Preparation for Testing 1RM

ANABOLICWRWLF

ANABOLICWRWLF

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So I'm curious, what do you guys do to get ready to test your single rep max on squat, bench, dead etc? What does the week's workout schedule look like? What kind of supplement and food changes do you make? Any tips or tricks to get a strength boost when finding a new 1RM?
 
wfreiling

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So I'm curious, what do you guys do to get ready to test your single rep max on squat, bench, dead etc? What does the week's workout schedule look like? What kind of supplement and food changes do you make? Any tips or tricks to get a strength boost when finding a new 1RM?
Run a cycle of 5/3/1 then 3rd you’ll find your 1rm. Don’t ever shoot for a 1rm this is how you get injured. For example you can put your 5rm into a calculator and that’ll give you a 1rm. You definitely don’t want to be cutting while finding your max. Day before I tend to get more carbs in.
 
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Run a cycle of 5/3/1 then 3rd you’ll find your 1rm. Don’t ever shoot for a 1rm this is how you get injured. For example you can put your 5rm into a calculator and that’ll give you a 1rm. You definitely don’t want to be cutting while finding your max. Day before I tend to get more carbs in.
I've been running 531 for a while and have been basing RMoff of 5 rep like you said. Starting with a coach this week and he wants to find out where I'm at so we're going to try to find current maxes.
 
Hyde

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Basically the week is a full deload besides the maxing out. Extra recovery/mobility work between sessions and get some very light cardio in frequently to help recover better. Hot tub, hot showers, wading in a heated pool after a max out session or inbetween on the off days is a big help.

I would deadlift or squat at the beginning of the week and do the other at the end of the week to maximize recovery time in between. Ie squat Monday, bench Wednesday, press Saturday, pull Sunday.

If you squat lowbar you need to get your bench in before you do the squat day. And if you don’t need to know your standing press max, don’t test it - just have another day off and do the big 3 exclusively.

You can do some fluff stuff after the maxes, but we’re talking isolations like tricep pressdowns, facepulls, hamstring curls, back extensions. You should avoid doing compound work like Legpress, Lunges, heavy rowing, other pressing/dips. Better to save the gas for better maxes and less work to recover from.

Always eat at a surplus, primarily from carbs, the day before, and get lots of water and sodium in for added leverage. This doesn’t have to be sugar or junk food or mean eating anything out. Rice and soy sauce, mashed up baked potatoes, pasta & red sauce, breads, tortillas, fruit.
 
ANABOLICWRWLF

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Basically the week is a full deload besides the maxing out. Extra recovery/mobility work between sessions and get some very light cardio in frequently to help recover better. Hot tub, hot showers, wading in a heated pool after a max out session or inbetween on the off days is a big help.

I would deadlift or squat at the beginning of the week and do the other at the end of the week to maximize recovery time in between. Ie squat Monday, bench Wednesday, press Saturday, pull Sunday.

If you squat lowbar you need to get your bench in before you do the squat day. And if you don’t need to know your standing press max, don’t test it - just have another day off and do the big 3 exclusively.

You can do some fluff stuff after the maxes, but we’re talking isolations like tricep pressdowns, facepulls, hamstring curls, back extensions. You should avoid doing compound work like Legpress, Lunges, heavy rowing, other pressing/dips. Better to save the gas for better maxes and less work to recover from.

Always eat at a surplus, primarily from carbs, the day before, and get lots of water and sodium in for added leverage. This doesn’t have to be sugar or junk food or mean eating anything out. Rice and soy sauce, mashed up baked potatoes, pasta & red sauce, breads, tortillas, fruit.
I went for 3rd week bench Sunday but today would be deads and I'm thinking I will just do some mace and fan bike, maybe some ab rolls and pull ups if I'm feeling it. Planning on carbing up Friday.

Coach wants to test squat, bench and dead on Saturday, I'm guessing he's going at it like a "mock meet" with warm ups leading to 3 attempts but that's just a guess. He wants numbers so he can build a program for me to work with.

The gym is hosting a meet May 8th and although my numbers are far from impressive I think I might jump in just for the experience. He's hosting another in September so it would be cool to see any difference in lifts over that amount of time with the changes in training.
 
ANABOLICWRWLF

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lots of water and sodium in for added leverage
What's the best way to add sodium besides, well, just plain ol table salt? Sodium, nitrates, etc are a new foray.
 
Hyde

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What's the best way to add sodium besides, well, just plain ol table salt? Sodium, nitrates, etc are a new foray.
Don’t overcomplicate it - salt is salt! Soy sauce on rice is easiest if you eat that, 1-2 packs of ramen is super easy, some table salt on potatoes, literally any fast food. I like a Jack’s cheese pizza before bed if I am not at a hotel - lowest fat and highest carbs & protein vs most frozen pizzas and about 1,000 very easy to consume calories since it’s so thin. Cheddar rice cakes or snakes tend to have a lot of salt when you eat the whole bag too. Some guys like pretzels. Put Gatorade in your water at half strength they recommend and consume about 20g creatine mono with this over the day.

If you aren’t eating potatoes (they are too filling for me to carb up) consider eating a couple oranges, drinking low sodium v8 juice (1,200mg potassium per can), and/or adding some potassium caps through the day. You don’t need to have that much extra potassium, but it will help hold a bit more in the muscle and control bp better.

Morton Lite Salt is basically 50/50 salt & potassium.
 
ANABOLICWRWLF

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Don’t overcomplicate it - salt is salt! Soy sauce on rice is easiest if you eat that, 1-2 packs of ramen is super easy, some table salt on potatoes, literally any fast food. I like a Jack’s cheese pizza before bed if I am not at a hotel - lowest fat and highest carbs & protein vs most frozen pizzas and about 1,000 very easy to consume calories since it’s so thin. Cheddar rice cakes or snakes tend to have a lot of salt when you eat the whole bag too. Some guys like pretzels. Put Gatorade in your water at half strength they recommend and consume about 20g creatine mono with this over the day.


If you aren’t eating potatoes (they are too filling for me to carb up) consider eating a couple oranges, drinking low sodium v8 juice (1,200mg potassium per can), and/or adding some potassium caps through the day. You don’t need to have that much extra potassium, but it will help hold a bit more in the muscle and control bp better.

Morton Lite Salt is basically 50/50 salt & potassium.
Great info. I'll definitely be putting it to good use. And I didn't even think about creatine loading like that! Hell yes. I get about 5g/day, when I can remember to add it to a shake. Probably more like 5 days/wk.

When you're upping your sodium how much do you alter your water intake? 1.5x normal? More or less?
 
Hyde

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Great info. I'll definitely be putting it to good use. And I didn't even think about creatine loading like that! Hell yes. I get about 5g/day, when I can remember to add it to a shake. Probably more like 5 days/wk.

When you're upping your sodium how much do you alter your water intake? 1.5x normal? More or less?
That’s probably a very good place to start. The goal is to bloat, essentially, so you wouldn’t want a linear increase with the salt. Ie whatever your daily normal salt intake looks like normally. If you approximately doubled that, you wouldn’t want to double your water. Basically, if you are peeing excessively you are drinking too much or need to add more salt.

Also, canned things are loaded with salt. Basically you can compete for any powerlifting meet by shopping at the dollar store near your hotel & using your microwave. Ramen, mac n cheese in the microwave cups, canned meats and pastas, corned beef hash, chips, Rice Krispies & cereal/granola bars, gatorade, water, so on. They will even have Imodium to prevent you from pooping on comp day, pink bismuth tabs for your heartburn/upset stomach when loading, tape for torn skin, ace bandages for wrist/knee wraps in a pinch, ibuprofen for after, all of it.
 

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