Hi Nation,

I am just wondering what everyones opinion is on the time that you should wait between testing your 1 rep max. I have been doing a strength programme doing 7 sets of 3 on my compound lifts (squat, dead, bench). Undecided on what would be the best period to wait to do 1 RM testing. I initially waited 6 weeks before I tried a new 1 RM but have seen other people attempting to reach a new max weekly. What do you guys recommend?

Well that depends on your training. If you are on a power lifting schedule you are lifting heavy all the time and could possibly try weekly. But if not... then you might not see gains that often.

What is your lifting schedule like?

As a powerlifter, you should almost never test your 1RM, unless you are getting ready for a competition. Its all about building strength, not testing strength. You do not gain any additional muscle or strength when you work with 1 rep sets near failure. So its only about yoru ego. Other than that, 1RMaxes will get you injured if you are not careful. If you are deadset on knowing your 1RM ( which is actually really close to your 3RM and can be calculated easily with math), you can give it a try every 12 weeks which will be your "peak week", although its serves little to no purpose as I mentioned before.

Kostas

Hi guys, I'm not an actual powerlifter. I have just been doing this training for pre season as I am a rugby player so trying to up my strength for the coming season and overall power is pretty essential. The main reason I was doing testing is more for letting my coaches know. At the moment I am doing:

Squat and secondary work - Monday

Bench and secondary work - Tuesday

Arms - Wednesday

Shoulders - Thursday

Deadlifts and secondary work - Friday

Due to having rugby training 3 times a week I am limited to the heavy lifts once a week per exercise as I don't want to neglect other muscle groups.

Kostas is right. Focus on bulding strength not testing it, but seeing that your coaches need to know your current 1 rep maxes, then I would dedicate one week for testing them. Then after that focus on using 80 to 90 percent of your one rep maxes for 3 reps or 5 reps. As the weeks progress, you should be able to add anywhere from 5 to 10 pounds on 3 and 5 rep maxes. As far as rest times are concerned, 3 to 5 minutes should be fine. Just don't get out of your zone during your rest time!! I see a lot of people including myself botch their next set cause of that. Use that time to chug down some water and keep your mind in the zone

You can never test your 1 RM max so no point, since you never truly know if that lift you did was your 1 RM max. You might had to little sleep which had affected the lift, eaten to little, warmed up to much and so on.