Should You Test Your One Rep Max??

[dontcareinc]

I never get tired of hearing his extremely well spoken answers. Mikes head is only that shape because his brain needs more space.

[WARChild]

You can get a pretty good idea of your 1 Rm off a no shit 2-3 rm

[frittierteGuave]

Mikes square shaped brain produces eight cornered answers and I‘m here for it

[joecowan]

Dr Mike missed the most important part of 1RM for a non-powerlifter... once or twice a year, It is FUN!

[nativepride]

I remember when I finally hit 500 on the bench. The whole gym stopped and watched and I got it and people gave me a nod of hood job. But two minutes later I realized that that was extremely dangerous and then everyone went back to what they were doing and the sun kept doin its job as we continued to revolve around the sun and endlessly travel through space. The president didn’t call me to lead the special forces into battle to save the country or the planet. And at that point I said never again. I did it and now it’s something I almost regret. And either way nobody cares 😂 but now I have the injuries to remind me about it. 😂

[sasukesarutobi]

This is absolutely the right answer. One of the key pillars of a good training programme is its specificity; that it is appropriate to your training goals.

If you have no need to go for 1RM, then you're better building up maxing at a higher number of reps. There are plenty of calculators that can tell you what your 1RM would be based on your 5RM (or any nRM - there is a known mathematical relationship).

If you do have need to go for 1RM (e.g. you have a sport or occupation that requires you lifting close to your max, such as powerlifter), then you can programme in 1RMs, but it needs to be a progression to lower rep maxes alongside good injury management. There's no better way to reduce your 1RM than injuring yourself.

[rentaleper]

Heavy singles are a great training tool and if you leave your ego at the door, they aren't dangerous in any way. I have increased all my Big-4 lifts greatly since i started doing regular heavy singles. Aaaaand they're hella fun

[IsaacFlett]

It is fun though, 225 was a huge milestone for me in the bench press and i don't think i would have been as motivated if i wasn't regularly testing my 1 rm. The excitement does wear off eventually though. I still 1rm occasionally in certain lifts that im focused on improving.

[mkirkpatrics]

I do one rep maxes because I'm young, and I like seeing the numbers go up. It gives me a boost to my ego but mainly a boost to my motivation to strive for goals like that. I know I could strive for sets of 5 maxes, but I just don't get that same dopamine kick. That kick helps me stay motivated to keep going to the gym.

[robc.]

Wow... Thank you! I've been struggling with this for a while.

[erikbuysbricks]

When I was in my mid twenties I tried a more powerlifting style program. A lot of sets of 5 reps or less. In that time I tore both my labrum’s and herniated a disc in my back. Getting a 405 bench wasn’t worth any of that.

[daveyboy]

I wish I knew this 20 years ago, before I blew out all my shit in powerlifting. I would recommend nothing more than a 2 or 3 rep max test. A 1 rep max leaves ZERO room for failure.

[johnmichaels]

It's all about ego unless you're competing.

[DefendJesusCrown]

I'm fine with a 5 rep max. Put it in a 1rm calculater. It's usually right on the money

[TimSchiller]

It's great to hear him validate this for me. I'm 47 and still lift but I learned the hard way that there's no point going super super ego heavy. I haven't dipped below five in years. Playing the long game.

[Dialogos]

You can estimate 1rm pretty reliably via calculators and estimations. Your 10rm is close to 75% 1rm. 6rm is close to 85% 1rm.

[chancecainfalk]

I can agree with a physical no gain ideology but in my opinion a one rep max done with good form and the intention solely to test yourself and not to pr every time is good for confidence and can help grind out sets ie if I do it for one Im more comfortable trying for three then once I hit three I gain the confidence to try for five and so on and I think that the mental aspect of training is very important 🤷

[briankuczynski]

This makes me feel much better about all my workout eras to date. I'd never tried to track 1rm because it had felt too much like a distraction from whatever rhythm I'd been following.

[danielmontgomery]

I used to powerlift long ago. These days I know my smallish frame and joints dont handle heavy weights as well as they used to. I'm as big as I was 10yrs ago but without the heaviest low rep stuff I used to do. Overall I don't miss it, my ego does not need to be fueled by numbers.

[keithfarrell]

In 6 years of workouts, never bothered. I don't see the point if youre bodybuilding .