You must lift around a lot of very out of shape lifters. Don’t know where I got the chart I use most, I have several. The chart I generally use runs for 1RM to 20RM. The higher the RM, the less reliable the chart, but for most lifts above 75% it is very close, and for RM’s above 85%, it gives very reliable results, at least for experieced lifters who lift at both heavy and lighter loads. I have surpassed every predicted rep max shown below, not in terms of more reps, but in getting more weight than predicted at that RM. I think in my case it is because I normally use a very controlled eccentric unless I’m trying for a RM. This may give me some extra strength endurance over lifters with fast, more uncontrolled eccenstrics. Those lifters, who are actually in the majority in the gyms I see, may have trouble hitting some of these predicted RMs. But the chart has proven more accurate than any other I have seen for experienced lifters.
What would you estimate the max load at each RM for most lifters?
100 - 1RM
95.0 - 2RM
92.5 - 3RM
90.0 - 4RM
87.5 - 5RM
85.0 - 6RM
82.5 - 7RM
80.0 - 8RM
77.5 - 9RM
75.0 - 10RM