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1RM vs Max Reps

CaT_SPeW

CaT_SPeW

extra crispy
Ive noticed a lot of people on this site prefer to gauge their progress by how many reps they can do of a certain weight rather than by the maximum weight they can lift once. Personally i love doing 1RM and aiming for new PB's its what i train for, to find out what my absolute maximum strength is. i do like knowing how many reps i can do of my bodyweight of an exercise and i do use this to gauge progress but reps of any other weight is pretty much meaningless to me, they just go towards making that attempt at a new 1RM PB successful. So what do you prefer and why?
 
I put this in NPR thread but will add it here it seems better.

With my bench I almost allways push up to a weight i will only do 1-3 reps at, starting at sets of 10, 8, 5, 3, 1, basicaly i wont do more than 10 reps for a given weight, it would mean it was too light. But keep adding weight until i find an end point..every session feels different, and I try to push as heavy as i can...allways.

Maybe thats stopping me getting bigger, I like haveing a great bench but, its a balance i guess

mostly on other exercise i go for at least 3-5 reps at the heaviest weights.
 
hyjak said:
Ive noticed a lot of people on this site prefer to gauge their progress by how many reps they can do of a certain weight rather than by the maximum weight they can lift once. Personally i love doing 1RM and aiming for new PB's its what i train for, to find out what my absolute maximum strength is. i do like knowing how many reps i can do of my bodyweight of an exercise and i do use this to gauge progress but reps of any other weight is pretty much meaningless to me, they just go towards making that attempt at a new 1RM PB successful. So what do you prefer and why?
Click to expand...

David, testing for progress is all relative and is different for different sports. This forum is not made up of only weightlifters, bodybuilders, or fitness athletes; but all of them mixed together it seems to me. However the problem begins when a bodybuilder who's after muscle size starts to dip in the low rep territory of the weightlifter, going below 6 reps. And the same issue occurs, in the opposite direction though, when the strength athlete start venturing beyond the 6 rep domain.

That's one reason which so far has stopped me from getting involved in people’s program on this forum.

Hyjak, you say you love training for that PB at the 1RM. I say great; but are you training and preparing for that 1RM or are you pushing to the limit in each and every workout then attempting to break your previous 1RM?


Fadi.
 
Is your 1RM improving to your liking or is it coming along slower than you would like?


Fadi.
 
its definitely improving quickly, i set 3 separate PB's this week. im hoping to attempt a new PB in my deadlift soon too, theres usually a gap of around 3-4 weeks between attempts.
 
If I told you how fast it was improving you would call me a liar, I'll let David answer lol
 
PTC said:
If I told you how fast it was improving you would call me a liar, I'll let David answer lol
Click to expand...

3-4 weeks sounds good. However I was concerned with the all out pushing in each and every workout Dave was talking about Markos.


Fadi.
 
i workout once a week with Markos which is definitely my toughest workout, i do two more sessions at home but working out by myself i dont think i push as hard as when im training with other people so some of the home sessions can be a bit lazy
 
We do 4 week micro cycles in the main part.

Other times we have used 12 week cycles.

On bench we do 5 x 5 one session and speed work with either bands or chains the next, followed by heavy tricep assistance work.

We use negatives sparingly on bench, although one guy raised his bench from 100kg to 146kg, doing 205kg negatives in the process.

NPR's PB went from 110kg to 142.5kg in 17 weeks on my bench program.

One lifter has gone from a 450kg total for SQ-BP-PC-OH-DLto 623.5kg in 11 months.

We've got strength covered at PTC.

I've seen guys on here deadlifting 110kg after 4 years. WTF. I have 38 lifters in a garage deadlifting between 200-265kg. PTC is less than 2 years old.
 
PTC said:
We do 4 week micro cycles in the main part.

Other times we have used 12 week cycles.

On bench we do 5 x 5 one session and speed work with either bands or chains the next, followed by heavy tricep assistance work.

We use negatives sparingly on bench, although one guy raised his bench from 100kg to 146kg, doing 205kg negatives in the process.

NPR's PB went from 110kg to 142.5kg in 17 weeks on my bench program.

One lifter has gone from a 450kg total for SQ-BP-PC-OH-DLto 623.5kg in 11 months.

We've got strength covered at PTC.

I've seen guys on here deadlifting 110kg after 4 years. WTF. I have 38 lifters in a garage deadlifting between 200-265kg. PTC is less than 2 years old.
Click to expand...

It's not PTC Markos; it's the person behind it that counts mate. I can workout some of the abbreviations here but not all. Squat, Bench press, PC? OH (Overhead press)?, Dead lifts.

Melbourne was always big in Olympic weightlifting Markos; haven't you got someone under your wings from all these youngsters specializing in the two lifts? As you have posted earlier, PTC seems to be (from what I see) a mixed strength/conditioning type of centre; am I right? I say that based on people performing 20 or so reps etc (which is something foreign to weightlifters as you'd know). Thanks.


Fadi.
 
Your spot on Fadi, I like well rounded lifters.

I really dislike one dimensional lifters unless they are actively competing. I have had one competing bodybuilder, he placed 3rd in a Mr Victoria and my wife has 6 state titles as well as a national title in powerlifting. Other than that, they are either sportsman or recreational lifters trying to become bigger-stronger-faster-fitter.

It makes no sense to me to train as a bodybuilder, weightlifter or powerlifter if you never plan to compete.

Thats why my comps are 5 lifts based. You need static strength for the 3 powerlifts and explosive power for the 2 quick lifts.

My Strongman comps require plenty of fitness, some events last 6 minutes, and lots of strength....150% bodyweight squats for maximum reps etc
 
If only I can convince this youngsters how blessed they are to have found PTC! Most often the young ones take things for granted. I wish you all the very best Coach.


Fadi.
 
There have been a few times when I lifted a weight and said, "woah, that's too much for me," or "okay, maybe only 1 rep of that," but apart from that the only time I've tested my 1RM was for bench, and only because that's what the teacher at PT school had us doing.

I'm not interested in the amount I can lift as such, only that it's more today than it was yesterday. For that, a 5RM or 10RM does just as well. Or not even a maximum - today I did a bent over row with 80kg for 5 reps, a personal record for me - could I have done 6 reps of 80kg? Or 7? Maybe, maybe not. Point is, last week I did 5x 60kg, this week I did 5x 80kg, and 2x 5x 70kg on either side of it, too. So it's more today than yesterday, that's progress.

Another thing is that I usually train alone, and 1RM usually need spotters for safety.

Lastly, a 1RM almost always involves going to failure, and if I regularly go to failure I find myself really drained, and the next workout can be a bit of a dud.
 
I'm totally against going to failure Kyle. I'll write few words on that very soon. But you're right, you are not a weightlifter and therefore you know not to train like one. That's the message I've been trying to hammer across here. Train for you sport.


Fadi.
 
So what is the consenses on starting on sets of 10 reps, and piramiding up to 3 or less reps on a given exercise, in the same workout, increasing the weight each time..?
 
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Kyle, if you succeed on your 1 rep max attempt its not failure. If you attempt a second rep and fail, it's failure.

I suppose we make around 75% of our 1RM attempts, although I have never kept score.
 
Well... I guess I can see that, I just don't know what else to call if it we put on some weights, I make the 1 rep, we add some more weights, then I can't make it.

I find that pretty draining, whatever we call it.

I'm sure most of the attempts would succeed in your place, because they have the experienced person supervising them, so there's a clearer idea of what's likely to work and what not. People training more or less on their own, though...

I'm not complaining, just explaining. As I said, if I lift more weight and/or more times today than yesterday I'm happy :)
 
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