trained as a percentage of you.
Prescriptions in percent of one-rep max resolve to real weights from each client's own strength.
trained as a percentage of you.
A program written in percentages is the same for everyone and the right weight for no one. Trainbase resolves every percentage against the client in front of you, from their own tested or estimated one-rep max. The prescription is shared. The weight is yours.
Eighty percent of a 140 kg squat is 112 kg for this athlete and a different number for the next. The coach writes the program once, in percent of one-rep max, and every client reads it in the kilograms they actually lift.
the load-rep chart, in one place.
The bridge between percent and reps is the most-used table in strength training. Heavier loads cap the reps you can complete; lighter loads open them up. These are the commonly cited figures: read the percent column to set intensity, read the reps column to know what it should feel like.
| % of 1rm | reps | primary use |
|---|---|---|
| 100% | 1 | max strength |
| 95% | 2 | max strength |
| 93% | 3 | max strength |
| 90% | 4 | strength |
| 87% | 5 | strength |
| 85% | 6 | strength |
| 83% | 7 | strength |
| 80% | 8 | hypertrophy |
| 77% | 9 | hypertrophy |
| 75% | 10 | hypertrophy |
| 70% | 12 | hypertrophy |
| 67% | 15 | endurance |
a percentage becomes a number on the bar.
Take one client's tested squat one-rep max of 140 kg. Each prescribed percentage resolves to the exact weight they load. The bars share one scale, so a heavier intensity reads longer and the jump between 60 and 90 percent is honest, not flattered.
three ways to estimate a max.
Most clients should not grind to a true single every block. Instead, the one-rep max is estimated from a set taken near failure. Three formulas dominate the literature; they agree closely at low reps and drift apart as reps climb. Trainbase marks any max produced this way as an estimate.
| epley | brzycki | lombardi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| equation | 1RM = w x (1 + reps / 30) | 1RM = w x 36 / (37 - reps) | 1RM = w x reps^0.10 |
| best rep range | up to ~10 reps | up to ~10 reps | low reps, ~2-5 |
| example (100 kg x 5) | 117 kg est | 113 kg est | 117 kg est |
| note | the common default; simple and linear | slightly more conservative at moderate reps | a power curve; drifts high past a few reps |
Worked from the equations above: a 100 kg set for 5 reps gives 100 x (1 + 5/30) = 116.7, 100 x 36/(37-5) = 112.5, and 100 x 5^0.10 = 117.5, rounded. Every figure here is an estimate, which is why each carries the est flag rather than a tested label.
an estimate is read as a trend, not gospel.
An estimated one-rep max is a useful number and a fragile one. It rides on a single set's rep count, on how close to failure that set really was, and on which formula produced it. Trainbase never lets that fragility hide.
Every max a formula produces wears an est flag wherever it appears: on the prescription, on the resolved kilograms, in the client's history. A coach reading the program can always tell at a glance which numbers were lifted and which were inferred.
The flag is not an apology. It is a reminder to read the estimate as a line over weeks, not a single point. One set logged tired or shy of failure can nudge an estimate by a few kilograms; the trend across a block tells the truth that one reading cannot. When a true single is finally lifted, the tested max replaces the estimate and the flag falls away.
the honest answers.
Why prescribe in percent of 1RM instead of fixed weights?
Because the same program then fits every client. A coach writes 5 sets at 80 percent once, and each athlete loads the bar from their own max. The intent travels; the weight is personal.
Which estimation formula does Trainbase use?
Epley is the common default for its simplicity, but all three agree closely at low reps where estimates are most trustworthy. Whichever produces the number, the result is marked est, never tested.
How accurate is an estimated one-rep max?
Closest when the set was near failure and under about 5 reps; it drifts as reps climb and depends on effort. That is exactly why it is flagged and read as a trend over weeks rather than a single fixed truth.
What happens when a client actually tests a single?
The tested max replaces the estimate, the est flag falls away, and every percentage in the program re-resolves to the new weights automatically. The prescription never changes; only the kilograms underneath it do.