Low rep vs high rep e1RM disparity on press

[Nick DiGiacomo]

Apologies if this is a dumb question. I am young and ignorant.

I'm currently on week 4 of the updated 12 week press template. During weeks 2 and 3 I noticed that my e1RM is 8-10 pounds lighter for the higher rep pressing on day 4 than on the lower rep pressing on day 1 (155 lbs vs 165 lbs). Is this an issue?

[Acamp76144]

I get this too. Am on week 3 of the Hypertrophy template at the moment and my e 1RM is my actual 3rm (as tested 4 weeks ago) in Bench, squat and DL. I guess I’m just better at lower reps than volume and the current block will do me good in improving my efficiency at volume?!

[bigbaltic]

Well...also your e1RM today is not your 3rm from 4 weeks ago and you can't really compare the two.

[PWard]

It's not uncommon. If this is a pattern that is constantly recurring then you just adjust your higher rep days accordingly. On the press specifically this tends to be more of an issue than other lifts in my experience. Less total muscle mass recruited, so fatigue has a bigger impact on your higher rep sets as there's less muscle mass to fall back on.

[jjw]

One thing to remember is this is an estimate. The more reps you do the more bias the formula will give. So you estimate of a 1 rep max based on 3 reps is going to be much closer to the real value than a estimate of a 1 rep max based on 10 reps. The other thing is RPE training is as much about conditioning and if you are having a good or bad day as it is your 1 rep max. So if you are doing more work capacity you might find the weights dropping more than the estimate percentage for that RPE. It doesn't mean your 1 rep max dropped. It more likely means your endurance isn't up to do a higher number of reps and/or more sets. Going form 5 to 7 sets really hit me on the 7 week hypertrophy. I didn't get weaker but 1 set at 6, 3 at RPE 7, and 3 at RPE 8 really tested the work capacity and on most things I did a little a less weight for the same RPEs with the higher volume. My 1 rep estimate was therefore lower but I didn't get weaker I just didn't have the endurance to keep up the same weights for more sets. It is kind of like lifting an old CRT TV vs. carrying it outside to the car. You may be able to lift it easily but out of breath half way to the car.