Strength testing - 1 rep max

Okay, tonight I explore what you "could" be lifting in some of your exercises.

The test is called the one rep max and it tests to see what the maximum amount of weight that you could lift. You then take this and apply it to the correct weight you could use daily in your routines.

Lets take the bench press as an example. Here is the scenario (you need to know all three pieces of information):
1) You currently are lifting 150 pounds in the bench press.
2) We use 10 reps for simplicity. So try to come up with the weight that you can lift 10 times to fatigue as a starting point.
3) Your current weight. We will use 170 pounds in this example.

The formula is:
w = weight you are lifting now in pounds
cw = your current weight in pounds
1 rep max = w / .75
weight ratio = cw / 1 rep max

So for our example:
1 rep max = 150 / .75 or 200 pounds
Weight ratio = 200 / 170 or 1.18

To find out the theoretical amount you could be lifting do the following:
Weight ratio * w or 1.18 * 150 or 177 pounds

This formula is mostly used for big muscle group testing such as: back, chest, legs. I do not usually use this formula for other muscle groups because the numbers could be skewed.

As always, with any weight lifting - please have a spotter.

If you are like me you are going to go to the gym and want to apply this test to the major exercises and then start lifting those increases. I was amazed at how much more I really could lift - and that made my workouts even more productive.

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. My rates are $75.00 per hour for in-person training and $25.00 per hour for email personal training. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT