Kyle Aaron
Active member
The whole 1RM percentage thing comes from the science side of it - they have to have numbers so they can do proper studies, and fair enough too.
But you get some newbie, in their first session they struggle to move 20kg for 5 reps, stumbling all over the place, 4 weeks later they move 60kg for 10 reps with ease. What is their 1RM? The thing is that their true muscular potential has not been used yet, they don't know how to do the movements.
It's like the way I have bigger muscles than Ricky Ponting, but he will throw the cricket ball much faster than me. Why? Because he has the correct technique, I'll just chuck it. He knows how to exert his strength for the biggest circket-ball-throwing effect.
Lifting iron may not seem to be as technical as that but really it is, you have to learn how to exert your strength. That's what trainers mean when they talk about "neural adaptation".
Given that, 1RM looks much rougher, hard to assess except for well-trained people. As Markos says, it's better just to go on effort.
For example, last night a woman asked for me for advice on leg press, she had a new workout programme from the trainers but hadn't been shown every exercise. She had her feet together and was doing a short range of motion. So I had her put her feet apart, and bring the seat up so she could have a much larger range of motion, instead of 90 degrees to almost lockout it was knees to within six inches of the chest and then to almost lockout.
She went from being able to have a smiling conversation while pressing to... eyes wide open, sweating, feeling the stress in glutes and hamstrings, and having to grunt to help move it.
Her way she was moving 120kg or so, my way she was moving 80kg. What was her 1RM on the leg press machine? We don't know, and it doesn't matter - all that matters was that she was busting her foofer, as Markos would say.
But you get some newbie, in their first session they struggle to move 20kg for 5 reps, stumbling all over the place, 4 weeks later they move 60kg for 10 reps with ease. What is their 1RM? The thing is that their true muscular potential has not been used yet, they don't know how to do the movements.
It's like the way I have bigger muscles than Ricky Ponting, but he will throw the cricket ball much faster than me. Why? Because he has the correct technique, I'll just chuck it. He knows how to exert his strength for the biggest circket-ball-throwing effect.
Lifting iron may not seem to be as technical as that but really it is, you have to learn how to exert your strength. That's what trainers mean when they talk about "neural adaptation".
Given that, 1RM looks much rougher, hard to assess except for well-trained people. As Markos says, it's better just to go on effort.
For example, last night a woman asked for me for advice on leg press, she had a new workout programme from the trainers but hadn't been shown every exercise. She had her feet together and was doing a short range of motion. So I had her put her feet apart, and bring the seat up so she could have a much larger range of motion, instead of 90 degrees to almost lockout it was knees to within six inches of the chest and then to almost lockout.
She went from being able to have a smiling conversation while pressing to... eyes wide open, sweating, feeling the stress in glutes and hamstrings, and having to grunt to help move it.
Her way she was moving 120kg or so, my way she was moving 80kg. What was her 1RM on the leg press machine? We don't know, and it doesn't matter - all that matters was that she was busting her foofer, as Markos would say.