Finding a Max

How do we max out? When we max out, we are testing ourselves. In general, the shorter the test the longer we will need to warm up. A one-rep squat will last only a couple seconds and needs a long warm up, as opposed to a marathon, which would require a much shorter warm up. For powerlifting and weightlifting movements, we will get generally warm and then progress up in weight and feel the load. For these movements we will follow the principle of decreasing increases. As we get closer to our max, we will make smaller jumps. To go from 45lbs to 135 lbs is not a big deal, but 315lbs to 405lbs would be a huge jump if 405lbs would be a PR. For powerlifting movements, once we are warmed up we’ll do the weights as fast and as tight as we can. This will progress up fast. For the Olympic Lifts (Snatch, Clean, Jerk), we’ll do a fair amount of empty bar work because the Olympic lifts are far more technical. Even after we are generally warmed up, we will need to dial in the technique with those lighter weights, doing multiple sets with the empty bar and 40kg to 70kg.

10 Rep Max (RM) vs 1 Rep Max (RM)

As we build up for a 1RM, once we warm up and do a few reps with some of the lighter weights, we will build in singles. For a 10RM, we will start off similarly but working with a higher rep range. The key difference is we don’t want to do sets of 10 the entire warm up. That would burn us out for our top set. Use your goal weight and the same process of weight selection. The few sets before your goal weight should just be 1-3 reps to feel the weight. Finding a rep max can make it harder to decide on that goal weight if you don’t have a previous max for that rep number. We could use a max calculator to come up with a goal, or we could go from feel. For example, if you’re finding a 10RM Squat, and your previous 10RM was 275 but that was a year ago, you should be thinking of either 300 lbs or 315lbs. Do 1-3  reps at 275 lbs, then do 1 at 300 lbs. If it felt easy and strong, rack it and go up to 315 lbs and try for 10. If 300lbs felt not as smooth, then complete the remaining 9 reps.