5RM Vs 1RM

[Don Yates]

Obviously your 1RM is heavier but im curious to know by what comparison.

Lets take DL, BS, SP, BP for example..

Ive not really tested my 1RM as im on 70s Big hitting mostly 5RM but i will be looking to test this soon as end of last year my 1RM was about where my 5RM is now so im interested to see the diff.

Im just wondering with some of you what your difference is and by how much..

Don

[Matthew Swartz]

My 1RM squat is 405 @185bw and just hit a 340 5RM @170bw.

My 1RM deadlift is 425 @170bw and just recently pulled a 375 5RM @170bw.

Don't know about press.

[Matt Haxmeier]

You can use a ratio to figure it out. It's not exact but works pretty well. Like your 5RM is usually .856 x your 1rm.

http://www.timinvermont.com/fitness/orm.htm (WFS)

The further away from 1 rep you get the more crazy the numbers can get. But generally they work decent for 1-5RM maybe 8RM. But something like deadift could be a little higher if you're using touch and go vs a reset.

[Paulo Santos]

This is what I use and it works pretty well.

1RM*90%=3RM
1RM*80%=5RM
1RM*70%=7-8RM
1RM*60%=10RM

To reverse it, just divide.

[Matthew Swartz]

You guys calculate your 5RM? Why don't you just lift a 5RM? Math is great, but it doesn't mean you can lift it.

[Joey Lajoie]

Take a heavy weight you can only lift 3 or 4 times, lift it as many times as you can, then input it into this formula...

(weight x reps)x .0333 + weight = projected 1rm

So a squat of 335 for 4 looks like

(335 x 4) x .0333 + 335 = 380 so your projected 1 rm would be 380

I got this formula from Wender's 5/3/1 and have used if myself. I find it is usually accurate to about 5 pounds.

Regards
Joey

[Troy Kenshin]

This is the formula wendler recommends

(weight)x(#reps)x(.0333)+(weight)=1rm

So if I squat 300 6 times my 1rm would look like this
(300) x (6) x (.0333) + (300) = 360

I've used this a lot and then have tested my 1rm doing singles and it has always been within 5 lbs

[Matt Haxmeier]

Originally Posted by Matthew Swartz

You guys calculate your 5RM? Why don't you just lift a 5RM? Math is great, but it doesn't mean you can lift it.

Well, the point is that it works both ways. You can use your 1RM to find your 5RM and your 5RM to find your 1RM. So on programs like 5/3/1 I can still know roughly what my 1RM is despite having something than a 1RM to work from. And on a program like conjugate crossfit where I'm working up to a 1RM I can still know my 5RM. It doesn't always make sense from a training perspective to be throwing in 5RM sets just to know something that I can already know is probably darn close to .856.

[Kevin Shaughnessy]

For me, formulas estimated 1RM are useless, especially as the reps go higher. I once squatted 285x10, and the next week squatted a 1RM of 315. I think it depends on the person, their CNS efficiency, which muscle fibers predominate, and probably some other stuff.

[Eric A. Brown]

Originally Posted by Matthew Swartz

You guys calculate your 5RM? Why don't you just lift a 5RM? Math is great, but it doesn't mean you can lift it.

There you go. I can do reps for days with a staggering percentage of any pressing exercise, not so much with squatting, and not at all with deadlifts. Of course, given that I only ever pull singles and do a lot of repetition work for pressing has a significant effect on this.

Formulas by and large suck.