That title always gets my brain buzzing. Here are a few of the questions I hear hanging around lately: “Hey, do you do CrossFit?” “I saw this detox tea on Instagram that supposedly makes you poop out your spleen—totally healthy, right?” “Babe, can you empty the dishwasher?” It’s all part of the job, I suppose. I try to be a reliable source of information for my clients and keep things as simple as possible. We live in an era of information overload, and it’s no surprise people get overwhelmed by everyday things—like whether an apple is a good snack and whether concerns about glyphosate are valid.
One question I hear almost every week is, “Can your pecs cut diamonds? How much weight should I use on this exercise?” It’s a fair question given what I do for a living, and answering it in person can take a bit of time. When I work with people face to face, I use a simple coaching approach: give instant feedback after each set and tell them to increase, decrease, or maintain the weight as needed. Sometimes I let them decide what weight feels comfortable while still allowing good form, and we gradually increase the load in later sessions. The aim is to get the most training effect with the minimum effective dose—no harm, no pain. Push people, encourage progressive overload, but not to the point where they feel like they can’t feel the right side of their face during a workout. If someone can’t feel their face, that’s a sign to stop and seek help.
The tricky part comes when you’re training on your own, without someone guiding you. So, what then? Here are a couple of practical options to consider.
For Beginner Lifters
1) Pick Something
As I mentioned, have the lifter choose a weight they know they can move with solid technique and that feels doable. The research backs this up: beginners can gain strength with as little as about 40% of their one-rep max on a given exercise. You don’t need to load them up aggressively from the start. The goal is to acclimate them to being under load and to build familiarity with the movement.
2) Provide a Rep Window
After the initial adjustment period, give a rep window to follow. For example, if a program calls for three sets of bench presses at 8–12 reps, keep the same load until you hit the upper limit on every set. This can take one session or several weeks. In week-by-week terms, you might see something like:
Week 1: Set 1: 175×12, Set 2: 175×10, Set 3: 175×9
Week 2: 175×12, 175×10, 175×10
Week 3: 175×12, 175×12, 175×10
Week 4: 175×12, 175×12, 175×12
Then you can bump the weight by 5–10 pounds and start again.
Addendum: Some folks tend to undershoot themselves. If you give a rep range (8–12) and they naturally climb up, they’ll sometimes end up with a weight they can easily do 20 reps with. To check them, I’ll have them do an AMRAP—As Many Reps As Possible—on the last set. Ideally they’d show a pattern like 12–10–9–8. If they’re sandbagging, it might look more like 10–10–10–17. A friendly “death stare” is optional here.
For Intermediate Lifters
An intermediate lifter is someone with at least two years of serious strength work under their belt. By this point we’ve moved beyond fixed rep windows and need a plan that accounts for day-to-day and week-to-week fluctuations in energy, stress, and life’s other “fuckery.” Some days you show up feeling like you’ve got all the Infinity Stones and can push hard; other days you don’t. The stronger you get and the more stress you’re placing on your body, the more important it is to accept that the “juice” won’t always be there. Sometimes the goal is simply to get quality reps rather than chase a prescribed load.
A useful tool here is the Rate of Perceived Exertion, or RPE (I prefer to call it Effort). This system describes how hard you should work on a lift. The scale generally looks like this:
– RPE 10: You’re at your max, no reps left
– RPE 9: The last rep is tough, but you could do one more
– RPE 8: Weight is hard to move fast, but you’ve got 2–4 reps left
– RPE 7: You can move quickly, but it’s a bit of work; speed weight
– RPE 6: Light effort; moves quickly with moderate force
– RPE 5: Warm-up or technique work
– RPE 4: Recovery work; high-rep sets, not very hard
An RPE below four isn’t usually necessary.
So a typical program snippet might look like:
A. Work up to 1×5 at RPE 8 on deadlift
B. Then accumulate 15 total reps at 90% of the top set above (for example, 3×5 or 5×3)
If someone works up to 1×5 at 275 pounds on the deadlift at RPE 8, you’d follow with 3×5 or 5×3 at 90% of that top set (roughly 245–250 pounds). The idea is to keep the reps fast, clean, and controlled while building volume that won’t wreck the lifter long-term.
As Coach Mike Tuchscherer puts it, if the RPE system feels odd at first, you’ll get used to it and use it quickly. A simple way to gauge your RPE is to ask yourself how many more reps you could do with that weight. It’s challenging for the hot-headed lifters who always want to go heavy, and for the cautious who fear pushing themselves. You have to stay disciplined to use it effectively.
Is this approach perfect for everyone? No. But it provides a solid framework for trainees to build from and, importantly, it teaches them to listen to their bodies.
And yes, I admit I hate repeating myself as part of this job. I could blame the PTSD from my Hollywood Video days and the endless Friday-night battles with customers over whether Shrek 2 was available to rent.
