all posts post new thread

Barbell Reload - 80% 1RM Rep Max Question

rambam

Level 2 Valued Member
Hi folks, posted another Reload related question earlier and here comes another.

Finished 1 cycle of minimalist Reload with DL and BP. Max DL went from 195 kgs to 200 kgs, Max BP from 117.5 to 120 kgs.

I tested 80% 1RM Rep Max - for the DL I got 10 reps, an increase of 1 rep (from 9) from the previous test for cycle 1.

For BP - I got 6 reps, a decrease of 3 reps (from 9) from the previous test for cycle 1.

For BP- should I rest a few days and test my 80% 1RM Rep Max or should I just work with the 6 reps? Feels odd to have found such a decreasing strength endurance.
 
rambam said:
Hi folks, posted another Reload related question earlier and here comes another.

Finished 1 cycle of minimalist Reload with DL and BP. Max DL went from 195 kgs to 200 kgs, Max BP from 117.5 to 120 kgs.

I tested 80% 1RM Rep Max - for the DL I got 10 reps, an increase of 1 rep (from 9) from the previous test for cycle 1.

For BP - I got 6 reps, a decrease of 3 reps (from 9) from the previous test for cycle 1.

For BP- should I rest a few days and test my 80% 1RM Rep Max or should I just work with the 6 reps? Feels odd to have found such a decreasing strength endurance.
Click to expand...
Nah it is perfectly normal. Roll with 6. That's why you test 80% with each lift and not just one and assume it is the same. I can rep out deadlift and even squat quite a bit more than a similar % on bench and press.
 
John K said:
Nah it is perfectly normal. Roll with 6. That's why you test 80% with each lift and not just one and assume it is the same. I can rep out deadlift and even squat quite a bit more than a similar % on bench and press.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't the point be that his earlier AMRAP before Reload was 9 reps and now it's only 6, both with the bench press?

I find it peculiar and would suggest to try again another day, but I don't really have any practical experience with Reload.
 
Antti said:
Wouldn't the point be that his earlier AMRAP before Reload was 9 reps and now it's only 6, both with the bench press?

I find it peculiar and would suggest to try again another day, but I don't really have any practical experience with Reload.
Click to expand...
I think in my head - I immediately assumed it to be a lower RM at a higher weight than when he started. Which I wouldn't have given much thought.
 
Antti said:
Wouldn't the point be that his earlier AMRAP before Reload was 9 reps and now it's only 6, both with the bench press?

I find it peculiar and would suggest to try again another day, but I don't really have any practical experience with Reload.
Click to expand...
Sure. But if he’s doing this test to establish the parameters for another Reload cycle, he needs to go with his result and not try and game the system, which may set him up with an unachievable process based where he is now, as the reps at 80% determine weekly jumps and starting %RM for your program.

If he says when he tested it he didn’t sleep the night before, did 100 push-ups that morning, etc then yeah there’s good reason to retest when better prepared.

And like Adachi said I assumed it was a heavier weight.
 
yes a slightly slightly heavier weight 97.5 instead of 95. I think i will retest again this week.
 
Just adding to the discussion and not recommending anything. My last reload cycle I didn't retest anything other than just being happy with meeting my week 5 goal weights from the previous cycle. What I did was just add 5 pounds to my last starting weight for upper body and made 5-10 pound weekly jumps and restarted 10 pounds heavier on lower body with 10-15 pound weekly jumps. On the second cycle I came out of it meeting all the week 5 goals easily. I didn't care what my new one rep may was or increasing a particular amrap status, just doing the sessions and all that good stuff. I did add the specialized variety lifts and that really made me feel like it contributed to me getting quite a bit stronger. I did do all the tests on the cycle before though. This was a subsequent cycle I didn't retest for. And I did the fully loaded cycles and not the minimalist.
 
Last edited:
Luis T. Gonzalez said:
My last reload cycle I didn't retest anything other than just being happy with meeting my week 5 goal weights from the previous cycle. What I did was just add 5 pounds to my last starting weight for upper body and made 5-10 pound weekly jumps and restarted 10 pounds heavier on lower body with 10-15 pound weekly jumps.
Click to expand...
I'm not doing RELOAD, but that is pretty much what I do with 5/3/1. I'm not recalculating based on competition maxes or anything, just chugging along adding a bit every cycle.

I think it is a solid way to progress once you get settled in to a program. Seems to help bring up your base level of strength while avoiding the pitfalls of being too ambitious on a cycle.
 
silveraw said:
I am curious if spending 8 weeks specializing in 5 reps or fewer would have that big of an impact on your ability to go beyond 5. I think it does, just I'm unsure if it would be that much.
Click to expand...

I too considered that maybe it is a question of strength endurance, but, I would expect fives to carry further than a set of six.

As a rough guesstimate I'd say the strength endurance should carry up to double the number of reps, so I would expect proficiency in sets of five to carry at least up to sets of ten.
 
silveraw said:
Seems to help bring up your base level of strength while avoiding the pitfalls of being too ambitious on a cycle.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I agree. It worked well I thought. I have the Easy Strength reference Dan John mentioned before that he likes to program 5x5 as (2,3,5,2,3,5,2,3) to be able to go a little heavier. But I never needed it during the cycles because the 5's were all doable.
 
Was the 80% test close in time to the 1RM test?
If not, I'd go with the new result of 6 and the corresponding larger weekly increment. I'd be interested to see if I favour the slightly lower starting mass.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom