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ONE REP MAX

bigdavid Posts: 139 Joined: 2001/04/05	2002/07/22, 12:44 PM I HEAR PEOPLE SAYING MY MAX IS SO AND SO IS THAT MEAN DOING ALL YOU CAN LIFT ONE REP. HOW DO YOU GO ON ABOUT DOING THAT ,FOR EXAMPLE I DO 225 BENCH PRESS ,BUT THAT MY LAST SET OF 4 SETS,4 REPS . THATS NOT MY MAX ,RIGHT? SHOULD I TRY MY MAX ONLY ONCE?
7707mutt Posts: 7,686 Joined: 2002/06/18	2002/07/22, 12:54 PM Maxing out is what a lot of people use to see how strong you are it means One rep for that set is all you can get. It is not something that will help you train better just gives you an idea what your strength is -------------- "When in danger, or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout" LIFT HARD AND OFTEN!!!!!!
rpacheco Posts: 3,770 Joined: 2001/12/13	2002/07/22, 01:51 PM You can calculate your 1-rep max using ft's calculator. I believe 225 pounds for 4 reps is equal to a 1 rep max of 254. -------------- **_Robert_** Pain is temporary; glory is forever!
rev8ball Posts: 3,081 Joined: 2001/12/27	2002/07/22, 02:14 PM the concept behind a 1RM is that its a great basis for calculating the percentages needed for the rest of your training regimen (if you are using that method). otherwise, the only persons that need to be concerned about their 1RM are competing powerlifters and olympic lifters. -------------- Michael "Trample the weak; hurdle the dead!"
rpacheco Posts: 3,770 Joined: 2001/12/13	2002/07/22, 02:21 PM Michael, phase II of my program starts today. This is where I begin to work with 80-95% of my projected 1RM for each of the lifts. Any tips or suggestions? -------------- **_Robert_** Pain is temporary; glory is forever!
rev8ball Posts: 3,081 Joined: 2001/12/27	2002/07/22, 02:34 PM are you religious, because you're going to start calling on god with those final reps (LOL!).... all i can say is to keep a close eye on your form. when people start to go heavier (and i'm assuming you're keeping the reps low), their form tends to get a little sloppy, particularly near the end. most dont even realize they're doing this; its just the body's way of trying to move the weight. then they end up not working that muscle the way it should be, and they can get hurt. also, it's a good idea to have a spotter on the bigger lifts since you can fatigue without warning. other than that, robert, i think you are already more than good to go.....SHOW THE WEIGHTS NO MERCY!!!! -------------- Michael "Trample the weak; hurdle the dead!"
rpacheco Posts: 3,770 Joined: 2001/12/13	2002/07/22, 04:08 PM Thanks, Michael. I'll try not to get buried under the weights since I don't have a spotter. If I don't post anything tomorrow, call 911...LOL! -------------- **_Robert_** Pain is temporary; glory is forever!
fireloard Posts: 665 Joined: 2001/03/27	2002/07/22, 10:14 PM I usually test my one rep max by starting out sort of light.. maybe 60-70% of what I think it was last... then warm up w/ some reps of that.. put it down and wait 3 minutes.. and put maybe 80-90%.. warm up with that.. then go for max.. if I max and can do it say twice.. I try to go just a tiny bit more.. maybe 10lb more.. and see if I can do it.. of course have a spotter as i've gotten trapped a the first few times when I didn't use one.. i'm not sure if this is THE way to test it.. but I remember reading some article way back that said 3 minutes was the best rest time when maxing out and starting out w/ 2 warmup sets then actual max attemps was about the way to go about it.. I tried it this way and it seems to work very well... give it a shot and remember USE COLLARS... HAVE A SPOTTER...
rpacheco Posts: 3,770 Joined: 2001/12/13	2002/07/23, 10:25 AM Well, I'm still here! I did 80% of my projected 1RM in deadlifts and lifted it fairly easily! Tomorrow will be bench and on Friday, squat. This should be interesting... -------------- **_Robert_** Pain is temporary; glory is forever!
7707mutt Posts: 7,686 Joined: 2002/06/18	2002/07/23, 10:26 AM How does the back feel now LOL how heavy did you get? -------------- "When in danger, or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout" LIFT HARD AND OFTEN!!!!!!
rpacheco Posts: 3,770 Joined: 2001/12/13	2002/07/23, 02:26 PM Actually, the back feels great...it was 2 sets of 1 rep. The routine didn't last very long, so I "cheated" and did some other assistance exercises like curls, tricep extensions and inclined bench. -------------- **_Robert_** Pain is temporary; glory is forever!
rev8ball Posts: 3,081 Joined: 2001/12/27	2002/07/23, 02:38 PM good for you, robert! stronger than u thought, eh?....LOL let us know how it all goes. -------------- Michael "Trample the weak; hurdle the dead!"
rpacheco Posts: 3,770 Joined: 2001/12/13	2002/07/24, 11:11 PM Okay...80% on the bench was pretty easy! I think I have overcome my plateau with this routine. I am now confident I can lift over my previous 1RM. Maybe the real test will come later (in 3 weeks) when it comes time to lift 95%? I will let you all know... -------------- **_Robert_** Pain is temporary; glory is forever!
rev8ball Posts: 3,081 Joined: 2001/12/27	2002/07/25, 03:41 AM the crowd chants: "robert! robert! robert!" -------------- Michael "Trample the weak; hurdle the dead!"
CJFit Posts: 58 Joined: 2002/07/26	2002/07/26, 01:11 PM Here's how to figure out your max without actually doing one. Whatever your 8 rep max is, is usually 80% of your 1 rep max. So, for example, if you can squat 315 for 8 reps then your max should be around 395. You go 315\.8(since an 8RM is around 80% of your max) =x/1. When you do the math it comes out to .8x=315 and when you divide 315/.8 you get the max, in this case around 394 to be exact. This is a fairly accurate way of calculating your max. Remember an 8 RM is around 80% of your max, 10RM is 75%, 12RM around 70%. A 6 RM is around 85%, a 4RM is 90% and a 2RM is 95%. Of course these may vary but very slightly, it is fairly accurate.
rpacheco Posts: 3,770 Joined: 2001/12/13	2002/07/26, 01:34 PM Or, you can simply plug in the number of reps and weight here at ft and ft can calculate that for you! -------------- **_Robert_** Pain is temporary; glory is forever!
ischjli Posts: 408 Joined: 2002/03/13	2002/07/26, 03:36 PM Rob. Such a company man. -------------- Ischjli "Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T. S. Elliot
Boddhisattvha Posts: 1,226 Joined: 2002/03/07	2002/07/26, 04:23 PM Seriously. I may have to hook up with you Rob, now that I am going harder into Gung Fu I need to start incorporating some powerlifting routines. I'm going to read all of deepsquatter first. -------------- Practice does NOT make perfect. Perfect practice does.
rpacheco Posts: 3,770 Joined: 2001/12/13	2002/07/26, 04:47 PM Someday, ft will incorporate a specialized routine that includes PL. -------------- **_Robert_** Pain is temporary; glory is forever!
Boddhisattvha Posts: 1,226 Joined: 2002/03/07	2002/07/26, 05:35 PM That'd be nice.. -------------- Practice does NOT make perfect. Perfect practice does.
shazz Posts: 3 Joined: 2002/07/21	2002/07/28, 02:30 AM I dunt exactly understand wat a 1 rep maz means ?? if anyone can us explain it to me .. it'll be a grewat help .. thanx ..
jbennett Posts: 1,558 Joined: 2001/02/28	2002/07/28, 12:10 PM Your 1 rep max is simply the maximum amount of weight you can lift for one complete repitition. This is not only applicable for bench; you can have a 1 rep max for any excercise (squats, curls, etc). To figure out what your max for a particular excercise may be is sometimes simply trial and error. These convenient calculators aren't always 100% accurate. -------------- --JBennett "I've up-ed my intensity.... now up yours!" "Pain is only weakness leaving the body."
mazzgolf Posts: 74 Joined: 2002/05/28	2002/08/15, 02:59 PM I actually just did research on this subject a week or so ago. jbennet got the definition correct (although, it isn't a hard and fast number; you actually might be able to lift more or less than your 1RM - since it's just an algorithm it might not be completely accurate for your physique. However, what I'm doing with it is to use it as a basis for how much weights I lift next time. I put together an Excel spreadsheet in which I enter the number of reps and weights I do for each set (just like what the ft web site asks for). I set it up so my spreadsheet auto-calculates my 1RM and tells me how much I should lift next time in each of my sets (based on the fact that I want to bump up my 1RM by 10 lbs each week - obviously, I won't succeed every week, but it will help me keep moving forward by advancing my goals). Here's what I do with 1RM to help me design my workouts. The reason why I'm posting this huge description is because I would like it if anyone finds fault with this to let me know (I'm not a fitness trainer, so I could be way off base with what I'm doing). You have to adjust your 1RM based on the number of reps you want to do. And if you do more than one set of an exercise, in the pyramid routine you want to raise the weights for each set. So if I do an exercise with 14 reps, then 12, then 10 then 8 - and in each of those sets, following the pyramid, I want to lift 30% of my 1RM, 50%, then 75% then 100% (i.e. that last set I want to max out and hit failure) - here's what I'll do: 14 reps set: (1RM * .65) * 30% 12 reps set: (1RM * .70) * 50% 10 reps set: (1RM * .75) * 75% 8 reps set: (1RM * .80) * 100% Where 1RM is the weight that you max out with 1 rep. So, say my 1RM is 90 pounds. I want to increase that by 10 pounds (which would make it 100) so I plug in 100 for 1RM and I therefore attempt to lift the following: 14 reps at 20 pounds 12 reps at 35 pounds 10 reps at 56 pounds 8 reps at 80 pounds (should max me out) Those ".80", ".75", etc. numbers are just fractions of the 1RM based on reps over 1 (in other words, if you max out with 1 rep at the 1RM weight, you should max out with 8 reps lifting .8*1RM (that is 80% of 1RM). Example: if your 1RM is 100 pounds (you can only lift 100 lbs. in one rep) then you should be able to max out with 80 lbs. in 8 reps). I found those fractions on a fitness web site - supposedly there is a name for it (NSCA conversion table or something like that). Anyway, hope this wasn't too long of a post, but I found it interesting that there are calculations that you can use with the 1RM number to help you put together a routine (albeit a very amatuerish one). It's better than guessing anyway... I was always sick of thinking "now how much weights should I lift in this set?". At least using this method, I can gauge progress and plot future growth (yes, I use my Excel spreadsheet to create bar graphs on the 1RM progress - basically, I'm tracking and graphing the same thing the ft web site is, only in my own spreadsheet). --John
Jingo8 Posts: 83 Joined: 2002/07/22	2002/08/16, 10:57 AM That sounds great. I plan to do something similar once i've completed my current 12 week plan with FT. I already have my nutrition set up on a spreadsheet with the exact breakdown of the actual products i'm eating. I just look down the list for what i ate each day and input the weight or amount. I then have a final page for each week with averaging details and totals per food. Now i have something else to pass the time away at work =)