Originally Posted by
Mark Rippetoe
"Performance variability" is a factor that everybody deals with. RPE deals with it one way, and training deals with it a different way. If you deal with what you perceive to be a "bad day" by backing your numbers off instead of actually trying the numbers generated by your training history that you today perceive to be difficult beyond your ability, you are not training. You're just fucking around in the gym. The process so far has generated data that indicate your ability to do the 5 more pounds, yet you'd rather not risk missing a rep, so you adjust downward to lighter weight, therefore missing the opportunity to learn something and generate actual data. All because a remote coach doesn't want to do the job you're paying him to do.