help make sense of how and
when to use each of them to get as strong as
humanly possible.

Percentage of 1RM
Percentage-based training is perhaps the most
talked-about and studied method for selecting
training load. When you hear the word “intensity” it’s
typically referring to the percentage of a 1RM. For
example, if someone’s max squat was 500 lbs and
their program said to do sets of 5 at 80%, they’d put
400 lbs on the bar.

Because of the mountains of research on

percentage-based training, there’s plenty of
evidence that it works. We can also predict with a
fair amount of accuracy things like:

How many reps someone should be able to do at

a given percentage
How much volume (sets x reps) is a reasonable
amount of work at a given percentage

While the number of reps a lifter can perform at a

given amount of their 1RM will vary, research and
experience combined can give us a reliable range
based on percentage. This chart is fairly helpful for
understanding what rep range corresponds to
percentage of 1RM:

Source: exrx.net

However, percentage-based training is not without

its drawbacks. First and foremost, percentages are
only as useful as the accuracy and timeliness of the
max from which you calculate your percentages.
The more recent the 1RM, the more accurate
your percentages. The older your max, the more
likely your percentages will be off. You can’t
march into the gym and yell “I benched 315 in high
school!” and, neglecting to tell anyone that was 20
years ago, expect to be able to work off of 315 as
your max.

Also, basing your percentages off a max performed

in competition is often problematic. PRs set at
powerlifting meets are often done in a state of high
arousal, and I’m not talking about a Tinder date.
You’re amped up more than normal, excited and
anxious to get on the platform and compete. You
may be highly caffeinated, feeding on the energy of
the crowd and loud music, maybe even sniffing
some smelling salts to channel your inner
psychopath. All these things elevate your
performance above what you could normally
accomplish, especially during a normal training
session at the gym.

You can’t use a max where you utilized every

advantage in the book and expect to succeed during
normal workouts. A simple solution to this issue,
made popular by Jim Wendler in his 5/3/1 book: take
your competition max, knock 10 percent off it
and use THAT as your training max. That may
sound too light at first, but you’ll thank me (and Jim)
when you don’t get stapled to the floor by the bar.

In a perfect world, percentage-based training would

work for everyone because your 1RM would stay
consistent all the time. But in the real world, your
1RM can swing as far as 5-10 percent in either
direction depending on fatigue, mental and
emotional state, and outside stressors. That’s a
huge range, especially if you’re pretty strong.

Imagine this: your best-ever squat is 500 lbs, but

you’re having a shitty day and your 1RM on that day
is down 10 percent. That’s a 50-lb decrease. So if
you were trying to do sets of 5 at what you think is
80 percent (400 lbs and about a 7-rep max) but is
suddenly 89 percent (about a 3-4 rep max), guess
what? You’re about to get a Stone Cold Stunner
from that bar.

via GIPHY

Percentage-based training CAN work, especially if

you’re the kind of lifter who needs the accountability
of knowing exactly what weight you’re going to lift
today. If you’re the kind of lifter who always
sandbags your training and goes lighter than you
could OR you’re always overshooting your weights
and pushing too heavy, percentages can help keep
you focused and eliminate any guesswork. But that
rigidity is exactly what percentage-based training
may NOT be the best option for many lifters, which
we’ll discuss next.

Rate of Perceived Exertion

(RPE)
RPE is a subjective rating of the difficulty of an
exercise. Many scales have been developed over
time for different types of exercise, but for strength
training, a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being most difficult)
is the most common. RPE can be used both to
evaluate a set after completion (i.e., “That set was
pretty tough, I’d call it a 9 RPE”) and to choose the
weight on the bar for a given set (i.e., “I’m supposed
to do a triple at 8 RPE, I think I can use 225 for
that.”).

As you can see, there’s a bit of guess work involved

with RPE. There’s less precision than the ever-
objective percentage. Or is there?

RPE-based training lends itself to autoregulation,

which is the adjusting of a lifter’s training based
on their current level of fitness, fatigue and
performance. Think of autoregulation like driving a
car. It’d be great to always be able to drive at full
speed down a straight highway, but life’s not always
like that. Sometimes there’s rough terrain and you
have to slow down. Sometimes there’s a curve and
you need to turn the steering wheel. And sometimes
there’s construction and you have to take a detour.

Percentage-based training works best on the

aforementioned open highway. If you’re driving
through the midwest on a full tank of gas with no
traffic in sight, punch the gas and go for it. But what
happens when you’re tired, stressed out or injured –
life’s equivalent of traffic, construction and road
closures? You can’t just drive right through it
without slowing down and changing course.

Remember the squat scenario mentioned earlier?

The lifter who’s experiencing a 10 percent decrease
in 1RM because of fatigue needs to adjust their
training plan that day. Rather than going for sets of
5 at 80 percent (a weight they’re just not ready for
on that given day), they could instead do sets of 5 at
a 7 or 8 RPE – a moderately challenging weight
dictated by how they’re feeling that day. Is it
perfect? No, but that training session will be far
more productive than going too heavy for their
current state of readiness.

Now you might think that RPE training is too hippy-

dippy touchy-feely. I came here to lift weights, not
sing Kumbaya around a campfire. But hold on – it’s
possible to use RPE AND be objective. A popular
form of RPE-based training involves used the Reps
in Reserve (RIR) method and assigning an RPE rating
based on how many reps were left “in the tank” at
the end of the set. Basically, you perform a set and
when you’re finished, you determine how many
more reps you COULD have done if you’d pushed it
to the max. That number subtracted from 10 is your
RPE. This chart from Reactive Training Systems
helps visualize the RIR method of RPE:

Source:
https://articles.reactivetrainingsystems.com/2015/11/29/beginning-
rts/

For example, let’s say you deadlifted 405 for a set of

6 reps. It was tough, but you know you could have
ground out 2 more reps if you had to. You do the
math (10 minus 2) and you have an RPE of 8.

Now, the RIR method doesn’t always work for RPE.

In fact, the heavier you’re lifting (i.e., lower rep
ranges) and the stronger you get over the time,
the less accurate RIR becomes for judging RPE.
For example, let’s say an advanced lifter can squat
800 lbs. The chart in the first section claims he
should be able to squat 95 percent (760 lbs) for 2
reps. However, most high-level lifters will tell you
that might not be possible. This lifter might be able
to hit 760 for an easy single, but not necessarily a
double. So as reps get lower (heavy sets of 1-3
reps), RPE ratings may have to be based on how
difficult they felt and how much more weight you
could have done, rather than the number of reps in
the tank. This may differ based on the exercise as
well. For example, some lifters might be able to rep
out heavy weights on bench press but not on the
squat or deadlift, or vice versa.

It takes a bit of practice to correctly guess the

weight on the bar for RPE-based training, but with
time, you’ll get good at it. This is learning to “listen
to your body” like all the grouchy old lifters told me
to do when you asked them for advice on all the
powerlifting message boards back in the day.

What’s more, RPE can be combined with

percentage-based training for maximum
effectiveness. I’ll get into the practical application
of this in the next article, but remember how I said
we can predict how many reps most people can do
at a given percentage? Well, we can also predict a
person’s 1RM based on how many reps they did at a
given weight and the RPE score they gave
themselves.

This chart, developed by Mike Tuchscherer of

Reactive Training Systems, equates RPEs at each
rep range to a percentage of 1RM.

REPS 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
10100.0%95.5%92.2%89.2%86.3%83.7%81.1%78.6%76.2%73.9%70.7%68.0%
9.597.8%93.9%90.7%87.8%85.0%82.4%79.9%77.4%75.1%72.3%69.4%66.7%
995.5%92.2%89.2%86.3%83.7%81.1%78.6%76.2%73.9%70.7%68.0%65.3%
R
P
8.593.9%90.7%87.8%85.0%82.4%79.9%77.4%75.1%72.3%69.4%66.7%64.0%
92.2%89.2%86.3%83.7%81.1%78.6%76.2%73.9%70.7%68.0%65.3%62.6%
E
|7.590.7%87.8%85.0%82.4%79.9%77.4%75.1%72.3%69.4%66.7%64.0%61.3%
7 89.2%86.3%83.7%81.1%78.6%76.2%73.9%70.7%68.0%65.3%62.6%59.9%

6.587.8%85.0%82.4%79.9%77.4%75.1%72.3%69.4%66.7%64.0%61.3%58.6%

Source:
https://articles.reactivetrainingsystems.com/2016/01
/06/customizing-your-rpe-chart/

Mike himself will tell you that you must work to

develop this chart for yourself, and that it’s not
exact for every lifter. However, it’s a great starting
point and I highly recommend you read the source
article to better understand how RPE and
percentages can be intertwined.

Perhaps the greatest use of this chart is to

predict changes in your 1RM over time when
using RPE-based training. For example, if one
week you bench pressed 315 for 5 at 8 RPE, your
predicted 1RM according to this chart is 388 (315
divided by .811). If the following week you do 325 for
5 at 7 RPE, your predicted 1RM jumps up to 408
(325 divided by .799). Tracking this predicted 1RM
each week can help you know if your training plan is
working or not. Like I said, it helps you steer the car.

Reps in Reserve (RIR)

We already mentioned RIR as a measure of how
many reps were left in the tank at the end of a set.
Combined with RPE, this is a powerful tool for
measuring the difficulty of a set. However, RIR’s
greatest utility is for hypertrophy.

There are many methods for improving maximal

strength. Some involve lifting heavy weights for low
volume, some involve lifting lighter weights for
higher volume, and some methods combine the two.
However, when it comes to building muscle, the
exact weight on the bar isn’t as important as
your proximity to failure (your RIR) and gradually
adding volume over time.

Therefore, the role of RIR in selecting the weight on

the bar boils down to a simple question: what
weight will allow you to perform a number of reps
in a hypertrophy rep range (about 8-20 reps)?
And regardless of the weight, your aim should still
be to do as many reps as possible, stopping a
certain number of reps shy of failure based on your
RIR assignment. Typical RIR assignments range from
0-3 RIR, because taking a muscle close to failure is
necessary for growth unless you’re a completely
beginner.

Let’s use dumbbell curls as an example – because

we all want big arms. Rather than arbitrarily doing 3
sets of 10 reps at a certain weight, ask yourself,
“What weight could I use and get at least 8 reps –
but not more than 20 reps – if I stop 2 reps shy of
failure?” You take a guess and choose 30 pounds,
and then perform as many reps as possible,
stopping when you have 2 reps in the tank (2 RIR).
The exact weight and exact number of reps don’t
matter, as long as you’re staying true to the RIR
and going fairly close to failure.

This approach probably won’t lead to great results if

applied to your squat, bench press and deadlift
while chasing maximal strength. Taking these big
lifts close to failure all the time isn’t sustainable, nor
is it necessary to get stronger. But when applied to
accessory exercises meant to add muscle, RIR is
likely superior to RPE because marrying yourself to a
predetermined number of reps per set isn’t the goal.

But Really, How Do I Choose

the Weight on the Bar?
To summarize:

Percentage-based training works well if the max

is accurate and lifter is consistently ready to
train, but lacks adaptability to day-to-day
fluctuations in performance.
RPE-based training allows for autoregulation and
individualization, but takes time and practice to
maximize its effectiveness.
RIR works best for hypertrophy and accessory
exercises, but isn’t terribly useful for heavy
strength training on the main lifts.

In part 2, I’ll discuss how to fit percentages, RPE and

RIR into a training program to get the best of all
worlds.

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