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Thread: Planning to Test 1RMs

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2022
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    31

    Default Planning to Test 1RMs

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    Hello everyone, I'm thinking of scheduling in a 1RM test for the second week of December before I go on holiday for Christmas where my training will probably be disrupted, and I was hoping I could get some thoughts/improvements on the following plan. But first, some details.

    age 26, height 5'6"/168cm, weight 205 lbs/93 kg

    Heaviest recent lifts:

    Squat 170kg 2x3
    Bench 110kg 2x3
    Deadlift 187.5kg 1x5
    Press 72.5kg 5x3

    Program

    I've been running a 4-Day Heavy/Light & Heavy/Volume mixed routine as explained in Andy Baker's video and discussed in the Split Routine section of PPST3. It looks like this:

    Monday
    Heavy Press 5x3
    Volume Bench Paused 5x5
    Tricep Extensions 3x8

    Tuesday
    Heavy Squat 2x3 + Backoff 1x5 @90%
    Power Cleans 5x3 pyramid sets

    Thursday
    Heavy Bench 2x3
    Volume Press 5x5
    Incline Bench 3x8

    Friday
    Heavy Deadlift 1x5
    Light Squats 3x5 @80% of Tuesday's top set


    Peaking Schedule

    This week is my second week of moving things to triples (except for Deadlifts) since switching to the 4-Day Intermediate program (currently in my 4th week). I've got 5 training weeks left before my disruption, and am basically planning to run out the lifts til week 5 where I'll test the lifts for a 1RM:

    1x5
    1x5
    2x3
    2x3 <-- I am here
    2x3
    3x2
    3x2
    5x1
    1RM

    are there any flaws to this strategy that I'm not seeing? Are there any considerations I should be aware of as I approach this test? Ideally, it would be nice to adjust for the accumulated fatigue so that I get closer to a true 1RM on test day. But perhaps that's a non-issue?


    P.S. on exercise selection:

    I'm considering switching out Power Cleans for something like SLDLs because I'm thinking that (1) my cleans are just so weak (best weight for a double so far is 77.5 kg/170 lbs) that I don't know if they're doing anything except providing relief on the heavy squat day (2) SLDLs might be more productive towards driving Deadlift strength at this point in time. I wonder, however, if it's a bit hasty to be making changes like this half-way through the program. Might I be better off just rethinking assistance work when I start a new cycle in January?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Phoenix, AZ
    Posts
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    Default

    I would switch out power cleans for deadlifts at this point since specificity and practice are the priority. I wouldn't do 5 no bullshit singles for the 5 x 1, rather go for ascending singles ending somewhere between 90-95% of where you want to max out the following week.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2022
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    31

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Santana View Post
    I would switch out power cleans for deadlifts at this point since specificity and practice are the priority. I wouldn't do 5 no bullshit singles for the 5 x 1, rather go for ascending singles ending somewhere between 90-95% of where you want to max out the following week.
    Thanks for the input, Robert! I'll keep that in mind going forward. Would 3 sets of 5 @80% of the previous week's heavy set make sense for deadlifts as a replacement for cleans? Or is that too much for post-heavy squat deadlifts?

  4. #4
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    Aug 2013
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    Phoenix, AZ
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    If your goal is to max out then you should not be doing 5s at this stage and sticking with singles and doubles. Everything is practice-focused now.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2022
    Posts
    31

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    Understood. Been tapering down across the board doing singles earlier than planned and they've been going very well. Thank you, Robert.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2021
    Posts
    46

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    starting strength coach development program
    I’ve been doing a slightly screwed up version of Nick’s upper body lifts because I misunderstood some stuff about it when the nlp stopped for my press and bench. Last night I benched three doubles at 325. I had this thread in the back of my mind and wanted to compare the difficulty between a double and a single so I loaded 330 and did it once, harder than the first rep of a double but a lot easier than the second rep of that third double. I realize it’s just an arbitrary number, but got a little excited thinking about 350 and started wondering if I’ve got any chance of hitting that for a single by the end of the year and how to go about it.

    I’m 40, 6’0, 240 with some fluff, and on heavy bench day last week I did 302.5 for a set of five and then this week was the 325 for three doubles, plus the 330 afterwards that wasn’t really that hard. Is 350 by the end of the year reasonable? I’ve pressed 225 but 250 is a ways off, I’d be willing to cut back on pressing for a few weeks if it would help.

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