Hi I’ve been training for 8 months, I weigh 171lbs, and am a 35 yr old male.
I recently completed a 3 month training block and on the last week, performed heavy singles working up to my 1RM, I was surprised how much lower my actual 1RM was than estimated. For example:
Squat: heaviest working set 240 x 4 reps, 1RM 265 = 10.4% stronger
Press: heaviest working set 112 x 4 reps, 1RM 125 = 11.6% stronger
Deadlift: heaviest working set: 285 x 4 reps, 1RM 300 = 5.2% stronger
(the working sets were completed on a recent prior day).
I was expecting to be about 20% stronger across the board, as my heavy working sets are estimated to be 80% of my 1RM.
My question is: is this strength distribution caused by a lack of skill from not training heavy singles ever, or do you think it’s a genetic thing and I should just focus on increasing my working sets and not try to increase my 1RM relative to my working set weight?
If you never practice singles, you’re not going to be good at generating a true 1RM effort. So while there may be a genetic component, we can’t tell until you get much more proficient with executing heavy singles.
Not to take anything away from the importance of practicing the skill, but I think there has to be a genetic component. I didn’t practice singles throughout my entire LP and while I have tested my 1rm on bench throughout the years, I never tested or did anything under 4 or 5 reps on the squat/deadlift/press. When I tested my 1rm’s before going to intermediate programming I found that all of my actual 1rm’s were 5%+ higher than my e1rm’s.
Of course there’s a genetic component. I never said that wasn’t a significant factor. But again, you can’t tell anything about his “genetics” pertaining to his ability to manifest a 1RM effort until he’s had adequate practice with the skill first.
